Well, in a manner of speaking. This is my recipe for beans, as a healthier low sugar / salt alternative to the shop bought brands. My beans are packed with vegetables for a really tasty but healthy alternative to the much loved favourite - baked beans!

Ingredients
3 cups of dried Haricot Beans or 2 tins
1 Stick of Celery, finely diced
1 Onion, finely diced
1 Carrot, finely diced
2 Cloves of Garlic, fine
2 Fresh Tomatoes, finely chopped
1 250ml Carton of Tomato Frito / Pasata or sieved tinned tomatoes
Olive Oil

Method

If you are using the dried variety of beans you will need to prepare according to the instructions.  If you need advice on how best to prepare them for this specific recipe please let me know.

• Take a large pan and add a generous splash of olive oil
• Add the Onions, Celery and Carrot - lightly fry until softened. Then add the fresh tomatoes. Lightly fry until the tomatoes begin to fall.
• Add the beans and tomato frito. Cook through for another ten minutes
• Serve in a bowl with crusty bread!

This moist, shallow cake from Santiago de Compostea is probably the best known almond cake in Spain. It is traditionally decorated with scallop shell shape - made from confectioners sugar.

Serves: 8

Ingredients
Unsalted Butter & All Purpose flour for tin.
4 eggs
1/2 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup / 180ml Granulated Sugar
3 cups / 750ml Blanched Almonds, finely ground
1/3 cup / 80ml all-pupose plain flour
Confectioners Sugar / Icing Sugar for dusting

Method

• Preheat the oven to 200^oc / Gas 6.
• Butter a 9 inch round cake tin with 2-inch sides and dust with flour.
• In a large bowl, combine with eggs, lemon zest, cinnamon, and granulated sugar and whisk together until foamy.
• Add the almonds and mix.
• Add the flour a little at a time, mixing well. Continue to mix until all ingredients are incorporated and the batter is smooth.
• Transfer the batter to the prepared tin. Bake the cake for about 30 minutes, until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Remove from the oven and, holding the cake tin 6 inches above the counter top, drop the tin onto the counter. This makes the cake easier to remove. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in the tin until room temperture.
• Invert the cake into the rack, lift off the tin and place upright on a serving plate. To serve, dust the top with confectioners sugar.

Serves: 4

Ingredients
500gm Panettone - sliced, buttered and spread with a good layer of marmalade
2 whole eggs
3 eggs yolks
500ml Cream
200ml Whole Milk
2 Oranges - grated rind of both, plus juice of 1
3 tbsp Icing Sugar

Method

• Heat the oven to Gas mark 5
• Place the panettone in a baking dish - overlap the slices
• Whisk all the other ingredients together in a large bowl and then pour over the panettone so that it is well covered
• Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until brown
• Serve with good quality vanilla ice cream.

Serves 4

Ingredients
6 clementines, cut in half
2 Vanilla Pods
4-8 tbsp Light Muscovado Sugar
4 tbsp Cointreau or Grand Marnier
Unsalted Butter

Method

• Heat the oven to Gas Mark 6
• Finely chop one vanilla pod and slit the other along its length
• Put the clementines, cut side up, in an oven proof dish of a size that allows them to fit tightly.
• Mix the sugar and vanilla and then pack each clementine on its cut surface with a share of the mixture
• Drizzle with liquer and dot with a little butter on each clementine, and lay the whole vanilla pod over the top
• Cook in the oven for 15 minutes and then grill on a low heat for 10-15 minutes. Turn up the grill for the last couple of minutes until the surface of each clementine starts to bubble.
• Serve hot with a good quality vanilla ice cream.

Serves 4

Ingredients
1kg King Edward Potatoes
1 head of Garlic
150ml of Pouring Cream
100gm of Butter, cut into cubes

Method

• Heat the oven to Gas Mark 6
• Prick the potatoes and put them into the oven and cooked for about 1 hour. Then wrap the garlic head in foil and put into the oven and cook with the potatoes and cook for a further 30 mins until soft.
• Put the cream into a large saucepan and squeexe the garlic out of each garlic clove skin into the milk
• When the potatoes are cooked and cool enough to handle, cut them in half and scoop the pulp out of the skins and add to te pan of cream and garlic.
• Heat the pan until the milk is simmering and then blend everything together
• Add the cubes of butter and plenty of freshly ground salt and better, and beat. Serve!

Serves: 4

Ingredients
Olive Oil
150g Walnuts
2 shallots, finely chopped
4 slices bacon, chopped
300g Brussell Sprouts, shredded [or more Savoy Cabbage if preferred]
300g Savoy Cabbage, shredded
Walnut Oil

Method

• Heat a little olive oil in a wok or large frying pan and fry walbuts until browned - the remove them to a plate.
• Fry the shallots and bacon for a couple of minutes, then add the sporuts and fry for another minute or two stirring all the time.
• Add the cabbage and stir fry over a high heat until all greens wilt and are lightly browed.
• Drizzle with a little walnut oil, season and toss together with the walnuts

Serves: 4

Ingredients
750g Oxtail, cut into pieces
750g Pork Belly, skin removed and cut into cubes
2tbsp Seasoned Flour
Olive Oil
1 Large Onion, chopped
3 Carrots, chopped
3 Sticks of Celery, chopped
1 Bottle of Red Wine
2 Oranged - grated rind and juice
1 tbsp Chopped Parsley

Method

• Heat the oven to Gas Mark 4
• Put the seasoned flour into a bowl and toss all the meat in it until each is well covered
• Heat a little olive oil in a large roastng tin and brown the meat
• Add the vegetables and cook for 5 minutes more
• Add the wine, orange juice and grated ring.
• Cover the roasting tin and its contents with foil and then put into the oven for 1.5 hours.
• Remove and stir and then return the tin to the oven for a further 1.5 hours.
• Transfer the meat and vegetables to a warm serving plate and keep warm.
• Skim off the excess fat from the remaining juices and reduce them further if necessary.
• Spoon the sauce over the meat and vegetables, sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve

Serves: 4

Ingredients
12 small shallots - peeled and cooked in boiling water
Butter
1 Rabbit, joined into 8 pieces
1/2 bottle of white wine
500ml Chicken Stock
300g Prunces - stoned

Method

• Brown the shallots with a little butter in a large frying pan - then remove to a plate.
• Season the rabbit, put it into the pan and brown it all over, the continue cooking over a moderate heat for about 5 minutes.
• Add the white wine and allow it to boil until it has reduced by hald.
• Add the stock, the prunes and the browned onions and continue cooking for 10 minutes until the rabbit is cooked and tender.
• The remaining juices should be like syrup. If not, remove the rabbit, prunes and shallots and reduce the juices a little more.