Fresh and fruity muesli

You can prepare this in advance and leave it in the fridge overnight, or make it in the morning and eat it straight away - either way works!

Makes: 1 serving
Takes: 5 minutes

Ingredients

1 apple
3 dried apricots
3oz (75g) porridge oats
5fl oz (150ml) milk

Method

1. Grate the apple and chop the apricots then mix with the oats and milk.
2. Er - that's it! Eat it!

You can add other fruit and/or chopped nuts if you wish.

Seafood and couscous

Pretty quick and easy and absolutely delicious! You can use mixed seafood, prawns, white fish or a mixture.

Makes: 4 servings
Takes: 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large carrot
2 sticks of celery
2 leeks
2 cloves of garlic
pinch of chilli flakes
1 bay leaf
150ml dry white wine
400g tin of tomatoes
400g of seafood
375ml hot vegetable stock
1 lemon
200g couscous
fresh parsley

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Meanwhile, peel and finely dice the carrot, thinly slice the celery, thinly slice the leeks and chop the garlic. Cook the carrot, celery, leeks, garlic, chilli and bay leaf in the oil for about 5 minutes, until softened.
2. Add the wine and tinned tomatoes to the pan (if using whole plum tomatoes, first blitz them briefly in a blender or chop them by sticking a large knife repeatedly into the open tin). Boil rapidly for 5 minutes to reduce.
3. Finely grate the zest of the lemon and squeeze the juice of half of it. Put into a small pan with the stock and bring to the boil.
4. If using fish, cut into small pieces. Turn down the heat under the pan and add the seafood, simmering gently for 5 minutes till piping hot and the fish (if using) is cooked through.
5. Meanwhile, add the couscous to the boiling stock and lemon juice, stir, remove from the heat and cover. Leave for 5 minutes. Season, add some finely chopped fresh parsley and fluff with a fork. Serve when the couscous and seafood are both ready.

The seafood will freeze well so you can make this to serve 2 by halving the amount of couscous, stock and lemon then saving half the seafood for another occasion.

Chicken parcels

The basic idea behind this recipe is that the chicken cooks in its own steam so is very tender and juicy, and the flavourings both infuse the chicken itself and mix with the juices to make a small amount of sauce. The photo shows Thai green curry chicken but the flavour combinations are endless - see the notes below. Great for serving up everyone's favourites while catering to different tastes!

Makes: As many servings as you wish, just use a chicken breast per person
Takes: 5 minutes + 30 minutes cooking time

Ingredients

1 chicken breast
Any flavourings you wish, see below

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200oC/fan oven 180oC.
2. Cut a piece of foil about 12" square and lightly oil or butter the centre of it. Place the chicken breast onto the foil and add the other ingredients.
3. Bring the edges of the foil together and scrunch to seal, trapping air inside the parcel to allow the chicken to steam. Place the parcel into a roasting tin and cook for 30 minutes.
4. Transfer the parcel to a plate, add potatoes or rice and vegetables, and allow each diner to open his or her own parcel - being careful of the steam! The juices that collect can be poured over the chicken and rice or potatoes as a sauce.

There are so many variations on this theme. A really simple flavour would be lemon juice and fresh herbs - sprinkle a tablespoon or so of lemon juice over the chicken then add some chopped parsley, for example. The photo above shows Thai green curry chicken, which I made by spreading the chicken breast with Thai green curry paste then adding 2 tablespoons of coconut milk and some chopped coriander. You can use a little tomato puree and some grated cheese for 'pizza' chicken, or try butter, finely chopped garlic and sliced mushrooms. Or keep it very simple by adding a little chicken stock to each parcel.

Just one word of warning - you may need to allow longer if cooking several of these at once. Check by carefully opening one of the parcels and sticking a sharp knife into the thickest part of the breast to check that the inside is no longer pink and the juices are clear.

You can also cook fillets of fish this way, though they would only need about 20 minutes in the oven.

Lemonade

Proper, traditional, still lemonade. You might want to adjust the proportions to suit your taste - this makes quite a 'zingy' drink, so I'd add extra water if making it for children. It does need to be drunk while fresh as the pith will make it taste bitter if you keep it too long.

Makes: 1 generous glass
Takes: 5 minutes

Ingredients

1 lemon
1/2 pint water
1 tbsp caster sugar (or more to taste)

Method

1. Cut the lemon into quarters (no need to peel it or remove the pips!) and put into a blender with the water and sugar. Blitz for about 10 seconds.
2. Set a sieve over a large bowl or jug and pour the lemonade through the sieve. Press down on the pulp with the back of a spoon to squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Taste and add more sugar if necessary.

Obviously it's easy to increase the quantities to make more servings!

Hummous

With thanks and due credit to Amy, whose recipe I tweaked and adapted (I know she doesn't mind that I tweaked and adapted, as that's how she cooks too!) My preference is for lemon and coriander hummous, so that's what this recipe makes, though you can leave out the lemon juice and coriander if you wish.

Makes: About a jamjar full
Takes: 5 minutes

Ingredients

400g tin of chickpeas
1 lemon
2 tbsp tahini
1 tsp garlic paste (or 1 clove garlic, finely chopped)
1 small handful of fresh coriander leaves
Salt and pepper

Method

1. Drain the chickpeas and finely grate the lemon rind and squeeze out the juice.
2. Place all the ingredients into a bowl or jug and blitz to the desired consistency with a handheld stick blender.

A jug blender would be fine, but pulse for just a few seconds at a time to keep an eye on the consistency. If you don't have either, mash the chickpeas and chop the coriander before thoroughly mixing all the ingredients together.

Victoria Sponge

A lovely, easy, basic recipe that's easy to play with to give you flavour variations.

Makes: 1 large cake or 4 dozen cupcakes
Takes: 10 minutes + baking time

Ingredients

8 oz caster sugar
8 oz butter or margarine
4 eggs
4 tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla essence
8 oz self-raising flour

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200oC/180oC fan and grease and line a large round cake tin.
2. Cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy (I use a handheld electric whisk, but you could use a food processor or just beat by heand with a wooden spoon).
3. Beat in the eggs, milk and vanilla then sift in the flour and mix well.
4. Pour the batter into the tin and bake for about 45-50 minutes until well-risen, golden brown, and springy to the touch. Check by pushing a skewer into the centre - if it comes out clean, the cake is cooked.
5. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn onto a wire rack. When cold, cut in half horizontally, spread one half with jam and sandwich the pieces back together. Sprinkle sugar on the top just before serving.

Variations: You could add different essences instead of vanilla. For chocolate cake, instead of milk, add 4 heaped teaspoons cocoa powder mixed with 4 tablespoons boiling water. For fillings you can use lemon curd, chocolate spread, buttercream; or whipped fresh cream; for toppings, glace icing, melted chocolate, more buttercream or fresh cream... Use your imagination!

Alternative: You can use this same recipe to make cupcakes by spooning the mixture into paper cases in a cupcake tin. These will only need 15-20 minutes to cook.

Top tip: If you want a smooth flat surface for icing or chocolate, turn the cake upside down before decorating.

Cheat's Stroganof

A great way to use up leftover meat from a roast dinner. Quantities given are a little vague, as it really depends how much meat you have left over!

Cheat's Stroganof

Makes: Depends how much meat you have
Takes: 10 minutes

Ingredients

Cooked meat of any kind (chicken, beef, pork - the photo shows a mixture of turkey and gammon)
Condensed mushroom soup
Black pepper

Method

1. Cut the meat into bite-sized pieces.
2. Put into a saucepan and add enough condensed soup to coat the meat and give you a 'sauce'.
3. Heat through and season with plenty of black pepper.

Spare portions freeze well, just defrost and heat through when required.
With the soup, I just add a tin at a time - we usually have a few tins in the storecupboard ready for making this recipe.
I often add sliced mushrooms, though they don't tend to freeze so well so they're better to add to the portion you're going to eat straight away! You could add onions and a bit of garlic, too. Just start off with a small amount of oil in the saucepan and saute till soft before adding the meat and soup.

Chocolate Fudge

No boiling required - this is such a quick and easy fudge to make, but it's very sweet - a little goes a long way!

Chocolate Fudge

Makes: 36 pieces
Takes: 10 mins preparation + refrigeration overnight

Photo to follow

Ingredients

4 oz (100g) plain chocolate
2 oz (50g) butter
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 lb (450g) icing sugar, sieved

Method

1. Break the chocolate into pieces and melt it with the butter over a pan of simmering water or in the microwave.
2. Remove from the heat and stir in the milk and vanilla.
3. Gradually beat in the icing sugar (the mixture gets very stiff towards the end, so expect your arm to ache a bit afterwards!)
4. Press into a greased 7" square tin, levelling the surface.
5. Refrigerate overnight then cut into 36 squares. Keep refrigerated.

Enjoy :-)

Try to share it with your family though.... ;-)

Smoked Salmon and Spinach Tagliatelle

It sounds really decadent but it isn't really too bad as a treat now and then - and you can buy packs of smoked salmon scraps quite cheaply which makes this dish even more affordable. It works fine without the spinach if you prefer.

Smoked Salmon and Spinach Tagliatelle

Makes: 2 portions
Takes: 10 minutes + 10 minutes cooking time

Ingredients

200g dried tagliatelle (approximately - enough to serve two people)
150 ml creme fraiche (I use the reduced fat variety)
125g smoked salmon (again, approximately! The scraps come in a 120g pack and this is fine)
Two good handfuls baby spinach (about 50g)
Lemon juice
Black pepper

Method

1. Cook and drain the pasta and return to the pan.
2. Stir in the creme fraiche then cut the salmon into small pieces and add.
3. Rinse the spinach and drain. Add to the pasta mixture and stir well.
4. Heat through gently until the spinach wilts (5 minutes should be plenty). Season with a squeeze of lemon juice - about 1 tsp - and plenty of black pepper.

Nice for a special dinner, without needing loads of preparation (though I like that kind of recipe sometimes too...)

Drop Scone/Scotch Pancake Thingies

I don't know what the proper name for these would be, OK?! But I do know that they're very quick and easy to make, and they taste great. And they use such basic ingredients that we can nearly always make them without needing to plan ahead. Always a popular choice for a pudding in our household :-)

Drop Scone/Scotch Pancake Thingies

Makes: About 12
Takes: 5 minutes + 5 minutes cooking time

Ingredients

6 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 egg
4 tbsp milk

Method

1. Measure the flour and sugar into a bowl and mix together then add the egg. Mix to a smooth paste.
2. Gradually mix in the milk until the consistency is like double cream (you may need slightly more or less milk, depending on the size of the egg).
3. Pre-heat a non-stick frying pan (you may need a little oil in the pan, though I don't use any). Add spoonfuls of batter to the pan and cook until the bottom is brown and the top has dried out.
4. Flip to brown the other side then serve warm.

Great with maple syrup, honey, chocolate sauce, jam, or just as they are! I'm guessing that you could also add some dried fruit and/or chopped fresh fruit to the batter before cooking, though I've never actually tried it...

Shortbread Biscuits

My first recipe is for easy shortbread biscuits. I love this recipe because it is _very_ easy, it's quick, it's forgiving, you can ring the changes by adding different ingredients, and the biscuits always taste great (in fact, the uncooked mixture also tastes great...)

Shortbread Biscuits

Makes: 12-24, depends how big you make 'em!
Takes: 5-10 mins preparation + 20 mins cooking time

Ingredients

3 oz caster sugar
7 oz butter or margarine (I use buttery spread)
9 oz plain flour

Method

1. Cream together the sugar and butter till light and fluffy. An electric mixer is best for this; you can do it by hand but it's quite hard work by the time you've mixed in the flour too.
2. Sift in the flour and stir then beat till the mixture comes together in a soft dough. It might start off a bit crumbly but it will come together if you keep mixing.
3. You can refrigerate the dough at this point (for a couple of hours or overnight) so it firms up slightly, but it's fine to use straight away. If you want to roll it out then refrigerating will probably help.
4. Either roll out to a thickness of about 5mm on a well-floured surface then use cutters to cut out your biscuits, or break off little balls of dough and flatten to about 5mm thick. I usually do the latter as it's quicker and I like the homemade look, but it's nice to cut Christmassy shapes or hearts or the kids' initials for special occasions.
5. Place the biscuits on a lightly greased baking tray and bake at 180oC (fan oven) till the edges start to brown. (It takes about 20 minutes. I forgot about my batch today - the ones in the photo - and they got 30 minutes, which is why they look quite brown! Still delicious, just crunchier.)
6. Cool on the baking tray for 5 minutes then cool completely on a wire rack. Try not to eat them while they're hot, you will burn your mouth. Don't say I didn't warn you...

Store in an airtight container - they'll keep for a few days but probably won't last that long!

Variations

You can add raisins, chocolate chips, chopped cherries, Smarties/M&Ms etc to the mixture after step 2. Or sift in spices (eg cinnamon, ginger, mixed spice) with the flour - adding ground ginger here then chopped ginger after step 2 is delicious! I use a jar of ginger preserved in syrup (not the whole jar!!) You could add grated lemon zest and juice of 1 lemon after step 1, and increase the flour to 10 oz. Or mix in desiccated coconut and chopped glace cherries. Or some oats and raisins. Or replace a tablespoon or so of flour with the same amount of cocoa powder. Or... So many ideas!!

Here are some with chocolate chips added, and some where 1 oz of flour was replaced with 1 oz of cocoa powder, and white chocolate chunks were added. I spooned heaps of the mixture onto the baking sheet, keeping them quite rough and fairly thick, and only aiming to make about 8 large cookies. They needed about 30 minutes to cook because of the added thickness.

Also, these biscuits ice really well (though I'd use the rolled out and cut version, as they have a smooth top surface!). Just sift some icing sugar and mix with hot water to make a fairly stiff icing, adding any colours or flavours you wish, then spread over the cooled biscuits. You can add chocolate or sugar sprinkles, jelly sweets, etc, etc, before the icing sets. Or add cocoa powder to the icing sugar for chocolate icing.

Enjoy :-)