Salad of smoked mackerel, avocado, cucumber and celeriac; tasty and super-healthy. Tonnes of omega 3 from the mackerel - and it's mighty tasty!
A simple and exquisite starter made with fresh melon and smoked salmon, with a drizzle of balsamic and a sprinkling of fresh mint. Gorgeous! Even if salmon is not home cured.
Snickerdoodles, butter cookies with cinnamon coating. Make them with kids so they roll the dough balls in sugared cinnamon like dung beetles. Also tempting to add choc chips – but then you’d turn the funky snickerdoodles into plain old choc chip cookies which would be a shame.
Soft burger buns with a sesame sprinkle, made from dough enriched with butter and eggs. The classic homemade burger bun recipe is the best!
Soft white, floury old-fashioned baps. The best vehicle for an old-fashioned bacon butty and perfect housing for burgers as well – I’m telling you, stuff the little sesame buns.
Sourdough baguettes on wheat starter, fermenting over 36 hours. They taste like they came from a French boulangerie, and just look at those air bubbles…
Sweet sourdough pull apart buns filled with jam. Impossibly sticky, and that’s before the icing. The jam puddle at the bottom of the tin. Pull apart sweet buns are a nightmare to eat but such bliss.
Sourdough no knead white bread on starter made with pineapple juice. Very tasty bread – next time I’ll add some wholemeal or even whole grain flours for a sharper taste.
Soft crust sourdough sandwich bread in a Pullman loaf tin. It's square, it's sliceable and it's sourdough, a flavoursome tender loaf with soft and chewy crust.
Spanakopita, Greek spinach pie wrapped in filo pastry. Pies are a whole skills set; unless you call meat covered with puff pastry a pie (don’t). Pie needs a bottom as well as the hat and they both should be crusty, not soggy.
Spelt risotto with pearled spelt grain and dried porcini mushrooms is a gorgeous vegetarian dish: wholesome, flavoursome and effortless.
Spelt and marinated courgette salad, with pine nuts and creamy blue cheese dressing. Much easier to cook than rice, more nutritious than pasta, spelt is the future of salads!
Spiced monkfish tail chunks in lightly curried sauce is a dish ready in 5 minutes. Don't forget to sprinkle monkfish chunks with salt for at least half an hour, to draw moisture out.
Baked pears with blue cheese, a great starter, dessert or a side dish. These roasted pears are spiced with cinnamon and topped with melting Stilton blue cheese.
Spiced roasted cauliflower with togarashi seasoning and cinnamon. Melted butter, a grating of Parmesan and it's a vert tasty side or lunch dish.
Fiery bacon, spiced but still cool cucumber and mild new potatoes in a warm salad. The bacon and cucumber salad on its own will make a great spicy snack or starter - I’ve thrown new potatoes in to a/ dampen the fire a bit and b/ make it into a main course.
Spicy, cheesy lentils bake, a superior vegetarian dish put together in 15 minutes. Baked cheesy lentils inspired by NY Times Cooking.
Spicy chicken wings marinated overnight in buttermilk and hot sauce, with extra spicy oil brushed on before cooking. Oven, grill or barbecue – they will be excellent every time!
Hot and spicy fried aubergine, a simple side or starter. Aubergine slices are dusted with flour to stop it guzzling oil so much and make the dish healthier.
Spicy prawns cooked with garlic, lemon and sriracha. Serve in individual cast iron dishes if you have them - it looks pretty. Serve with some crusty freshly baked, a green salad and your lunch or supper is sorted.
Spicy seared bavette steak, seasoned with a dry rub of chilli flakes, oregano, garlic and a secret umami agent: dried mushroom powder.
Spicy stir fried asparagus, cooked in a wok with chillies, ginger and garlic, is a great starter or a side dish bursting with Asian flavours.
Chocolate cake with dark chocolate topping and spider web white chocolate drizzle. The cake is so easy to make it’s embarrassing – but excellent for the kids to be engaged.
Spinach and blue cheese pancakes aka crêpes. European pancakes are thin and - you guessed it - flat as a pancake. The savoury pancake filling is easy and makes a gorgeous dinner not just dessert.
A delicate, fluffy omelette with fresh spinach leaves and grated Cheddar cheese is a perfect lunch or supper for one. And who cares that it doesn’t fold perfectly?
Oven baked spinach and mozzarella balls, coated in breadcrumbs. Healthy baked spinach and cheese balls go well with a steak as a side dish but also delicious as an appetizer.
Spinach and ricotta lasagne with cooked cream instead of bechamel. Lasagne is the best pasta. It took me a while to work out that ‘lasagne’ is actually used in the same grammatical fashion as ‘tagliatelle’ or spaghetti’ – it means the type of pasta in the plural.
Spinach and cheese bake, a healthy casserole served as a side dish or for brunch. Cheese is able to cover a multitude of sins. There aren’t many dishes that can’t be improved by throwing some cheese at them.
Spinach and cheese empanada wrapped in filo pastry and baked in the oven, with honey and pine nut topping. As good in filo as in handmade dough!
Spongata di natale, Italian honey and nut Christmas cake is like an oversized mince pie, with shortcrust pastry case and filling of dried or candied fruit, and mixed nuts.
Homemade egg white sponge fingers, aka ladyfingers or savoiardi, for your next trifle, tiramisu or chocolate mousse. Or they might just disappear on their own.
Deep fried sprats can be eaten whole, head, tail and all but it’s very easy to lop the heads off and clean the sprats a bit. An easy, cheap and delicious treat.
Spring cabbage salad is easy and incredibly healthy, with herbs and a touch of garlic. A welcome change from lettuce or mixed greens, it's perfect for BBQ.
Spring lamb chump chops seared in a hot pan and topped with a pillow of herby crumbs. Light, fresh and delicate in flavour herb crusted lamb chops, the best with new season lamb.
Spring potato salad with radish, gherkins and very light mayo dressing – it’s the taste and flavour of a summer barbecue even in midwinter.
Easy calamari recipe: fried calamari rings with chorizo slices and spring onions. Call it calamari or squid, this recipe will make an excellent starter or a light lunch dish.
St Lucia buns, vibrant with saffron and elegantly twisted, are Swedish Christmas time bakes. Lucia Day and Lucia buns go back to the history of Lucia, an early Christian martyr.
Steak and ale pie with flaky homemade shortcrust pastry. Supremely flavourful, hitting all the right spots with the salty, the meaty and the earthy from the mushrooms
Steak salad: thickly sliced medium-rare sirloin atop a pile of grilled vegetables dressed with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. A quick weeknight supper that tastes special.
My mouth-watering steak tartare recipe is the perfect choice for meat lovers who crave a delicious and sophisticated dish. With fresh ingredients like raw beef and egg yolk, crispy capers and gherkins, this classic French recipe is easy to make and impresses every time. Serve it as a starter or main dish, and enjoy the tender texture and bold flavors that make steak tartare a timeless favorite.
Rib-eye steak with green vegetables and blue cheese sauce. This is the easiest sauce for steak: simply toss cooked green vegetables in blue cheese until it melts.
Steamed globe artichokes served with sriracha mayo. What you do with the chokes couldn’t be simpler: steam or boil them and dish them out with some spicy dips. It’s messy – finger job no doubt, and since the heads stay on the communal plate.
Steamed side of salmon in a foil parcel with dill, chilies and soy sauce. Steaming takes only 15 minutes and the salmon can be served hot or cold.
Steamed whole sea bass asian style, with coriander and spring onions. Wok’s shape makes it possible to simply prop up a plate against the sides so it’s beautifully suspended over the water, no rack or even steaming basket needed.
Soft and chewy double ginger cookies. Ginger is quite amazing in its versatility, a bit like lemons, you can add it to both sweet and savoury dishes and if in sensible quantities, it’ll improve them.
Sticky fig upside down cake. The figs get sticky and melt into the almond layer; and if they don’t look quite as appealing as I was hoping – well, the proof of the pudding and all that.
Pan fried mackerel fillet with sweet sticky sauce. There are two secrets to successfully pan-frying fish. One is a smoking hot pan and the other – the skin of the fish PERFECTLY dry. Otherwise you’ll be scraping the fish bits off the pan forever.
Sticky pear and ginger cake is dark, moist and incredibly easy to make. With juicy chunks of pears and crunchy pecans scattered over the sticky syrupy surface, it’s the perfect winter dessert.