Pistachio And Coriander Dip

This dip might not have the wow factor in appearance but it’s an absolute knockout! I like to serve it along side some hummus with bread and carrot sticks for dipping.

Serves 6. Leftovers are great in salad of spread in wraps for a hit of flavour.

Ingredients

80g pistachio kernals

1 large garlic clove, roughly chopped

50g fresh coriander, leaves and stalks

50g feta

125mls Greek yogurt

Method

Process the nuts and garlic until roughly chopped.

Add the remaining ingredients and process again.

Try not to over process as it’s nice to see the green in the white rather than just a green dip!

Chickpea Hummus

Gosh I love this!

I quite happily have this for breakfast, lunch or dinner! The boys love a tub of this with crackers for school and I have been known to add a couple of spoonfuls to wraps and sandwiches to give them a little kick.

I do like to use dried chickpeas for this, infact, I always cook more than I need as they are so handy for throwing into salads and curries!

Serves 6-8.

Ingredients

220g dried chickpeas, gives around 515g cooked chickpeas

2 tablespoons tahini

3 cloves garlic, crushed

4 lemons, juiced

175mls olive oil

salt to season

a little extra olive oil and paprika to serve

Method

Soak the chickpeas over night in a large bowl of water.

Drain the chickpeas and pour them into a large pan, top up with triple the quantity of water.

Bring to the boil and simmer for 1 hour, they may take a little longer.

Drain the chickpeas and allow to cool.

Process all of the ingredients, check for seasoning.

Spoon into a serving dish, use the back of a spoon to make a swirl pattern.

Gently drizzle a little olive oil over the hummus and a couple of pinches of paprika.

Steak and Bacon Pâté

Whether you call this pâté, paste or spread it is a lovely versatile recipe that can be dressed up or down.

To dress it up, serve in small ramekins topped with melted butter and beautiful bread for dinner parties or dress it down, dolloped on gluten free crackers or as a sandwich filling for the school lunch boxes.

To cook it you need to steam the meat for four hours, until it is falling apart. I use a large 8litre pan and a large Pyrex bowl with a saucer under the bowl to lift it away from the heat source.

As this recipe makes a large quantity of pâté I normally freeze half in two smaller boxes for a later date.

Ingredients

1kg steak, diced

600g bacon, back and middle cuts, diced

8 anchovies in oil, drained

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder

Method

You need a large pan, with a lid,  that your heatproof bowl will fit in and a plate or saucer on the base.

Place all the ingredients in the heat proof bowl.

Turn the saucer or plate upside down and place in the base of the pan.

Place the bowl on top of the plate and carefully pour water into the pan, around one third of the way up the bowl.

Cover with a lid and bring up to the boil, allow to simmer for 4hours, covered.

Check the water level regularly, top up with boiling water if needed.

After 4 hours, turn off the heat and allow to cool completely.

Once cool, process the meat in batches until smooth and spoon into ramekins, jars or boxes.