Taramasalata

Serves 4-6,
Originally, in the Mediterranean, this dish was made with the salted roe of the grey mullet but smoked cod’s roe
is an excellent substitute.
· 8oz smoked cod’s roe
· 1 onion
· 1-2 cloves garlic
· 3 slices of white bread
· 5 tablespns milk
· 6-8 tablespns olive oil
· juice of a large lemon
· pepper

Remove the crust from the bread and soak in the milk. Scoop the roe into bowl of the blender, add grated onion and garlic. Squeeze the bread dry and add to the other ingredient in the bowl. Set the motor going and slowly add the oil and lemon juice as if making mayonnaise. Cover and chill. Serve with crisp toast.

Sweetbreads with Sage and Marsala
Serves 4
· 500g lambs sweetbreads
· 50g of bacon lardons
· fresh sage leaves
· 150ml marsala or sweet sherry
· 50g butter
· croutons

The new season lamb has arrived and that means sweetbreads they make a marvellous supper dish. Blanch the sweetbreads in boiling water, remove the membrane and divide them into bite-size nuggets. Press them under a board until you are ready to cook them. Fry them in butter until brown which will take about 3 minutes. Be careful not to let the butter burn. Add the lardons and sage, pour in the marsala and boil down to a syrupy succulent glaze. You will need to turn the heat up to evaporate the wine. This will take about 10 minutes. Serve with croutons and any sauce left can be poured over the top.

This is an Italian dish I discovered a long time ago in Jane Grigson’s Good Things. If sweetbreads don’t appeal to you, use any other delicate meat such as chicken or turkey breasts or poultry livers. It is a delicious dish and well worth trying.

Anchovy Ice-cream

• 1 tin of anchovies in oil
• 4oz tub of single cream


This makes a delightful nibble to have with drinks outside on a warm June evening. Discard the oil from the tin of anchovies and blitz them in the Magimix with a small tub of single cream. Put in a plastic box in the freezer. You don’t need an ice-cream maker or to stir while this is freezing. Serve in the little bite-size cups called crustades. Take out of the freezer 30 minutes before using. Garnish with a little salmon or lump-fish caviar.
As I write this I want to open a bottle of cold Mersault.

Asparagus with pasta
Serves 4
· 200g Penne
· A bunch of fresh asparagus
· 6oz Hollandaise sauce

This is a marvellous supper dish in the asparagus season. Cook the pasta according to the time on the packet. Prepare the asparagus: the “woody” bit at the bottom of the stem should just snap off at the right place, discard these. Now cut the spears, which should be tightly knitted if the asparagus is fresh, so they are about an inch long. Cook the remaining stems in boiling water for about 3 minutes and blitz in the Magimix. Cook the spears for 2 minutes. When the pasta is cooked, drain it and put it into a large bowl. Add the blitzed stems, the spears and the hollandaise sauce to the pasta. Gently fold together and serve.