Recipes

Queen Elizabeth Cake

Queen Elizabeth Cake

I remember making a cake like this way back when I started baking when it was known as Queen Mother's Cake which would obviously be consistent with it being called Queen Elizabeth cake. Anyway this version, which contains coconut comes from Rosie Sykes excellent new book Every Last Bite and sounds equally irresisitible.

Sesame and chilli oil noodles

Sesame and chilli oil noodles

Anna Jones has written so many great cookbooks you'd think she wouldn't have anything more to say but her new book, Easy Wins, which features 12 hero ingredients including the tahini in this recipe, may be her most inspiring yet. It's exactly the kind of easy, delicious food I want for a midweek meal.

Roasted Italian sausages with borlotti beans and ’nduja sauce

Roasted Italian sausages with borlotti beans and ’nduja sauce

What nicer place is there to shop than an Italian deli and in Theo Randall's inspiring book The Italian Deli Cookbook you can find out what to do with all those tempting ingredients you find there.

Chicken with Morels & Vin Jaune

Chicken with Morels & Vin Jaune

This is the kind of cooking that reminds me how wonderful French food still is. It comes from Alex Jackson's lovely book Frontières which has recipes from all the regions of France that border other countries or, in the case of the south, North Africa.

Chocolate, fudge & smoked salt cookies

Chocolate, fudge & smoked salt cookies

In many ways this is a bizarre recipe to pick from Gill Meller's wonderful book Time - there are so many inspiring and beautiful savoury recipes in it - but there are times when we all need a cookie and what better than chocolate AND fudge?

Honeyed Wheaten Bread with Jumbled Nuts, Seeds and Fruit

Honeyed Wheaten Bread with Jumbled Nuts, Seeds and Fruit

Part of my January #givingupstockingup challenge is not to buy food if I've got the ingredients to make it myself. That applies to bread so I was keen to try Sue Quinn's Honeyed Wheaten Bread from her excellent new book on using up leftovers, Second Helpings. It also, as she points out, uses up half-used packets of nuts, seeds and dried fruit, which you may have in stock after Christmas.

Stichelton, pear and walnut salad

Stichelton, pear and walnut salad

A perfect seasonal salad from Jeremy Lee’s gorgeous book Cooking to use the Christmas Stilton or as Jeremy suggests, Stichelton. I love the touch of using membrillo in it and, if you can get hold of it, quince vinegar.

Celeriac, potato and anchovy gratin

Celeriac, potato and anchovy gratin

I love the idea of cooking everything in one dish (quick, easy, no washing up!) so Sue Quinn's book Roasting Tray Magic is right up my street.

Beef, Stilton and Onion Pie

Beef, Stilton and Onion Pie

This is just one of the amazing pies in Calum Franklin's The Pie Room which will happily give you projects to work through all winter. He says it's for 'wintry days when the roads are blocked and you are snowed in' but I'd be perfectly happy to have it on a grey November day. However one can't argue with Calum's conclusion that it's 'rich, decadent and best followed by a nap on the couch'.

Brown rice and potato pilaf

Brown rice and potato pilaf

Brown food is a bit of a running joke on instagram but the fact is that monotone brown or beige dishes are often the most delicious. That's certainly the case with Sam and Sam Clark's brown rice and potato pilaf from their most recent book Moro Easy.

Cavatelli with sausage, mint and tomato

Cavatelli with sausage, mint and tomato

This is one of the deceptively simple recipes in Rachel Roddy's wonderful A-Z of Pasta.

Tomato and tapenade tart

Tomato and tapenade tart

The most perfect Provençal-style summer tart from Alex Jackson's evocative book Sardine, named after his former London restaurant although you can now happily find him at Noble Rot Soho.

Spaghetti with Almond Cream, Fresh Crab, Chilli and Marjoram

Spaghetti with Almond Cream, Fresh Crab, Chilli and Marjoram

I've been pouring over the pages of Ben Tish's lovely book Sicilia - it has a really good selection of pasta recipes - and a friend and I decided to give this one a go. We didn't have whole almonds so we substituted ground almonds which made the sauce a bit gritty so follow Ben's recipe and don't make the same mistake!

Uyen Luu's Vietnamese Chicken salad

Uyen Luu's Vietnamese Chicken salad

I don't know how often you turn to Asian-inspired salads at this time of year but I find myself making them more and more. Here's a classic Vietnamese salad from Uyen Luu's Vietnamese to inspire you.

Spring vegetable tart with mustard cream and watercress

Spring vegetable tart with mustard cream and watercress

If you're looking for an impressive vegetarian centrepiece to a spring meal this lovely light recipe from Signe Johansen's and Peter's Yard's book Smörgåsbord, is perfect though if you serve it on its own I think it would probably only feed 4-6! (Only 4 in my family!)

Roasted cod with a coriander crust

Roasted cod with a coriander crust

The cookbook I've probably cooked most from in the last couple of years is Sami Tamimi and Tara Wigley's fabulous Falastin which is all about the food of Sami's Palestinian childhood together with some more contemporary recipes of which this is one.

Scallop Ceviche

Scallop Ceviche

If you're looking for an impressive dish for Valentine's Day try this delicious scallop ceviche from Rick and Katie Toogood's Prawn on the Lawn: Fish and Seafood to Share. (It feeds 4 but I'm sure you can manage it between you!)

Smoky fish with spinach, gnocchi, cream and mustard

Smoky fish with spinach, gnocchi, cream and mustard

A super-easy, delicious, midweek supper from Gill Meller's latest book Outside which you could, as he says, cook indoors or outdoors.

French Onion Soup

French Onion Soup

French onion soup is one of the classic French bistro dishes, famously served to late night Parisian partygoers. But if you don't feel up to it at 2am or whenever you roll in, it makes a warming supper for a chilly winter evening.

Tom Kerridge's sausage, tomato and butterbean stew

Tom Kerridge's sausage, tomato and butterbean stew

You might associate Tom Kerridge with fancy cooking but his time with footballer Marcus Rashford has found its way into his latest book Real Life Recipes which are, as the tiitle suggests, basic easy recipes to cook for the family. This hearty sausage dish is perfect for the chilly weather we're having now

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