Sarah Raven's Smoked Salmon Pate

One of the things I miss most whenever we move (and take forever to unpack) is my cookery books. I know my way round a kitchen and fridge so they are not considered essential enough to dig out with any immediacy. Then once I have found them I forget to use them for a bit and it takes a while to fall back in love with old favourites. Sarah Raven's Garden Cookbook is definitely and old favourite and particularly useful as it's arranged by month.

One of the things I miss most when I'm pregnant is pate although I'm pretty lax about what I eat I try to keep pate fish-based and homemade for the 9 months... it's not that long and if you find the right recipe then its a doddle to make and more delicious than any shop bought variety. So when I looked at a very old list of things I wanted to try from the Garden Cookbook I fell upon the Smoked Salmon Pate with chervil recipe and, as suggested, used chives instead of chervil, which isn't in season.

This pate is a cinch to make (in the magimix) and incredibly delicious to eat. Straight to the top of my lists for easy starters, nibbles and fish pates. I made it for some friends who then requested the recipe... twice!

Smoked Salmon Pate with Chervil
Serves 8 (I successfully halved this)

170g smoked salmon (You can use trimmings. I used smoked trout)
510g cream cheese
300ml double cream
60g butter (she says unsalted I say salted)
Lemon juice to taste, plus slivers of lemon to serve
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp chopped fresh chervil, chives or dill
Black pepper
Warm toast, to serve

I made this in a magimix, made thin slices of toast in the oven and served it in a dish in the middle of the table for everyone to help themselves. If you wanted you could do individual ramekins which would maybe be better for 8.

1. Put the fish, cream cheese and double cream into a blender. Blitz briefly.

2. Add the butter, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, herbs and black pepper. Whizz until the mixture forms a paste consistency. Check the seasoning and adjust if necessary.

3. Pack into a pate dish or ramekins and put in the fridge for an hour or two to set.

4. Serve with warm toast, slivers of lemon and butter if you are a total glutton like me. 

Saganaki

I love feta cheese but I'm aware that not everyone shares my passion. My mother is one of these people yet it was she who suggested I try this recipe out on some friends who were coming to supper as she thought it looked like a delicious and unusual starter. Whilst babysitting for me one day a week she works her way through my cookery books copying recipes and making my tummy rumble by shouting out suggestions for what we should be eating even though she knows I'm on a diet.

So rather than going for my usual something-on-toast easy starter for supper the other night I decided to try out the suggested Saganaki from Sarah Raven's Garden Cookbook and it was really tasty and, if you had a round table, probably quite fun to help yourself straight from the dish with warm flat bread.

Saganaki

for 6

600g (3 packs) feta cheese, broken into rough 2cm pieces
20 large or 30 small cherry tomatoes
20 capers
15 Kalamata olives, halved and stoned
2 tbsp olive oil 6 sprigs of thyme or marjoram

Pre-heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6. You can make this as individual parcels for cooking on an open fire - 100g feta, a few tomatoes, capers and olive pieces, herbs and oil on top, fold loosely and cook for 10-15mins but I did it in one big dish.

1. Crumble the cheese into a shallow, oven-proof dish, dot the tomatoes around sprinkle over the capers and olive pieces, drizzle with oil and sprinkle the thyme or marjoram over the top.

Saganaki - pre-oven

2. Bake in a hot oven for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and browning on top. Eat hot or warm. I served with mini pitta bread but think the flatter the bread the yummier probably.

Sarah Raven's Stuffed Potatoes

I've been wanting to do these for ages because they involve Wensleydale which helpfully can be substituted with Cheshire which is my most favourite of all the cheeses. I made them last night and they were yummy but incredibly fillling so don't go over the top like I did and assume you need the largest potatoes on the planet. You don't.

These are pretty easy and can be made in advance and kept in the fridge for up to two days to cook when needed or they can be frozen at the just stuffed stage. As usual with Sarah's recipes this didn't need any tweaking at all - although I seasoned the potatoes my way which I've inclueded. This comes from the ever fantastic Garden Cookbook published by Bloomsbury.

Stuffed baked potatoes with pesto

For 4

4 baking potatoes
Olive oil
200ml creme fraiche
175g grated cheese (Wensleydale or another crumbly hard cheese; Parmesan is also good but halve the amount; I used Cheshire)
150ml pesto (homemade or bought)
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
Salt and black pepper

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4.

1. Wash the potatoes and score round the full diameter of the potato with a sharp knife, only just piercing the skin. This makes it easier to cut them precisely so that you get two perfect halves.

2. Rub each potato with a little olive oil and then salt and pepper.

3. Bake the potatoes for about an hour, until they are cooked all the way through. Remove them from the oven , keeping it on, and cut them in half.

4. Carefully scoop out the potato from the skin and put into a bowl.

5. Add all the other ingredients to the potato flesh and mix thoroughly with a fork. Spoon the mixture back into the potato skins piling them up above the edges so they look generously filled.

6. Return them to the oven for about 15 minutes until the top becomes golden.

7. This is great served with a salad.

Sweet Cucumber Pickle

Another recipe from Sarah Raven's Garden Cookbook. Not quite what I wanted but I couldn't find a recipe to match my needs and wanted to get all my pickling out of the way - the house smells like vinegar for some time afterwards... this is yummy.

Sweet Cucumber Pickle

Makes 5 small jars

3 large cucumbers
2 onions
50g salt
600ml white wine vinegar or distilled white vinegar
450g granulated sugar
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tsp celery seeds
5 cloves
1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1. Peel the cucumbers and cut lengthways into thinish sticks about 6-7cm long and about 0.5cm deep and 1.5cm wide.

2. Thinly slice the onions into half moons. Put the cucumber and onions into a large mixing bowl and sprinkle with salt. Cover this with a weighted plate and leave for 2-3 hours.

3. Rinse the cucumber and onion in cold water, and then let stand to drain. While they are draining, put all the remaining ingredients into a saucepan and stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved.

4. Add the cucumber and onion, bring to the boil and simmer for 1 minute.

5. Remove from the heat and lift the cucumber and onion out of the liquid. Put into warm sterilized jars.

6. Return the liquid to the heat and boil rapidly for a least 10 minutes to reduce it. Pour the liquid over the cucumber in the jars and cover. I actually strained my vinegar through a sieve but the recipe doesn't tell you to. Keep in the fridge once open.

Sarah Raven's Uncooked Autumn Chutney

A lot of people I know are scared of making chutney and so for some time I've been trying to track down the easiest chutney recipe to put on here so those people have somewhere simple to start. I think I have finally found it, once again thanks to Sarah Raven's Garden Cookbook.

I made half quantities of this because my fridge is filling up ridiculously fast at the moment with things I've made in jars and I just wanted to try this out to see what it was like but I've put the full quantity amounts here as per the recipe. It is also, apart from the 36 hour wait, very quick to make. I did the chopping etc quite late on a Sunday night and it didn't take very long at all!

Uncooked Autumn Chutney

Makes 7-8 jars

900g apples, peeled and cored
450g onions, quartered
450g stoned dates
450g sultanas
450g demerara sugar
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp salt
Cayenne Pepper to taste
450ml white wine vinegar

You will just need a big china mixing bowl and your food processor if you have one otherwise a sharp knife and something good on the tele to watch while you chop, will do. I used granny smiths and I weighed them before I peeled/cored them.

1. Chop the apples, onions and dates or pulse them carefully in the food processor - you don't want to over-do it and make a puree. When you are chopping everything remember that it's not going to be cooked down so you want it to be as fine or as chunky as you would want to eat - I think I could have done with making mine a bit smaller.

2. Put the mixture into a large china bowl and add the rest of the ingredients (sultanas, sugar, ginger, salt, cayenne and white wine vinegar) and stir together.

Everything in it's bowl

3. Cover with clingfilm and leave for 36 hours, stirring occasionally.

Everything in it's bowl after 36 hours

4. Put into warm sterilized jars. This will keep for months if not years and is delicious served with cheese on toast.

Leek and Goats Cheese Tart

Rather refreshingly we have my 19 year old cousin staying with us at the moment before she goes back to uni and she requested a leek and goats cheese tart which I was pretty excited about as I love it and I had a recipe for one that I've wanted to try for ages. It's in Sarah Raven's Garden Cookbook and the reason it's so appealing is that the pastry is incredibly easy and use of mustard on the tart base means the rest of the ingredients can be really simple. I did do a couple of tweeks which I'll put in brackets after the ingredients so you can use my version or hers... in fact you should just buy the book. It's wonderful.

So, this tart was delicious, I didn't add all the creamy filling as I was worried about it bubbling over but I could have done, as it was it was fine but I like as much cream as possible!

Leek and Goats cheese tart

Serves 4-6

For the pastry:
120g butter
1/2 tsp salt
200g flour

For the filling:
2 tbsp Dijon mustard (I think one large one would be fine)
4 leeks, thinly sliced (I used three large and there was still too much)
285ml single cream
Salt and Pepper
2 large eggs and 2 large egg yolks
200g goats cheese
2 tbsp olive oil
200g soft goats' cheese

Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4. You need a 23cm flan tin lined - I find it helps to rub a bit of butter round mine.

1. Make the pastry by sifting the flour with the salt and either rub the butter into the flour with your fingers, or pulse in a food processor, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add just enough cold water to bind the dough together.

2. Roll out the dough and line the flan tin. Prick the base and put it in the fridge for at least an hour.

Tart base

3. Cover the tart base with baking paper and fill with baking beans and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Remove the baking beans and leave to cool.

4. When the pastry has cooled a little, spread the Dijon mustard over the tart base.

5. Beat together the eggs, yolks, cream and seasoning.

6. Gently fry the leeks in the oil until they are soft and put them in the tart. Crumble over the goats cheese and pour the egg mixture on top.

7. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until the tart is set - I found it was more like 25.

Finished tart