Seasonal Side - Sauté sliced Chegworth Valley squash
in a little oil and garlic, then grate over Starnachas cheese
and some day old breadcrumbs before flashing
under the grill. Very good as a side with grilled chicken or
just on its own with some soft salad leaves and crumbled
Ragstone cheese

Tomato Slice - Make a speedy supper by topping pre-rolled
all butter puff pastry with caramelised onions that have been
cooled down, fresh tomato slices, anchovies, capers and
fresh thyme. Season and bake for 12 minutes at 200 degrees C
until the crust is golden brown. Serve with a green leaf salad
and a glass of well chilled Bergerie de la Bastide white wine.

Quick Chocolate Truffles - blitz 150g of dark
chocolate in a food processor until granular. Heat 100ml of
double cream, 2tbs of Somerset cider brandy, or any dark rum
or brandy to hand and 1tbs of muscovado sugar until almost boiling,
then slowly pour over the chocolate, blending until you have a paste.
Cover and chill for 45 mins. Once firm, roll into small bite-sized balls
of about 15g each and dust with cocoa powder. Chill. Makes about 15

Over a low heat, toast a couple of handfuls (75g) of chopped almonds,
hazelnuts, cashews, coconut flakes or any other nuts in a dry frying pan
until toasty smelling. Set aside. Toast a handful (50g) of whole pumpkin
and sunflower seeds in the same pan until they pop. Set aside. Now
toast 4 good handfuls (125g) of jumbo rolled oats in the pan until
starting to smell nutty. Reduce the heat to low and add 1 heaped tbsp
of coconut oil and the same of honey or maple syrup and stir to coat.
Once combined, add 1 tsp of good vanilla extract and 1/2 tsp
cinnamon. Return the nuts and seeds to the pan and stir until clumping
together. Cool on a large plate before storing in an airtight jar.

Weekend Treat - Use up stale bread to make a lazy
eggy bread weekend breakfast treat – just place slices
in an egg and milk mixture (1tbs milk for every couple
of eggs) and leave to soak up in the fridge for 10 minutes.
Heat some butter in a pan and fry your eggy bread till golden.
Serve with Apricot and Vanilla Jam