Crispy chorizo and new potatoes

Serves 4-6 as part of a selection of tapas

A gorgeous, quick yet satisfying snackette for drinks tonight to get things started...

500g new potatoes, scrubbed

3 (about 300g) cooking chorizo sausages, chopped into 1 cm slices

2 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves chopped finely

2 tblsp dry Madeira

Boil the potatoes for 8-10 minutes, or until cooked but still firm. Remove from the heat and cool them under running cold water, then cut them in half lengthways on the diagonal and set aside.

Heat a large, non-stick frying pan to hot and cook the chorizo for 2-3 minutes, or until the oils are released. Add the potatoes and rosemary and cook, stirring frequently, over a high heat for a further 2-3 minutes, or until golden and crispy.

Reduce the heat and add the Madeira. Stir and leave to caramelise and brown for a further 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve warm with cocktail sticks, or as a salad.

Tomato ketchup

With the potential glut of tomatoes now the season is peaking, here’s something that’ll please almost everybody for a while to come. This makes rather a lot, but it will keep for at least a month in a covered container in the fridge.

5kg ripe tomatoes

4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped

4 tsp Dijon mustard

½ tsp four spice mix

1½ tsp ground ginger

1½ tsp salt

4 tblsp icing sugar

1 tblsp white wine vinegar

Core the tomatoes and reserve the stems. Place the tomatoes in a pressure cooker and add water to a depth of 1cm. Bring the cooker to full pressure for 20 minutes and then allow to cool. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, slowly cook the tomatoes over a medium-low heat for about 45 minutes. Pass the tomatoes and liquid through a sieve, discarding the leftovers.

Add all the other ingredients, except the icing sugar, the vinegar and the stems, to the tomatoes. Place in a pan and simmer slowly over a low heat until it is reduced by half - this will take about 4 hours. Pass the mixture through a sieve again. Add the icing sugar, return to the pan and continue to reduce over a low heat until it reaches a ketchup-like consistency - this will take just over an hour.

Allow to cool, and then add the vinegar. Finally, place the reserved tomato stems into the ketchup mixture for a few hours to infuse it with the fresh vine odour - it’s important to do this after the mixture has cooled, as the vine aroma is destroyed by heat. Discard the stems before serving

French onion toast

Serves 4

A great crostini like snack which can be miniaturised into an elegant canape or served a bit more chunky with a crisp green salad as an easy supper dish. Essentially this has all the elements of a French onion soup; sweet onions, melted Gruyère cheese and grilled bread - a terrific combination.

4 large white onions

2 tblsp butter

2 tblsp olive oil

2 tsp caster sugar

Sea salt and black pepper

250ml white wine

4 thick slices sourdough bread or 1 baguette split and cut into 15cm lengths

Dijon mustard

100g grated Gruyère cheese

Cut the onions in half lengthwise, peel and slice as finely as you can. Melt the butter and oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan, add the onions and cook gently for 20 minutes, tossing occasionally, until soft and lightly golden.

Add the sugar, salt and pepper and cook, stirring continuously, for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Raise the heat and add the white wine and allow to bubble for 1 minute, then reduce the heat to low and cook for a further 5 minutes or until the onions are soft and the liquid has been absorbed.

Heat the grill. Grill the bread on both sides and spread the top thickly with mustard.

Pile the onions on top and scatter with the cheese. Place under the grill for 1 minute until the cheese melts into a bubbling, golden mess, and serve hot.

Mushrooms stuffed with figs and Gorgonzola

Serves 4

Now we're into the second half of Summer, we should start seeing the surplus of the Italian fig season coming our way. Normally they should be beautifully plump with a dark purple skin and, when ripe, as sweet as honey, a far cry from the green varieties available. You need really ripe figs for this recipe so it’s a good way to use any you may have left in your fruit bowl.

4 large flat or portobello mushrooms

1 tblsp olive oil

125g mascarpone

125g Gorgonzola, crumbled

Freshly ground black pepper

4 ripe purple figs

Drizzle of aged balsamic vinegar or Marsala

1 tblsp thyme leaves

Sourdough bread, to serve

Wipe the mushrooms with a piece of damp kitchen paper or use a soft brush to remove any dirt or grit. Cut out the stalks. Brush a large sheet of foil with the olive oil and place the mushrooms, stalk-side up, in the middle.

Mix the mascarpone with the Gorgonzola and season with plenty of black pepper. Fill the mushrooms with the cheese mixture. Quarter the figs and press on top of the cheese mixture, skin-side facing down. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar or Marsala and scatter the thyme leaves over the figs.

Bring the ends of the foil together to meet in the middle and scrunch together to seal. Place on the edge of the barbecue and cook for 15 minutes (or in the oven at 180c/gas mark 4) until the mushrooms have cooked and the figs are soft. Serve with sourdough bread to mop up the juices.

Seared tuna with sweet and sour onion relish

Serves 4

Something a little special for the weekend here, and although we're often daunted by getting tuna just right, this is a relatively simple combination of flavours and technique to put together. Tamarind is the seed pod from a tree in South East Asia and India with a sour yet refreshing taste, perfectly suited to a piece of fatty and quite rare tuna.

salt and freshly ground pepper

4 x 180g pieces tuna loin, about 2 1/2 cm thick

80ml olive oil

4 medium red onions, finely sliced

4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced

4 limes, zest and juice

2 tblsp palm sugar or caster sugar

3 tblsp tamarind paste

2 tsp Thai fish sauce

1/2 cup coriander leaves

8 large basil leaves

Lightly season the fish and brush with a little oil. Leave to rest at room temperature while you make the relish.

Heat the remaining oil in a deep frying pan and sauté the onions on a medium heat for five minutes, stirring occasionally.

Once they begin to colour, add garlic and turn heat to high. Stir continuously for a minute, and then add lime zest and juice, sugar, tamarind paste and Thai fish sauce. Cook a further minute, and then add coriander and basil leaves. Remove from heat.

Heat a heavy frying pan until really hot and smoking. Place tuna on and cook for only 45 seconds each side.

The fish will be rare and moist inside. Remove to a plate and top with hot relish. Serve with crunchy steamed greens or a green salad.

Salt and chilli squid

Serves 6

Deep frying for me is a flash back home when I was younger. If it wasn't deep fried, then it was cooked to within an inch of its life in a pot, and that's where it all began. If squid isn't your thing, and I'm constantly surprised by how many say it isn't due to one previous average experience, then try this with strips of white fish instead. It's equally delicious.
You could eat this on a bed of rocket, with lime to squeeze over definitely not a throwback to the fish suppers of my childhood) Nowadays I like the squid best eaten really piping hot from the pan, as an informal stand up first course for a kitchen supper with friends while the rest of the meal is being assembled.

1kg squid, cleaned and cut into rings, tentacles left whole
2 tblsp fish sauce
1 lemon, juiced
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
1 tsp crushed coriander seeds
2 tblsp salt flakes, crushed
1 tblsp crushed white peppercorns
250g cornflour
Vegetable oil, for frying

Place the squid, fish sauce and lemon juice in a bowl and marinate for up to 30 minutes. Drain and pat dry.

Place the chilli, coriander, salt, peppercorns and cornflour in a large freezer bag, add the squid and shake well to coat.

Pour vegetable oil into a frying pan to the depth of about only 2cm. The pan should be no more than half full. Fry the squid a few pieces at a time, for about a minute, until crisp and light gold. Drain on kitchen paper and eat straight away

Lamb grilled with mustard and lemon

Serves 2

A mild enough seasoning that does not overpower the flavour of the lamb. Steaks cut from the leg usually come nearly 2.5cm thick - for anything thinner or thicker alter the cooking time accordingly. For ribs, pop them through a hot oven for a few minutes once you've got a bit of colour on them from the grill.

2 plump cloves of garlic, peeled

a good pinch of sea salt

1 tblsp fresh thyme leaves or 2 tsp dried thyme

2 tblsp grain mustard

2 tblsp lemon juice

4 tblsp olive oil

4 lamb steaks, ribs or chops, weighing about 100g each

Crush the garlic with the salt in a pestle and mortar or in a small bowl with the end of the rolling pin. Add the herbs, mustard and lemon juice. Whisk in the oil with a fork, or small whisk, until the mixture has slightly thickened.

Pour one-third over the lamb, turn over the meat and baste that side too with another third.

Heat the grill to very hot. Grill the lamb for 3-4 minutes on each side, depending on how thick the meat is.

Brush with the remaining mixture as you turn the meat. The lamb should be a little singed outside, and rare within.