Using bread in a sauce for its soft thickness is old, but enriching it not with cream but with much lighter, sharper creme fraiche is new.

Serves 6

8 cloves
1 large onion, peeled and quartered
900ml/1.5pt milk
salt and pepper
175g/6oz fresh white breadcrumbs
50g/1.75oz butter
2-3 tbsp creme fraiche
1. Stick 2 cloves into each piece of onion, then place in a pan with the milk and bring slowly to the boil. Simmer very gently over the lowest possible heat (use a heat diffuser if you have one) for 15 min, leave to infuse for another 15 min, then strain into a clean pan, discarding the solids. Season and stir in the breadcrumbs. Leave to infuse for 30 min.

2. Just before serving, add the butter and reheat gently, stirring constantly. When the butter has melted, stir in the creme fraiche to taste and continue to heat until piping hot, but do not allow the sauce to boil after you add the creme fraiche.

Lemon and butter running together in, under and over the turkey scent the flesh and crisp the skin to melting goodness.

10-12 servings

4.5kg/10lb turkey, free range if possible
3 lemons, cut across into approx 5mm/0.25in slices, plus 1 lemon, halved
1 onion, thinly sliced, plus 1 onion, quartered
2 good handfuls parsley
12 sprigs thyme
12 sprigs marjoram
8 bay leaves
115g/4oz softened unsalted butter
salt and pepper

1. Line a roasting pan with two sheets of wide heavy-duty foil at right angles to each other. Lightly oil the foil-covered base of the tin, spread the lemon slices over, then scatter over the sliced onion and half the herbs.

2. Put the halved lemon, the quartered onion and the remaining herbs in the body cavity of the turkey.

3. Stuff the neck with /Shallot, Almond and Parsley Stuffing/ (not too tightly as the stuffing expands as it cooks). Tuck the neck flap under and secure neatly with a skewer.

4. Sit the bird on the lemon and herbs, smear liberally all over with butter, and season well.

5. Fold the foil sheets over one by one to seal the bird in a loose but airtight parcel, with plenty of space between the foil and the bird.

6. Roast in the oven for about 4 hours:

220C/425F/gas mark 7 for first 40 minutes
170C/325F/gas mark 3 for the middle bit
Then open up the foil and bast frequently during:
200C/400F/gas mark 6 for last 40 minutes

Allow to rest for 30-40 min before carving.

Serve with Butter Roasted Potatoes with Sea Salt
Glazed Carrots with Rosemary
Roast Sprouts with Chestnuts
Cranberry, Tangerine and Green Onion Relish
Bread Sauce with Creme Fraiche (see above)

The stuffing can be made the day before!

50g/1.75oz butter
250g/9oz shallots, peeled and halved across (or cut in 4 if large)
150ml/0.25pt dry sherry
2 tsp sugar
salt and pepper
175g/6oz white breadcrumbs
85g/3oz ground almonds
85g/3oz toasted slivered almonds
3 tbsp finely chopped parsley
Grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper
1 egg, beaten

1. Melt the butter in a small, lidded saucepan, then add the shallots, sherry and sugar, and season well.

2. Simmer, covered, for 20 min or until the shallots are soft, then remove the lid, turn up the heat a little and cook, stirring frequently, until all the liquid has evaporated and the shallots are left in a sticky glaze. Watch towards the end that they do not burn.

3. Transfer to a bowl, allow to cool, then stir in the remaining ingredients.

4. Use to stuff the neck end of your turkey.

Method : 1 tin of corned beef, cubed; 1 tin of baked beans; appropriate amount of cheese (also cubed).

Put into dish, top with potato mashed with cheese and put in hot oven for appropriate length of time...

NB As it probably does horrid things to cholesterol level, best drink a reasonable anount of red wine (after, not with).

(Apologies that this recipe is not attributed to its real owner but I have lost the details)

In the absence of a recipe I'd be inclined to treat them like any other small game bird.

Making this up as I go along: If a quail turned up now in need of cooking I'd probably wrap in bacon, fry till browned all over, cover and pop into a moderate oven for not very long. Thinking French, a few finely chopped shallots, or baby onions, with button mushrooms could be sauted and go in the oven with the bird(s) and a shot of brandy/calvados/sherry. Cream could be stirred into the sauce before serving. Not that I have any of those other ingredients available either.

6oz. shortcrust pastry
1 onion, chopped
1 oz. butter
1 lb. sausage meat
2oz. grape nuts
1 dessertspoon chopped parsley
1 tsp. grated lemon rind
pinch mixed herbs
salt and pepper
1 egg

Oven. mk. 6. 400 F. 200 C. Line a 7" pie plate or dish with pastry

Fry the onion in the butter until transparent. Add the sausagemeat and continue to cook for 5 mins. Remove from heat.

Add the grape nuts, parsley, lemon rind, mixed herbs, seasonings and beaten egg.

Spread the mixture into the pastry case and bake for 30 mins. Reduce heat to Mk. 4 350 F, 180 C and bake for a further 15 mins.

Serve hot or cold

Serves 4 (approx 20 mins preparation and 20 mins cooking.....I always need longer for both!!)

1/2 cup plain flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 chicken breasts
2 teaspoons olive oil
20g butter
1 small onion, finely sliced
2 teaspoons cocoa powder, sifted (too much will tend to make the sauce bitter)
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1/4 cup red wine
1 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon sour cream
1/3 cup raisins
toasted flaked almonds to garnish.

Method

1 Preheat oven to 180ºC
2 Combine flour and cinnamon in small bowl.
3 Toss chicken lightly in the seasoned flour. Shake off excess. Reserve 1 teaspoon / maybe more of flour mixture.
4 Heat oil and butter in large pan. Cook chicken over a medium heat until golden, turning once.
5 Remove from the pan; drain on absorbent paper.
6 Add onion, cocoa powder, sugar and tomato paste to pan and stir over a low heat.
7 Add red wine and stock gradually, stirring over a low heat until mixture is smooth.
8 Blend sour cream and reserved flour in a small bowl until smooth. Add to the onion mixture with raisins, stir over a medium heat for 2 mins or until slightly thickened. Remove from heat.
9 Place the chicken in an ovenproof baking dish. Pour over sauce. Cover with lid and cook for 20 mins or until chicken is tender.
10 Serve chicken sprinkled with toasted flaked almonds.

Recipe to serve four. Do your own maths for less people.

8 quail. (approx 150g/5oz each)
6 firm ripe figs, quartered
15g/1.5 oz/1 tbs butter
90ml/6tbs dry sherry (or Pineau de Charantes)
200ml/half pint/1 and a quarter cups of chicken stock
1 clove garlic finely chopped
2 - 3 thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
7.5ml/1 and a half tsp cornflour blended with 15ml/1tbs water
salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Season quail inside and out with salt and pepper. Put quarter of a fig in cavity of quail and tie legs with string.

2. Melt butter in deep frying pan, or heavy flameproof casserole over medium heat. Cook quail 5 - 6 mins, turning to brown evenly. Cook in batches if necessary.

3. Add sherry or Pineau de Charantes and boil one min, then add stock, garlic, thyme, bay leaf. Bring to boil and reduce heat, simmer gently, covered for 20 mins.

4. Add remaining fig quarters, continue cooking for a further 5 mins or until juices run clear when quail thigh is pierced with knife. Transfer quail from dish to warmed dish, with figs, remove string.

5. Bring liquid left in pan to boil then stir in cornflour mixture. Cook gently for 3 mintues, stirring frequently until sauce is thickened. Strain into sauce boat. Serve with quail and a green salad.

1 lb kohl-rabi
1 lb potatoes
1/2 lb streaky bacon
1 onion
1 oz butter
salt and pepper
5 fl oz white stock
garnish- chopped chervil

Cooking time 1 1/4 hours. Oven temperature 180c. (Or 20 min in a pressure cooker, in which case add an extra half pint of stock.)

Peel the kohl-rabi and cut into finger wide strips, then cut these in half. Peel and dice the potatoes.

Remove rind and gristle from the bacon and chop the flesh roughly. Peel the onion and chop finely. Melt the butter in a pan and fry the onion until soft and golden, but not brown. Lift out with a slotted spoon. Fry the diced bacon in the butter until crisp, then remove and drain.

Put a layer of potatoes over the base of an oven proof dish, add a layer of kohl-rabi and a layer of onion and bacon. Sprinkle the layers lightly with salt and pepper and continue with these layers until all the ingredients are used up, finishing with potatoes. Pour the stock into the casserole, cover with a lid and cook for one hour.

Serving. Serve as a dish on its own, straight from the oven, sprinkled with finely chopped chervil.

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 lamb shanks
1 carrot, finely diced
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 celery sticks, finely diced
30-45ml/2-3tbsp olive oil
a few sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
2 garlic loves, finely chopped
2 oranges, juice and finely grated zest (no pith) 1 lemon, juice and finely grated zest (no pith)
60ml/4tbsp sieved roasted tomatoes (or 15ml/1tbsp concentrated tomato puree)
½ bottle white wine
250ml/19floz lamb stock (or water)
salt and pepper
fresh parsley, chopped

Method

In a suitable casserole, sweat the diced vegetables in some of the olive oil without browning, until tender. Add the thyme, bay leaves, garlic, tomato, wine and lamb stock or water, along with most of orange zest and juice (retain a few pinches of zest and a tablespoon of juice). Bring to the boil and lower to a gentle simmer.

Heat a little more olive oil in a separate pan and brown the lamb shanks on all sides, seasoning with a little salt and pepper as you go. Transfer to the casserole and cover with its lid. Cook in a pre-heated slow-moderate oven (about 150C/300F/Gas 2) until the meat is completely tender and coming off the bone.

Remove the shanks from the pan and keep warm while you finish the sauce. Skim off some of the fat that is floating on it. Taste for seasoning and to assess its intensity. Boil to reduce if you think it needs it. Stir in the reserved juice to refresh the citrus flavour. Serve one lamb shank on each warmed plate, with a generous amount of sauce spooned over. Sprinkle each shank with a little parsley and a pinch of the reserved zest.

Accompany with mashed potatoes, wet polenta or some creamy beans such as butterbeans or canellini.

This dish uses up cold roast pork as well as the other half of the Bramley apple that was used to make apple sauce for 2 and the leftover cream from the pudding that followed the roast.

In a very wide pan, (saves time later when reducing liquid) fry a sliced onion in olive oil. Just before it turns brown, add sliced apple. Fry till both brown. Stir in cold roast pork, cut into bite-sized pieces. Chuck in a quantity of chopped fresh sage. Pour on a small quantity of stock and a generous quantity of cheapest white wine. Reduce. Add a dribble of cream, season to taste and serve.

This is written as dictated by my mother, as she best remembers it from the recipe used by the Chinese woman who used to cook for us in Malaya. The measurements are approximate and I sometimes vary them

One smallish onion, chopped
One lb pork fillet, cut into approx one inch cubes
generous tablespoon sesame oil
half teaspoon coriander
half - one sliced green or red pepper (optional)
two pieces preserved ginger, finely sliced, or ginger marmalade (I always add some of the syrup from the preserved ginger)
small tin tomatoes
some chives or a spring onion
2 or 3 teaspoons cornflour
1 teaspoon soy sauce
three quarters of a teaspoon chilli sauce
one and a half inch length of cucumber
small amount of white wine vinegar

Cut the cucumber into matchsticks and place in a cup just covering the cucumber with vinegar.

Fry the onion in the sesame oil until just beginning to brown. Add the coriander and the meat and fry the meat hotly, to seal.

Add the pepper if using, the ginger and the tomatoes. Finely chop the chives or spring onion and add. Cook gently till the pork is cooked.

Blend the cornflour with the soy sauce and chilli sauce and a little water and add to the pan. Cook till thickened. Drain some of the vinegar from the cucumber and add the rest with the cucumber. Stir in, season lightly and serve.

From "Evelyn Rose goes Microwave in the Jewish Kitchen" (Robson Books, 1989)

Ragu Bolognese for 4

1 onion
1 carrot
2 stalks celery
1 medium green pepper, deseeded
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb (450g) lean minced beef
10 fl oz(275ml/1 1/4 cups) chicken stock or 5 floz (150 ml/ 2/3 cup) each full-bodied red wine and chicken stock
1 x 15 ox(425g) chopped tomatoes
2 level tbsp tomato puree
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried Italian herbs
1 tsp brown sugar
1 teasp salt
15 grinds black pepper

1. Cut the peeled vegetables into roughly 1 inch (2.5cm) pieces and chop very finely with the garlic in a food processor
2. In a 4 pint (2.25 litre/10 cup) deep lidded casserole or bowl, heat the oil covered on 100% power for 3 minutes.
3. Add the vegetables and the raw meat, stir well with a fork to break down any lumps, then cook uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring once - the meat will be brown.
4. Meanwhile, mix the remaining ingredients together in a jug or bowl, then add to the meat mixture, stir and cook uncovered on 100% power for 18 minutes. again, then cook uncovered on 50% power for a further 15 minutes, stirring once.
5. Stir well and serve with pasta.

The mixture of wine and stock gives the best flavour. You can use a stock cube but you may need to adjust the salt. Freezing intensifies the flavour as well. The only problem I find is that cooking the dish uncovered means you have to wipe away the tomatoey splashes in the oven afterwards!

Enjoy!

Apart from mixing the marinade and cutting up the chicken, which takes about 10mins and can be done ages before eating - the whole of this meal, including the accompaniments can be cooked in 15-20 mins. If serving to a hungry male, I would probably add some ciabatta bread, as it is quite a light meal.

Serves 4 (I use the same amount of marinade for 2)

4 chicken breasts
4 tablspns olive oil
2-4 garlic cloves crushed
juice of half a lemon
salt and pepper.

Cut chicken into 2.5 cm (1 in) pieces and place in a bowl.
Mix the rest of the above (I do this in a mini blender).
Pour marinade over chicken and leave for at least 30 mins (I do this the day before and leave in fridge or prepare in morning and leave all day)

When hungry, thread on to flat-bladed skewers and cook under the grill for 6-10 minutes, turning the skewers over once and brushing with residue of marinade. (Because careful not to overcook - chicken can quickly dry out)

Serve on bed of:

chopped flat-leaf parsley mixed with
the other half of the lemon (peeled* and cut into small dice)
1 red onion finely sliced

*I prefer to peel lemon very closely, by placing it on surface and cutting away all the pith. This is easily done by holding a v. sharp knife at angle away from the fruit and cutting from top to bottom around the curve.

To accompany:

I have served this with rice (sometimes flavoured with some chopped fresh mint- added after cooking) or with coucous also flavoured with mint. Some reconstituted dried apricots chopped and cooked with rice would also be good.

Stir-fried dice courgette with some cherry toms added for the last 30secs also works well.

Wine:
Something towards the medium side of dry

(1) Half large onion chopped
EV Olive Oil
1oz butter

(2) handful of fresh Sage chopped
sprinkling of thyme

(3) I slice of very fresh white bread roughly cut into cubes

(4) freshly ground black pepper

(5) EV oil and butter as required

In a large frying pan put (1) until onions are soft.

Add (2) and continue to cook until herbs are soft.

Add (3) and (4) and cook until bread is lighly toasted on all sides this may require the addition of (5) as the bread absorbs the fat.

May be served hot or cold with roasted meats or used as a stuffing with fowl

Ingredients
For the vegetables
1 cucumber
1 carrot
10 new potatoes
2 beetroot, cooked
For the grouse
1 garlic clove, finely sliced
1 handful fresh basil
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp pine nuts, toasted
50g parmesan cheese, grated
2 breasts of young grouse
For the sauce
50ml malt vinegar
50ml white wine
50ml cream
50g salted butter
1 tbsp chives, chopped
1 plum tomato, skinned and diced
To garnish
dill and chervil

Method Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. Peel the cucumber and carrot and cut into fine spaghetti-like strips. Peel the potatoes and cut into barrel shapes. Cook in boiling salted water until just soft. Using a melon baller, cut out small balls from the beetroot and set aside. Mix the garlic, basil, pine nuts and grated Parmesan together. Slowly add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Cover the grouse breasts with the mixture. Heat the remaining oil in an ovenproof frying pan and add the grouse. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until golden. Transfer to the oven and cook for 10 minutes. To make the sauce, pour the vinegar and white wine into a saucepan and simmer for 3-4 minutes, until reduced by half. Add the cream and reduce again. Whisk in the butter and season to taste. Just before serving, reheat the potatoes and arrange on a plate with the cucumber and carrot. Drizzle over the sauce, top with the grouse and garnish with the beetroot balls and herbs.

Ingredients:

Small bunch of Spring Onions.
1 large egg.
1 Slice of buttered toast (preferably Home Made and of any variety, but white with bran, or wholemeal both work well).
1 slice of Schinken (German smoked ham).
A little Olive Oil.

Method:

Wash, dry and chop spring onions, place in a frying pan containing a little heated olive oil, fry until slightly soft or lightly golden if preferred. Prepare hot buttered toast during this time, then place on a warmed plate and top with slice of schinken. Form a 'well' between the cooking onions large enough to contain an egg. Crack and deliver contents of egg's shell to the well and cook until cooked as preferred. Place onions around toast and top with the fried egg.

Before I start, I should explain that I cook 'following my nose'. I rarely if ever write things down, I do not weigh ingredients out; I work on the basis of 'I'll use what I can find in the veg. rack, fridge and or freezer' plus the occasional excursion into the supply of tins or packets I can see about.

Today's invention used:

3 chicken portions from freezer.
1 pack of Knorr Crofter's Thick Vegetable Soup.
3 Carrots.
5 sticks of Celery.
1 medium Onion, chopped roughly.
5 manky looking cloves of Garlic skinned and roughly chopped.
I piece of fresh ginger (about a thimble full).
Some Broccoli (about 12 oz. I reckon)
About 4 oz. of Mozzarella Cheese.
About 1 oz. of freshly grated Parmesan Cheese.
Freshly grated Nutmeg.
Freshly ground Black Pepper.
Olive Oil.
Soy Sauce
A little 5 Spice Powder (2 or 3 good pinches).
1 Star Anise Seed (or broken pieces to equivalent).
A quarter teaspoon of Szechwan Pepper.

Method:

Pressure cook the chicken at 15 pound pressure for 10 minutes and allow to return to atmospheric pressure under its' own steam (I rather like that one!); remove chicken to plate (do not remove water from Pressure Cooker), skin, then separate meat from bones using two spoons.

Bundle the bones, skin, onion, garlic, trimmings from carrots, celery and broccoli plus the seasonings into the pressure cooker's perforated pans. Ensure there is a pint and a quarter of liquid (water from chicken cooking plus top up) in the Pressure Cooker and cook at 15 pounds pressure for 15 - 20 minutes. Allow to cool as when cooking the chicken.

Place the resulting stock (sieved if necessary) into a medium saucepan and return to the boil, add soup mix and stir continuously for 5 minutes then add a quarter pint of milk and stir in then turn off heat.

The carrots, celery and broccoli should be cut up and spread to cover a large cooking dish (mine is about 14 inches long by 10 inches wide and 3 inches deep approx. The lumps of chicken (they will be appropriate sizes having been removed from the bones using spoons) should now be dropped into some olive oil and soy sauce, (8 tablespoons olive and about 2 teaspoons of soy) that has been heated in a wok. Turn the chicken pieces over continuously until golden brown and remove from heat. Spread the chicken pieces over the bed of carrots celery and broccoli. Pour soup over the contents of dish and bake at 150 degrees C. for 45 minutes.

Once the mixture has cooked for 45 minutes, cut the Mozzarella cheese into thin strips, grate the Parmesan cheese then place them on the top of the chicken mixture, (laying strips as though making a lattice if you wish but spread them evenly anyway). Sprinkle the grated Parmesan cheese over the top and then grate some Nutmeg over the top. Add some freshly ground Black Pepper over the top too. Grill on low for 10 minutes to melt cheese.

Serve with plain boiled rice. ... Enjoy!

The quantities may be a little vague, but I rarely do precise when I am throwing a new recipe together - it is often a case of what I can find in the fridge / store cupboard. I always 'follow my nose' when inventing a new dish so I'll just provide the size, amount or quantity in the form I used at the time.

Ingredients might include:

1 pork tenderloin
75 grams sage and onion stuffing
a good handful of packet dried fried onion
1/2 to 2/3rds of a cup of dried cranberries
2 to 3 tbsps of pine nuts (kernels)
olive oil

Method:

Soak the cranberries in warm water until expanded and soft, drain and put aside. (The soak water may be used as part of the water for the stuffing, but I didn't try it out at the time).

Mix stuffing with boiled water to sloppy consistency and add the dried fried onion, cranberries and pine nuts. Set aside for 10 mins.

Cut narrow strips of the tenderloin (which may need shortening to fit length of smallish loaf tin.

Wipe small loaf tin with olive oil and then lay alternate strips of the pork and layers of the stuffing mix until all is safely sleeping in the tin; brush top with a little olive oil and cook at approx. 200c. for 60 - 75 minutes, tip out of loaf tin onto a warmed plate and cut slices to enjoy with jacketed and cut roast potatoes plus carrot and swede mash that has been baked in the top of the oven. Serve with a favourite gravy or sauce.

Good quality Mince (about 500 grams is a good meal for 2)
2 teaspoons of coriander (I use Kitchen Garden Organic fresh coriander, which comes in a jar)
Two teaspoons of cumin
Garlic to taste
Tabasco to taste

Combine the above - in a blender if you've got one - I use a potato masher!
Flatten the mince into patties, then put in a small ball (about the size of a largeish marble) of goats cheese in the middle and fold the edges up to make a little parcel.
Fry in a good pan until well cooked through - serve with greek yoghurt mixed with a teaspoon of coriander and a little garlic - delicious!

Ingredients:
Partially baked baguette (of whatever persuasion)
Frying steak
Mushrooms (Flat are best)
Peppers (In your own choice of colours)
Cheese (I am partial to cheddar - Your Philly Cheese Steak Sub May Vary - YPCSSMV)
Celery Salt
Tabasco
Relish to taste - hamburger or Chilli is nice

Method:
Switch on oven to approx 220 degrees (electric) - or whatever the equivalent is.
Rub the frying steak with tabasco and a generous application of celery salt. Lightly fry and cut into strips. Retain the juices to fry the peppers and mushrooms. Deseed pepper and cut into strips, fry. Fry mushroom, allowing it to retain its firmness. Cut into strips. Cut baguette lenghtways and open out. Put the steak, peppers and mushrooms in, mixing with pieces of cheese. Put the baguuette in the oven until it is nice and crispy and the cheese is melted (about 5 minutes). Serve with choice of relish and listen to your arteries harden.....

The recipe goes something like this ...

Chop some chillies up - a mix of hot (birds eye and habanero) and fruity (scotch bonnet) is best - and fry gently in olive oil in a heavy pan, a pressure cooker is ideal.

Add a whole load of crushed garlic - put in as many cloves as you think you can stand and then add some more.

Keep frying. Maybe put a bit of sesame oil in as well.

Chop a large spanish onion and add it to the mix.

Keep frying.

Chop up an aubergine, a courgette and maybe some mixed peppers or mushrooms, and add to the pan. You can crank up the heat at this point and maybe add a bit more olive oil as it soaks into the aubergine. Fry until the aubergine starts to brown slightly.

Add a can of tomatoes and a carton of passata or tomato puree. Add a bag of veggie mince and a can of kidney beans. If there is not enough liquid add a little bit of water, and a good dash of soya sauce. Bring to the boil.

Add about a third of a bar of strong dark chocolate. Eat the rest.

Pressure cook for about 10 minutes or simmer for an hour or so.

Serve with tortillas, grated cheese, guacamole, sliced tomatoes.

This comes from Elizabeth David's 'French Provincial Cooking'. I've never tried it with a whole leg, I actually prefer the cheaper cuts, such as boned shoulder, for flavour (and price) and it works very well on them with little change to the quantity of marinade since it makes such a good sauce. The only other variation to the recipe which I employ is to remove the skin with as much fat as possible, score it well and let it dry out in the fridge (unwrapped) while the meat is marinating. It can then be grilled or roast in a hot oven to produce some good crackling to accompany the meat... but then I love a good bit of crackling :)

I reproduce the recipe verbatim from the book and include (as Mrs David did) a slight variation for use with pork chops.

I have never tasted wild boar so cannot comment on similarity of flavour but I have found this to be a delicious way of cooking the worst pork that the supermarket can offer.

Leg of Pork Marinated in Wine

This is a method of making domestic pig taste like wild boar. For those who happen to like this taste, it is remarkably successful. I don't say it is a dish which one would like to eat very often but it is interesting to try once in a way, and also useful for those who have their own pigs and would like to vary the cooking of their pork from time to time.

For a half leg of fresh pork, weighing between 5 and 6lb, the ingredients for the marinade are as follows: pint red wine, 4 tablespoons of vinegar, 2 carrots, 1 onion, 2 shallots, 2 cloves of garlic, 3 bay leaves, half a dozen or so parsley stalks, several sprigs each of wild thyme and marjoram, a dozen whole peppercorns, a half dozen juniper berries, 2 teaspoons of salt.

Slice the carrots, onions, and shallots, put all the ingredients into a saucepan, bring to the boil, and simmer 5 minutes. Leave to cool.

Have the skin removed from the meat, which can either be boned or not, as you please; it is, of course, easier to deal with if it is boned, for a half leg is always an awkward piece to carve. Also score the fat lightly across the top, so that the marinade has more chance to sink in. Put the meat in a deep china bowl and pour the cooled marinade over it. Leave to steep for 4 days, turning it once a day in the liquid.

Make a pint or so of well seasoned stock from the skin of the pork, plus the bones if the meat has been boned, or some veal bones if it has not, vegetables and herbs. Strain, cool, and remove the fat. To cook the meat you will need 2 tablespoons of olive oil or pork lard, 2 tablespoons of flour, the stock, and the strained marinade.

Take the meat out of the marinade, remove any pieces of vegetables and herbs which may be adhering to it, wipe it dry, and let it brown on both sides in a heavy braising pan in which the oil or lard has been heated. Take it out of the pan. bring the marinade, with all its vegetables, to the boil in a separate saucepan. Stir the flour into the fat in the pan; gradually add the marinade through a strainer; stir until it is smooth; add sufficient of the prepared stock to make a sauce about the consistency of bchamel. Put back the meat. Cover the pan. Transfer to a low oven, Gas No.3, 330F, and cook for 2 to 3 hours, by which time the pork should be quite tender and coming away from the bone. Transfer it to a hot serving dish. Leave the sauce to settle for a few minutes, then pour off as much of the excess fat as possible. Pour the rest of the sauce into a small saucepan, let it come to the boil, and reduce a little. Taste for seasoning. Serve it separately in a sauce-boat.

The accompanying vegetable can be a very creamy pure of chestnuts, lentils, or celeriac and potatoes, into which is incorporated a little of the sauce from the meat. Red-currant jelly can also be served with it. There should be enough for about 10 people, but the dish is also excellent cold.

At one time such dishes as this were often made in imitation of wild boar, while haunches of mutton would be treated in similar ways to imitate venison. Probably the method was evolved as much to preserve meat when there were no refrigerators as to gratify a desire for game out of season.

Pork Chops to taste like Wild Boar Cut the rind from 4 thick loin chops, and reduce the quantities of the marinade [from the previous recipe] by half; leave them for 2 to 4 days.

Cook them in the same way [as above] for about 45 minutes. Alternatively, shake flour over the chops when you take them out of the marinade, brown them lightly in butter; add the heated and strained marinade plus a pint of good stock. When the meat is tender, put it on a serving dish and keep it hot while you stir a tablespoon of red-currant jelly into the sauce and thicken it a little by letting it boil, stirring and lifting it so that it does not stick. Pour it over the meat, and serve with stewed celery or prunes, or a potato pure.

This is a useful recipe to know for those occasions when it may be necessary to buy one's meat in advance or, alternatively, when one has a small quantity of red wine to use up for cooking.

1 tin chestnut puree (usually about a pound/454g in weight)
About a pound of sausage meat
Salt and pepper to taste

Thoroughly mix all ingredients and either use to stuff the neck end of the turkey, or put into a covered Pyrex[1] dish and cook for the last 75 minutes in the oven with the turkey.

[1] other ovenproof dishes are available

1/2 lb of finely minced cooked meat of any kind freed from skin and fat is curried as follows:

1 small onion + 1 clove of garlic are finely minced and lightly fried in a little ghee or other fat.

Then add the following ingredients:

1 dessertsponful ground corianders
1 teaspoonful ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoonful ground chillies
1/2 teaspoonful ground ginger
1/2 teaspoonful ground cummin seed
1/4 teaspoonful ground fenugreek

Mix thoroughly and cook for 2 or 3 minutes.
Then add a small sized lettuce, coarsely shredded.
simmer for 10 minutes or so, add the meat and salt to taste and when the meat is warmed through the curry is ready.

I've never actually tried it myself (i mostly make veggie curries nowadays).

Here's my Mum's advice (pretty much verbatim) Quantities irritatingly vague.

Young rabbit's best, and obviously avoid any that've been blasted too heavily with the shotgun. Get the butcher to joint the beast properly, rather than chopping it up with a cleaver, and also get from him 3 or 4 good slices of belly pork.

Wash the pieces in some salty water to clean them and get rid of any blood.

(If you wish to pander to the faint-of-heart, leave out the ribcage. Nothing like a ribcage flopping out onto your plate to get some people going. Maybe cook it but not serve it, and boil it up with the bones etc the following day to make some tasty soup.)

Put the rabbit and roughly chopped belly pork in the casserole dish with a good quantity of onion, chopped, and some carrot, celery, peas etc. Add a little pearl barley or rice for thickening. Water to cover it, salt & mixed herbs to taste. The most important thing is to cook it long and slow - otherwise it'll go tough. Probably 2 hours would see it nicely done. Mum generally serves it simply with some mashed potato and cabbage.

2 - 3lbs of breast of mutton
Carrots
Celery
½ lemon
Lamb stock
Thyme
Potatoes
Mixed herbs, black pepper
Suet & SR flour

Separate the meat from the fat where possible; cut meat into chunks and throw in pan, with bones etc. Add 2 large rough-chopped carrots, and 2-3 chopped stalks of celery, along with good handful of thyme. Put in ½ pint of lamb stock, and top up with hot water till liquid is just visible. Add a dozen whole peppercorns & a little salt. Bring to boil & skim off froth etc. Add the juice of half a lemon (to taste), and adjust seasoning. Cover and simmer for 2 - 3 hours. Leave overnight.

Take off fat from the surface. Transfer into casserole dish. Slice potatoes and lay over the top, sprinkle with sea salt, fresh ground black pepper and mixed herbs. Cover, and put in oven preheated at 150°C for 1½ hours.

Make dumpling mix, and divide into 1 - ½" lumps. Lay half the potato slices aside on the top of the stew, pop in mini-dumplings; turn oven up to 180°C, and give it 20 minutes with the lid off. Serve with mashed potato, broccoli & sprouts.

6 scrag end of neck lamb chops
a big splash of olive oil
3/4 pint of good lamb stock
1½ lemons
12-16 sprigs of thyme

Heat the oil in a big frying pan, and brown the meat in it, then put the chops into a heavy saucepan or a casserole - try to get them in a single layer if possible. Lob in the lamb stock, and perhaps a half-cup of boiling water, so as to nearly cover the chops. Add the juice of one lemon, and thinly-shaved zest of one of the lemon halves. Throw in the thyme, season well with salt and fresh-ground black pepper.

Bring it up to the boil, then reduce the heat so it simmers; put the lid on and walk away for 25 mins. Turn the chops over. Taste the juice; if you feel like living dangerously, add the juice of the other ½ lemon. Leave for another 25 minutes, till the meat is nicely tender.

Serve on warmed plates, with plenty of the juice, and slabs of good white bread to mop it up. Freeze any juice left over to use next time.

Mmmmm.

Soak a mugful of haricot beans overnight, then simmer them for about 45 minutes.

Coarsely chop two good-sized onions and brown in some oil in a frying pan with two crushed cloves of garlic. Add to a bean pot or other covered casserole dish.

Take two rashers of belly pork and cut into 2cm cubes. Brown them in the oil left from the onions. Chuck them in the pot.

Add the soaked and cooked haricots to the pot.

Make up about a litre of stock, and dissolve in it 1 tbs molasses or black treacle and a good squirt of tomato puree. Pour over the contents of the pot. Add a heaped tsp of dry mustard, and herbs as desired.

Cover and place in a low oven for about three hours.

Put a handful of dried apricots to soak in boiling water. Meanwhile, roughly chop two medium onions and fry them in oil in a large heavy pan. Keep stirring them over a high heat until they soften, sweat, and begin to caramelise. Stir in a tablespoon of flour. Add the diced meat meat and chopped leeks and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the meat has browned. Remove from the heat and stir in a mugful of stock (I shamelessly use Kallo organic vegetable stock cubes) a little at a time until the flour is blended. Return to the heat, keep stirring until it is thickened. Then bung in the drained apricots with salt and pepper to taste, cover and leave to simmer on a low light for an hour or so.

Roll out the pastry, line a pie dish, fill with the filling, cover with the pastry lid and bake at 220C for half an hour.

Firstly, the disclaimer:

I prepared this meal for 2 persons to be eaten with salad, we are still alive, however, the author accepts no liability for the consequences due to any other person or persons using the instructions hereandafter referred to as a 'Recipe' in terms of their health, satisfaction, or their ability to rise from the table after having consumed the results of the said recipe, nor does the author accept any liability for the results if this recipe is used as part of any form of 'calory controlled diet'.

Ingredients:

Lamb shanks - 1 per person (or see below).
Fresh Rosemary from the bush 6 yards down the path in the back garden. (Use about 30/40 leaves) Mint from 2 feet away in the spice and herbs rack. (Approx ¼ tsp.) If using fresh, you may need 8 - 10 leaves).
Onion chopped. (1 medium onion between 2 persons is fine)
Olive oil

Equipment needed.

1 x Pressure Cooker, medium ovenproof dish (lid not required).

Method.

First, catch your lamb! No, seriously, allow 1 shank per person or maybe 2 shanks between 3 people but bear in mind that the presentation of a shank still just attached to its' bone will have to be forgone if sharing shanks is contemplated!

Pot roasting of the shanks: Use enough olive oil to cover the base of the pressure cooker, add some mint and rosemary - heat oil using low heat and place shanks in cooker. Keep turning the shanks until lightly browned adding chopped onion once browning commences -remove from heat then place lamb and oil/flavouring into another dish. Place trivet in cooker and add ¾ pint of water, lamb and oil but leave the onions in the dish for later. Place lid on cooker and raise to 15 pound pressure for 12 - 15 minutes. Allow lamb to decrease in pressure for a few minutes then release pressure.

Baking: Place the lamb and the liquid into the ovenproof dish with the onion acting as a bed for the lamb. Put in pre-heated oven and bake for 30 minutes at 220 deg. C.

Serving: the juices are not required if the lamb is to be served with a side salad but may be used in the gravy if to be served as a 'meat & two veg.' meal. The onion pieces may be placed on or at the side of the lamb.

Eating instructions: Consume with relish!

A fairly useful standby, and a way of dealing with the end of the boiled bacon which has begun to pall on you on the third day.

Implements

Chopping board, sharp knife, potato peeler, one medium and one small saucepan, tinopener, wooden spoon, medium casserole dish, cheese grater (optional)

Ingredients

Two medium potatoes
A piece of boiled bacon about the size of your fist
A large onion
Garlic
A 14oz tin of skinned tomatoes
Olive oil
Salt
Grated cheese (optional)

Set the oven to heat to Gas Mark 6/7
Peel the potatoes and cut them into slices about one third of an inch thick.
Set them to boil in the larger saucepan, with a little salt
Chop the garlic very fine
Fry the garlic in olive oil and the smaller saucepan until it is just going pale brown, stirring often and turning off the heat the moment it begins to go brown, meantime
Cutting the onion up small
Add the onion to the garlic and fry, stirring often, until it is soft
Open the tin of tomatoes and pour it in on top. Stir well and leave simmering.
Drain the potatoes, which will by now be cooked well enough.
Cut the bacon into small chunks, about the size of the end of your little finger, and put it in the casserole dish, spread over the bottom
Pour the onion, garlic and tomato mixture over the bacon
Arrange the potato slices on top in a layer all over the mixture (Put a layer of grated cheese over that)
Put the dish into the oven with no cover on it for about fifteen to twenty minutes, until the cheese has melted and gone brown and crunchy or the potato has got brown crunchy edges sticking up.

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