Recipes

Mushroom & Madeira sauce
Garlic Cream Sauce
Avocado hummus
Avocado dip & olive tapenade
Cucumber, Avocado, Mint & Yoghurt Dip
Falafal Yoghurt Sauce
Garlic-Lime Dressing
Quick Hummus
Sweet Fruit Spread
Chocolate Cream
 

Mushroom & Madeira sauce

250g chestnut mushrooms, thickly sliced
100ml beef stock, from ½ stock cube
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
½ onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
50ml double cream
150ml Madeira
1 tbsp olive oil

Fry the onions in the oil until translucent ~2 mins.

Add the garlic & mushrooms, season to taste & cook until the mushrooms begin to brown.

Add 100ml of the Madeira & reduce by half, then add the beef stock & reduce by half again. Add the remaining Madeira & cream. Lower the heat & stir well.

Remove from the heat & stir in the parsley. Return to a medium heat & pour any resting juices from the steaks into this.

Garlic Cream Sauce

2 tbsp garlic, finely chopped
16oz double cream
1 tbsp butter
Salt & pepper

Melt the butter. Fry the garlic for 5 mins, until soft but not browned. Add the cream & simmer for 10 mins.

Sauce for 4Back to top

Avocado hummus

1 ripe avocado
6 ready-made pitta breads
400g can chickpeas
1 garlic clove, peeled
juice of 1-2 lemons
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp Tabasco
sea salt, to taste

Blend all the ingredients until smooth. Transfer to a bowl & cover with cling film. Chill in the fridge for 1 hr. Serve in bowls with pitta breads.

Avocado dip & olive tapenade with griddled garlic pittas

For the dip:
2 tomatoes, chopped
salt
ground black pepper
For the tapenade:
3 tbsp olive oil
1 lemon, zest only
2 tbsp capers, rinsed
For the pittas:
3 tbsp olive oil
salt
ground black pepper

1 avocado, peeled, stone removed
½ lemon, juice only, or to taste
pinch chilli flakes, to taste

100g black olives, stones removed
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
handful fresh flatleaf parsley

2 garlic cloves, chopped
6 ready-made mini pittas

Blend ½ the avocado & the lemon juice until smooth. Transfer to a serving bowl. Chop the rest of the avocado into small cubes & mix into the blended avocado. Add the chopped tomatoes & chilli flakes & season with salt & freshly ground black pepper. Taste & add more lemon juice & chilli if needed.

Blend all the tapenade ingredients until almost smooth.

Season the garlic & olive oil with salt & freshly ground black pepper. Mix well. Brush the pittas with the garlic oil. Heat a griddle pan until smoking hot & griddle the pittas on both sides. Place the pittas on a plate & serve with the avocado dip & the olive tapenade.

Serves 4-6Back to top

Cucumber, Avocado, Mint & Yoghurt Dip

1 cucumber, in small cubes
100g plain low fat yoghurt
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
1 avocado diced
1 tsp lemon juice

Place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl & mix thoroughly.

Falafal Yoghurt Sauce

240ml plain yogurt
½ tbsp lemon zest
½ tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tbsp freshly chopped coriander leaves
2 tsps freshly chopped parsley leaves
Salt, as needed

Blitz all the ingredients

Garlic-Lime Dressing

⅓ cup homemade mayonnaise
juice & zest from 1 lime
1 garlic clove, pressed
¼ teaspoon salt

Quick Hummus

400g tin of chickpeas
3 tbsp tahini
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1-2 garlic cloves, to taste, crushed
Salt
Olive oil, to top

Drain the chickpeas. Reserve the water & a few chickpeas for a garnish. Mix the tahini with most of the lemon juice & half the garlic. Stir in enough of the liquid to make a loose paste.

Put this in a food processor with the chickpeas & a pinch of salt. Whizz until smooth, adding more of the liquid until you reach the desired consistency.

Taste & add more lemon juice or salt if necessary.

Serve drizzled with oil & garnished with the remaining chickpeas.

Sweet Fruit Spread

250g fruit (fresh or frozen)
125g preserving sugar
    (without cooking)
dash lemon juice
pinch vanilla essence

Slice larger fruit into small pieces. Blend with the lemon juice & vanilla. Add the preserving sugar & purée. Keep in a screw top jar.

Chocolate Cream

150g whipping cream
200g >60% dark chocolate
½ vanilla pod (pulped)

Bring the cream to a boil. Crumble the chocolate into the cream & melt. Add the vanilla. Allow to set in the refrigerator. To serve, whisk until creamy.

Serves 4Back to top