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!

Chocolate Guinness cake

Ingredients 1 bottle Guinness, 250g unsalted  butter, 300ml soured cream, 2 cups cocoa powder, 4 cups plain flour, 3 cups sugar, 1 tbsp baking soda, 4 eggs, 400g cream cheese, 1 cup icing sugar.

Serves: 12 preparation: 1 hour

If you think my banana loaf is moist, then you've seen nothing yet! This chocolate cake is the loamiest of all my creations - a big, thick slice of malty chocolate topped with a sinfully thick, rich cream cheese frosting. I dare you not to love it.

1) Melt the butter in a pan and whisk in the Guinness. Take off the heat and set aside to cool.

2) Sift the flour, chocolate, sugar and baking soda into one bowl, and beat the eggs and soured cream with the buttery Guinness mixture and then slowly beat the dry ingredients with the wet.

3) Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes at 180 degrees, then set aside to cool.

4) Beat together the cream cheese and icing sugar until completely incorporated.

5) When the cake has completely cooled, prize it carefully from the cake tin and slather the cream cheese frosting onto the top. I prefer the frosting to be set in the fridge for at least an hour, but you can eat this immediately.

Apple & pancetta crumble

Ingredients 1 Bramley apple, pancetta, butter, soured cream, oats, flour, parmigiano

Serves: 4 preparation: 20 minutes


Pig and apple is a combination I have demonstrated many times on this blog -  from burgers to bakes and rice salad to cannelloni it doesn't have to be as traditional as pork and apple sauce. Savoury crumbles are wonderful - toasty oats and the sharpness of parmeggian topping roast vegetables and cheese is a particular favourite of mine and one I will be sharing in coming posts. This mini crumble makes a wonderful starter with a dollop of soured cream in place of a custard.


1) Core, peel and dice the apple before sauteeing in a little butter. Add the pancetta after 2-3 minutes and sizzle, stirring until the apple has begun to soften.




2) Spoon into ramekins and set aside.


3) Mix 2 tablespoons of flour to 1 tablespoon of porridge oats, add a teaspoon of parmeggian and rub in a teaspoon of butter until fine crumbs form.


4) Spoon onto the top of the apple and pancetta and bake in the oven for 5-10 minutes, until the crumble topping has turned golden brown


5) Serve hot with a dollop of soured cream

Southern Comfort fajitas

Ingredients 300g Quorn steak strips (or beef steak strips), southern comfort, tomato passata, 1 white onion, iceberg lettuce, soured cream, butter, jalepenos, cumin, cheddar, tortillas, Guacamole: 3 avocados, jalepeno, lime, coriander, soured cream, avocado oil.

Serves: 6 preparation: 20 minutes

I have never been a fan of Southern Comfort - the smell turns my stomach and I find the taste too sweet. Usually when cooking Mexican food I use tequila but a lack of tequila and the dregs of a bottle of SoCo that someone brought to a party recently made me wonder if the fruity, spicy flavour would work well as an alternative. Turns out it did! Enjoy...


1) To make guacamole, see my previous recipe.


2) Marinate the Quorn in Southern Comfort for about 5 or 10 minutes (it's like a sponge and will soak it right up - if you're using beef you might want to make it an hour beforehand).


3) Peel and finely dice the onion and sautee in a little butter until completely soft. Add the Quorn and any excess Southern Comfort and cook off the alcohol.


4) Add a little tomato passata, cumin and some chopped jalepenos to taste


5) Serve with shredded iceberg lettuce, grated cheddar, guacamole and some soured cream in a tortilla.

Potato skins stuffed with Mexican mole

Ingredients    Potato, cheddar, soured cream, Quorn      Mince, 1 white onion, dark chocolate,    tomato puree, mixed beans, red   wine, cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper, olive oil

I make mashed potatoes in 3 different ways depending on the time I have, or the type of mash I'm making.
On the occasions where I bake the potatoes in the oven I cannot resist saving the skins to stuff them with scrummy things.

1) Cover the potatoes in foil and bake for 1 and a half hours.


2) Scoop the potato from the skins ensuring that you leave a thin layer of potato to give the shell some integrity. Set the potato aside to cool.



3) Melt 4 squares of dark chocolate in a pan (I used some chilli and lime chocolate from BonBon to give this some extra heat) and add 1 finely chopped white onion and a glug of olive oil


4) When the onions have just begin to soften add the packet of Quorn mince (you could use some cooked, drained beef mince if you are not a vegetarian) and stir thoroughly until the chocolate has coated the onions and beef.


5) Add in 2 tablespoons of tomato puree, a teaspoon of Cayenne pepper and a teaspoon of chopped coriander. Stir thoroughly and add in a glug of red wine.


6) Add in the mixed beans - red kidney beans, pinto beans, cannellini beans and haricot beans (Tesco sell "taco beans", 2 cans of which are perfect) and stir well. Add salt, tomato puree and chopped chillis to taste.


7) Spoon the mole into the potato shells, top with grated cheddar and bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Serve with a dollop of soured cream and chopped coriander.

Cheese & chive dip

Ingredients Double cream, lemon, chives, salt, cheddar

When I got this request through, I actually thought that it was a joke! Like the time I got a request for cheese on toast... but it was genuine so here is my recipe for cheese & chive dip. The ideal partner for Fudge's cheddar wafers.


1) To make soured cream, all you need to do is whip a squeeze of lemon juice and a pinch of salt through and continue whipping until the cream has thickened a little. You can use single or double cream for this.


2) Grate a lump of good strong cheddar (this dip works best with 1 part cheese to 2 parts soured cream) and chop fresh chives onto the dip.


And that's it! You're done - it's best left to chill in the fridge for an hour before serving. If you would prefer to be a little more low-fat, this dip can be made using creme fraiche but it will not have the thicker consistency of soured cream.

Tempura bacon with Wensleydale & cranberry dip

Ingredients  Baking powder, plain white flour, bacon, salt, ice water. cream cheese, wensleydale with cranberries, soured cream.

Tempura batter must be very cold and very fresh - put a jug of ice water in the freezer whilst you heat up the oil for frying and only add the water at the last possible second.


1) This recipe works best with pre-grilled, cold bacon. To make the batter mix 250g of flour, 10g of baking powder and a pinch of salt, then whisk through the water a little at a time until the batter is liquid enough to coat your finger.


2) Dip the bacon in the batter and drop into the hot oil for 1-2 minutes


3) To prepare the dip, crumble the Wensleydale and cranberry cheese into a tablespoon of cream cheese and a tablespoon of soured cream and warm on a low heat.

Cod en Papillote with beetroot & ginger salsa

Ingredients cod fillet, kale, soured cream, butter.

Following on from my beetroot and ginger salsa recipe, as promised this is an additional serving suggestion.

1) Tear a square sheet of tin foil and lay a handful of kale leaves to the centre.

2) Add the fillet of cod and spoon the beetroot and ginger salsa over the top.

3) Add a knob of butter and pinch the foil closed like a cornish pasty, ensuring that the fish is completely encased with no gaps or holes in the foil.

4) Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, slide out of the foil and top with a dollop of soured cream.

Guacamole

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Ingredients 3 avocados, jalepeno, lime, coriander, soured cream, avocado oil.

1) Slice the avocados in half, remove the stones and scoop the flesh from the shell with a spoon.

2) Deseed and finely dice a jalepeno and add it, along with the avocado and a squeeze of lime juice to a blender.

3) Pulse the avocado thoroughly, adding a teaspoon of soured cream and a handful of chopped coriander halfway through, and a splash of avocado oil to make it glossy.

Traditionally served with tortilla chips - I used Fudge's delicious cheese and black pepper flatbreads.

Wensleydale & cranberry biscuits

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Ingredients Cranberry wensleydale, plain flour, butter, salt, 1 egg, soured cream, chives, black pepper

1) Measure 115g plain flour, 60g grated cranberry wensleydale, a pinch of salt and a pinch of black pepper into a food processor and pulse until breadcrumbs form. Add in the yolk of one egg and a few drops of warm water until a firm dough forms.

2) Roll out the dough to 1cm thickness and cut out biscuit shapes. Bake for 8-10 minutes in the oven.

3) I served these with a soured cream, chive and black pepper dip.