Gurkensalat

Ingredients 1/2 Cucumber, 2 large tomatoes, 1/4 white onion, 2 tbsp soured cream, 1 tsp dill, 1 tsp parsley, 1 tsp white vinegar, 1/2 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp dijon mustard.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 5 minutes (plus half an hour for chilling)

As part of the World Cup Food Challenge 2014, this recipe represents a traditional meal of Germany. Most of you will know my feelings about raw onion by now, I absolutely LOATHE it with a fiery passion and never include it in my own food, including coleslaw which is a common side dish in German cuisine. As I have, however, posted many coleslaw recipes before from the conventional carrot and cabbage combination to those including beetroot and pear, I decided to force myself to eat raw onion by making Gurkensalat instead, a cucumber and tomato salad with a creamy mustard and vinegar dressing given depth by dill and parsley. Did I pick out the onions after tasting it? Yes. Was it otherwise delicious? Absolutely.

1) Whisk together the soured cream, vinegar, herbs, mustard and sugar. Rather than use it immediately, I allowed it to rest for half an hour in the fridge for the flavours to really come together and the soured cream to thicken back up a little.

2) Slice the onion and cucumbers finely enough to be translucent when held up to the light and the tomato as it comes.

3) Stir in the dressing and serve! If, like me you are not so fond of onions, scatter them on the top and after trying them and dress the rest of the salad later!

Pancetta pangrattato

Ingredients Pasta, parsley, lemon, butter, egg yolks, old bread, garlic, pancetta, parmigiano.

Preparation: 15 minutes (5 if using fresh pasta)

Bread is the stuff of life in this house. Rarely a meal goes by that does not include bread, whether by design or because my husband habitually makes everything into a sandwich (even soup!) and I delight in slathering my leftovers on toast. Bowie forbid either one of us ever develops a random gluten intolerancy. It would be intolerable.
Our leftover bread is torn up for panzanella, strata or blitzed into crumbs to coat everything from croquettes to goujons. This week, however, breadcrumbs have been thickening sauces. Once upon a time, when the Italians were poor they would substitute breadcrumbs for parmigiano in pasta, but my pangrattato (translation: grated bread) features parmigiano and bread and parsley and pancetta so it's more of a prosperous man's pasta and packs a real punch of flavour - it's also super quick to prepare.

1) In one pan, bring the pasta to the boil in hot, salted water and leave to simmer for 8-10 minutes. If using fresh pasta, prepare the other ingredients first as the pasta will only take 2-3 minutes to cook.

2) In a second pan, melt a tablespoon of butter and fry off the pancetta, stirring to allow the fat and butter to combine. Take off the heat and crack in an egg yolk per person and whisk briskly for around 30 seconds.

3) Stir in the breadcrumbs, parmigiano, and freshly chopped parsley and add a squeeze of lemon.

4) Drain the pasta and stir into the sauce until coated. Serve hot.

Roast pepper, tomato & mozzarella linguine

Ingredients Linguine, mozzarella pearls, basil, parsley, olive oil, plum tomatoes, red bell peppers, 1 garlic clove.

Preparation: 25 minutes, plus marinating time

I can understand the concept of convenience food - opening up a jar of something and tossing it with some pasta, but shop-bought sauces make my soul and tastebuds wither away to nothing. I quite often make pesto or pasta sauces ahead of time to keep in the fridge, ready for a quick meal - and this luscious concoction of marinated peppers and tomatoes makes a wonderful quick supper.

1) Slice the top from the bell peppers, remove the core and seeds and slice between the membranes. Cut each pepper quarter in half.

2) Slice the tomatoes into quarters and remove the seeds. Roast the tomatoes and peppers in the top of the oven for 20 minutes until the skin begins to blacken. 

3) Add to a bowl with the olive oil, mozarella pearls, crushed garlic, parsley and herbs and leave to marinate for at least 1 hour but ideally overnight.

4) Toss with cooked liguine and serve

Garlic bread strata

Ingredients 4 slices garlic bread (Garlic, butter, parsley, bread) 1 egg, 1/4 cup double cream, parmigiano.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 20 minutes

What do you do with leftover garlic baguette? In this house, there is very rarely any left over I'll be honest, Scott Pilgrim isn't the only person addicted to it. But, when I was pregnant I had gestational diabetes and had to limit my carb intake. This meant where previously I could cane half a garlic baguette, I had to stick to one or two slices maximum. Hence... leftovers. This also works the morning after a night before when you NEED a good breakfast and all you have is the remnants of the buffet table.

1) Place the leftover garlic bread in an ovenproof dish.

2) Whisk the egg and double cream together and pour over the bread. Top with grated parmigiano and bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 200 degrees.

Greek roast potatoes with halloumi

Ingredients 2 King Edward potatoes, 100g Halloumi, 1 lemon, olive oil, parsley, oregano, mint

Serves: 2 Preparation: 1 hour

The combination of lemon, parsley, mint and oregano is so utterly Greek that I can never resist it. Whether cooking fish or making a salad, it never fails to excite my senses so as a marinade for roast potatoes and halloumi, it's sheer perfection, and a definite favourite of my husband's.

1) Dice the potatoes (I don't peel mine because there's so much flavour in the skin but this is entirely your choice) and parboil for 5 minutes in hot, salted water. Drain in a colander and set aside to cool and dry.

2) Squeeze the juice of a lemon into a bowl along with a good glug of olive oil and some freshly chopped parsley, oregano and mint. Add the potatoes to the bowl and shake to coat the potatoes in the dressing.

3) Transfer to an ovenproof dish and roast at 220 degrees for 30 minutes.

4) Turn the oven down to 200, dice the halloumi and stir into the potatoes, before transferring to the oven for a further 10 minutes. At this stage I like to season with a little salt and black pepper before roasting. Additional oil shouldn't be necessary but if you would prefer this to be tangy, an extra squeeze of lemon is lovely and helps to brown the halloumi.

Butterbean croquettes

Ingredients 400g butterbeans, 1 tbsp Rachel's Organic Greek Yoghurt, 1 leek, butter, parsley, 1 lemon, 1/2 tsp mustard, old bread, 1 egg

Serves: 6 preparation: 45 minutes

Greek cuisine is magnificent. I love the combination of fresh herbs and citrus flavours with savoury ingredients. These croquettes are so simple but they're packed with flavour and the beans make a nice change from potato.

1) Simmer the butterbeans in hot, salted water for 5 minutes, then strain in a colander.

2) Pulse in a blender and then parse through a sieve, leaving the shell behind and a thick almost pate like consistency in the bowl below.

3) Chop the leek and sautee in a little butter until completely soft. Stir into the bean paste along with a squeeze of lemon juice, salt, freshly chopped parsley and a little mustard and Greek yoghurt.

4) Roll the mixture into croquettes. At this stage, if you're preparing ahead you can refrigerate them until you're ready to cook.

5) Whisk an egg into a dish and pulse some stale bread in the blender to form breadcrumbs. Dip the croquette in the egg, then roll in the breadcrumbs until thoroughly coated.

6) The traditional Greek method of cooking is to fry them until the breadcrumbs crumbs are crispy. Personally I find baking them in the oven for 20 minutes at 200 degrees to be more than satisfactory and certainly more healthy!

Apple roast vegetables

Ingredients 10 Exquisa potatoes, 2 carrots, 2 parsnips, 2 apples, olive oil, parsley, basil.

Serves: 4 preparation: 1 hour

French, or haute cuisine would have us believe that the success of a dish, depends on the quality of the sauce. Whilst a good sauce can absolutely transform a dish and demonstrate the skill of the chef... it doesn't need to be anything complex to impress. This cooking technique is a combination of Italian-style olive oil roasting and steaming which retains every bit of the flavour of the ingredients and forms a wonderful, tangy apple sauce. Perfect when served with pork as part of a Sunday roast.

1) Slice the potatoes in half, peel the carrot and potato and cut into chunks roughly the same size as the potatoes.

2) Peel and core the apple, then slice into small chunks

3) Toss the apple and vegetables in olive oil, salt, black pepper, freshly chopped parsley and basil, then roast for an hour in a covered dish at 200 degrees. I toss the dish half way through, then again at the end of the hour, causing the softened apple to coat the vegetables like a sauce.

Cauliflower cheese pizza

Ingredient 1 Cauliflower, 1 white onion, 1 glass red wine, pinch basil, pinch parsley, pinch oregano, 100g passata, cheddar cheese, 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons parmigiano,

Makes: 2 pizzas preparation: 1 hour

I've been working on quite a lot of recipes recently for those who are gluten-free - substituting spelt or polenta for rice or flour, and when I heard about the concept of cauliflower pizza base I just had to try it. I had a suitable guinea-pig in mind: The Husband's best friend who HATES cauliflower and loves pizza.
It worked perfectly - he and The Husband scarfed down the first pizza and asked me to make them a second one. It didn't smell, taste or feel like cauliflower and was utterly moreish! This works best with a thin, crispy base, but if you want a thicker base - eat with a knife and fork as it will be fairly soft!

1) Remove the leaves and slice the stem of the cauliflower right down to the base, leaving a star shaped core.
Cut the florets from the cauliflower, leaving as little stalk as possible, and blitz them all a blender until they resemble fine crumbs.

2) Transfer the cauliflower crumbs to a microwaveable dish and microwave for 3 1/2 minutes. Stir through and then microwave for a further 3 1/2 minutes.

3) Allow the cauliflower to cool enough for you to be able to handle it, then squeeze over a sieve, compressing the cauliflower until as much liquid as possible has been removed. You really do need to get this dry - I achieved this by also squeezing with kitchen roll to soak out more of the liquid.

4) Once the cauliflower crumbs are dry, season with salt, black pepper and stir in the parmigiano and whisked eggs. press onto a baking tray / pizza stone into the desired pizza stone and bake for 15 minutes on high until it begins to turn golden brown. Using a fish slice or pallate knife turn over the pizza dough (it should maintain its integrity, but you can always flip it upside down onto another baking tray) and then bake for a further 5 minutes.

5) Top with pizza sauce (as per previous recipes: sauteed onion, cooked off in red wine, passata and herbs) and a layer of grated cheddar, then return to the oven to bake for a further 5-10 minutes.

Pasta with lamb & mint pesto

Ingredients Linguine, 400g lamb mince, 20g mint, 5g parsley, 5g pea shoots, olive oil, 1 garlic clove, lemon, 2 tbsp parmigiano, 5g walnuts.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 20 minutes

First of all, apologies for the dreadful quality of the photo but I had no light due to Impending Construction Of New Kitchen. You'll also notice that I have controversially used pasta shells instead of a linguine... this is again due to Kitchen mayhem - I was using up what little stocks I had left!
Despite the tragic image before you, I can assure you that mint pesto tastes incredible, and that it's the perfect partner for lamb mince.
Despite being fanatical about preparing pesto properly (in a mortar and pestle), I have no compunctions about getting creative with it. I've shared recipes for pistachio pesto, olive pesto, pistou (almond), sage pesto and walnut pesto... so it was only a matter of time before the mint came out. Give it a try!

1) Put the pasta on to boil in hot salted water for 10 minutes and strain.

2) To make the pesto - add the mint, parsley and pea shoot leaves to a mortar and pestle and grind to a fine pulp. Add a crushed garlic clove to the mortar bowl along with a pinch of salt and the chopped walnuts. Grind thoroughly, adding a squeeze of lemon juice, olive oil and the parmeggian.

3) Fry off the mince and drain away the fat, toss with the pasta and mint pesto and serve.

Hasselback Potatoes

Ingredients Potato, butter, garlic, parsley

Serves: 1 Preparation: 35 minutes

The potato is glorious in its versatility - whether boiled, mashed, fried or baked it can be combined with almost anything. As a side dish, sometimes the way something looks is just as important as the way it tastes but luckily this is just as yummy as it is fun.

1) Slice the potato into thin slivers, though only cutting 3/4 of the way through the potato so it remains intact. Top tip - sit your potato in a wooden spoon and slice it to the lip of the spoon as a guide

2) Crush a garlic clove and mash into a little butter and chopped parsley, then spread into the sections of potato.

3) Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes at 200 degrees and serve

Roast grape & ricotta garlic bread

Ingredients Seedless red grapes, ricotta cheese, 100g butter, 3 cloves garlic, 50g parsley, baguette

Serves: 1 Preparation: 30 minutes


I adore garlic bread. Like Scott Pilgrim I could eat it for every meal - there is something so comforting about the crisp outer shell of bread filled with meltingly soft butter-drenched bread and the sharp aroma of roasting garlic. This recipe makes excellent party food - a slathering of ricotta and the heady fruit really is a fabulous companion to the garlic.


1) To make garlic bread, simply peel and crush the garlic cloves, finely chop the parsley and stir together. Using room temperature butter, cream it until it is at a pliable consistency and stir through the garlic and parsley.


2) Slice the garlic bread at intervals - do not cut all the way through the bread, go to just over half way


3) There are two methods for making garlic bread, each equally effective. The first is to form the garlic butter into a sausage shape, wrap it in cling-film and allow it to become hard in the fridge. Then slice it and use these discs of garlic butter to slide between the partially sliced baguette. The second is to literally just spread the soft garlic butter into the slits of the partially sliced baguette.


4) Bake the bread in the oven for 8 minutes, ensuring the "unsliced" base of the bread is at the bottom so the butter does not seep out! On a separate tray, roast the grapes.


5) Tear off or slice through the bread and spread with ricotta. Top with the grapes and serve.

Stuffed Costoluto Florentino tomatoes

Ingredients Tomato, giant (aka Israeli) cous-cous (I bought mine from Millie's Organic in Leeds), parsley, feta

Preparation: 15 minutes

If January was about showcasing unusual flavour combinations, then February has been a month of exploring unusual ingredients. This week I have been tasting different types of tomatoes, getting to grips with heirloom/heritage breeds and the different sizes, shapes, colours and flavours. Some tomatoes I ate like grapes, some were longing to be sprinkled with salt or splashed with balsamic vinegar, some were breathtakingly perfect in a caprese salad... I know that I am forever saying that tomatoes should be kept at room temperature, still on the vine and not in a chilled fridge encased in plastic but trust me on this, it makes a world of difference to cooking if you respect your ingredients.
The simplicity of this dish, the salty tang of feta combined with the fresh sweetness of the tomato and bubbled texture of the cous-cous was a triumph.

1) Pour the cous-cous into a pan of boiling salted water and stir through for 6-8 minutes before straining in a sieve and setting aside to cool.

2) Slice the top from the tomato and using a sharp knife, slice around the star-shaped core. Plunge a fork into the core, twist and remove it, then scoop out the seeds.

3) Slice the feta into matchsticks about the width of the ridges in your tomato and press the feta into the edges of the tomato, leaving the core empty.

4) Spoon the cous-cous into the gap and top with parsley before replacing the lid of the tomato. Bake for 5 minutes at 200 degrees and serve hot.

Kohlrabi tabbouleh

IngredientsGiant (aka Israeli) cous-cous (I bought mine from Millie's Organic in Leeds), tomatoes, parsley, 1 lime, salt, black pepper, paprika, cumin, kohlrabi, cucumber.

Preparation: 10 minutes

Traditionally when I make tabbouleh, it's all about the parsley. Lemon juice, mint, tomato, bulgar wheat and a little all-spice are present but the parsley takes centre stage. This weekend I got hold of some kohlrabi which I ADORE and couldn't think of a nicer way of serving it than creating a kohlrabi tabbouleh. Kohlrabi has a delecate balance of cabbage notes and sweet, nutty freshness. Texture-wise I wanted the crunch to really stand out so substituted the bulgar wheat for giant cous-cous. Cous-cous is made using semolina which has been sprinkled with water, hand rolled and then passed through a sieve, dusted with more semolina and rolled and passed through again to form the granules that you can buy in the shops. Cous-cous in Israel has a much larger granule and personally I prefer it, the texture is more like the bubbles in a tapioca pudding and it's absolutely delicious, absorbing flavour more intensely than the smaller grains do.

1) Pour the cous-cous into a pan of boiling salted water and stir through for 6-8 minutes before straining in a sieve and setting aside to cool.

2) Peel the kohlrabi with a sharp knife to remove the green skin, then slice the white flesh into chunks.

3) Wherever possible, buy your tomatoes on the day you need them, still attached to the vine and don't keep them in the fridge; it chills away all the sunshine from the flavour. Pick from the vine, rinse in lukewarm water and slice into quarters.

4) Wash the cucumber to remove any wax from the skin and slice into chunks.

5) Squeeze the lime into the cous-cous and stir through, loosening any sticky grains with your hands - add a generous handful of freshly picked chopped parsley and season well with salt and cracked black pepper.

6) Add a tiny sprinkle of ground cumin and paprika, then stir through the kohlrabi, tomatoes and cucumber.

I served this with some iceberg and raddiocho lettuce leaves to scoop up the tabbouleh which is traditionally eaten with the hands.

Potato & egg salad with pea pesto

Ingredients 8 exquisa potatoes, 4 eggs, 1 cup garden peas, basil, basil oil, parmigiano, salt, garlic, lemon juice, pine nuts, parsley.

Serves: 4 preparation: 30 minutes


Who says that salads have to be boring? A big heaped dish of this gloriously succulent salad and I guarantee you will never put those two words in mind. The wonderful savoury pesto, fresh sweet peas and the big chunks of egg and potato are filling and comforting and it's full of good stuff for growing people! 

1) Boil the potatoes in salted water for 15 minutes, adding the peas to the water in the last 3 minutes, then strain and set aside to cool. Once they are cool enough to touch, slice in half.


2) Hardboil the eggs for 12 minutes, then run under the cold tap and peel (my tip for peeling. Squash the egg with your palm and start from the top - if you get under the membrane the shell should spiral off, almost in one piece) Slice the eggs in half.


3) To make the pesto - add a good handful of fresh basil leaves to a mortar bowl and grind to a fine pulp. Sautee 1 crushed clove of garlic in basil oil and add to the mortar bowl along with a pinch of salt and a handful of pine nuts. Grind thoroughly, adding lemon juice, basil oil and parmeggian to taste.


4) Stir the potatoes and eggs gently into the pesto, add some freshly chopped parsley and serve warm or cold. If you're feeling extra indulgent, add some grated mozzarella to this heavenly salad.

Fennel gratin

Ingredients     Fennel, parmigiano, cheddar, cream, garlic, parsley, butter

Serves: 2 Preparation: 30 minutes


Fennel is gorgeous, the liquorice taste which is so prevalent when it's raw, adds a fresh dimension to a rich dish so I think this is perfect to balance the parmeggian in this creamy dish.


1) Remove the first layer of the fennel and slice off the stalks, then cut the bulb into fine slices with a mandolin.


2) Crush the garlic and stir into the butter along with the parsley. Spread a thin layer onto each slice of fennel.


3) Layer the fennel into a baking dish, interspersing with a sprinkling of parmeggian. Pour over the cream and top with the cheddar and more parmeggian.


4) Bake for 20 minutes at 200 degrees and serve.

Poached chicken

Ingredients Chicken breast, milk, butter, parsley.

Serves: 1 Preparation: 30 minutes

I have noticed in the last year or so a real return to what I call "nursery food" - those delicately flavourted, nurturing dishes that we ate as a child. Not so much bland food as simple, comforting food and it doesn't get much simpler than poached chicken. Chicken or fish can of course be poached in water but I have always favoured milk with a little parsley. This will make the most tender, moist, succulent chicken you've ever eaten.

1) Put your chicken breast skin side down in the pan and fill it with enough milk to cover it completely (I used a milk pan and about 3/4 pint of milk) and a little chopped parsley.

2) Allow the milk to come to the boil and then turn down the heat (do watch the pan because milk boils over very quickly and is not much fun to clean up!) allowing it to cook in the boiling milk for a further 10 minutes.

3) Turn off the heat and put a lid on the pan, allowing the chicken to rest in the hot milk for a further 10 minutes before serving - perfect just brushed with a little salted butter.

I served this with Mediterranean vegetables - peppers, courgette and tomatoes roasted in olive oil.

Lasagne

Ingredients    Quorn mince (or beef mince), passata tomatoes, 1 white onion, basil oil, butter, basil, oregano, parsley, garlic, red wine, double cream, white flour, salt, 8oz pasta flour, 1 tsp olive  oil, 6 eggs, mozarella, cheddar.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 1 hour (+5 for preparation)


Lasagne is amazing, you don't need Garfield to tell you that! Layers of delicious bolognaise and creamy bechamel, all topped with golden bubbling cheese... this is comfort food at its best.



1) Pour 8 ounces of grade 00 flour (pasta flour), 1 teaspoon of olive oil, a good pinch of salt, 3 whole eggs and 1 egg yolk into a bowl and kneed with your hands until you have a firm dough. Wrap this in cling film and chill in the fridge for 2-5 hours.


2) Put half a bulb (yes that's bulb, not clove!) of garlic into a roasting tin and roast in the oven for 30 minutes.

3) Finely dice one white onion and sautee in a tablespoon of basil oil and a teaspoon of butter until they have completely softened. Add a glass of red wine, some finely chopped basil, oregano and parsley and stir through.

4) If you are making this with meat - brown the mince and strain off all of the meat juices before adding it to the pan. If you are making this with Quorn - add the Quorn mince from frozen and stir through.


5) Stir the passata tomatoes through the Quorn mince and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.


6) Stir through on a low heat for a further 2-3 minutes and then remove the roast garlic from the oven. Once roasted, it can be squeezed from the skin like a puree and stirred through the sauce.


7) Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan and stir a tablespoon of plain flour into it to form a roux. Whisk 2 eggs into the roux and finish with a generous dash of cream or milk. Whisk through for about 5 minutes and set aside.


8) Roll out the pasta on a floured surface and level out with a rolling pin. Either feed it through a pasta machine or with the rolling pin until you are left with a thin sheet. Cut sheets to the size of your lasagne dish.


9) Spoon a layer of bolognaise into an ovenproof dish and top with a sheet of pasta. Continue to layer the bolognaise and bechamel sauce until the dish is filled. Top with grated mozarella and cheddar.


10) Bake covered for 10 minutes and uncovered for 5 to allow the top to crisp and then serve.

Roast aubergine & chickpea salad

Ingredients 5 baby aubergines, 1 can chickpeas, 5 baby plum tomatoes, cumin, Rachel's Organic coconut yoghurt, parsley, coriander, salt, basil oil, 1 onion.

Serves: 8 Preparation: 1 hour


1) Cut the stems from the aubergines and slice them in half. Sprinkle with salt to draw out the bitter juices then drizzle with basil oil and bake for 30 minutes in the oven at 200 degrees.


2) Pour the can of chickpeas into a pan and boil for 5 minutes. Strain into a colander and remove the shells.


3) Peel and finely dice one white onion and sautee in butter for 5 minutes. Add a handful of finely chopped parsley and coriander. 

4) Add the chickpeas back to the pan along with 2 tablespoons of Rachel's Organic coconut yoghurt and 5 baby plum tomatoes cut into quarters.

5) Simmer, stirring frequently until the chickpeas are soft, then serve with the aubergine and more yoghurt.

Avocado & pea soup

Ingredients 1 can marrowfat peas, 3 avocados, 2 tablespoons vanilla yoghurt, parsley, 1/2 pint vegetable stock, avocado oil.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 20 minutes

This soup is thick and velvety and amazingly comforting to eat - a definite winter favourite.

1) Pour the can of marrowfat peas into a pan and simmer for 5 minutes, strain the peas from the juice and put the juice back into the pan along with the half pint of vegetable stock and stir through.

2) Halve the avocados and scoop the fruit from the shell, discarding the stone. Pulse the avocado in the blender along with 2 tablespoons of Rachel's organic vanilla yoghurt (this may sound strange but trust me, it works!)

3) Add the peas into the blender and blitz through until they have been fully incorporated, then pass the pea, avocado and yoghurt mix through a sieve and back into the pan. This removes the shells from the peas and gives the soup that wonderful smooth, moussy texture.

4) Simmer on a low heat for a further 5 minutes and then serve, sprinkled with parsley and a dollop of yoghurt.

Tartare style parsley sauce

Ingredients  20g Flour, 40g butter, 400ml cream, 2 pickled gherkins, 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar, 15g parsley, 5g dill.

Serves: 6 Preparation: 10 minutes


I am renowned for being the world's most rubbish vegetarian. No seriously - I am allergic to mushrooms and intolerant to soya which is in EVERYTHING these days: Soy sauce, soy nuts and edamame are a no, as are most breads because of the soya flour, I can't eat most chocolate because full of cheap emulsifier called soya lecithin (or pork fat!)... I also loathe fish and I mean seriously loathe it. No matter how fresh the fish or how subtle the smell it makes me retch. The Boy, my soon-to-be husband loves it however and I'm not the sort of vegetarian who likes to inflict my personal choices on others so I cook fish for him from time to time. I created this mixture between tartare sauce and parsley sauce especially for him.


1) Melt the butter in a milk pan and whisk in the flour to make a roux


2) Finely chop the parsley and dill, dice the gherkins and add to the pan along with the double cream. Whisk briskly until the sauce increases in volume and the texture stiffens enough to coat the whisk.


3) Add the tablespoon of white wine vinegar, season with a pinch of salt and pepper and continue to whisk, off the heat until it has been incorporated.


4) I served this dolloped over rainbow trout with beer battered onion rings and steamed garden peas. The sauce will keep in the fridge for about a week and can be served warm or cold.