Recipe: Mussels with chilli and garlic

Ingredients

This recipe serves two as a light meal.

Three or four large handfuls of cleaned mussels – discarding any open ones that don’t move to close when you’re cleaning them.

Two cloves of garlic – crushed

One red onion – diced

One red chilli – roughly chopped including the seeds

A handful of fresh basil leaves – torn

A handful of coriander leaves – torn

Sesame oil

Fish sauce

Lemon wedges

Butter

Method

Heat a large deep pan or wok until smoking, add the washed mussels and cover with a lid. You don’t need to add any liquid because the water they were washed in still clinging to them will steam and open them, releasing more even liquid. Steam them until they’re open - shaking the pan a few times – about four or five minutes.

Remove the mussels to a plate, discarding any that haven’t opened, and tip out and reserve the liquid. Pour in a tablespoon of sesame oil and, over a medium heat, sauté the onion, chilli and garlic until softened but don’t allow to brown. Return the mussels and their reserved liquid to the pan and stir. Finish the dish by seasoning with a few shakes of fish sauce, stirring and tasting to judge how much you need, and then add the basil, coriander and a walnut-sized knob of butter. Stir and pour into warmed bowls. Serve with a lemon wedge and fresh crusty bread.

Recipe: Michaels Rich chocolate tart

For the pastry:
250g plain flour
100g diced butter
100g icing sugar
Pinch of salt
Two eggs at room temperature

For the filling:
400g good-quality cooking milk chocolate
200ml milk
300ml double cream
Seven eggs
70g caster sugar

For the glaze:
300ml water
350g sugar
120g cocoa powder
240ml double cream

To make the pastry, sift the flour into a bowl and add the diced butter. Using the fingertips, lift the butter up with the flour and rub gently with the fingers, letting it fall back into the bowl.
Once the mixture resembles a uniform crumble, add the sugar and salt and mix well. Then add the eggs and mix again, carefully bringing the mixture together to form a smooth ball. Wrap it in cling film and place in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.
Pre-heat the oven to 190°C (gas mark 5). Roll out the pastry enough to line an 8in flan dish, trim to fit and prick the base with a fork a few times. To bake blind, cover the pastry on the bottom and sides of the flan with foil and weigh it down with a handful of dried beans or pasta. Bake for 20 minutes or until cooked through. Remove and cool. Turn the oven down to 140°C (gas mark 1).

To make the filling, break up the chocolate and place in a mixing bowl. Put the milk and cream in a saucepan, bring to the boil, pour over the chocolate and mix. Place a small mixing bowl containing the eggs and caster sugar over a pan of simmering water. Whisk while it’s heating until it turns white and thickens. Fold the egg and sugar mixture into the chocolate with a large metal spoon using a cutting action rather than stirring them together.
Pour the mixture into the pastry flan case and bake for 20 minutes (turning the tray after 10 minutes). Allow to cool and then refrigerate until firm.

For the glaze, bring the water and sugar to the boil in a saucepan. Add the cocoa and cream, bring to the boil again and allow to reduce for 10 to 15 minutes, whisking occasionally. Do this until it looks like melted chocolate. Allow to cool a little and pour the glaze over the tart, smooth with a pallet knife and allow to set.
For a final flourish you could use a blow torch to “dust” the top of the glaze – one second should do it, otherwise you’ll melt the tart. When serving, to get a smooth cut, use a knife that has been dipped in hot water and dried.

Recipe: Summer pudding

Ingredients

A couple of handfuls of mixed summer fruit
Berries, fresh or frozen
Caster sugar
Five medium- cut slices of bread, a few days old with the crusts removed
Vanilla ice cream
Four fresh mint leaves, shredded

Method

First place the berries and some sugar into a pan and bring to the boil.
Remove from the heat, adjust the sugar content if required, add the mint.
Allow to cool in a bowl and drain of the resulting coulis into a seperate bowl.
Rub cooking oil on to the moulds then line with cling film.
Cut each slice of bread in half, resulting in ten pieces.
From two of them cut two discs the same size as the bottom of the moulds.
Place the two discs into the coulis for a few minutes, ensuring they are well saturated, place the discs into the moulds.
Soak the remaining bread, using four per mould, line each mould by using two around the inside of each circumference and then two more standing vertically over the seams of the first two.
Fill each mould with the berries, fold over the bread to cover, then fold over the cling film.
Place the puddings in the fridge and chill over night.
Keep the coulis also for the next day to serve with the puddings
To serve, remove the pudding from the moulds, place on a serving dish and pour over coulis, top with thick whipped cream.

Recipe: Crab and Tomato Tart

Ingredients

One handful of diced red onion
Two handfuls of washed and chopped leeks
Two handfuls washed and chopped spinach
Olive oil
Two handfuls of washed rocket
One cup of crab meat
A small carton of double cream
Two hens eggs beaten
A handful of sun-dried tomatoes- chopped
Seasoning

Method

Bake four tart cases ( please see blog for pastry recipe)
In a saucepan gently saute the onion, leek and spinach in a little olive oil for a few minutes until the onion is soft.
Remove from the heat and add half the crab and rocket, with enough cream to bind the mixture together, then mix in the beaten eggs.
Spoon the mix into the pastry cases and bake in the oven until set.
To serve, mix the tomatoes crab and remaining rocket together, place the salad on to the plate and put the baked tart on top

Recipe: Crab Cannelloni, Lemon and Vine Tomato

Ingredients

4 sheets fresh egg pasta
50g salmon fillet
2 scallops
2ooml double cream
100g white crab meat
1 tbsp chopped fresh herbs
Seasoning
8 blanched and deseeded diced tomatoes
4 lemons segmented
Chooped tarragon

Method

Puree the salmon and scallops, add the cream and place the mix in a bowl over ice
Fold in the crab meat and add the herbs
Place the pasta sheets onto cling film, place the mixture into a piping bag and pipe the mix onto the pasta
Roll the pasta in cling film and allow the cannelloni to chill in the fridge
Mix the tomato with the tarragon and season well
When you are ready poach the cannelloni for five minutes
Once cooked allow to rest for 1 minute, remove the cling film
To serve place the tomato salad on the plate and top with the cannelloni
Spoon over a little balsamic syrup and finish with fresh herbs

Recipe: Wild Nettle soup

Nettles can be found from spring to early summer, they are a great source of calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, cobalt, copper, potassium, trace minerals, chlorophyll, the B-complex vitamins, and more.

Not only do they benifit your health they are also good fun to harvest and cook with. Ensure you follow two simple rules when harvesting, only pick the tender tops of the nettles and more importantly ensure you wear gloves, the nettles will carry the sting until cooked, remember this when you go to chop them for the following recipe.

Ingredients
1 200g packet of smoked Pancetta
1 white onion diced
4 leaves wild garlic
4 handfuls nettles (remove all stems)
600ml vegetable stock
4 small potatoes diced
2 TBSP double cream

Method
In a little oil pan fry the Pancetta
Add the onion and fry until tender
Add the potato and garlic and cook slowly
Chop the nettles and add to the pan, add the stock also
Bring to the boil and simmer for 8 minutes
Blend with a stick blender, Sieve the soup
Add the cream and serve.

Recipe: Raspberry Bavarois

Ingredients
800g Raspberries
(during the summer we put freshly picked berries in the freezer, you can defrost and use these for the dessert)
10 leaves gelatine
150g sugar
500ml cream half whipped
1 mix Italian meringue

Method
Put the raspberries and the juice in a blender and blitz.
Pass through a fine sieve
Place the puree and sugar in a pan and warm to blood heat.
Add the soaked gelatine and stir until desolved
Remove from the heat and allow to cool
When the mix has cooled carefully fold in the halfed whipped cream and the italian meringue, place in moulds and chill

Recipe: Chocolate ganache

For the Ganache
7 oz Chocolate
5 oz double cream
2 oz butter

Method
Grate or shave the chocolate
Boil the cream and butter, add to the chocolate
Mix until completely smooth
store in the fridge until required.

Recipe: Lemon posset

For the lemon Posset
1 pint double cream
150g sugar
2 lemons, zest and juice

Method
Pour the cream into a thick bottomed pan and add the sugar
Bring the mix to the boil for 3 minutes then remove from the heat
Allow to cool slightly, add the Zest and juice
Pass the mix and pour into the service glasses
Allow to chill for 3 hours.