Black Garlic Chocolate Delice with Cherry and Fig Compote

Ingredients: 500g charlotte potatoes 50g butter or olive oil A few chives finely chopped 1 spring onion finely chopped 2 tsp black garlic paste 1 tbl spoon chopped parsley Salt & pepper Smoked paprika to garnish 30g grated cheddar - optional Method: Place the potatoes in a large pan of salted water and cook until tender. Refresh under cold runing water until cool enough to handle then cut in half lengthways. Scoop out the flesh with a teaspoon and place the skins on a greased roasting tray. Melt 20bg of the butter and brush onto the skins, add some salt and pepper and place in a pre heated oven at 180c until the skins are crisp and brown. In a mixing bowl combine the potato with the remaining butter or oil and the black garlic paste and spring onions. Mix in half the chives and parsley and season to taste. Warm in a microwave oven.  Fill the skins with the potato and black garlic mixture, sprinke on some grated cheddar cheese if desired and the remaining chopped herbs and a dusting of paprika.

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The festive period is nearly upon us! I personally can’t wait as I relish the extra chance for cooking and making things that are a little more extravagant for family and friends. Of course this can start well in advance from making the Christmas cake or Christmas Pudding. In reality though I also love some hacks and easy options as you know....why not? A stressed, hot and sweaty cook on Christmas Day is entirely not necessary! NOTE: Keep vegetables simple but with flavoured butters for instance, I cook my veg al dente the day before, re-fresh in cold water and simply warm the next day through the oven whilst the turkey is resting (a good 20 minutes btw!) Gravy can be made in advance and re heated, roast potatoes par cooked ready simply to pop in the oven on the day.....and so on, don’t be overwhelmed, sit down write a list and work out what you can do early and what needs doing on the day....it really works. So that brings me to my easy festive dessert, I feel some desserts can be a little heavy after a giant Christmas dinner so this is a light throw together pannetone sundae! Ingredients: Makes 4 or 2 depending on your glass size! Pannet t one (Leftovers are great for this) 2 satsumas peeled and segmented 2 figs quartered 50g black cherries stoned 1 tbsp honey A splash of port A tbsp of vanilla custard - I use a ready made one for ease and they are delicious but by all means make your own. Ice cream - your choice of flavour A good scoop for each 125ml double cream whipped Dark chocolate chopped for decoration A black cherry for decoration Recipe: In a small saucepan add the fruit, honey, a splash of water and the port and simmer until the fruit is just soft, leave to cool for 15 minutes. In a glass or decorative bowl add some torn pannetone (christmas pudding works well if you have leftovers) N ow evenly add the fruit over the top with some of the liquid so it soaks into the pannatone. Now the custard, then the ice cream and then very grandly add the whipped cream with a flurry of dark chocolate and a cherry or two on top. Enjoy straight away.

One of my favourite soups in the whole world is French onion, it really is like a hug! Apart from the eye watering process of slicing the onions it’s a really easy reci pe, topped with a fat crouton of melting cheese, I highly recommend you give it a whirl! Ingredients 1 tbsp butter 2 tbsp of olive oil 3 sprigs of thyme 1 bay leaf 3 large onions halved and thinly sliced 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped 1 tbsp of flour 180ml of white wine 1 tsp of sugar 800ml of rich beef stock 4 thick slices of bread Cheese of your choice Method In a heavy based pan and on a low heat add the oil, butter, thyme and bay, now add the onions, give them a good stir and leave them to cook slowly, this is very important and patience is key! It will take about 20-30 minutes to cook them to soft and caramel coloured and this process makes them sweet and delicious. At that point add the flour and stir well, add the wine, sugar and stock and leave to simmer and thicken, another 10/15 minutes.  Now pop the soup in a bowl, switch on the grill. Toast the bread for the top, top with lots of cheese and pop under the grill until bubbling. Eat immediately!

This is a real favourite of mine, I crave it every now and again. It really is so worth making it yourself, its freshness is really part of the dish, sour and spicy with the hint of coconut it really lifts the spirits, perfect for an Autumn weekend dish or a cosy weekday supper. I ngredients 750ml good quality vegetable stock 2 stems of lemongrass-bashed to release the flavour 2 kaffir lime leaves 1 red chilli sliced 2 garlic cloves sliced thinly 1 red onion sliced 100g of oyster mushrooms whole 2 ripe vine tomatoes cut into wedges 1 tsp of sugar 3 tbsp of fish sauce The juice of 2 fresh limes 1 can of coconut milk 500g of tiger prawns-shell off A big handful of chopped coriander to finish Method In a large saucepan add the stock and bring to a simmer, add the lemongrass, lime leaves, chilli, garlic and the sliced red onion. Simmer for 15 minutes to release the delicate flavours. Now add the oyster mushrooms, tomatoes, sugar, fish sauce, lime juice and coconut milk and cook for a further 10 minutes. L astly just before serving add the prawns, cook for 1 minute and add the coriander and serve immediately. Enjoy!

This is a recent discovery for me thanks to my good friend Jo. Naturally I tried it as a drink first - ginger ale and fresh mint were the add ons and I must say delicious…..I’m not a rum fan generally but this was good! So of course that got the cogs turning on a recipe, and a real favourite is pineapple upside down cake! A retro classic that I think has stood the test if time in its tastiness and look. In fact I’m thinking of bringing back many retro dishes, they have a huge place in my heart! So the difference with this recipe is the caramelising off the pineapple before popping in the cake tin, normally I would just put this in raw, but we are going to inject lot’s of flavour using the rum and some butter. You can use fresh or canned pineapple-both work well and I’m not snobby about canned fruit-canned anything actually, it all has some real benefits. Serves 6-8 Prep time 20 mins Cook time 45 mins Ingredients 100ml pineapple rum- we used Red Leg Pineapple rum 25g butter 25g soft brown sugar 8 rings of pineapple 8 maraschino cherries 125g self raising flour 125g soft butter 4 eggs 1 tsp baking powder 75g castor sugar 75g soft brown sugar Method Pre heat oven to 170c Line and grease your preferred baking tin. In a saucepan melt the butter and sugar, pour in the rum and let bubble for a minute. Pop in the pineapple and let cook on a medium heat to just soften and take on a more caramelised colour. Pop to one side whilst we make the cake mixture. In a large bowl add the flour, marge, sugar, eggs and baking powder. Mix well with electric beaters or a stand mixer. Now in your lined tin lay down the pineapple rings to cover the bottom of the tin, pop the cherries into the holes. Now pour over the cake batter. Pop this into the oven for 30 minutes, check using a prong, you can always pop it back in for 5 minutes if needed. Once cooked let it rest for a couple of minutes then turn out onto a plate and let cool.  Enjoy warm or cold!