December thoughts – when you've made your choices

Some hints and tips ...

Before you place your order a thought or two.

Check the small print – if you're considering ordering on line there may be a minimum spend which could be considerable – I've seen £60. Remember those three little words “book your slot” - early. You can order and collect with no minimum charge from store but bear in mind that's another for the already growing collection list – you can only be in one place at a time!

If you're buying party food check to make sure it all cooks for the same amount of time and at the same temperature – unless of course you want to be tearing backwards and forwards from the kitchen to your guests getting grumpier by the minute. Don't forget to set your timer – preferably a small version that hangs around your neck – it's a strange necklace I grant you – you'll be glad you wore it.

If you can organise it you might like to collect your last minute orders on the 23^rd December – unless of course you enjoy the queuing which begins in the car park and continues at the collection point – even though you will have a specific time slot to collect your goodies nothing ever goes to plan and the result – a wasted morning. Remember your breakfast – low blood sugar makes for a very cranky shopper.

Don't forget the supermarket deals. You'll find that they'll have good offers – a selection of antipasti and smoked salmon is great on two counts - doesn't take up too much space and they should have good dates – don't forget to check.

Consider buying part-baked baguettes. They do not need to be frozen so don't take up valuable space in your freezer, once again check the dates.

My tip to add to your shopping list. It doesn't take long to bake a Camembert to go with the freshly baked baguettes. Note to self, make sure it's in a stapled container not glued – it will not be pretty and you'll be very cross!

Assemble your own prawn cocktail shots. If you've not got shot glasses I might even go so far as to suggest you invest – you don't have to spend a fortune and I've found them so useful for all sorts of stuff, from making individual puds to the prawn cocktail. You could even use them for alcohol!

Your ordering choices may be influenced by elements that you dislike preparing and cooking – desserts as an example – if you reverse “desserts” you get “stressed”.

A few ideas … and more hints and tips

December thoughts – the lists and a little self control

Now you've got the space to store all your goodies … it's time to make the remaining lists – who doesn't love a list? If you've been smart you've made a note of the out of date items from your pantry that you've disposed of that you need to replace.

If you aren't a list maker and you've a house full of guests expected you might want to consider giving it a shot. A list helps you get organised and I should add there'll be more than one – stuff you need to order – stuff you can't get until the last minute, fresh fruit, veggies and salad stuff. It's the little things that guests ask for that tend to fall through the cracks, for example, do you have sauce for the bacon sandwiches?! That example belongs on your previous “pantry and staples” list.

I plan my menus and then make my shopping list(s) from the plan. It's not set in stone but it sure helps. I appreciate that you won't necessarily know whose turning up but you can deal with that eventuality from your freezer and your pantry.

You'll need a note pad, the Christmas food magazines from your supermarket(s) of choice, post it flags and – essential – a glass of wine.

Before we go any further could I just mention - every family has their own traditions and favourites and it matters not, in my experience, how old the kids are – 5 to 25 and beyond - there are certain dishes and treats that are important, nostalgic and stand the test of time so hold hard before you rush out and spend a fortune on fancy dancin' stuff because you think they'll be bored.

Revolutionary I know but you could ask your family what they'd like most.

Now for the self control. I'm a devotee of the browse, browse and browse again method – flag whatever takes your fancy with a post it, leave it be and look again the following day. It all looks delicious and inviting … and expensive! I'm not saying “bah humbug” here – I'm just suggesting you give it some thought.

When you've made your choices …

December thoughts … a Christmas plan

First things first – before you get to the food choices and the shopping lists you need to be in position to store all your goodies and so clear the decks before you deck the halls – okay - I thought it was quite funny!

Do you have a freezer the size of a shed – if you do then please disregard what follows! You need to think carefully about how you're going to stock it which begs the question how full is it now?

I'm sure you know what's coming next – now is the time to clear out your freezer. It's no good going out and snapping up all manner of goodies and then have to climb on top of it all, ramming it in to make it fit!

Own up to all the stuff that has dropped to the bottom – the bargain that you couldn't live without and seemed like such a good idea at the time and has now gone to that freezer burn waste heap in the sky. Rest assured I'm not casting aspersions – I dread to think what's at the bottom of mine.

I cannot tell you how virtuous you'll feel once you've done the job, not to mention stress free to the point of horizontal when re-filling it.

Next you need to tackle your pantry – or store cupboard - in exactly the same way. You need to be sure that whatever staples you have they are well within their “best before” dates – you can bet your bottom dollar that there'll be the same out of date gremlins here too, you know what I mean, shock horror a jar of passata a year past its best before date. You know I speak the truth – think of it another way – you need space for your non-perishable bits and pieces too - that you can buy now – your first list!

Next up … the other lists and a little self control

December thoughts … the fastest dessert sauce!

You've made the orange ripple ice cream and it's in the freezer. The following chocolate and orange sauce can be made in minutes. The ingredients are in your fridge and your pantry and it takes only minutes to bring the cream and milk to the boil, add the sugar until dissolved and then tip over the chocolate and orange zest.

Chocolate and orange sauce

120ml double cream

80ml milk

50g caster sugar

225g dark chocolate (70%) broken into small pieces in a large bowl

zest of 1 orange

Put the cream and milk into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Remove pan from heat and pour over the chocolate, stir until melted. Add the orange zest, then set aside to cool in serving jug or if you'd prefer it warm, pour over a portion of ice cream.

I'd suggest serving the ice cream and sauce with fresh orange segments. You could add an extra element and crush amaretti biscuits and sprinkle over the top – another excellent store cupboard stand by.

An indulgent dessert but one that will probably appeal to those who aren't fans of traditional Christmas pudding.

Here it is :

December thoughts … I have a plan!

December thoughts – the syrup for the orange ripple

I made a double batch of orange syrup – why double? I divided it into half – popped half into the freezer for another day and fridged the other half, ready to turn my basic vanilla ice cream into an orange ripple.

Orange Syrup

400g icing sugar

500ml orange juice (no bits)

Put the sugar and orange juice in a small saucepan and heat gently so that the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and simmer on a low heat for 20 minutes.

You'll achieve approximately 600ml of syrup – divide into two boxes and freeze one of them. Fridge the other, ready to complete your ice cream.

Here's a few photos …

Whisk your ice cream to a stiffer consistency

– thicker ribbons - you're adding syrup which will loosen

the batch

here's the syrup, ready to go

tip the syrup into the ice cream and fold through

gently

here's the orange drizzle ice cream, ready for

the freezer – you can see the vanilla flecks and the

trail of orange syrup running through

Anyone like chocolate sauce with ice cream?

December thoughts …

Everyone has their own food favourites for the holidays. I find it's the whirlwind leading up to the festivities that can turn an organised person into a gibbering idiot!

On that sobering note my next series of stuff concentrates not on the obvious holiday food but ideas for you to make ahead, or have ingredients in your store cupboard so that you can pull together lovely grub quickly and easily – all the separate elements at your finger tips. It doesn't matter whether you're sober or not!

I always seem to begin with ideas for desserts – if you like the other end of a meal – hey, it's as good a place as any.

I've done a “Sticky Toffee Orange” in the past which has been very well received – check out the Oranges label 1/12/18 if you'd like to have a glance. Here's another direction, using oranges.

There's nothing that will serve you better than a home-made ice cream and all my recipes are of the “no-churn” variety. I use the standard vanilla ice-cream base recipe to begin :

Vanilla ice cream

Prep – 5 minutes

Total time – 5 minutes

plus freezing at least 6-8 hours

or until firm

Gives you 1.6 litres of ice cream is equal

to 18 scoops

1 x 397g tin sweetened condensed milk

1 x 600ml double cream

2tsp vanilla bean paste

Put the condensed milk, cream and vanilla into a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric hand whisk until the mixture is quite thick and stiff.

Next up … the syrup … to turn into an orange ripple!

Coleslaw … again!

I know I'm always going on about coleslaw, but, if like me you enjoy it all year round, the only downside is you don't always have the time to make up a raw slaw bag.

A raw slaw bag is very convenient – if you have the time to shred the veggies. I'm always on the look out for a product that makes life easier. In the past I've found bags of prepped raw slaw but it has not been pretty – badly shredded, woody and tough.

You'll be very pleased to know there's a new product on the block – a crunch coleslaw mix, washed and ready to eat from M&S Food 300g for £1 – great value. Spot on for pulling together lunches or sides for supper during a working week.

Here's a thought or actually a question. The last time you indulged in a curry did you have sides of raita, mango and onion salad? In other words cold sides. I very often have a side of coleslaw with a cheese, potato and onion pie – if I'm feeling really “Northern” I'd have mushy peas too.

Why not with other favourites. I've not eaten meat for forty odd years but I can still remember having a lunch of Lancashire Hot Pot served with a side of coleslaw – clearly memorable if I can remember that far back!

If it's not something you'd normally try, give it a go, you might be pleasantly surprised.

A tip x 3!

When I demonstrate in a class I always use a portable induction hob. I've had mine for years and it's brilliant. I've never used it outside of demonstrating in class - here's the thing.

My friend Morag text me saying that she was about to embark on a nightmare – the installation of a new kitchen – three weeks of purgatory. An aha moment – Morag sourced a similar version of the portable induction hob - it saved her bacon during the fitting of the new kitchen.

It then occurred that it could have another use - when you needed that little bit of extra cooking capacity when entertaining.

Which brings me to tip number 3 ... how useful would it be during the holidays when you need extra cooking space – the hob and the oven are never enough!

Here's what my portable induction hob looks like :

the added bonus is that it doesn't take up

too much room – stash it away when not in use!

Sadly I can't find the exact model in stock – it looks like it might be discontinued. You can spend as little as £49.99 upwards so the best advice I can give you is check out your favourite search engine.

You might also like to keep an eye on Aldi and Lidl - they have great offers and I've definitely seen portable induction hobs for sale but you know the drill – first come first served.

Happy Shopping!

Supper pudding – scrumptious crumble!

Here's the thing – do you ever get a layer of uncooked crumble topping between your fruit and the top?

Here's my answer. Grab two or three handfuls of the crumble topping and scatter on a baking tray. If you'd like specific measurements – 250g. Pre-heat your oven 170fan/190c/Gas 5. Set your timer for 10 minutes and turn the crumble and repeat. Set aside to cool, then box and you're ready!

the crumb on the tray – before and after

the crumb boxed

Cooking your crumble topping in this way and then adding to your fruit before cooking eliminates the uncooked layer. It also smells absolutely delicious!

Finally the crumble recipe given is huge – 750g. You've used 250g so you have a 500g stash ready for your freezer.

You'll never make a crumble topping the old way again.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening and the best bit - making new friends!

After a hectic entertaining month it's time to sit back, relax a little and start thinking about December.

The supper pudding

I struggle with choosing which pudding to serve, probably because I don't have a sweet tooth. Back to basics again, it's Autumn so a pudding to fit the season. A rummage in the freezer is up next and bears fruit – literally – a tray full of roasted rhubarb and my last box of the latest batch of vanilla ice cream. Rhubarb crumble here we come!

Because my rhubarb is already roasted all I have to do is prep the crumble topping. Once again this can be made ahead, bagged and fridged.

I always use the same crumble recipe which is one of Nigella's tweaked :

Crumble topping

150g cold unsalted butter, diced

250g self raising flour

150 demerara sugar

200g pecans blitzed to a crumb – not a dust

Rub the butter into the flour - you want a crumble with texture. Add the sugar and the pecans and mix well. Bag and set aside, ready for later.

The evening before I remember to take the rhubarb out of the freezer and fridge it to defrost.

My next decision – how to serve the crumble – ramekins it is! The dimensions are 9cms x 5cms (3½”x 2”).

On the day fill your ramekins with rhubarb, cling film and place on a baking tray, return to the fridge until ready to bake.

Just to help you – here's the ramekin :

When I've taken the Posh Cottage out of the oven I turn it down to 170fan/190c/Gas 5 – ready to bake the crumbles for 20 minutes.

Here's a couple more photos :

ta dah!

Finally, a crumble tip!

The Posh Cottage – assembly and a couple of photos!

On the day, slice your cooked baked potatoes – with or without skin.

Take the steak pie base out of the fridge a couple of hours before you intend to bake it.

Arrange your sliced potatoes on top of the steak, then add a generous sprinkle of grated mature cheddar cheese. Add black pepper – no salt required, it's already in the cheese.

good enough to eat, the steak retains it shape and the colour

of the gravy is perfect

here's a miniature version of the Posh Cottage

Pre-heat your oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6 and bake your Posh Cottage for 40 minutes – check after 30 – it's a deep dish pie and should be piping hot with the potato and cheese topping slightly crispy around the edges and golden cheese.

Serving the Posh Cottage with whatever veggies you'd choose, at the table, is the best decision, paying attention when they say stop. They can always return for more!

An informal supper is the most relaxing get together, all the food is on the table at the same time and your guests can help themselves to whatever takes their fancy – a second helping may be?

My last October soirée …

and it's supper for new friends who've not visited until now. I did follow my own rules and asked if there were any dislikes … “a struggle to even pretend that we enjoyed a meal with liver, kidney, squid or octopus!” My reply … “rest easy - absolutely no chance!”

Homework done I decided on a “Posh Cottage”. A Posh Cottage is my version of a cottage pie made with slow cooked cubed steak in a thick gravy, topped with sliced cooked baked potatoes and garnished generously with grated mature cheddar cheese. All that is required is assembly of the elements and pop into a pre-heated oven so that you can enjoy a pre-supper drink with the guests.

It's Autumn and a perfect time to put your slow cooker to good use and to its fullest potential.

Steak Pie Filling

1kg/2.2lbs braising steak or stewing steak, cubed

glug of rapeseed or Canola oil

2 x Knorr beef stock pots

2 heaped tbsp tomato paste

You'll need a square pie dish/casserole 23x23x6 cms (9”x9x2½”).

The day before. Heating a glug of rapeseed oil in a large frying pan I sealed my steak in batches, seasoning each batch with salt and black pepper – don't overload the pan, you'll finish up with stewed grey steak – not a good look! Add beef stock pots and tomato paste to the residual juices, melt the pots and cook out the tomato paste then add 750ml of water, mix well and bring to the boil. Add the stock to the steak and slow cook for at least four hours.

Remove the steak from the slow cooker and place in the pie dish. If your gravy is too thin then bring it to the boil and gradually add a little slaked cornflour - thicken to taste. Cover the steak with gravy but don't drown it - cover, cool and fridge. Reserve any remaining gravy in a jug, cover, cool and fridge.

The day before pre-heat your oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6 and bake four large jacket potatoes spiked with a paring knife and wrapped in foil – check after an hour, they may need another 15 minutes – test by inserting a paring knife which should ease in and out of the potato. Set them aside to cool then bag and fridge until required.

Grate mature cheddar cheese, bag and fridge.

Assembly and a couple of photos next …

Ham hock … the photos

The ham hock comes from Waitrose in the cooked meats chiller. To help you find it :

Here's one pouch, flaked, ready to add to the croque with hock!

This is the perfect addition to your winter store cupboard. You get two pouches and so very convenient. I split the pack and freeze one for future use. You can of course cook your own ham hock but if you're stuck for time here's the answer!

You don't have to play cards – Saturday night supper with Strictly Come Dancing or, this weekend, F1 qualifying in the USA – whatever is your passion.

P.s. They demolished the soup and the croques with the hock - another croque was ordered as a lunch treat the following day – what more can I say.

The croque with hock

I'm sure you've heard of a Croque Monsieur – it's a baked, or more popularly, fried sandwich which forms a crispy crust but an oozing filling in the middle. Croque literally means “crunch” from the verb “croquer” - “to bite”. The croque is the perfect partner for my soup with a hat. This is not just any old sandwich!

There are heaps of different variations of the croque. My most recent gives you a short cut too if you're pressed for time. I assembled the sandwiches in the morning, ready to be completed in the evening.

Croque with hock

for 4 sandwiches

8 slices of medium wholemeal bread

4 tsps Dijon mustard

75g each of Gruyere and mature cheddar cheese, grated

1x90g pouch of cooked ham hock

1 medium onion, preferably sweet or mild flavour,

finely sliced and left raw

60g unsalted butter

Spread ½ tsp of mustard over each slice of bread. Spread the cheese onto 4 slices of bread followed by the onions and ham hock. Sandwich together with the other 4 slices of bread.

At this stage place your stack of croques on a large sheet of foil, wrap tightly and fridge.

When you're soup is in the oven :

Heat half the butter in a frying pan until foaming – you'll get two sandwiches in your frying pan – fry for 1-2 minutes on each side and then pop the croques onto a baking sheet and into the oven whilst you repeat using the remaining butter and two sandwiches.

You may think the onion would be harsh to the palate but I assure you it isn't, provided you use either a sweet or mild variety. The sharpness of the onion cuts through the richness of the cheese.

I should say too that I divided the 90g of ham hock between three of the croques, the fourth without the hock is for me – wrapped separately. It's no hassle to serve with or without!

Soup and a sandwich … with a difference

Soup is a perfect choice it can be made ahead and in fact benefits – flavours are enhanced and given a chance to develop.

I chose one of my favourites – Carrot, Coriander and Chickpea – if you'd like the recipe, check out the Soup label Sunday 3rd February 2019.

If you fancy doing something different and have individual cauldron shaped soup bowls, give your soup a puff pastry hat. You don't have to stress, use puff pastry sheets. For four bowls you'll need 2 x 320g sheets – two “hats” per sheet with left overs. Freeze the leftovers for another day.

If you're interested in the soup bowls, they are sometimes called “lion head soup bowls” and have a capacity of 600ml approximately. They have a fat body and a narrower top. Check out Le Creuset Stoneware Lion Head Soup Bowls if you fancy treating yourself!

Pre-heat your oven 200fan/220c/Gas 7. Your soup should be cold – pour into the bowls leaving a gap of 2/3 cms at the top. This prevents the soup bubbling through the pastry when heated. Cut out four circles from the sheets that are slightly larger than the bowl and drape over the filled bowls. Make sure you've cut air holes in the pastry. Brush the pastry with beaten egg then bake for 15 – 20 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden – serve immediately with your sandwiches.

Speaking of sandwiches …

Revolving doors!

Entertaining comes in many ways. The month of October has been one of what I call “revolving doors”. How is it that you don't have guests for ages and then someone, somewhere flicks a switch – four times we've had guests for food!

As you know our American friends have visited. They were followed by “pie night” - a supper with friends. I've said many times – stick with what you know and as importantly, what your guests love. The pies were steak and cheese, potato and onion. The dessert was H's alternative birthday cake. The thank you note said it all … “the pies were divine!”. I'll take that.

Then came card night … this evening is different because it's time critical. We break for supper so making ahead and being able to bring everything together in the fastest time is what's required.

Entertaining can be stressful enough but it's not just the cooking, it's deciding what to cook that's the biggest headache. The best piece of advice I can give is sit back and think. What time of year is it – what type of gathering is it – i.e. formal ish or informal. A dinner usually means three courses, a lunch or a supper two. I know I've said this recently but you need to know what your guests like or, more to the point, dislike and obviously take into account any specific dietary stuff!

Back to card night … using that formula – it's Autumn, chilly and it gets dark early.

There's nothing tastier or faster than soup and a sandwich – here's my version.

The verdict … and the definition of success!

The Chestnut and Apple roast - the vegetarian option – was also very well received and, believe it or not, my American vegetarian friend had never had a “nut roast”. To say that Rox loved it is an understatement. The other guests tried it too – this has happened before, the vegetarian option turns out to be as much of a success as the meat option.

My definition of success is when meat eaters ask for a recipe and a “doggy bag” of the vegetarian roast to take home. At this point I did divulge my other secret. The roast is yummy on a sandwich, veggie style with a home-made mayo et al, add chicken or turkey for those that like.

Two days later … here's a snippet from the delightful thank you card …

“...Thank you so much for inviting us into your home and being such gracious hosts. You really outdid yourself with everything. Gracey and I are still marvelling at the variety and flavours of the dishes. I've had numerous accounts of the pork melting in her mouth. Nut roast was on the pub menu but we decided not to have it because we knew it couldn't be as good as yours ...”.

How great is it to read how much guests have enjoyed themselves and that all the hard work was worth every second – of course they could just be polite but somehow the empty plates and requests for recipes told a different story.

It's Thanksgiving in November and the recipes will be winging their way to the USA soon – who knows, may be the Chestnut and Apple roast might make the menu!

I hope that you'll find the concept of the dinner party useful – you may not like all of it or indeed the menu choices but that's not the point – the principles you can use to suit your own menu and enable you to enjoy yourself too!

The aim of this entertaining game …

… and more hints and tips.

Make it easy on yourself. The purpose of sharing my dinner party has been to show what you can do ahead of the game.

The more thinking and planning you can do, before you even begin to cook, the better. You need to decide on a menu that is balanced. As an example, a small bowl of deliciousness packed with flavour and texture as an appetiser gets the show on the road. It should not be too large, you don't want to overload your guests.

I mentioned choosing serving dishes earlier and using your small oven as a warming drawer – now both come into their own. Serving vegetables in bowls at the table gives your guests a choice and they are far more likely to take a small portion of something they like the look of but ordinarily wouldn't eat. It also takes the pressure off when you know that your vegetables are all served at the same time, hot and in warmed dishes. I loaded a tray with my five bowls – quick and easy to transport to the table.

The Chestnut and Apple roast is also served straight from the oven in its attractive dish oh – don't forget a jug of caramelised onion gravy to serve with the veggie roast!

Plate the main for each meat eating guest adding a jug of extra sauce on the table.

After an appropriate rest and table clearing the pudding can be plated – either at the table or in your kitchen, whichever you prefer. Hopefully you should get a wow reaction from your guests if you're brave enough to serve it at the table. Note to self, remember to take the ice cream from the freezer before you sit down for your main, if you don't it'll take ages to soften and delay your pudding.

Finally, making sure your guests are replete and relaxed with their drinks topped up, pour yourself a large one – you deserve it!

The Dinner Party Pudding – the finishing line!

I chose the following pudding because it ticks all the boxes. It's delicious, it looks amazing and three of the four elements I made ahead – boom!

My pudding is Gateau a l'Orange - Orange Cake if you prefer. Despite its French title it's actually Jewish.

2 oranges

6 eggs

250g sugar

2 tbsp orange blossom water

1 tsp baking powder

250g ground almonds

Wash the oranges and boil them whole for 1 – 1 ½ hours or until they are very soft.

Beat the eggs with the sugar. Add the orange blossom water, baking powder and almonds and mix well. *Cut open the oranges, remove the pips and purée in a food processor. Mix thoroughly with the egg and almond mixture and pour into a 23cm cake tin – lined with baking parchment, preferably non-stick and with a removable base. Bake in a pre-heated oven 190c/170fan/Gas 5 for an hour. Let it cool before turning out.

What put me off baking this cake was the boiling of the oranges so to bring it up to date - instead of boiling the oranges, microwave them for 8 minutes on high. I used 3 medium sized oranges (as a guide 67-74mm) and turned after 4 minutes. Make sure your fruits are in a covered vented microwave container. Continue with the recipe at *.

The Orange Cake is moist – moist is good but, to use the northern vernacular, it can be claggy. This calls for “drizzle” to serve with so here's my orange syrup (or drizzle if you prefer).

Orange Syrup

200g icing sugar

250ml orange juice (no bits)

Put the sugar and orange juice in a small saucepan and heat gently so that the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and simmer on a low heat for 10 minutes.

You'll then have a syrupy drizzle ready to dress your cake.

I made a vanilla ice cream ahead so the final pudding would be a slice of gateau a generous drizzle of orange syrup and a scoop of ice cream on the side. Ordinarily that would be enough, however, I chose to top the gateau with a small scoop of clotted cream. I wanted to showcase a quintessentially English tradition which I thought lent itself to the pudding – a pudding should after all be an indulgence it was also an opportunity to serve an ingredient that I thought my American guests had never tasted – flying the flag as it were!

If you'd like to see a photo guide of the Gateau have a look at My favourite cake 6^th May 2018 which gives photos of the Gateau and the drizzle. You can find the ice cream recipe on the ice cream label 26th May 2018 Ritzy Rhubarb Ripple along with other no churn ice creams.

Coming next … the aim of this game and then the verdict!

On the night – the appetiser

I mentioned right at the start that I wanted to spend as much time as possible with my guests. The sure fire way that I can is to choose dishes that I know work and that my guests will enjoy.

I also said that the only dish to be cooked from scratch on the night is the appetiser, which is why I chose the following recipe. I've served this dish three times now and it has never let me down, in fact it has very been well received - so - stick with what you know!

Scallops and king prawns in black bean sauce

for 5 as a starter

3 scallops per person (defrost from frozen)

5 cooked king prawns per person (defrost from frozen)

drop of rapeseed oil

salt and black pepper

Romano peppers – one orange, one

yellow, de-seeded and finely chopped to a similar

size

1 bunch of spring onions, finely chopped

200g black bean sauce – make your own

or buy a good quality ready-made

This is a dish that you pull from your freezer – the scallops and the king prawns and from your pantry/store cupboard - the black bean sauce.

You need to remember to take the scallops and king prawns out of the freezer the night before and fridge them. Make sure you drain any liquid and pat dry with kitchen roll before cooking.

I always use the clock face method when cooking scallops – heating the rapeseed oil until hot and beginning at 12 o'clock and forming an outer circle in your pan, sealing and seasoning with salt and black pepper. When you return to where you began turn each scallop again to seal on the other side. Set them aside on a baking sheet and cover with foil.

Stir fry the peppers and onions for 2/3 minutes, then add the king prawns, season and toss together for 2 minutes to warm the prawns through, add the scallops and the black bean sauce tossing to cover thoroughly. Serve immediately in small bowls with small flat breads to mop up the sauce.

My final tip – prep the peppers and onions ahead then bag and fridge!

Last up – pudding ...