TIRAMISU

This recipe comes from my Italian friend Valentina who is  a very good cook. It is as authentic a recipe as it can be. Even though normally I cannot swallow more than two spoonfuls of tiramisu I ate the whole portion…and a little bit more…

You need:
- two eggs separated
- 125 gr sugar
- 400 gr mascarpone cheese
- 400 gr Savoiardi biscuits (the better the biscuits the better the tiramisu)
- 1/2 strong espresso coffee (don't tell Valentina but I used decaf espresso as I am a bit paranoid about children drinking caffeine).
- 30 gr dark (and good) cocoa powder

Make sure the coffee is cold before you start. Mix the yokes with the sugar until they are pale. Add the mascarpone cheese. Separately which the whites until you get firm peaks. Fold the whites into the mascarpone and yokes mixture ensuring you do it gently so that you do not loose any air.

Get a flat tray. Make a lawyer with biscuits soaked in the coffee (just soak them for a few seconds one by one). Cover it with the cream. Add another layer of biscuits and then another one of cream. Cover with the cocoa powered (sprinkle it through a strainer). Put in the fridge for a whole night and enjoy. It is gorgeous.

WATERCRESS SOUP

I love watercress and serve it so often when it is in season that my children have learned to love this soup as well.  We make it with courgettes, which is healthier than the traditional recipe with potatoes, but tastes just as good.

Though most watercress soups call for stock, please do not use any of it. Watercress has a fabulous distinctive yet subtle flavour - you want this soup to taste of watercress, not of chicken or anything else.

You need:

- one onion - chopped

- a clove of garlic (in slices)

- 2 courgettes (peeled and cut into thick slices)

- 2 tablespoons of olive oil

- 300 gr watercress (worth chopping it bit as otherwise watercress has the obnoxious habit of wrapping around the blender blades)

-1.3 l boiling water

- salt

- a tablespoon of creme fraiche

Put the oil in a pan, add the onion and garlic and let it fry for 8 minutes (medium heat). Add the courgette and salt and wait for another 8 minutes. Add the boiling water and simmer for 10 minutes, add the watercress and let it simmer for a further 4 minutes. Take it off the heat, add the creme fraiche and blend. 

This soup should not be too thick. It is impossible to predict the quantities as it depends on how big your courgettes are - if you see the soup is too thick just add a bit more water.

ALBANIAN FERGESE

I am still trying to recover from the shock of reading in the FT earlier this week that a current British minister has voiced support for the UK having a relationship with the EU similar to the one of Albania. I had images in my mind of thousands of British people rushing to Wikipedia to check where Albania is. Clearly neither whoever wrote the speech for the Minister nor the Minister himself had bothered to check Wikipedia or they would have immediately realised how plainly absurd that comment is. 

Albania  is a country that is trying to become a member of the European Union and is therefore working on reinforcing the rule of law and the transition towards a full market economy. It is also beautiful place. I have never been there myself but have friends and family who have and they say the food is superb - excellent vegetables and filo-based pies and also a very nice traditional lamb dish. We have tried one of their traditional recipes (a vegetarian fergese) from the blog www.myalbanianfood.com and it is great.

You need:

- a large onion (diced)

- four tomatoes ( diced)

- 6 peppers (first roast them in the oven at 220 degrees for 30-35 minutes; then tear them into bite size pieces)

- a tablespoon of chopped basil

2 tablespoons olive oil

- salt

- 20 gr butter

- 20 gr plain flour

- 150 gr feta cheese

- four tablespoons plain yogurt

- chilli flakes (we did not have any so added a pinch of hot paprika instead)

Preheat the oven at 170 degrees. 

Put the onions in a pan with a tablespoon of oil and let them soften for 10 minutes. In a separate pan add the other tablespoon of oil, the diced tomatoes and the basil and let it fry for 10 minutes under strong heat. Mix the onions and peppers with the tomatoes and fry for a further 8 minutes until there is no moisture. Put the vegetables mixture on a clay or ceramic tray. 

In a different pan melt the butter, add the flour and mix well, let it fry for 2-3 minutes while you stir it so that it does not get burnt. Crumble the feta cheese and add it to the pan. When the feta melts (a couple of minutes) add the yogurt. Mix it well and pout it over the vegetables, mixing it a bit. Add salt (not much as the feta is salty) and the chilli flakes (or paprika). 

Bake for 30 mints. 

All except my youngest approved of this dish. It is almost like a dense chunky dip. Very nice on its own for lunch with bread and a salad. Or on the side of beef or lamb. 

CURED SALMON

This is a great way to eat salmon. We got the recipe from the Henderson's Relish website and altered it a tiny bit. The salmon is cured outside but still succulent and mild inside and the marinade makes what is normally a rather dull fish nowadays into a really interesting combination of flavours. You need:

3 thick salmon steaks (without any skin) 

50 gr sea salt

50 gr sugar 

a teaspoon of crushed red peppercorns

juice of a lime, a lemon and an orange

200 ml henderson's relish (it may be our Sheffield bias, but I have tried this with Worcertershire sauce and it is just not the same)

80 gr sugar

2.5 tablespoons of black treacle

Mix the sea salt, sugar and crushed red peppercorns. Cover the bottom of a  flat deep tray with half of this mixture. Put the salmon steaks on top and cover with the remaining salt-sugar mixture. Cover with cling film and let it all rest in the fridge overnight.

The following day wash the salmon steaks to get rid of the salt and sugar. Mix all the other ingredients whisking them well. Put the salmon steaks in  a deep container and pour over the liquid. Let it rest for 12 hours (in the fridge) on one side, then turn them around and let them rest for another 12 hours (if you leave it in the marinade longer the marinade flavour becomes too powerful) . Cut it into thin diagonal slices when you serve it. 

I normally serve this with an endive salad with red peppercorns and dill sauce, though the children fish out the peppercorns. I am afraid the sauce in the picture is shop bought as the day we took the picture we were in a bit in a rush, but I sometimes make it myself and will post the recipe soon. By the way, the best shop bought dill sauce in the market is from Ikea – in fact it is even better than the home made one.

COBB SALAD

Have recently spent a few days in Miami and, as always when I go to the US, I have lived on cobb salads. Not the healthiest of choicest, but difficult to find a nicer combination of textures and flavours…and then there is that killer ranch sauce of course…

You need (for two people)
- 2 gem lettuce or a quarter of an iceberg lettuce, chopped very thinly
- 1 avocado (in small cubes)
- 60 gr of bacon (in small cubes)
- 1 egg (in small cubes)
- 2 tomatoes(deseeded and chopped in to small cubes)
- 60 gr blue cheese ( in small cubes)
- 80 gr chicken (in small cubes)

And for the sauce:
-two table spoons of mayonnaise (either our 'two minutes mayonnaise sauce or any shop bought one)
-  clove of garlic (minced)
- a pinch of salt
- a pinch of chopped parsley, a pinch of chopped dill and a pinch of chopped chives (or any combination of these)
- a tablespoon of sour cream
- 200 gr of buttermilk ( of 75 ml of greek yogurt mixed with 125 ml of milk - if you want it runnier add more milk)
- a teaspoon of lemon sauce
- pepper

Mix all the salad ingredient. Separately mix all the sauce ingredients. Pour the sauce over the salad, mix well and eat.

My children often complaint when I serve salad.
Let me rephrase that: my children often complaint, period.
When it comes to salads, they  tend to eat it better if they help to make it.
Blue cheese is one step too far though.

BACON AND CHEESE MUFFINS

Have been travelling lots so could not cook much, but we are now back on track. I tried a mini version of these at a very stylish cocktail party, one of those Martha Stewart inspired events that only Americans seem to have the flair to put together. This is the less elegant but more substantial version of the muffins - ideal for breakfast or for an English picnic (if only the weather held up...)

You need:
 - 300 gr self raising flour
- 1 teaspoon of bicarb
- 120 gr bacon (into small cubes)
- 100 gr grated cheese (manchego or cheddar)
- a pinch of salt
- a pinch of paprika
- a pinch to dried thyme
- 1 egg
-200 ml milk
- 50 ml single cream
- 2 tablespoons olive oil

A muffin tray.

Preheat the oven at 200 degrees.

Heat the pan and fry the bacon until it becomes crunchy (4-5- minutes over medium heat). Pour it on kitchen paper to get rid of the fat.
Mix the flour, bicarb, cheese, salt, paprika and thyme.  Then add the bacon.
Separately mix the eggs, oil, cream and milk. Pour it over the flour mixture and combine it all without over-mixing.
Put the mixture into the holes of the muffin tray ( this makes 12). Bake for 35-40 minutes. Let them cool down a little before you eat them.

PASHKA

My father in law is half Russian. I first tried pashka (an Easter Russian dessert) at a family celebration years ago and since then I bought a pashka mould to prepare it for him, but you can do this in a clean flower pot (with a hole at the base) or even with a colander.

You need:
500 gr cottage cheese (blend it so that it becomes smooth) or ricotta
150 gr creme cheese (full fat, I am afraid…)
200 gr soured cream
2 egg yokes
a pinch of salt
100 gr sugar
grated ring of an orange
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
two tablespoons of raisins
two tables spoons of sultanas
a handful of candied peel
a handful of sliced almonds

Mix the cottage and creme cheese with the soured cream, egg yokes and sugar. Beat well. Soak the sultanas and raisins in a bit of hot water for 15 minutes, drain them and then add them to the mixture. Then add all the remaining ingredients and mix it all well. Line the mould you are using with cheesecloth or muslim. Put the mixture into the mould, cover it with the muslin and put the mould on a dish to catch the excess moisture. Put  some weights on top of the pasta mould so that it drains well and leave it in the fridge for 24 hours. It should unmould easily.

We decorated it with candied cherries but you can decorate it with raisins or almonds. Also, the Russian pashka recipe is a bit like the Tortilla de Patata recipe in Spain - they all claim that theirs is best. So feel free to experiment a little by adding dried blueberries, cranberries or even candied ginger.

It is very filling  so you only need a little slice per person. It is traditional to eat it with yeasted Russian bread (Kulich) but it is also very nice with strawberries or berries.