Receiving a copy of the - rather excellent - Billingsgate Market Cookbook is bound to change this sorry state of affairs. The reason for fish being absent from the weekly shopping basket is simple - I really don't know what to do with them! Wrapping a trout or mackrel in tin foil is about as far as my culinary skills take me. The cookbook - complete with instructions on how to prepare fish - offers a host of recipes for about every type of fish availble in the UK. If you can't find one type of fish they offer suggestions for a suitable replacement.

The local butcher has a small fish counter and Waitrose isnt too bad either but the place to buy fish in Oxfordsure has to be the fish shop in Oxford's covered market; I can't recommend it highly enough. Frozen pollack from Waitrose is the base for this dish however. It's cheap, being part of their Essentials range, but coupled with the addition of a few large, juicy prawns made for a lovely, rich dish. Boiled eggs, having eaten the last, scrambled, for that mornings breakfast, were omitted.

The Recipe:

Billingsgate School Fish Pie (serves 6)

• 450g white fish fillets such as coley, hake or Pollack


• 900ml semi-skimmed milk


• 1 bay leaf


• 90g butter


• 1 finely diced leek


• 90g plain flour


• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper


• ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg


• ½ teaspoon dired English mustard


• 3 hard boiled eggs, quartered


• 2 tablespoons chopped dill


• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley


• Salt and pepper

For the mashed potato topping

• 1kg King Edward potatoes


• 25g butter


• 120-150ml hot milk


• Salt and pepper


• 1-2 tablespoons grated Cheddar Cheese

Preheat oven to 190C/375F/G5.

Bring the fish and the bay leaf in the milk to the boil and poach over low heat for 5 minutes or so until cooked. Strain the milk into a jog and set aside. Remove skin and bones from fish.

Cook the leek in the melted butter until soft. Stir in the flour, cayenne pepper, nutmeg and mustard and cook for further minute. Blend in the reserved milk, bring to the boil stirring continuously simmer for 2-3 minutes. Should be nice and smooth. Add the eggs, herbs and fish, season. Pour into a large ovenproof pie dish.

Prepare the topping: cook potatoes until tender. Drain and allow to dry for a minute or two. Mash with butter and some hot milk. Season. Spoon over the fish. Sprinkle with cheese.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the topping is golden brown and the pie hot and bubbling.

By using a ready-made pastry case that is smaller than the recipes 22cm diameter the custard filling obviously has to be reduced too. Basically I cut everything by half; but still had excess cream left over. The other thing I should, perhaps, have done is to strain the raspberry puree. While I don't mind the crunch of the little seeds it did lack a certain finesse and smoothness a simple strain would have provided.

Raspberry Duck Egg Custard Tart

For the Custard

• 400ml double cream


• 5 duck egg yolks


• 55g caster sugar

For the Raspberry Puree

• Punet of frozen raspberries


• a knob of unsalted butter


• 80g caster sugar


• (I also added a slug of my elderflower syrup but this added little to the final flavour)

Simmer the puree ingredients until a thick, quite dry puree is produced. Part bake the pastry case. Then spread most of the puree over the base of the pastry.

Bring the cream to the boil. Lightly whisk the egg yolks and sugar together and slowly add the cream on to this mixture, stirring all the time. Pour back into the saucepan and heat through for 2 minutes again constantly stirring. Strain the custard through a fine sieve and pour it onto the pastry case. Bake for 20-30 minutes until the filling is just set. A temperature of 180C seems about right.

Allow to cool and serve with a spoonful of the remaining raspberry puree and clotted cream.

PS: Fork Magazine has a blog

Strawberry and Elderflower Creams
Serves six apparently (I managed to fill three large glasses).

• 500g hulled strawberries


• 3 tablespoons Elderflower Cordial


• 85g caster sugar


• 4 gelatine leaves


• 300ml whipping cream


• 2 strips lemon zest

Select a few strawberries for decoration and process the others with the cordial and sugar.

Soak the gelatine in a dish of cold water, leave to soak while heating the cream. Add the lemon zest to the cream and heat slowly and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat. Add the gelatine (squeeze out the excess water) and stir to dissolve. Cool until warm. remove the zest then mix in the strawberry puree. Spoon into glasses and leave to set in the fridge for 3-4 hours. Bring back to room temperature before serving.

The recipe comes from the June issue of Delicious magazine. Not totally convinced the bruised lemon grass added much to the fillings flavour but mango and coconut do combine well. I have in mind an excellent sweet wine (that I sampled at the London Wine Fair last week) that would go superbly with this; sadly the wine is not yet available in the UK. I'll get the note up on Spittoon shortly but it's the Plunkett Fowles The Exception Late Harvest Viognier 2008!

Mango and Lemongrass Tart with Coconut Pastry

• 300ml double cream


• 3 lemongrass stalks bruised


• 2 large egg yolks


• 75g caster sugar


• 1 1/2 gelatine leaves


• 1 large mango peeled and thinly sliced

• 200g plain flour


• 100g chilled unsalted butter


• 30g desiccated coconut


• 1 tbsp icing sugar

Nature's Pleasure Rhubarb Crumble Tart
By Simon Rimmer

Ingredients:
Pastry - 225g flour
100g butter
25g sugar
1 egg
Small amount of milk to bind

Egg wash

250g rhubarb
Pinch of ground star anise
Pinch of ground ginger
150g sugar
Juice 1 orange

Top - 100g flour
100g dem sugar
100g Nature's Pleasure Cherry and Raspberry
150g butter
Pinch of ground cinnamon

Method:
1. Pastry - pulse together in blender, then roll out, line a 200mm tin, chill for 2 hours. Bake blind at 200c for 15-20 minutes. Then brush with egg wash and cook for extra 5 minutes

2. Filling - put the rhubarb, spices, sugar and orange in a pan and cook until just soft. Spoon into the case

3. Top - rub all together, spoon on top of the fruit. Bake at 180c for 12 minutes

4. Serve with custard

This simple recipe is lifted from Reuben Cooks, the cookbook from celebrated South Africa chef Reuben Riffel. Being privileged to eat in his Franschhoek restaurant, Reuben's, a couple of weeks ago we also managed to acquire a copy of his cookbook, where many of the dishes we consumed were featured.

The mix of recipes draw on his English training, his Cape Malay background and the various influences on South African cuisine in general - so mixed in with the onion and blue cheese tart or Baby chicken with Rosemary and Lemon you will find such delights as Steamed mussels with banana, orange, flat-leaf parsley and orange and olive oil sauce, Springbok Tataki and Tandoori Yellowtail with Spinach and Cumin Dhal, Cucumber Relish and Lemon Froth. Each recipe is completed by a wine recommendation; a South African wine obviously.

Avocado Salad With Toasted Pine Nuts, Rocket, Parmesan and Balsamic Syrup
From Reuben Cooks: Food Is Time Travel
Serves 2

• 1 good sized avocado


• 100g baby rocket leaves


• 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts


• 2 tablespoons balsamic syrup


• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil


• ¼ cup Parmesan Cheese shavings to garnish


• Salt and Black pepper

Wine Match: Iona Sauvignon Blanc

The original recipe for the Hunter's Pudding asked for 1/2 lb of stoned raisins, as a replacement 150g of mixed berries was substituted.

Hunter's Pudding

• a breakfastcupful of flour (1/2 pint)


• a teacup of shredded suet (1/4 pint)


• a teacupful of sugar


• 1/2lb stoned raisins


• 1 1/2 pints milk


• 3 eggs

When well set turn out of the dish and serve with a sweet sauce.

Wine Sauce for Sweet Puddings
Boil gently together for 10 to 15 minutes the very thin rind of half a small lemon, about 1 1/2oz sugar and a wineglassful of water. Remove the lemon rind and stir into the sauce 1oz butter mixed with a large half-teaspoonful of flour. Add a wineglasful and a half of sherry or Madeira or other good white wine and when quite hot serve without delay.

The result is a hearty, full, real-English winter pudding. I think you are supposed to turn it out of the dish (a firm crust develops all round) but I didn't trust the steamingly hot wobbly mass to play its part so it remained in the bowl. In fact though after a few minutes out of the oven (it's a pudding to serve hot) the whole does firm up substantially (did anyone mention stodge?) so it shouldn't be impossible. The sauce, especially when made with Madeira, has a lovely Christmas flavour and would make for an excellent sauce for Christmas steamed pudding.

How much is a Victorian 'wine glass full' though? My sauce was particularly boozy!

Roast meat like this has got to be one of the hardest food subjects to photograph. Basically it is a lump of brown stuff and even with highlights of light bouncing off the liquid and fat it still doesn't look that good. I note that the recipe is also one lacking an illustration in Slater's book.

Lamb Shanks with Mustard and Mash

• 2 lamb shanks - 1 per person


• 4 small onions


• 3 bay leaves


• 2or 3 sprigs rosemary


• 250ml vegetable or meat stock


• 250ml red wine


• 3 cloves of garlic


• 1 heaped teaspoon gran mustard

Oven to 160C/Gas3. Seal the lamb in olive oil until lightly coloured all over. Cut the onions into quarters, add them to the pan with the bay leaves and sprigs of rosemary. Add the stock and red wine. Add the garlic cloves squashed along with pepper and salt. Place the dish in the oven and bake for an hour and a half.

Half way through cooking stir in the mustard, turning the lamb too.

The calender is produced 'in association' with Salisbury's, so naturally the ingredients are Sainsbury specifics (lucky then that I have my groceries delivered from Salisbury's, when not nipping down the road to Waitrose of course.

Baked Venison Sausages with Lentils
Serves 4

• Sainsbury's Taste The Difference Scottish Wild Venison & Red Wine Sausages


• 2 red peppers, deseeded and cut into wedges


• 1 red inion, cut into wedges


• 3 tomatoes cut into wedges


• 3 bay leaves


• 2-3 springs of fresh tyme, sage or rosemary or a mixture


• 1 tbsp olive oil


• 1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar


• 1500ml hot beef stock


• 1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce


• 1 tsp hot chili sauce (one I ommited and found the dish 'hot' enough)


• 2x400g cans lentils, rinsed and drained

Oven to 190C/Fan170/Gas 4.

Roast the sausages with the peppers, onion, tomatoes and herbs, topped with the oil and balsamic, for 40 minutes.

Add to the roasting tin the stock, Worcestershire Sauce, Chili Sauce, the lentils and some seasoning. Return t the oven and roast for 40-50 minutes until the sausages are a rich brown colour. Served with mashed potato and a red wine!

Lime Pie (or Tart)
serves about 6

For the pastry:

• 250g plain flour


• 125g chilled unsalted btter


• 2 tbsp caster sugar

For the filling:

• 4 medium egg yolks


• 397g can condensed milk


• 2 tsp grated lime zest


• 125ml lime juice


• limes for decorating


• icing sugar for dusting

Make the pastry - rub the butter into the flour and sugar using finger tips until it becomes like breadcrumbs. Add 1-2 tablespoons cold water and mix until combined into a ball. Wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll out and line a 22cm square pie tin. Bake in a pre-heated oven (200C/180f/G6) for 15 minutes topped with a sheet of baking paper (weighed down with beans). Remove paper and bake for a further 5-10 minutes until dry to the touch. Allow to cool.

Reduce oven temp to 180C/160F/G4.

Mix the yolks, milk, zest and juice until combined. Pour into the pastry case and smooth the surface. Bake for 20-25 minutes until set. Cool completely and chill for a couple of hours. Decorate with lime slices and icing sugar.

Perhaps not the most exciting looking tarts I've constructed (did the top catch a bit due to overcooking, hence the dark brown patches?) but tastes, well, very limey.

The dish uses the new Baileys with a Hint of Coffee for a mans-sized hit of coffee but the original (or I'm sure any of the other alternatives) could be substituted.

This recipe, one with more than a passing winter/autumn feel, comes from Australian Gourmet Traveller Food For Friends is designed to serve 6 as an starter or 4 as a light lunch. Or one greedy blogger with a little left over for the following days 'light lunch'.

Roasted Beetroot with Pancetta and Rockert Aioli

• 4 beetroot each peeled and cut into 8 pieces


• olive oil


• pancetta


• 1 tbsp Walnut Oil


• 100g walnuts


• 1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar


• rocket

Rocket Aioli

• 2 egg yolks


• 2 crushed garlic cloves


• 1 cup coarsly chopped rocket


• 1 1/4 cups olive oil


• 2 tbsp lemon juice

Roast the chopped beetroot, drizzled with olive oil, in a hot oven (200C) for 45 minutes.

For the rocket aiol mix the egg yolks, garlic and rocket until finely chopped (being food processerless I did this by hand but a machine is recomended). With the motor running gradually add the olive oil until the mix is thick and glossy. Transfer to a bowl and stir n lemon juice and seasoning to taste.

The recipe suggest a 250g piece of pancetta rind and excess fat removed and chopped into 1.5cm pieces but I utilised a pack of cubed pancetta. Fry in the walnut oil until lightly golden, ad the walnuts and heat through gently. Remove from the heat, add the cooked beetroot and balsamic vinegar. Mix well and serve on a bed of fres rocket with the aioli poured over.

A choice of two wines are suggested to accompany - an Argentinean Torrentes or a South African Pinotage pink. Details on Spittoon.

Mincemeat and Apple Jalousie

• 500g pack ready rolled puff pastry


• 400g mincemeat


• 1 apple - cox's or Egramont Russet


• handful of slithered almonds


• 1 egg beaten


• 1 tbsp milk

Oven to 200C/Fan180/G6.

Cut the pastry in half longways with one piece (the top) being slightly larger than the other. Place the smaller piece on a lightly buttered baking sheet. Spread the mincemeat on top leavig a 2 cm gap around the edge. Top this with cored and peeled apple slices arranged in an overlapping line. Sprinkle the almonds on top.

Fold the other piece of pastry in half lengthways and make cuts along its length from the folded edge to within 2cm of the other edge. Open this out and top the tart, sealing the edges with a pinch. Brush with the egg mixed with the milk.

Bake te jaloousie for 20 minutes then lower the temp to 180C/16Fan/G4 and continue baking for a further 10-15 miinutes until crisp and richly golden.

St. Clement's Tartlets

• 225g shortcrust pastry


• 1 orange


• 1 lemon


• 75g soften butter


• 2 eggs (I actually used up two goose eggs) separated

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

The filling puffs up magnificently during cooking but, naturally, collapses on cooling. I prefer these warm with a little vanilla ice-cream but they are good cold too.

For the chocolate sauce bring 100g double cream and 1 teaspoon of caster sugar to just boiling, remove from heat and melt in 100g plain chocolate. A simple recipe from Delicious magazines advertiser Bonne Maman who make te 'butter crunch biscuits'.

You could be more dainty and slice the pears a little smaller than I can be bothered with. Makes plenty of chocolate sauce - being a great excuse for licking the spoon after!

The recipe for Thai-Spiced Chicken Salad suggested the use of Thai Green Chili paste, I used red having a jar to hand from the Braised Chicken in White Gravy (Opr Ayam) and endives mixed with the cabbage as the salads base.

Thai Spiced Chicken Salad - serves 2

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice


• 2 teaspoons Thai Chili Paste (I used red)


• 4 heaped spoonfuls of mayonnaise


• 2 spring onions, finely chopped


• Cooked chicken strips/chunks


• 2 sticks chopped celery


• 1 diced, peeled green apple


• Quarter savoy cabbage sliced


• 2 tomatoes cut into wedges

Serve with crusty bread and a bottle of Gewurztraminer.

Sunday morning and the house is filled with the heady, heavenly aroma of the fruit. A very, very gentle simmer in a pint of water (for just over 2 lb of fruit, which was three individual quince) and a pound of caster sugar. Don't forget a vanilla pod too and simmer for two hours. The sugar could, I think, be lessened in quantity as the resultant syrup is very sweet. But this is a Sophie Grigson recipe so what do I know!

Allow to cool before serving with ice-cream or, if feeling particularly naughty, clotted cream. I'm also thinking a repeat of last weeks simple apple tarts could be made more indulgent with poached quince.

A rather late and humble entry to Sugar High Friday where, after a little discussion, Vanilla was deemed eligable as a spice! Thanks Anita.

Chocolate Bavarois

• 1x 20g packet leaf gelatine
• 5 tbsp cold water
• 600ml milk
• 1x 150g bar 72% cocoa solids dark chocolate
• 1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scrapped out
• 8 large egg yolks
• 100g caster sugar
• 284ml double cream

Soak the gelatine in the water.

Heat the milk with the chocolate, vanilla pod and seeds. Stir until the chocolate has melted. Do not boil. Leave to cool a little then remove the pod.

Whisk the egg yolks and caster sugar until pale and fluffy. Add a little of the milk mixture into the egg and whisk to combine. Pour back into the pan, add the gelatine and whisk over a medium heat until just short of the boil. Do not boil. Set aside to cool.

Lightly oil the inside of the dariole moulds with butter. Whip the cream until it stands in soft peaks. When the mixture is cold, fold the cream into the chocolate mixture. Pour into the moulds and put in the fridge to set.

These were served with a few mixed berries and some chocolate shavings. Also suggested was a few strips of crystallised orange rind and mint leaves. Serve with a large wine glass full of Cockburn's Late Bottled Vintage Port 2003 which works especially well if you use a top quality chocolate that also releases fruity notes when consumed.

It's a James Martin recipe based on one from the 18th or 19th century. Pound cake recipes are two-a-penny; here though it is the butter cream that lifts the interest level to somethng more decadent. Time to invest in a sugar thermometer perhaps?

Orange Pound Cake

• 125g soft, lightly salted butter


• 125g vanilla caster sugar


• 125g self raising flour sifted with 1 tsp baking powder


• Zest of 1 large orange


• Juice of ½ large orange

2 medium eggs

• Decorate with icing sugar and flaked almonds

• 125g granulated sugar


• 3 tbsp orange juice


• 2 medium egg yolks


• 125g soft, lightly salted butter

For the butter cream dissolve the sugar into the juice, then using the thermometer boil until it reaches 115C. Put the egg yolks in a bowl and tip in the boiling syrup and mix vigorously. Add the soften butter and mix again until light and creamy. Chill to firm. Cut the cake in half horizontally and fill with the cream, top the cake with some too. Decorate with almonds and icing sugar.

The most difficult thing about this dessert is cleaning up the spilt cream from the kitchen floor, the result of some over eager whipping action!

No need to repeat the recipe - view on Pille's Nami Nami blog.

From Waitrose I picked up a pack of little French sponge cake fingers coated with crunchy sugar (Sugared Fingerellas) that make a marvellous contrast to the peaches and sabayon, especially when a couple are broken up and mixed in the dish.

The dish is a sliced peach, mixed with a couple of those Fingerellas, Marsala Sabayon poured over and topped with a dollop of thickly whipped double cream.

To make the Sabayon whisk 2 egg yolks with 60g caster sugar. Place over a saucepan of simmering water and gradually add just under 100ml Marsala until the mix is thickened. Do not boil. Allow to cool slightly and then construct the dish.

More flour was added until it came together; a lot more flour. Anyone can find a recipe for sweet pastry or buy ready-made so I won't repeat that part of the recipe. They added the grated zest of a lemon by the way.

The Frangipane mix was fine although the suggested 30ml amaretto was substituted with lemon juice. Very similar I admit to the Apricot and Fig Frangipane Tart; but equally as delicious. Ladies and Gentlemen let me introduce you to Torta di Pere e Frangipane; that's Pear and Frangipane Flan to you and me.

Italian Baked Almond Cheesecake

• 200g amaretti biscuits, crushed
• 50g unsalted butter, melted
• 1 vanilla pod, seeds scrapped (I substituted a few drops vanilla essence)
• 500g ricotta
• 125g caster sugar
• 250g mascarpone
• 100g ground almonds
• 2 tbsp cornflour
• 3 large eggs
• grated zest of 1 lemon
• handful of flaked almonds
• icing sugar for dusting

A quick, first, entry to this month's Waiter hosted by Cooksister.

It's simple really - take some whole dried figs, a half bottle of sweet Muscat, three swathes of orange peel and a large tablespoon of flavoursome thick honey, mix all and bake at around 180C, covered, for an hour. During those precious 60 minutes those exotic little blighters swell and plump themselves into something approaching rampant exhibitionism.

I added an almost equal amount of water to the liquid before baking and then reduced the remaining liquid (with the addition of a heaped teaspoon of sugar) to form a sticky sauce. This wasn't used in the photos but warmed and poured over a decent vanilla ice-cream made a dessert in itself.

Serve warm with a little cream.

One thing I learnt - ensure the sugar is fully dissolved otherwise a crunchy texture results when you reach the bottom of the pan. Just apply a little more patience Mr Barrow!

Everyone has their own favourite pastry recipe or ready-made pastry so little need to repeat the recipe from the book.

Pecan Tart filling

• 100g Golden Syrup


• 150g Demerara sugar


• 75g unsalted butter


• 3 tbsp clear honey


• 3 tbsp dark rum


• pinch of salt


• 3 eggs


• 150g pecan nuts

Before meeting up with Jeanne at Vivat Bacchus I suggested the the fun idea of a secret 'ingredient' exchange between the two of us. Always up for a challenge Jeanne agreed; my surprise was a pack of Roeman Dried Mango pieces. "South Africa's finest", she exclaimed.

About half the 250g pack went into this cake, many I have nibbled but have saved some for my proper Waiter entry. for, although this is a perfectly suitable entry, another idea to use the remaining Mangos will soon appear. The dried fruit were re-hydrated in water for an hour or so then chopped into small pieces before being stirred into the cake mix. The juices were reduced, I added a little vanilla sugar and a splash of lemon juice, to make a sauce which was poured over the cake once cooked. It added plenty.

Mango Cake

• 350g self-raising flour


• 125g unsalted butter


• 125g sugar


• 2 organic eggs


• 125ml milk

The syrup was poured over the top after the cake had cooled, with a few holes made in the surface.

A Tart of Claret Wine
Makes enough filling for three of the tarts pictured.

1. Take half a glass of claret wine, as much juice of ripe red gooseberries.


2. Add 2 crushed macaroons and


3. the yolks of 3 eggs and make this like a cream


4. flavour with sugar, citron, grated cinnamon, a little salt


5. add also a small piece of butter


6. make a fine pastry, and line a dish with it


7. pour in the mixture and bake


8. sprinkle orange flowers over it when you serve it

My local semi-deli (I use the word as the range is limited) has a prominent display of the Just Biscuits range. I am most taken with the hand-made Ginger Shorties and have long harboured a desire to use them as a cheesecake base. I'm having a 'thing' with ginger at the moment...

Ginger Cheesecake
2 packs Just Biscuits Ginger Shorties
large knob of unsalted butter
preserved ginger in syrup
250g Mascarpone
250g full-fat soft cheese
284ml double cream
chopped walnuts to decorate

Crush biscuits and mix with melted butter. Spread over the bottom of your chosen dish to form the cheesecake base. Chill.

Mix the cream cheese, cream and Mascarpone. Add as much ginger, chopped small, as you desire (I used 5 or was it 6 large pieces). Add half a jar of the ginger syrup. Mix and spread over the biscuit base. Chill for several hours. Top with chopped walnuts. Serve large slices. Wonder, with incredulous amazement, at expanding waist line.

As it stands it has a distinct 'adult' taste with the chocolate chips (or chunks in my case) adding a nice texture. Served with a little whipped cream does wonders to the taste. The icing top shouldn't be missed off either. Sadly, being brown with a brown glaze it doesn't make for the most interesting of photographs!

Chocolate Gingerbread
175g unsalted butter
125g dark muscovado sugar
2 tbsp caster sugar
200g golden syrup
200g black treacle
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/4 tsp bicarb of soda
2 eggs
250ml milk
275g plain flour
40g cocoa powder
175g chocolate chips

Icing
30g unsalted butter
1 tbsp cocoa powder
60ml ginger beer
250g icing sugar

Oven to 160C/G3. Line a tin with baking paper.

Melt butter with sugars, golden syrup, treacle and spices. Remove from heat. Dissolve the bicarb in 2 tablespoons water and add to the melted butter along with the eggs and milk. Stir in the flour and beat well. Fold in the chocolate chips. Bake for about 45 minutes.

It will be slightly damp under the top. Cool.

For the icing melt the butter, cocoa and ginger ale. Sift in the icing sugar and top the bread.

Just a few hours later what should appear in my RSS reader but a recipe for Plum Tarts with Pistachio Frangipane from Vanielje Kitchen. Fate thought I. But the very next day Inge emailed me with a suggestion that we collaborate on making some wine and food pairings using her recipes and my wine knowledge. I had just picked out a dessert wine to accompany her dish - the 'wow, spooky' feeling was inescapable!

My version is a little different from the recipe Inge posted. For one I couldn't find any ground pistachios and, without a grounder of some description to hand, there was no way on earth I was going to pound two packs of whole pistachios into fine pieces by hand! So ground almonds substituted. With a nod to the Waitrose version I selected apricots and figs to use as the fruit. The figs I soaked overnight in a little of the dessert wine that would be served with the final dish. Pistachios would be used as a final topping, more generously applied than the pecans on the Waitrose version.

You might notice that I slightly overcooked the dish. There are some distinct black patches on a couple of the bits of fruit. Oops. You would have thought this would have aided the wine match but it would seem that intentional burnt and accidental burnt flavours do not go.

To be honest the wine isn't quite a perfect match; it is not quite sweet enough to match the apricots and the sweet pastry. Many, however, will like the palate cleansing qualities of the wine though and the slightly figgy, burnt cake, edge naturally goes well with the figs.

Sweet Risotto
This recipe makes enough for one large portion; being greedy I ate it all. Others may find it plenty for two. Take 75g risotto rice and simmer, stirring, with 550ml milk (I actually found this too large a quantity, I do not like my risottos too runny) and a split vanilla pod. Simmer until tender and then stir in 2 egg yolks and a dash of cream. Delicious suggests adding a drop of rosewater;my addition of orange flower water made little obvious difference to the flavour.

The Rhubarb Compote is simply chopped rhubarb gently simmered with orange juice (2 fresh oranges for 1kg rhubarb), a vanilla pod and caster sugar (2 tbsp). This makes rather a lot but is equally good with yoghurt or over cheesecake.

Update: This has been submitted to the In The Bag event.

The recipe is taken from Delicious! The Deli Cookbook by James Martin. He recommends a lime syrup as an accompaniment and includes the recipe but I really couldn't be arsed to make it despite making a special trip to see Mr Wait and Mr Rose for limes. The recipe also includes 3 tablespoons of vodka but I didn't bother with that either.

All well and good once tipped out. The problem, as you can see from the second picture, was on cutting. The blueberry layer squirted out the back. And the sides. Oh how we laughed.

Not.

Basil Scented Fruit Terrine
6 leaves of gelatine
500ml water
200g caster sugar
1 ripe mango
fresh fruit - raspberries, blueberries, blackberries
basil leaves

Line a loaf tin with cling-film leaving an ample amount to fall over the sides. Soften the gelatine in a little water to soften.

Bring the water to the boil and add the sugar. Stir until dissolved. Remove gelatine from the water and gently squeeze out any excess. Put in the sugar syrup and stir until dissolved.

Make a layer in the tin and leave to set. I put mine in the fridge each time, resting the tin in a little water. It sets eventually. Once set add a layer of fruit topped with the gelatine mix. Chill to set between layers. Mine, at random began with raspberries, then a layer of basil leaves followed by mango, blueberries, mango again and ending with blackberries.

The terrine really needs to set fully in the fridge overnight. Turning out is the easy bit. Cutting while retaining the shape and showing off the layers to full effect is more tricky.

This is my entry to Waiter; hosted this month by Johanna, The Passionate Cook. My turn to host and select a theme next month I think.

Egg Curry Cheesecakes
1/4 lb butter
1/4 lb fine white sugar
yolk of 1 egg and whites of 2
2 oz currants
2 oz candied peel
and a little rum
Puff pastry to line patty pans

Not being a great fan of candied peel or currants I substituted a mix of dried fruit berries (available from Waitrose as the 'WildOnes ') which comprised Blueberries, Cranberries, Strawberries, Raspberries, Marionberries and Cherries. The amount of fruit in the recipe, 4oz, seems a lot I only used 75g tub of the dried fruit. With no rum I substituted a teaspoon of my Orange Syrup that remained from last week.

All that is required is to cream the butter and sugar together. Add the yolk and then the 'well-whisked whites'. This I took to mean whisked to firm peaks. Then mix in the fruit and rum and spoon into some patty pans lined with puff pastry. A 20 minute bake at 160C until nicely browned on top.

The filling puffs up magnificently but falls on cooling. I prefer them cold but topped with a little cream or ice-cream they could also be served warm.