Orange and white chocolate biscuits

Makes about 24 biscuits

Middle of the week, and a few baking sessions will be required to get through it. These little ones are moreish, and dead easy to make. You can prepare the mixture in advance: roll it into sausage shapes, wrap in greaseproof paper and store in the freezer. Just remove, slice into discs and bake until golden.

300g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

250g unsalted butter, softened

125g caster sugar

125g light brown soft sugar

1 large egg

Zest of 1 orange

250g white chocolate chips or white chocolate, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 180c/gas mark 4. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, use an electric whisk to cream together the butter and both types of sugar until pale and fluffy.

Add the egg and beat until well combined. Stir in thoroughly the flour mix, orange zest and white chocolate.

Place a sheet of greaseproof paper on a baking sheet and spoon on equal quantities of the biscuit dough, leaving at least 3cm between each one. Place in the centre of the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden.

Remove from the oven, leave for 2-3 minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Vanilla shortbread

Makes 30 fingers

I know it's a day late for Burns Night, but yesterday was a wee bit busier than I expected it to be, so forget the haggis, I'm over it too, let's make some proper shortbread.  My Nana wouldn't exactly dissaprove of the vanilla addition here, but suffice to say the remainder of the recipe is all hers. Totally worth doing at any time of the year, and a hundred times better than anything out of a packet.

100g icing sugar
200g plain flour, preferably Italian OO
100g cornflour
200g very soft unsalted butter
seeds from 1 vanilla pod
vanilla or ordinary caster sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 160°C/gas mark 3. Put the icing sugar, plain flour and cornflour into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the double-bladed knife and give them a quick blitz (just to save you sieving, which is my most-hated job in the kitchen) before adding the butter along with the vanilla seeds you've scraped out of a pod.


Process again until the soft mixture coheres and begins to form a ball, loosely clumping around the blade. Turn this out on to a Swiss roll tin and press to form an even (or as even as you can make it) layer, using fingers or the back of a spoon, or both. Be patient, it will fit smoothly.

Using the tip of a sharp knife cut the pressed-out shortbread into fingers. I make two incisions lengthways - i.e. to form three layers - and then make 10 cuts down - so that you end up with 11 fingers per layer. Obviously, the aim should be to cut at regular intervals but don't start getting your ruler out. Just go by eye: uniformity is the province of the conveyor belt not of home cooking. Use the tines of a fork to make little holes in each marked-out biscuit: I press down about three times, diagonally, on each finger.


Now that you've pressed, incised, and punctured, slide the Swiss roll tin into the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes, by which time the shortbread will be pale still, but not doughy. Expect a little goldenness around the edges, but shortbread should be not crisp but melting.


Remove the tin from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes or so, before removing, with a palette knife and your fingers, to a wire rack. Sprinkle with sugar and leave them to cool completely before storing in a tin.

Spicy meatballs

Serves 4

These have the distinct taste of Morocco with one of those gentle spice kicks which make them all the more moreish. I have them with either couscous or pilaf rice with a blob of yoghurt and some sharp feta cheese. But there is absolutely no shame in serving them atop pasta or with a salad. The perfect midweek supper that can be prepared in minutes and left to cook with very little attention required.

2 tblsp mild paprika

2 tsp ground cumin

¼ tsp cayenne

2 big handfuls of chopped flat-leaf parsley and 3 of chopped coriander leaves

4 big cloves of garlic, crushed

450g lamb mince

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

Salt and pepper

2 tblsp olive oil

2 x 400g tins chopped plum tomatoes

2 tsp sugar


Mix together the spices, garlic, parsley and 2 handfuls of coriander. Thoroughly mix half into the lamb with the lemon zest, season generously and squidge together with your hands.

Shape into 20 equal-sized balls. Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Fry the meatballs in 2 batches until just brown on all sides — about 5 minutes for each batch. Remove and keep to one side.

Put the remaining spice, herb and garlic mix in the same pan, stir over the heat for 15-20 seconds, then add the tomatoes and sugar and season well. Simmer for 25 minutes, until thick, stirring occasionally to break up the tomatoes.


Add the meatballs, cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Scatter with the remaining coriander leaves

Brussels sprout and goat’s cheese souffles

Serves 4

Sprouts aren't just for Christmas don't you know, and if you still have a few knocking around in the fridge, I strongly suggest a bash at this recipe. There may also be some reminders of vast clumps of cheese still hogging fridge space sinse the festive season, so for a bit of glam with leftovers, this is as good a place to be. This is for a twice-baked soufflé, which is a good starting point if you haven’t made many soufflés before. The sprout flavour is really nice and subtle and blends in beautifully with the goat’s cheese.
 

25g softened butter, plus extra for greasing
225ml milk
Half a small onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 star anise
4 cloves
25g plain flour
175g Brussels sprouts, trimmed
3 eggs, separated
100g soft goat’s cheese, cut into cubes
1 tblsp finely grated Parmesan
½ tblsp Worcestershire sauce
200ml double cream
50g Emmenthal or Gruyère cheese, finely grated

Preheat the oven to 170c/Gas 3. Brush the insides of four 150ml ramekins evenly with the extra softened butter, in upward strokes. Chill until ready to use. Pour 200ml milk into a pan and add the onion, bay leaf, star anise and cloves. Heat to scalding point, then remove from the heat and leave to infuse until cold. Strain into a clean pan and discard the aromatics.

Meanwhile, mix the butter and flour into a paste and chill for about 30 minutes. Cook the Brussels sprouts in a pan of boiling water for 3-4 minutes until tender, then drain and refresh in ice-cold water. Drain again, blend in a food processor with a splash of the remaining milk until smooth and set aside.

Place the pan of infused milk on the heat and gradually whisk in the butter paste, adding small pieces at a time, until you have a thick sauce. Season, then leave to cool for 3-4 minutes. Whisk in the egg yolks, goat’s cheese, Parmesan and Worcestershire sauce. Fold in the sprouts and check for seasoning. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and leave to cool.

Bring a kettle to the boil and have ready a deep roasting tray. Whisk the egg whites to medium-stiff peaks, whisk a third of them into the sprout mixture to loosen, then carefully fold in the remainder. Fill the prepared ramekins with the mixture and gently level the tops with a palette knife.

Immediately stand the ramekins in the roasting tin. Pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up their sides and bake the soufflés for 25-30 minutes. Remove the dishes from the water and leave to cool.

Just before you are ready to serve, heat the oven to 230c/Gas 8. Run a knife round the inside of each ramekin to loosen the soufflé. Turn them out upside-down on to individual ovenproof serving dishes and drizzle the cream around. Sprinkle the grated cheese on top and bake for about 8 minutes, until golden brown and bubbling. Serve immediately.

Grilled honey prawns with noodle salad

Serves 4

When I go comfort at home, there's often noodles in the mix somewhere. Now Christmas and New Year's out of the way, it's time to get the diet back on track as best as possible, and this dish (or variations of it) I could easily eat a couple of times a week without any hint of boredom setting in. The arame seaweed in the noodle salad adds a subtle texture and a depth of flavour. I've done this recipe with chicken before too, but I had it with some fat prawns yesterday and it was the business.

1 tblsp honey
6 tblsp soy sauce
6 tblsp sake
1 fat clove of garlic, finely chopped
Zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
4-6 big prawns per person, shelled and cleaned
2 tblsp sesame oil
30g dried arame, shredded
240g vermicelli rice noodles
2 large carrots, peeled
4 inner celery stems, trimmed
2 bunches of chives, roughly snipped
1 large handful of coriander leaves

Place the honey, soy, sake, garlic and lemon zest in a small saucepan. Simmer gently for 3 minutes or until the honey has melted. Leave to cool until tepid.

Place the prawns in a bowl and mix in one-third of the marinade. Add 1 tblsp sesame oil and leave to marinate while you prepare the salad.

Soak the arame in plenty of cold water for 10 minutes. Drain and place in a mixing bowl with the remaining marinade.

In the meantime, prepare the noodles according to the packet instructions — usually by soaking in boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain and shake dry. Mix into the seaweed with 1 tblsp sesame oil. Slice the carrot and celery into matchsticks, about 5cm in length, and mix into the noodles along with the snipped chives and coriander leaves.

Preheat an oven-top griddle pan or non stick frying pan over a medium-high heat. Remove the prawns from the marinade and cook in the pan for barely a minute on each side, or until cooked through with no hint of pinkness. Put the noodles on a plate and top with the prawns.

Crème brûlée with raspberries

Serves 6

It seems for ever now that it's been impossible to avoid crème brûlée and fashion has fallen out of love with this simple little number. It adoms menus throughout the world and comes with every imaginable flavouring, some nice and some nasty. Don’t let this put you off, the fact is it makes a fine easy dessert, but raspberries are the only addition to the basic recipe that I'd really advocate.

400ml double cream
100ml milk
1 vanilla bean, split in half
4 medium egg yolks
3 tblsp caster sugar
1 punnet raspberries
Caster sugar for dusting

Heat the cream, milk and vanilla bean to boiling point in a saucepan. In a large jug or bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together, then whisk in the cream mixture.

Heat the oven to 180˚c/gas mark 3. Divide the raspberries between six ramekins, and then pour in the cream mixture. Place the ramekins in a roasting tray half-filled with hot water and bake for 45 minutes or until the custards have set.

Lift the ramekins onto a wire rack to cool. Just before serving, spread a thin layer of sugar across the top of each ramekin and caramelize with a kitchen blowtorch.

Cheese on toast

Serves 4-6

Last night was officially massive, we fed the best part of 2000 yesterday, and it all ended up with the cheese board getting massacred. Have to admit it that I assisted in this act of violence right at the end, but it was only to rescue a hunk of the Montgomery Cheddar for my late night cheese on toast. This, and a fresh bottle of bubbles at around 3am was the way I wanted to begin my new year without hesitation. Happy New Year one and all.

For the topping
50g unsalted butter
50g flour
250ml strong ale or stout
250g grated cheese (strong cheddar, ideally)
20ml Worcestershire sauce
10g English mustard
7g wholegrain mustard
1 egg yolk
Salt, pepper and fleur de sel

For the base
1 loaf of sourdough bread

Melt the butter and stir in the flour to make a roux. Heat the beer until hot but not boiling and gradually add to the roux, stirring constantly over a low heat, but taking care not to overwork. Melt the grated cheese in a bowl over a pan of boiling water and pour into the mixture; stir once to amalgamate, and then remove from the heat. Add the Worcestershire sauce, both mustards, the egg yolk, salt and pepper, then blitz in a food processor until emulsified (it will look matt and pale). Again, do not overwork. Check the seasoning. Allow to cool before refrigerating — it will easily keep for a week in the fridge.

If you have a char grill, preheat it now; or turn the oven to 225c/gas mark 7. Cut the loaf into 1in slices, allowing 1 or 2 slices per person. Brush both sides of the bread with melted butter and char grill or put in the oven for 5 minutes to toast. Melt 40g-50g of the cheese mix per slice, pour over the bread and cook at the same temperature for 4-5 minutes until golden brown. Sprinkle a few grains of salt crystals on top and serve, with some extra Worcestershire sauce and a few cornichons on the side. Bliss.