Bacon Bhajis

Serves 4 as starter or side dish

Ingredients: 2 large onions, peeled and finely chopped; 2 cloves crushed garlic; 170g plain flour; ½ pint of milk; 2 eggs; 8 rashers streaky bacon (smoked or otherwise) ½ tsp paprika; 2 green chillies, finely chopped; 1 tsp salt; cooking oil

Method:

Grill the bacon rashers until cooked but not crispy. Chop into 2 cm pieces and set aside. Put chopped onion, garlic, one tbsp flour and half a cup of milk into a blender and liquidise.
Make batter by whisking remaining flour and eggs in a bowl, adding milk in stages. Add paprika, salt, chillies and onion mixture. Finally, stir in cooked bacon pieces.
Heat oil in chip pan. When hot enough for deep frying add one tbsp of mixture, turning frequently. Allow to brown all over. Remove, dry on kitchen towel and place in warm oven. Repeat until mixture is finished.

Visit my shop to download this and 9 other Ham, Gammon and Bacon recipes in the Ham, Gammon & Bacon Volume 1 book. A recipe card is also available for download here.

Lightning Prawn Salad

You could add quartered hard-boiled eggs for a more substantial meal.

Serves: 4 Prep Time: 10 mins; Cook Time: Nil

Ingredients: 12 cooked new potatoes; 4 tomatoes, roughly chopped; 1 seeded red pepper, in strips; 6 spring onions cut into lengths on the slant; 225g (8oz) best peeled prawns; strips of zest of an orange

For the dressing: 4 tblsp sunflower oil; 1 tblsp white wine vinegar; 1 tsp Dijon mustard; juice of ½ an orange; salt and ground black pepper; 1 tblsp flat parsley, chopped

Chunk cooked potatoes and place in a bowl with tomatoes, pepper, spring onions, prawns and orange zest. Shake dressing ingredients in a screw top jar and pour over salad. Toss to mix and coat. Serve immediately.

Tuna Fishcakes

Serves: 6; Cals per portion: 291; Prep time: 20 mins; Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients: 400g can line caught tuna in brine, drained; 3 ½ oz (90g) instant mashed potato powder; 1 tbsp freshly chopped parsley; 2 tsp lemon juice; 1 egg, size 3, beaten; 2oz (50g) wholemeal breadcrumbs; 2 tbsp butter, melted; salad leaves, lemon wedges and dill sprigs to garnish

For the sauce: ½ pt/300ml soured cream; 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed; 1 tbsp lemon juice; 2 tbsp freshly chopped dill; lemon zest to garnish

Place the tuna in a large mixing bowl and flake well with a fork.
Place potato powder in a separate bowl, add 13fl oz (375ml) boiling water, then mix well and stir into the tuna, along with parsley and lemon juice. Season, then leave to cool slightly and shape into six equal-sized fishcakes.
Place egg in bowl and breadcrumbs on a plate. Roll fishcakes in egg, then in breadcrumbs until coated. Cook on barbecue or under hot grill, brushing with butter and turning, for 15 mins.
Meanwhile, make the sauce: Mix together all ingredients and garnish. Garnish fishcakes, serve with sauce.

Roasted Stuffed Peppers

Serves: 4

Ingredients:
2 green and 2 orange peppers, halved and seeded; oil for brushing and drizzling; 2 tbsp sunflower oil; 1 small onion, finely chopped; 24 cherry tomatoes; 4 yellow and 4 green small courgettes, trimmed and sliced; 24 black olives; salt and ground black pepper; 1 tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped sprigs of flat leaf parsley to garnish

Method:
Place peppers on a baking sheet and brush with olive oil. Place in a preheated oven, Gas 6/400oF/200oC, for 15 mins or until peppers are tender. For the filling, heat sunflower oil in a pan and add onion, tomatoes, courgettes and toss for 3 mins or until just tender. Add olives and cook for 1 min more. Season and stir in chopped parsley. Remove peppers from oven and place one half of each colour on serving plates. Divide filling between each half and drizzle over a little olive oil. Garnish with parsley.

You could make this dish more substantial by adding drained, canned tuna chunks.

Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil stack with Balsamic Vinegar and Lime dressing

A recipe by Robert Carrier

This towering new age salad of tomato, mozzarella and basil leaves, served with a balsamic vinegar, lime and basil dressing, is at its best when large vine-ripened tomatoes are in season

Starter Serves: 4

Ingredients: 16 thin rounds fresh buffalo mozzarella; 4 large vine-ripened tomatoes, chilled; 16-24 large fresh basil leaves. For the dressing: 150ml / 1/4 pt extra virgin olive oil; 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar; 2-3 tbsp fresh lime juice; few leaves fresh basil, cut into thin slivers; salt and freshly ground black pepper; crushed dried chillies. For the garnish: 4 sprigs fresh basil; 10-12 black olives

To prepare the dressing the marinate the cheese – In a large wide bowl, combine the extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, adding lime juice to taste. Add the slivered basil leaves and season to taste with the salt, freshly ground pepper and crushed dried chillies. Mix well, then add the mozzarella, spooning the dressing over the slices. Chill until ready to serve.

To prepare the tomatoes – Cut the tomatoes, one by one, into 6 mm / 1/4 in slices, including the tops and bottoms. Re-assemble each tomato.

To assemble the stacks – With a slotted spoon remove the marinated mozzarella from the dressing (reserve the dressing). Alternate slices of tomato and mozzarella to crease a stack on each plate, garnishing each slice of cheese with a basil leaf or two, and topping each stack with a tomato ‘cap’. Spoon the dressing over. Garnish each plate with a sprig of basil and a few black olives. Serve immediately.

Serve with : Racks of lamb with green herb crust and Lemon Tart