Serves

Four people

Ingredients

  • The white of 4 leeks sliced about 500g in total (Save the green tops for a stock)
  • 300g white sliced potatoes
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 50g butter
  • 1.5 ltrs Vegetable, chicken or fish stock
  • 250 ml cream
  • Salt
  • Fresh ground black pepper
  • Small bunch of chives

Method

Leeks can often be gritty. They need washing well. Do this by splitting each leek from tip to tail. Run each half under the cold tap making sure to rinse them well up around the tops. You can remove the outer layer if necessary. Slice the leeks.

Peel and slice the potatoes to about 5mm thick, peel and slice the garlic cloves.

Pull out your favourite soup pan, put it on a medium heat add the butter and allow to foam. Add the prepared vegetables to the pan. Cook for 10 – 15 mins until soft but not coloured.

Add the stock (a good fish stock works particularly well here) to the soup base. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 mins until potato is cooked.

Puree soup well until smooth and creamy. I find that jug blenders are the best tool for this job.

Return the soup to the pan. Add the cream, salt, pepper and chopped chives.

Bring gently back to the simmer.

Serve with buttered bread and slabs of cheese. Or iced, like a classic vichyssoise with 1/2 dozen Oysters on the side.

This is a tasty noodle dish where the vegetables are flavoured with ginger, garlic and a touch of curry powder. A good vegetarian option it can also suit meat eaters if two finely sliced or shredded duck breasts are added to the mixture at the last stage of cooking with the noodles.

Serves

4 people

Ingredients

  • 250g egg noodles
  • 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
  • 1 red pepper, cored, seeded and sliced
  • 100g shitake mushrooms, wiped and sliced
  • 75g mangetout
  • 75g spring onions, sliced
  • 100g bean sprouts
  • 1/2 tsp garlic granules
  • 1 tbsp medium curry powder
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp crushed chillies
  • 1 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
  • 5 tsp Shaoxing rice wine (or dry sherry)

Methods

  1. Prepare the noodles according to the packet instructions, drain and rinse.
  2. Heat the oil in a wok or large deep frying pan. Add the pepper, mushrooms, mangetout, spring onions and beansprouts and stir-fry for 4-5 minutes.
  3. Add the garlic granules, curry powder, ginger, chillies, soy sauce, rice wine and cooked noodles. Continue to stir-fry for a further 2 minutes then serve at once.

Tip

Toasted sesame oil gives a good authentic flavour to this stir-fried dish but chilli or wok oil (where the oil is infused with garlic and ginger) can also be used.

Fiery from the chilli; sour from the tangy tamarind; and naturally sweet from the delicious Pink Lady apples… this is a Chinese New dish to tickle the taste buds. Try and choose a stir-fry vegetable mix that has lots of different colours and flavours, or make up your own selection. Serve with steamed rice instead of noodles if you prefer.

Serves

4 people

Ingredients

  • 100g dried egg noodles
  • 100g Tenderstem broccoli
  • 2 tbsp groundnut oil
  • 1 Pink Lady apple, cored and sliced into strips
  • 200g raw peeled king prawns
  • 3 tsp tamarind paste
  • 1 red chilli, finely sliced
  • 260g pack fresh stir-fry vegetables (or your own mix)
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 1/2 tsp Thai fish sauce

Method

  1. Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions, drain, rinse and keep warm. Meanwhile, cut the florets off the broccoli and finely slice the stems and set aside.
  2. Heat half of the groundnut oil in a wok or large frying pan. Add the apple slices and stir-fry for 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer to a plate. Add the prawns and 2 tsp of the tamarind paste and cook for 2-3 minutes until almost cooked. Remove the prawns and keep with the apples.
  3. Add the remaining groundnut oil to the pan and stir-fry the chilli, stir-fry vegetables and broccoli for 4 minutes.
  4. Finally, return the prawns and apples to the pan and stir in the soy sauce, sesame oil, fish sauce and remaining tamarind. Cook for 1-2 minutes then serve with the noodles.

Tip

Make up your own stir-fry mixture by combining ingredients like sliced dwarf corn, chopped spring onions, strips of red and yellow pepper, discs of crunchy water chestnuts or julienne of bamboo shoots for a colourful vegetable medley.

If you’re cooking this dish in the summer when fresh broad beans are available, blanch some and toss them into the pan at the last moment. Sweet little fresh peas are another delicious addition. You could also substitute black pudding for the chorizo. Add 6 torn sage leaves to the pan with the scallops to bring out the flavour of the sausage.

Serves

Serves 4 as a starter, 2 as a main course

Ingredients

  • 12 large, hand-dived scallops
  • Olive oil
  • 250g fairly hot cooking chorizo, cut into 1–2cm thick slices
  • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds (optional)
  • Few bay leaves (optional)
  • A squeeze of lemon juice
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Optional Extras

  • Baby broad beans and/or garden peas, podded and blanched for 2 minutes

Open the scallops if they are still in the shell. If the corals are plump and bright orange, leave them attached to the main muscle.

Pat the scallops dry with kitchen paper and set aside.

Heat a large, heavy-based frying pan over the hotter plate, add a little olive oil, then throw in the chorizo and, if you like, a sprinkling of fennel seeds and a few bay leaves. Fry for 3–4 minutes, stirring all the while, as the chorizo releases its salty, spicy fat.

Move the chorizo to one side of the pan. Check that the pan is still really hot, then add the scallops. Leave for about 45 seconds to 1 minute, then carefully turn them over. After another scant minute, using a sharp shake of the pan – or a light stir with a spatula – toss the chorizo and scallops together with all that lovely, flavoursome fat. (This is the moment to add the optional broad beans and/or peas.) Cook for just another minute, tossing and shaking regularly.

Add a twist of pepper, a little bit of salt (the chorizo is already pretty salty) and a few drops of lemon juice, then divide the mixture between warmed plates and serve straight away, with bread and a green salad – for which the oil from the pan, with a few more drops of lemon juice, will make a sublime dressing.

A simple, red lentil dhal is such a great complement to so many vegetable dishes – not just curries or biryanis, pakoras or bhajis, but even simple fare such as shredded, stir-fried greens and a scoop of rice. It’s a delicious way to add protein to a veg-based meal too. This easy but authentic example is based on a recipe from the wonderful Indian chef Udit Sarkhel.

Serves

Four people

Ingredients

  • 250g red lentils
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 onion, halved and thinly sliced

TO FINISH (Optional):
A small bunch of parsley or coriander, or a couple of sprigs of mint, roughly chopped.

Method

  1. Put the lentils in a pan with 800ml cold water and bring to the boil. Skim off any scum then stir in the turmeric and salt. Lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 15 minutes, stirring or whisking vigorously every now and then, until the lentils have broken down completely and you have a purée – the consistency of a thick soup or thin porridge. You can whisk in a little hot water from a just-boiled kettle if you need to thin it a bit. Keep warm in the pan.
  2. When the Dhal is just about done, heat the sunflower oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and fry for a couple of minutes until browned and fragrant. Add the onion and fry fairly briskly for 5–10 minutes until golden brown, even just a smidge burnt.
  3. Tip the mixture on to the hot lentils in the pan, cover and leave for 5 minutes then stir in the onions and cumin. Taste and adjust the seasoning. This is very good with coriander, parsley or mint sprinkled on top – but that’s not essential.