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'.

 Manhattan creams with citrus caramel

Manhattan creams with citrus caramel

Of all the magical chapters that make up Diana Henry's wonderful book How to Eat a Peach - a combined food memoir, travelogue and cookery book, 'Missing New York' is the most evocative, making you immediately want to jump on a plane and spend a few days following in her footsteps.

Claire Thomson’s One Pan Chicken Braciole

Claire Thomson’s One Pan Chicken Braciole

Claire is a cookery writer I hugely admire for her simple but incredibly delicious recipes which you can see her making on her daily reels on Instagram where she posts as 5oclockapron. This recipe is from her latest - and immensely useful - book One Pan Chicken.

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.

Chicken with pineapple and nduja

Chicken with pineapple and nduja

One of the most exciting recent cookbooks is Mezcla by Ixta Belfrage who worked with Yotam Ottolenghi for several years and shares his love of bold flavours. This is actually quite an easy recipe though nobody you cook it for will think that!

Pasta with mushrooms, kosho and toasted parmesan rind

Pasta with mushrooms, kosho and toasted parmesan rind

This recipe is from a new book called Wasted by chef Conor Spacey which is published by the Irish publisher Blasta Books as part of a charmingly illustrated series of single subject books

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.

 Curry leaf mussels and fries

Curry leaf mussels and fries

This is such a simple, clever and inspired way to cook mussels - an exotic version of moules marinières which I couldn't resist as I love curry leaves too.

Celebration Spring Salad

Celebration Spring Salad

Even though it hasn't felt like it so far it's definitely spring and here's a recipe from Jenny Chandler's lovely new book A Good Appetite to celebrate.

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