Pea, parsley & cheddar dip with pumpkin seed crackers

A recipe from a charming and inventive cookbook this week - blogger Rejina Sabur-Cross's Gastrogeek. I've picked it because I love dips - who doesn't? - but also because of the amazing-looking crackers.

Regina writes: "This is one of my all time favourite dips, and the crackers are insanely easy to make – in fact every time I’m in the supermarket and I see those expensive packets of gourmet crackers, I always remember just what a piece of cake it is to bake these and make a beeline straight for the flour section instead. Perfect for snacking on in front of the telly or passing round with drinks.

Serves 4

For the dip

1 garlic clove

1 teaspoon salt

150g frozen petits pois, defrosted

2 tablespoons soured cream

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1‑2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

70g mature Cheddar cheese, grated

25g toasted pine nuts

1 tablespoon chives, finely chopped

1 teaspoon garlic powder

freshly ground black pepper

Crush the garlic clove with 1 teaspoon of salt to form a paste. Transfer to a bowl and add the remaining dip ingredients. Blitz together using a hand-held electric blender and place in the fridge to chill.

For the crackers

50g plain or spelt flour, plus extra for dusting

50g wholemeal or rye flour

5 teaspoons of seeds of your choice

3 tablespoons grated Parmesan or other hard cheese, for sprinkling

pinch of salt

In a bowl, mix the flours with about 6 tablespoons of water to form a supple dough. Turn a roasting tin or baking sheet upside down, dust it with flour and roll the dough out to cover the tin. It should be nice and thin - don’t worry if it doesn’t look perfect.

Preheat the oven to 180˚C/gas mark 4. Sprinkle the dough with a little water and from a slight height (to ensure even distribution) sprinkle over the seeds, cheese and a pinch of salt. Pop the inverted tin in the oven and bake for 15‑20 minutes or until golden and crisp.

Remove and slide a spatula under to loosen the cracker before breaking up into big bite-size shards.

Serve the hot crackers with the cold dip. Any leftover crackers will keep in an airtight container for a few days.

What to drink: I'd probably go for a Sauvignon Blanc or Semillon with this but you could drink an Italian white like a Vermentino, a rosé or even a glass of sparkling wine like a Cava.

Gastrogeek by Rejina Sabur-Cross is published by Kyle Books, priced £15.99. Photography: Chris Terry

Crab macaroni cheese

I always think it's hard to improve on macaroni cheese but adding crab, which my mate Fiona Sims has done in her brilliant new The Boat Cookbook, is an inspired touch.

Although the cookbook is for sailors there are plenty of recipes to appeal to landlubbers like me - including a great version of pasta con le sarde (pasta with sardines) and a chocolate fruit cake.

Fiona writes: "Macaroni cheese is my ultimate boat comfort food – add crab and it becomes something special. A fresh, dressed crab is the best thing to use here, as it cranks up the flavour intensity, but you can use a tub of pasteurised white crabmeat, or failing that two 170g tins of white crabmeat. Serve with a crisp, green salad."

For 4

50g butter

2 leeks, trimmed, washed and finely sliced

400g macaroni, or other short pasta

50g flour

600ml milk

150g mature Cheddar, grated

¼ tsp nutmeg, grated

1 dressed crab

2 handfuls of breadcrumbs

salt and pepper

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed pan and add the leeks, then cover and sweat for 10 minutes to soften.

Meanwhile bring salted water to the boil in a large saucepan and cook the pasta, then drain and keep warm. Heat the grill. Add the flour to the leeks, stir to combine and cook for a couple of minutes. Gradually add the milk, whisking to avoid lumps, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add half the cheese and all of the nutmeg and crab, then heat through and season before stirring in the cooked pasta.

Tip the lot into a shallow baking dish if you are using a boat grill (if you are cooking at home with a larger grill, any heatproof dish will work). Top with the breadcrumbs and the remaining cheese. Grill for a couple of minutes until the topping is crunchy and golden.

What to drink: I generally drink red with a mac'n'cheese (see here) but given the crab I'd go for a crisp white like a Sancerre or other Sauvignon Blanc

The Boat Cookbook: real food for hungry sailors by Fiona Sims is published by Bloomsbury. Photograph © Julian Winslow.

Japanese ginger and garlic chicken with smashed cucumber

A simple but spectacular Japanese-style dish from Diana Henry's marvellous new book A Change of Appetite which I've also reviewed on the site here.

Diana writes: "This dish has a great interplay of temperatures. The chicken is hot and spicy, the cucumber like eating shards of ice (make sure you serve it direct from the fridge).

The cucumber recipe is adapted from a recipe in a wonderful American book called Japanese Farm Food by Nancy Singleton Hachisu. You can also make the chicken with boneless thighs and griddle them."

Serves 4

For the chicken

3 1/2 tbsp soy sauce

3 tbsp sake or dry sherry

3 tbsp soft dark brown sugar

1/2 tbsp brown miso

60g (2oz) root ginger, peeled and finely grated

4 garlic cloves, finely grated

1 tsp togarashi seasoning (available in Waitrose), or 1/2 tsp chilli powder

8 good-sized skinless bone-in chicken thighs, or other bone-in chicken pieces

For the cucumber

500g (1lb 2oz) cucumber

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

2 tsp sea salt

2 tbsp pink pickled ginger, very finely shredded

small handful of shiso leaves, if available, or mint leaves, torn (optional)

Mix everything for the chicken (except the chicken itself ) to make a marinade. Pierce the chicken on the fleshy sides with a knife, put the pieces into a shallow dish and pour the marinade over. Massage it in well, turning the pieces over. Cover and put in the fridge for 30–60 minutes.

When you’re ready to cook, preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Take the pieces out of the marinade and put them in a shallow ovenproof dish in which they can sit snugly in a single layer. Pour over half the marinade. Roast in the oven for40 minutes, basting every so often with the juices and leftover marinade (don’t add any leftover marinade after 20 minutes, it needs to cook properly as it has had raw chicken in it). Check for doneness: the juices that run out of the chicken when you pierce the flesh with a knife should be clear and not at all pink.

When the chicken is halfway through cooking, peel and halve the cucumber and scoop out the seeds. Set on a board and bang the pieces gently with a pestle or rolling pin. This should break them up a little. Now break them into chunks with your hands.

Crush the garlic with a pinch of the salt and massage this – and the rest of the salt – into the cucumber. Put in a small plastic bag, squeeze out the air and put in the fridge for 10 minutes. When you’re ready to eat, tip the cucumber into a sieve so the juices can drain away. Add the shredded ginger. You can add shiso leaves if you can find them (I can’t, I have no Japanese shop nearby). Nothing else really tastes like it, but I sometimes add mint.

Serve the chicken with brown rice or rice vermicelli (the rice vermicelli is good served cold) and the cucumber.

Try this with… edamame and sugar snap salad Mix 2 tbsp white miso paste, 1 tbsp rice vinegar, 2 tbsp groundnut oil, 2 tbsp water, 1 tsp runny honey and 2cm (3/4in) peeled, grated root ginger. Toss with 100g (3 1/2oz) cooked edamame beans, 100g (3 1/2oz) raw sugar snap peas, sliced lengthways, 8 sliced radishes and a handful of mizuna. Serves 4.

What to drink: While this type of sweet-savoury dish is delicious it can be tricky with wine. Chilled sake might be your best bet - otherwise I'd go for a strong fruity rosé, a light red like a Beaujolais cru or a New Zealand pinot gris.

You can read my full review of A Change of Appetite here.

From A Change of Appetite by Diana Henry, published by Mitchell Beazley. Photograph © Laura Edwards.

 

Pork loin with rhubarb and balsamic vinegar

An elegant, quick roast from Fran Warde's New Bistro that makes the best of in-season rhubarb. You could even serve it on Valentine's night.

Preparation: 10 minutes
Cooking: 40–45 minutes
Serves: 4

1 tbsp olive oil
25g (1oz) butter
600g (1lb 5oz) pork loin
200g (7oz) rhubarb
100ml (3.5 fl oz) chicken stock
50g (2oz) sugar
1 tsp mustard
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas 5. Heat the oil and butter in an ovenproof pan and, when foaming, add the pork and brown on all sides. Place in the oven and roast for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, trim the ends of the rhubarb and cut the stems on a diagonal into 4cm (1.5-inch) lengths.

Remove the pork from the oven and lift out of the pan. Add the remaining ingredients to the pan, stir, then place the pork on top and return to the oven for a further 15–20 minutes, or until cooked through.

To serve, slice the pork and serve with the rhubarb sauce.

Wine suggestion: Sweet and sour flavours always cause a bit of a problem for wine but I quite like the idea of partnering this dish with a fruity rosé. A dry Alsace Riesling or Pinot Gris might also work but could be a little more hit and miss.

From New Bistro by Fran Warde, published by Mitchell Beazley. Photograph © Jason Lowe