After 5 minutes, add the honey, curry and coriander seeds and sauté for another 3-4 minutes.

Add the stock and cream, bring to a boil, and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes or until the artichokes are tender.

Correct the seasoning with a bit of pepper (you should not need to add salt since the stock is already salty) and blitz into a smooth velouté. I personally like to leave a few pieces in it to add texture.

Serve with freshly grated or shaved parmesan and a sprinkle of paprika for a bit of colour.

Add the onion and sauté over gentle heat, stirring occasionally, until translucent (4-5 min).

Add the pumpkin, apple and sugar, mix and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the sugar melts.

Add the curry, orange zest, and 3/4 of the chicken stock. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes or until pumpkin is tender.

Purée the soup until smooth and add some of the orange juice to taste (my children have a fine balance here, the soup must be orangy but not too much, so I keep the juice to adjust at the end) and the remaining stock until you reach the desired consistency. Stir the cream in if using (I usually don’t).

Serve topped with crumbed roasted chestnuts or roasted pumpkin seeds, and feta or parmesan cheese.

Preheat the oven to 175 degree C.

Cut the chocolate and butter into chunks and melt them together in the microwave in a mixing bowl. Do this in 30 sec sessions, mixing well between sessions to even out the heat and help the chocolate melt faster. With my 850kW microwave, it takes me about 3 sessions. If you don’t have a microwave, place the chocolate and butter into a bowl over a saucepan of boiling water and stir regularly until all ingredients have melted.

In a second bowl, lightly beat the egg whites and sugar with a fork until the mixture looks homogenous, for about 20 sec. Do not use a whisk or an electric beater for this, you don’t want the whites to start foaming.

Add the almonds to the chocolate mixture and stir well. Dip your finger into the mixture, it should be just warm, i.e. you should not have any sensation of heat. If you do, wait a bit before moving on to the next step.

Add the egg yolk to the chocolate mixture and stir energetically. Add the egg whites and mix until reaching a homogenous batter.

Butter the cake tin and pour the batter into it.

Peel, quarter and core the pears, and cut them into segments about 3 mm thick. Press the segments into the batter leaving the tops of the segments visible and following a pretty pattern (concentric circles for a round tin, or neat, parallel lines for a square one). Make sure you place them very close to each other – leave about 1 cm between each slice. You may not use up all the pears, I tend to fill my dish with 2 1/2 pears.

Bake for 35 minutes or until a uniform crust has formed. Don’t worry if the cake feels a bit soft and creamy under its ultra thin crust, it will set when cooling down. If you did not use a loose base tin, wait until the cake is nearly cold before demoulding it.

Eat the fondant warm or cold. The slices will be easier to cut once it is cold, but I usually can’t wait, even if it is much messier!

Gently rinse the mushrooms under running water.

Melt over medium heat the butter in the oil in a large frying pan with tall sides.

Add the garlic, sauté for about 30 sec until flagrant (make sure the garlic does not brown otherwise it will taste bitter), and toss the mushrooms into the pan with the lemon juice, coriander and cumin. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes.

While the mushrooms are cooking, crumble a cube of chicken stock into the milk topped up with an equal volume of water and heat up the mixture over low heat.

Add 100g crumbled stilton and the milk and water mixture to the mushrooms, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5-7 minutes.

Transfer the mixture into a bowl and blitz with a hand mixer. Add pepper to taste. You should not need to add salt (or only a little) since the soup already contains salted stilton and stock.

Stir in 2 tablespoons of cream and serve in each plate with 1 teaspoon of onion confit and a bit of crumbled stilton on top. Alternatively, you can spread the confit on toasted bread.

Poor the oil in a large, heavy-based oven-proof casserole dish with a well-fitting lid over high heat. When the oil is hot, brown the oxtail pieces on all sides and transfer them to a colander so any excess fat is drained away. Do this in batches otherwise the pieces will boil in their juices rather than fry.

Remove all but 2 tablespoons of fat from dish and add the shallots, carrots and garlic. Cook over medium high heat for 10mins or until golden, stirring from time to time.

Add the wine and bring to a boil, scraping any browned bits from the bottom. Cook until nearly all the wine has evaporated.

Add the tomatoes, herb bundle, orange zest, bay leaves, cinnamon, star anise, pepper and a pinch of salt. Place the oxtail pieces on top and cover with a large piece of baking paper placed directly on the oxtail. Cover the casserole securely with a heavy lid and bake for 2-3hrs, or until the meat comes away easily from the bone.

Remove the baking paper and take the meat pieces out. When they are cool enough the handle, pick all the meat from the bones and place it back in the casserole. Add the pumpkin or butternut squash pieces and some water if the dish is on the dry end.

Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 30mins or until the pumpkin is tender. Check the seasoning and transfer to a large serving dish.

Meanwhile, make the gremolata. Finely chop all the ingredients and mix them together.

Serve the oxtail stew in deep heated bowls or serving plates and scatter the gremolata over the top. I served it with bulgur, it was fantastic!

Preheat the oven to 150C.

Chop the onion, carrots, leek, celery and garlic. No need to cut them too finely as they will only be used to flavour the meat and the sauce.

Prepare the pigs’ cheeks by lightly flouring them. Heat a frying pan with a bit of olive oil. When hot but not steaming, add the meat and fry for about 5 minutes or until just coloured. Transfer the cheeks to a flameproof casserole dish.

To your frying pan, add all the chopped vegetables and garlic, bay leaves, star anise and a good sprinkling of ground pepper) and cook slowly until the greens are soft and golden, for about 8-10 minutes. Toss the vegetables over the pig cheeks and add the cider, vinegar and stock.

Bring the casserole to the boil on the stovetop then cover with a lid and transfer to the hot oven. Braise for between 60-90 minutes or until the cheeks are meltingly tender.

Remove the casserole from the oven, lift out the pig’s cheeks and set aside.

Strain the cooking liquor into a saucepan, bring to the boil and reduce its volume by 1/3 (7-8 mins).

Whisk the butter into the sauce and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.

Reduce the heat and add the pig’s cheeks, heat through gently before serving.

Prepare the pea puree

Blanch the peas in gently boiling salted water for about 2 minutes then put in a blender. Add 1 tablespoon of cream and the butter, and blitz until smooth

Slowly, stir in a splash of wine and the remaining cream if needed. You want the puree to be quite thick so only add these if you think the consistency will take it. (for reference, on the picture my puree is too runny but I could not correct it as I was out of peas!)

Season and adjust as required.

Serve the pigs cheeks with the puree and the sauce. For the posh factor, you can also add simple salad of fresh peas and pea shoots. (for the picture I used a mix of baby watercress and rocket salad).

Meanwhile, cook the onion in a saucepan with a little of the stock until the onion has softened and the stock has evaporated; this will take about 15 minutes.

Remove the peppers and tomatoes from the oven and toss them into a bag – paper or a plastic freezing bag will do. Close it tightly and leave until the vegetables are cool enough to handle (about 8-10 minutes). The steam produced by the vegetables inside the bag will loosen their skin, making the peeling easy. Peel both peppers and tomatoes, keeping as much juice as you can.

Toss the lot into the pan with the onion and the peeled roasted garlic. Add the remaining stock and seasoning, bring to the boil and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes. Liquidise and taste for seasoning, add a few drops of tabasco if you want to give the soup a bit of bite.

Serve hot or chilled (best in my view) with plenty of torn fresh basil, a drizzle of olive oil, fresh goat’s cheese and croutons.

Mix the onion with 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large gratin dish, and place in the hot oven for 10 minutes or until the onion is soft and transluscent. Take out of the oven and turn the heat down to 180 degrees.

Meanwhile, slice the vegetables finely. You will need a very sharp knife to slice the tomatoes. Alternatively you can place the tomatoes in the freezer for 20 minutes beforehand, this will make the slicing easier.

Stack the vegetables in neat rows on top of the onion, alternating between rows of aubergines, courgettes and tomatoes. Make sure the vegetables overlap within and between the rows. It’s OK if the diameter of the courgette slices is smaller, just stack more in each row. Season with salt and pepper.

Crush the anchovies with a pestle and mortar or the back of a fork, and mix with the garlic, 3 tablespoons olive oil, herbs, and bread crumbs. Brush the mixture evenly over the vegetables.

Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 50 minutes. Uncover, crank up the oven to 200 degrees, and roast for another 20-25 minutes or until nicely browned.

Serve hot or cold with grilled meat, fish or chicken.

Trim the roots and green ends off the onions, leaving about 2cm leaves on. Parboil the courgettes and onions for 4-5 minutes in salted water, until crisp-tender. Drain and rinse under cold water. Slice the onions in halves and reserve.

Meanwhile, prick the tomatoes with a fork. This will prevent them from exploding when cooking.

Prepare the skewers: thread the fish cubes, alternating with the vegetables (onion halves, courgettes, mange-tout, tomatoes). Place the skewers on a large platter and season with salt and pepper.

Prepare the marinade by tossing all the ingredients in a small container with a lid. Shake well to blend and pour the marinade evenly onto the skewers. With the help of a brush, spread the marinade on all sides of the skewers. Reserve in the fridge for one hour, turning the skewers over halfway through.

You can cook these skewers on the oven or on the grill.

Oven method: preheat the grll of your oven for 10 minutes. Place the skewers on a large gratin dish so that both ends rest on either side of the dish. Cook 5 minutes on both sides, basting with the remaining marinade at regular intervals.

On the grill: oil well the grid of your barbcue before adding the skewers. To minimize risks that the fish will stick to the grid you can also prepare a loose bed of herbs (e.g. rosemary sprigs placed in a criss-corss pattern) on the grid. Place the fish skewers on top, not too close to the heat, and cook for 4 minutes on each side, basting with the remaining marinade.

Serve with rice or couscous.

When the mix is nicely browned, add the garlic and onions. Cook over low heat for another 6-7 minutes, until the onions are soft and glazed.

Once the mix has warmed down, transfer to a food processor and mix until obtaining a smooth paste. If you don’t have a food processor whizz the mixture with the coconut milk in a blender.

Brown the lamb in the olive oil on all sides in a thick bottomed pan with tall sides. Do this in batches if necessary, the principle is to sear the meat through direct contact with the heat so all the lamb pieces should be touching the bottom of the pan. Once the meat has been browned, add the spice paste, coconut milk if you did not whizz it with the paste already, and 600 mL water.

Cover the pan with a tight fitting lid and simmer undisturbed over low heat for 1h15.

At the end of the cooking time, add the cashew nuts and scrape the caramelised bits at the bottom of the dish with a spatula. Add a bit more coconut milk if needed, adjust the seasoning and cook, uncovered, for another 5 minutes.

Sprinkle with coriander leaves and serve immediately with rice and naans (almond-stuffed peshwari naans work beautifully with this dish), and a green side salad on the side to get your vegs.