For the fish lovers … or strictly speaking seafood lovers!

I know that my salad menu is a long one – what can I say, I love what I call a creaking table!

I said at the beginning that we had two fish lovers. I want to make sure that I don't finish up meeting myself coming back when the guests arrive but by the same token want to serve food that everyone will enjoy.

The recipe/dish that follows I've served before and it went well then, so time for another appearance. If you're interested in dishes that can be prepped and served in minutes then I think you'll like this.

Scallops and king prawns in black bean sauce

Serves 2 as a starter

7 scallops per person (from frozen –

frozen scallops are usually smaller than fresh)

7 cooked king prawns (from frozen)

drop of rapeseed oil

salt and black pepper

Waitrose Cooks' Ingredients

black bean sauce

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.

As a guide I sourced the king prawns (200g) and the black bean sauce (220g) from Waitrose - £4.80 and £2.49 respectively. The scallops came from Marks and Spencer (300g) £9.00. Prices will vary.

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. Add the king prawns, season and then toss together for 2 minutes to warm the prawns through. Add 100ml of the black bean sauce tossing to cover thoroughly. Serve immediately.

Some helpful photos on their way.

More beetroot … this time roasted

Here's the second of my favourite beetroot recipes. I said in “Back to reality – a birthday lunch” that I love to serve both hot and cold dishes. This beetroot selection is delicious either way and I use both as sides as part of a lunch or al fresco food especially at this time of year. They are great with burgers too!

Honey Roasted Beetroot

Balsamic vinegar – 2 tsp

Olive oil – 2 tbsp

Clear honey – 2 tbsp

Cooked beetroot – 500g

Salt and black pepper

Chopped fresh thyme – 2tsp or a sprinkle

of dried if you can't get fresh

Choose beets of a similar size and preferably as small as possible and roast in foil – 180fan/200c/Gas 6 for an hour and then test with a paring knife, leave to cool and then peel. If your beets are larger then you may need another 15 minutes, then test again.

Pre-heat your oven to 200fan/220c/Gas7.

Mix together the thyme, vinegar, olive oil and honey in a bowl until well combined.

Cut the beetroot in half and place into the bowl with the honey mixture and season, to taste, with salt and black pepper.

Place the beetroot into a deep roasting tray and roast in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the beetroot is sticky and glazed.

Don't forget – you can use plan b mentioned at the end of “Beautiful beetroot” if you run out of time!

Beautiful beetroot!

I get that cooking fresh beetroot is a bit of a faff. I roast mine, it's cleaner and you don't have to stand around watching it boil on your hob. All you need to remember is to set your timer. The other benefit with roasting beetroot is that you can, once again, cook it ahead of whenever you need it.

Choose beets of a similar size - preferably as small as possible and roast in foil – 180fan/200c/Gas 6 for an hour and then test with a paring knife, leave to cool and then peel. If your beets are larger then you may need another 15 minutes, then test again.

Take full advantage of what's in season, which is why beetroot is front of stage on this menu and not just a usual salad suspect.

I'm including two of my favourite beetroot side recipes, adaptable for so many dishes both hot and cold, here goes :

Bazzin' beetroot relish

300g of cooked beetroot

peeled and cut into small cubes

1 sharp eating apple, peeled, cored and cut

into small cubes

1 medium onion, finely chopped

75g soft dark brown sugar

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and black pepper

Don't forget to use gloves when prepping your beetroot!

Mix well and place all the ingredients in a medium saucepan – 16cms in diameter. Simmer on a low heat, uncovered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until all the liquid has been absorbed.

Take the pan off the heat and allow to cool. Box up and fridge until ready to use.

This recipe is one of my favourites and I use it all the time – anywhere you want a relish or a side it fits the bill - from baked salmon or honey glazed gammon to plain and simple with bread and cheese.

If you don't have the time, there's a plan b - use the organic vac packs of beetroot you can get in the supermarket – good too when it's out of season - I try and choose beetroot that is approximately the same size – a 300g vac pack gives you 8 small to medium beetroots, which I will then cut in half.

More beetroot ...

Hot potatoes – a plan and the prep.

My “to do” list :

Boil the potatoes and cool, ready to slice when I'm not in a hurry. I made this my first job in the morning the day before the lunch. I softened the onion too. They had plenty of time to cool whilst I was doing other stuff. Later the same day I assembled the tartiflette and baked it for 45 minutes, cooled, covered and fridged it. It needs a further 15 minutes cooking time, uncovered, on the day. Big tick!

I mentioned too that I wouldn't be including the bacon in the recipe. I'll be serving bacon bits on the side – this way you cater for vegetarians too.

It matters not how much bacon you bake - you can use any leftover bits, as I did, for a Spanish omelette on another day. As a matter of principle in my kitchen I always make more than I think I need – why – because I'm automatically creating ingredients for lunches or suppers and half the work.

Back to the bits … line a baking sheet with rashers of bacon and bake on 180fan/200c/Gas 6 for 15 minutes, turn the bacon and repeat. Set aside to cool – it will be crispy, snap into tiny bits box and fridge. Another tick.

If there's one thing I love it's making the best use of my oven and saving myself time and stress into the bargain. You can bake your tart on the day and add your tartiflette too, you just need to set your timer for 25 minutes when the tart goes into the oven then add the tartiflette, uncovered for the remaining 15 minutes of tart cooking time. Don't worry that there's a slight difference in oven temperature, leave it at 180fan/200c/Gas 6 for the tart, they'll be perfectly crispy! The tartiflette shouldn't be served piping hot but warm to compliment the tart.

P.s. I'd be keeping my fingers crossed for leftovers – tartiflette is even better the following day warmed, creating even more crispy edges. Happy days.

More recipes from the menu – hot potatoes!

It's not compulsory to have hot or warm dishes - it's personal choice. If however you've never mixed hot with cold in a salad sense give it a go I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

The next recipe is the Tartiflette. I've already mentioned that it's a French dish - classically it uses Reblochon cheese. Reblochon is expensive but worth the treat so why not indulge - however it's quite difficult to source, especially if you live “in the sticks” like I do. If you need ideas for alternatives any cheese that melts easily will do the trick – two of my favourites are gruyere and taleggio – you could even use a ripe camembert.

Here's the traditional Tartiflette recipe which includes bacon – dry cured if at all possible :

Tartiflette

1.5kg/3lb 5oz all purpose potatoes, e.g. Desirée, peeled

and cut to a similar size

1 large onion, finely chopped

4 thick dry cured smoked streaky bacon rashers, finely chopped

50g/2oz butter

1 garlic clove or roasted garlic

250g/9oz Reblochon cheese, rind trimmed and removed

Pre-heat oven 160fan/180c/Gas 4.

Boil the potatoes until cooked, cool, then slice.

Melt the butter in a frying pan and cook the onion and bacon until softened. Cut the garlic clove in half and rub the inside of an ovenproof dish – or a foil version if more convenient – my dish measures 23x23x8cms – 9x9x3¼” . If you're using roasted garlic, spread it around the inside.

Place some of the potato slices in the bottom and season with salt and black pepper then layer with the onion and bacon, repeat until all the potato slices have been used, seasoning between each layer.

Chop the cheese and scatter over the potatoes and cover with foil. Bake in the oven for 1 hour, remove the foil for the remaining 15 minutes to enable the tartiflette to crisp around the edges.

The beauty of this dish is that it can be prepared ahead. If you're a lover of garlic then don't be afraid to increase the garlic to 2 tsps of roasted or 2 cloves when you're cooking the onions and bacon – rules are made to be broken.

Hot potatoes, a plan and the prep to follow!

A plan, the prep and a photo or three!

The plan is to make the pastry case in the middle of the week when I have time and then wrap and freeze. I can promise you that this pastry recipe is the easiest you'll make and is very kind – by that I mean that you have to work very hard indeed to make a mess of it!

I'll weigh out the cheeses, they can all go into the same bag and then fridge, ready to add the remainder of the filling. The onions can be softened, boxed and fridged, ready to use.

On the morning of the lunch combine the filling ingredients, take your pastry case from the freezer, add the filling, cover and fridge until you're ready to bake. To serve your tart warm you need to bake it for 40 minutes and allow for resting, so you need to work backwards from when you're expecting your guests to arrive. If all else fails set your kitchen timer, just in case you get sidetracked!

Here's the pastry case 

Here it is again, wrapped ready to freeze

Hey presto – the freshly baked tart!

More recipes from the menu to follow.

The cracking Three Cheese Tart!

I don't normally “blow my own trumpet” but on this occasion I will – if you're a cheese lover it'll be right up your alley!

Here's the recipe :

Three Cheese Tart

The pastry case

8oz/225g Wholemeal Flour

4oz/110g unsalted butter – sliced, cubed or grated

Pinch of baking powder

Ice cold water to bind

The filling

2 medium onions, chopped

knob of butter, drop of rapeseed oil

12oz/350g grated cheese, 4oz/110g each mature

cheddar, Red Leicester and Gruyere

1 egg, beaten to bind

Black pepper

ice cold water to bind

Grease and line a 9”/22cm dish or spring clip tin. Cling film to wrap.

For the pastry case, use a food processor if you have one, pop in the flour, baking powder and butter and blitz until breadcrumbs. Add a drop of ice cold water and pulse until the pastry comes together - do not over do it. Tip the pastry out onto a sheet of cling film, using the film gather the pastry together into a ball and fridge for 30 mins.

Soften the chopped onions in the butter and rapeseed oil.

Add the cheese, onions, black pepper and beaten egg, set aside and fridge until you are ready to roll!

Roll out your pastry and fridge again until you are ready to bake.

Pre-heat your oven to 180fan/200c/Gas 6.

When you are ready to bake put the chilled filling into the chilled pastry and bake for 35/40 minutes until golden.

Leave the tart to cool, ideally serve it warm. If you cut into the tart when straight out of the oven the cheese filling will ooze – you need to leave it to settle.

This tart is excellent warmed the next day – if you're fortunate enough to have any leftovers!

Coming next a plan and the prep.