Side veggies

It’s good to get creative with sides, especially since it can be very easy to transform same-old veggies into novel-and-delicious ones. Here I’ve got carrots and capsicum tossed in orange juice and maple syrup, and roasted for half an hour. Parsnip and carrot would also work well together.

I also tried potatoes and courgettes tossed in olive oil and salad dressing, roasted for half an hour, then lightly salted.

Victoria Sponge

From Red Velvet and Chocolate Heartache. Typically of RV&CH, this cake is light, moist, and delicious. The cake itself is dairy-free, so if you know of a good cream substitute then you can use this to make a full dairy-free Victoria Sponge, or you can use just the cake for other recipes requiring sponge.

Ingredients:

• 3 medium eggs
• 150g caster sugar
• 200g peeled and finely grated potato
• 100g white rice flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Filling:

• 40g butter
• 90g icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon boiling water
• Seeds of one vanilla pod, or a teaspoon of vanilla essence
• 150g jam

• Caster sugar for dusting

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly oil the base and sides of the tins. Place a circle of baking parchment over the base of each one and lightly oil this too.
• Using an electric whisk, whip the eggs and sugar together until pale, fluffy and tripled in volume (at least five minutes). Hand-whisk in the grated potato, followed by the flour, baking powder, salt and vanilla essence. Make sure everything is well combined.
• Pour the mixture evenly into the two tins and place in the oven for 20 minutes until the cakes are risen, golden and cooked all the way through.
• Unmould them on to a wire rack, peel off the parchment and set aside to cool for 20 minutes while you make the filling.
• To make the filling, whisk up the butter with an electric whisk until paste-like. Beat in the sugar one tablespoon at a time until it is all used up. Add the boiling water and whisk to combine. Add the vanilla seeds or essence, and beat again until fully incorporated.
• Ice the bottom of one of the cold cakes. Cover the other cake bottom with strawberry jam before sandwiching the two together and dusting the top with caster sugar.

Potato Gratin

From Simon Gault’s Homemade. He calls them Bell House Potatoes, after his first restaurant, but potato gratin is the more generic term for this dish. This recipe feeds about 6-8.

Ingredients:

• 60g butter
• 2.1 kg potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced into rounds
• 2 cups grated cheese
• 2 medium onions, finely sliced
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup cream
• Pinch of nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon paprika

Method:

• Preheat oven to 190°C/375°F.
• Grease a deep baking or casserole dish with half the butter.
• Layer the potatoes, cheese and onions like a lasagne in the dish, seasoning each layer and ending with potato (reserve enough cheese to sprinkle over the top).
• Combine the milk, cream and nutmeg in a saucepan and heat to boiling point, then pour onto the potatoes to come about two-thirds of the way up the side of the dish.
• Dot the top with the remaining butter and sprinkle with paprika and the grated cheese.
• Bake on the top shelf of the oven for about an hour or until the potatoes are tender and the top is golden brown.

Cheesy Ham and Potato Soup

This recipe is great for leftover ham cuts or scraps of shaved ham. The cheese sauce makes it thick and filling – perfect for a rainy day.

Ingredients:

• 3 ½ cups peeled, diced potatoes
• 1/3 cups chopped celery
• ½ cups onion, finely chopped
• 1 ½ cups chopped cooked ham
• 3 ½ cups chicken broth
• Salt, to taste
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 5 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 2 cups milk
• 2 ½ cups grated cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Method:

• In a large soup pot, bring chicken broth, celery, onion, potatoes, and ham to the boil. Simmer until potatoes are tender; about 15 minutes. Stir in pepper and salt to taste.
• In another, smaller saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour and cook, stirring constantly, for about one minute.
• Slowly whisk in milk, whisking away any lumps that may form. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until thick and bubbly; about five minutes. Add cheese and stir through.
• Stir cheese sauce mixture into your potato/veggie mixture. Heat through.
• Spoon into bowls and garnish with a sprinkle of cheese and parsley, if desired.

Lancashire Hotpot

Ingredients:

• 1 T olive oil
• 500g lamb leg steaks, cubed
• 2 T plain seasoned flour
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 300ml hot chicken stock
• 1 T Worcestershire sauce (or soy sauce)
• Few fresh thyme sprigs
• 600g waxy potatoes
• Butter, for dotting

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°FC.
• Heat the olive oil in a large, wide pan over a medium heat. Dust the lamb steaks in the seasoned flour and fry, in batches, until browned. Set aside.
• Add the onion to the pan with the carrots, and cook for five minutes. Return the lamb to the pan with the hot chicken stock, Worcestershire sauce and the thyme. Season and remove from the heat.
• Thinly slice the potatoes and place half in an overlapping layer in a shallow ovenproof pan. Top with the meat mixture, then layer over the remaining potatoes and dot with butter.
• Cover and cook in the oven for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and cook for a further 20 minutes, until the potatoes are golden brown.