Sweet saffron roast tomatoes with labneh

Saffron and hot spices, sweet tomato flesh, clean acidic yogurt, there is an irresistible interplay of flavours here. Try to make sure you get some of the saffron juices to smear the labneh; the golden streaks on creamy white yoghurt look beautiful.

plum: tomatoes 18
olive oil
harissa: 2 tsp
saffron: a good pinch, plus more to serve
golden caster sugar: ½ tbsp
Arab flatbread: to serve
flaked almonds: 15g, lightly toasted
lemon: ½, juiced
extra-virgin olive oil: 4 tbsp
coriander leaves: 2 tbsp of chopped LABNEH
Greek yoghurt: 400g
garlic: 2 cloves, crushed
coriander, mint or parsley leaves: 3 tbsp finely of chopped


• Make the labneh the day before you want to serve the dish. Line a sieve with a piece of muslin or a brand new J-cloth and set it over a bowl. Mix the yoghurt with the garlic, herbs and some salt and pepper. Tip into the cloth, tie it up and chill. The yoghurt will lose moisture over the next 24 hours, leaving a firmer, ‘cheese-like’ substance. Help it along by giving it a squeeze every so often.

• To make the tomatoes heat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Halve the tomatoes and lay them in a single layer in a large roasting tin (or two small tins). Mix 4 tbsp olive oil, harissa and saffron and pour over
the tomatoes. Turn the tomatoes over in the oil to make sure they are well coated, ending with them cut side up. Sprinkle with the sugar and season. Roast in the oven for about 45 minutes, or until caramelized and slightly shrunken. Leave to cool a little.

• Take the labneh out of its cloth. Carefully move the tomatoes (they are quite fragile and can fall apart easily) to a serving platter, dotting nuggets of the labneh among them as you go. You can also toast the flatbread, break it up, and arrange it among the tomatoes as well (or serve it on the side). Pour on any cooking juices which have collected in the tomato roasting tin, being sure to douse the flatbread if you have included it within the dish.

• Scatter the almonds over the top, then heat another good pinch of saffron stamens with the lemon juice in a small saucepan. Add 4 tbsp extra-virgin oil and mix with a spoon. Spoon over the dish; the golden dressing
looks beautiful against the white labneh. Scatter with the coriander and serve warm, or at room temperature.

Satay chicken with peanut sauce

Freeze the coconut milk you don’t use for another time

garlic: 1 clove, crushed
ginger: a small chunk finely grated
lemongrass: 1 stalk, chopped
curry powder: 2 tsp
turmeric: ½ tsp
soy sauce: 1 tbsp
fish sauce: 1 tbsp
coconut milk: 4 tbsp
chicken thighs: 4, cut into strips
cucumber: ½, sliced
shallot: 1 sliced
rice vinegar
SAUCE
crunchy peanut butter: 2 tbsp
coconut milk: 5 tbsp
soy sauce: 2 tsp
fish sauce: 2 tsp
lime juice: 1 tbsp
Asian hot chilli sauce 

• Mix the first 8 ingredients, add the chicken and toss all the pieces to coat them. Leave to marinate for 15 minutes. To make the sauce put all the ingredients in a small pan, add enough boiling water to make a dipable sauce and heat. Add chilli sauce to give it as much heat as you like.

• Thread the chicken onto metal or soaked wooden skewers then griddle or grill them, turning, until they’re golden and cooked all the way through.

• Toss the cucumber and shallot with a little vinegar and serve this alongside the chicken and peanut sauce.

Bombay potatoes with fried eggs and green chilli salsa

potatoes: 600g of any kind, peeled
and cut into chunks
groundnut oil
black mustard seeds: ½ tsp
cumin seeds: ½ tsp
garlic: 1 clove, crushed
ginger: a small chunk, finely grated
tomato: 1, roughly chopped
mild chilli powder: 1 tsp
turmeric: ½ tsp
eggs: 2-4, fried to serve
roti to serve
natural yoghurt: to serve
SALSA
green chilli: 1, diced
red onion: ½, finely diced
tomatoes: 2, diced

• Put the potatoes into boiling water and cook,until just bordering on tender (err on the side of underdone as you’ll be cooking them further), then drain really well.

• Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a frying pan and add the seeds. Let them cook and start to pop then add the garlic, ginger, tomato and the rest of the spices. Add the potatoes, season really well and cook for another 5-7 minutes stirring so they take up all the flavour.

• Mix the salsa ingredients together. Serve the potatoes topped with 1 or 2 eggs depending on how hungry you are. Spoon over the salsa and serve some yoghurt and roti on the side

Raspberry and white choc cheesecake with blush syrup

Expensive white chocolate can be hard to melt. Use a decent own-brand. Take the cream and cheeses out of the fridge 30 minutes before you make the cheesecake to make mixing easier


Oreo biscuits: 200g
butter: 50g, melted
white chocolate: 300g, roughly chopped
double cream: 300ml pot
full-fat soft cheese: 300g
mascarpone: 250g tub
raspberries: 300g
BLUSH SYRUP
golden caster sugar: 100g
rosé wine: 100ml 



• Separate the Oreo bicuits into two then scrape out and discard the filling (or eat if you like). Put the biscuits in a food processor and whizz to crumbs, then add the butter and whizz again briefly. Tip into the base
of a 20cm non-stick springform tin that you have buttered and lined with baking paper.

• Press the mix into an even layer and chill while you make the filling. Gently melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over (but not touching) a pan of simmering water (alternatively you can melt it in short blasts in the microwave). Leave to cool slightly.

• Beat the cream, cheese and mascarpone in a bowl with a wooden spoon or spatula until it thickens – don’t over-beat or it will be too stiff to stir in the chocolate. Stir in the melted chocolate until the mixture is smooth.
Spoon this mixture onto the Oreo base dropping in a handful of raspberries as you go, then put the cheesecake back in the fridge for at least
3-4 hrs or overnight.

Hot and sour duck salad with mint and lime

garlic: 1 clove, crushed
ginger: 2cm piece, grated
rice vinegar: 2 tbsp
brown sugar: 2 tbsp
duck breasts: 2
SALAD
carrot: 1, peeled and cut into julienne strips
spring onions: 2, cut into julienne strips
beansprouts: 2 handful, rinsed
long red chilli: 1, finely shredded
mint: 1 bunch, chopped
coriander: 1 bunch, chopped
red bird’s eye chilli: 1, finely sliced
fish sauce: ½ tbsp
limes: 2, juiced
unsalted peanuts: 2 tbsp roughly chopped

• Mix the garlic with the ginger, vinegar and sugar. Slash each duck breast through the fat but not into the flesh, rub the ginger mixture all over. Lay the breasts on a rack and heat the grill to high. Grill the skin side of the duck for 5 minutes or until the skin browns – watch it as the sugar will burn. Turn the grill down and the
breasts over. Grill for 3-4 minutes or until the breasts feel firm. Rest for 5 minutes.

• Put the carrot and spring onion into a bowl. Blanch the beansprouts for 1 minute in boiling water then cool under cold running water.
Drain and add to the bowl. Add the chilli, mint and coriander and toss everything together.

• Mix the chilli with the fish sauce and lime juice. Slice the duck breasts and arrange them on the salad on a large plate. Spoon over the lime mixture and scatter with the peanuts

Lamb, lemon and pecorino meatballs with orzo

lean lamb mince: 800g
red onion: 1, grated
garlic: 1 clove, crushed
lemon: 1, zested and juiced
dill: ½ a small bunch, chopped
pecorino: 100g, finely grated
olive oil:
orzo: 400g
lemon wedges: to serve
rocket: 3 handfuls
DRESSING
natural yoghurt: 6 tbsp
dill: a handful, chopped
lemon: 1, juiced

 • Put the mince, onion, garlic, zest, half the dill and pecorino in a bowl. Season then form into small meatballs (you’ll make about 40).

• Cook the meatballs in a non-stick pan with a little olive oil until golden brown and cooked through (if you cook them in batches keep the cooked ones in a low oven). Meanwhile, cook the orzo then toss with some olive oil, the lemon juice and season. Mix the dressing ingredients and season. Put the orzo on a serving dish, add the meatballs, drizzle with the dressing then scatter with rocket.

Blueberry scones with lime drizzle

self-raising flour: 225g
butter: 75g, chilled and diced
demerara sugar: 40g
milk: 125ml
blueberries: 100g
lime 1:, zested and juiced
icing sugar:
clotted cream: and lemon curd: to serve

• Heat the oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Line a baking sheet with
baking paper. Tip the flour into a bowl, add the butter and rub in until
the mixture looks like breadcrumbs, then stir in the sugar. Add the milk
and blueberries and stir with a knife to form a soft dough. Tip it onto
a lightly floured surface and knead once or twice to bring it together,
then move it to the baking sheet and pat it out to a circle about 2.5cm
thick. Dip a knife blade in flour and mark the circle into wedges, cutting
almost all the way through (wiggle it round any blueberries).

• Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until risen and golden, then slide onto
a wire rack. Mix the lime zest and juice with enough icing sugar to
make thick icing. Spoon icing onto each one

Peach and thyme tatins

peaches: 3 ripe
butter: 100g
golden caster sugar: 100g
puff pastry: 350g block
thyme: 6 small sprigs
crème fraîche: or ice cream: to serve

• Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Cut a small cross in each
peach and pour boiling water over them. Leave for 1 minute, then drain
and peel off the skins. Halve them and remove the stones. Gently heat
the butter and sugar together in a pan until you have a rich caramel.
Cut 6 circles out of foil making them big enough to fold up around the
peach halves. Lay them on a baking sheet lined with more foil. Cool
the caramel until it is quite thick. Fold the edges of each piece of foil up
to make a cup shape – the base should be only a little larger then the
cut side of each peach. Divide the caramel between the foil cups.

• Roll out the puff pastry to ½ cm thick and cut out 5 circles big enough
to cover the rounded side of each peach. Drape the pastry over each
half peach and mould it onto the dome shape. Put a thyme sprig onto
the caramel on each piece of foil and lift a peach and its pastry
face-down onto caramel. Bake for 25 minutes or until the pastry is
puffed and browned. Turn carefully out onto a plate (be careful of any
hot caramel) and serve with a scoop of crème fraîche or ice cream.

prepare Strawberry vacherin

2 hours + coolinG | serves 8 | A little effort
egg whites: 4
caster sugar: 100g
icing sugar: 100g
vanilla extract: ½ tsp
STRAWBERRY CREAM
whipping cream: 300ml
vanilla extract: 1 tsp
icing sugar: 1 tbsp
strawberries: 400g, 4-5 finely chopped and
 the rest hulled



• Heat the oven to 120C/fan 110C/gas ¼ and line a baking sheet
with baking parchment (don’t use greaseproof, it needs to be non-stick).
Draw 2 rectangles 20cm long and 10cm wide on the paper, spacing
them apart.
• Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks and then beat in the caster sugar
in 4 batches, beating well between each. Sift in the icing sugar in 4
batches, folding it in each time. Add the vanilla. Spoon the mixture into
a large piping bag fitted with a wide, straight-edged nozzle. Pipe the
meringue in long stripes onto each rectangle, making sure the stripes
rest alongside each other so there are no gaps. Pipe any remaining
meringue onto a separate sheet in small rounds, no more than 1.5cm
across and flatten any peaks with a wet finger. Bake the buttons for
30-40 minutes and the rectangles for 1–1½ hours or until they sound
crisp when tapped (they may have a little colour, depending on your
oven). Leave to cool.
• For the strawberry cream, very softly whip the cream, vanilla extract
and icing sugar, then fold in the chopped strawberries.
• Lay one rectangle on a plate and spoon some strawberry cream
down the centre, add a layer of sliced strawberries and some blobs of
strawberry cream on top, then put on the top layer of meringue. Spoon
the rest of the strawberry cream into a piping bag and pipe blobs all
over the top, then add slices or quarters of strawberry and meringue
buttons. Serve with any remaining strawberries.

Charred salad onions with romeseo sauce

In Catalonia they eat a special kind of onion called calçots which they cook over grills and serve with romesco sauce. You can find them in the UK when they are in season. Cook and writer Rachel McCormack grills hundreds of them, check cataIancooking.co.uk. The sauce will keep in the fridge for a week.

romano pepper : 1, halved and seeded
tomato: 1, hoIved
olive oil
garlic: 2 cloves, crushed
red chilli: 1, finely chopped
bread: 1 slice, roughly chopped
hazelnuts: 50g
blanched ainonds: 25g
parsley: chopped to make 2 tbsp
olive oil: 150ml
red wine vinegar: 2 tbsp
salad anions: 12, roots trimmed

* Grill the pepper halves skin-side up until they start to blister and grill
the tomato halves cut-side up until they start to brown on top. Peel the
pepper halves and slip the skin off the tomatoes and roughly chop them.
Heat a little oil in a pan and fry the garlic and chilli briefly until it
soltens, add the bread and fry until browned then add the pepper and
tomato. Scrape the lot into a lood processor with the nuts and parsley
and pulse until roughly chopped, add the oil, vinegar and a good pinch
of salt and pulse together. lip into a bowl.

* Heot the grill or a griddle pan and brush the onions with oil. Griddle
or grill them until they blocken on the outside (or put them over the grey
coals of a barbecue). Once blackened, wrap them in newspaper and
leave them for 15 minutes to soften.

* Serve them with the sauce. To eat them, slip the cooked onion out of
the outer blackened skin and dip them in the romesco sauce.