Sarah and Mike… Probably

Preparation time:  45 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Serves 8

What you need:

• 100 gm(s) Whole blanched hazelnuts
•  85 gm(s) Unsalted butter
• 25 gm(s) Icing sugar, sifted
•  125 gm(s) Plain flour, sifted
•  1 Egg yolk
•  200 gm(s) Dark chocolate
•  10 Whole cardamom pods
•  284 ml(s) Double cream
•  1 tbsp(s) Cocoa, sifted

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5. Grease a 23cm loose-based flan tin & dust with flour. Toast the hazelnuts in the preheated oven for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool, then chop in a food processor or coffee grinder until finely ground.

For the pastry. Cream 60 gms of the butter with the sifted icing sugar, add 40 gms of the ground nuts, then gradually work in the sifted flour. Beat the egg yolk and 1 tbsp water together and add this to the pastry, gradually working it into a ball.

Turn the pastry out onto a lightly floured surface, using your hands, press it out gently into a circle slightly smaller than your flan tin. Carefully place it into your tin (don’t worry if it breaks) and press it around with your fingers until it fits. Trim any excess. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. Prick the base of the pastry with a fork, then bake blind for 15-20 minutes, until lightly browned. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile crush the cardamom pods using a pestle and mortar. Remove the green husks and finely grind the seeds. Add the cardamom to the cream and warm gently in a saucepan until the surface is just beginning to tremble, but don’t let it boil. Remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate, broken into chunks, the remaining butter and ground hazelnuts. Stir until melted and smooth. Set aside to cool, but don’t let it get totally cold. Pour the mixture into the pastry case and place in the fridge to harden (for a couple of hours). Before serving dust with sifted cocoa.

Seasonality: hazelnuts are in season in August and September.

Recipe by: Lizlander

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 90 minutes

Serves 8

What you need:

1 whole free range chicken
 2 stalks celery
 1 leek
 2 onions
 3 carrots
 2 cloves garlic
 2 bay leaves
 sprig thyme
 sprig rosemary
 2 maris piper or similar potatoes
 2 large sweet potatoes
 5 mushrooms
 to taste crème fraiche
 8 dried apricots
 1 lemon

What to do:

Place the chicken in a large pot along with one carrot (roughly chopped), a stalk of celery (roughly chopped), a leek (roughly chopped), an onion (roughly chopped) and one clove of garlic (crushed).
Cover the chicken in boiled water and add the thyme, rosemary and bay leaf. Bring to the boil on the stove top then turn down and leave to simmer for approximately 40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
While the chicken is cooking you can set about preparing the veg for the casserole. Peel and roughly chop the potatoes and carrots, slice the onion and celery and crush a clove of garlic (keep together and separate), slice the mushrooms and chop the apricots into halves or quarters.
Remove the whole chicken when cooked and place in a large flat dish - let the juices flow out then tip them back into the pot and leave the chicken to cool down.
Using a sieve poor the liquid containing all the veg and herbs into another pan or bowl and throw away the contents of the sieve (ie all the cooked veggies and herbs) - you have now made some very tasty stock!
Using the big pot again, gently fry the onion, garlic and celery until the onion is clear - best way to gently do this is to turn the heat down very low and put the lid on, checking every minute or so.
Add all the other veggies, pour in the stock and add a bay leaf and the zest of a whole lemon and the dried apricots. You may not need all the stock so don’t use it all at this stage as you can use it to make a soup or risotto or just freeze it to use another day.
Again, bring to the boil then turn the heat down and leave to simmer with the lid on.
Meanwhile, dissect the whole chicken removing all the meat. Throw the meat in the pot with the veggies then leave to simmer away until the potatoes are soft with the lid off.
Serve with crème fraiche and a jacket potato.
This chicken casserole is absolutely perfect for babies who love the sweetness of it.

Recipe by: McGing

Seasonality: carrots are in season from May - December

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Serves 2

What you need:

1 head of leaf chicory
 1 tsp(s) honey
 30 gm(s) pine nuts
 1 avocado
 2 chicken breasts
 2 tsp(s) wholegrain mustard
 1 Cos lettuce

What to do:

Slice up the chicken breast into smallish cubes. Heat some olive oil over a medium heat and add the chicken, honey and mustard. Give it a good mix so the chicken gets nicely coated in with the mustard and honey. Cook over a medium heat until the chicken is cooked through and the honey and mustard is starting to char on the outside.

Preparation time:  10 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Serves: 2

What you need:

• 150 gms penne pasta
• 200 gms purple sprouting broccoli, cut into 5cm pieces
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 lemon - zest & juice
• 2 tbsps white wine
• 100 mls double cream
• salt
• black pepper

What to do:

Bring a large pan of seasoned water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook for 10 minutes, or according to the packet instructions. Drain.

Bring another small pan of water to the boil, add the broccoli and simmer for 2 minutes. Drain and tip in with the pasta.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Add the garlic and lemon zest and cook for one minute until soft but not coloured. Pour in the white wine and lemon juice and reduce by half. Stir in the cream and seasoning and bring to the boil.

Add the cream mixture to the broccoli and pasta and toss until well mixed. Serve with a generous sprinkling of black pepper.

Seasonality: purple sprouting broccoli is in season from March - April

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes

Serves: 2

What you need:

2 cod fillets

4 slices of Parma ham

4 tsps horseradish sauce

What to do:

Pre-heat your oven to gas mark 5 / 180 degrees.

Place 2 slices of parma ham on a chopping board.

Position a fillet at the end of the 2 slices of parma ham - if you place it in the middle then when you wrap them the join will be at the top and it doesn’t look as good and the horseradish leaks out.

Repeat with the other fillet.

Add the horseradish half on top of each fillet, spread evenly and wrap with the parma ham.

Season and bake for 20-25 minutes until the fish is cooked and the ham is crispy.

Enjoy with mashed potatoes.

Seasonality: cod is in season from October - March.

Recipe by: Jonny74