Apple compote

Prep: 1/2 hour

Cook: 1/2 hour

1. Peel, core and finely slice the apples - be thorough, as any little bits of fibre left from the core or peel will catch in your teeth and spoil the pleasure of the otherwise silky compote.

2. Put the apples in a large pan and add a good tablespoon of sugar and 2-3 tablespoons of water - just to stop them catching on the bottom of the pan. Cook, covered, over a gentle heat, stirring often, until the apple pieces have completely dissolved and you have a thick, slightly translucent purée. It should take about half an hour. Add more caster sugar to taste - enough to achieve a purée that is still erring on the tart side but not unpleasantly so. You can always add sugar when you serve it up, and in fact the slight graininess of just-sprinkled caster sugar on the compote is a pleasure in itself.

3. Leave to cool completely, then store in the fridge in a jar or Tupperware container. It will keep for a couple of weeks.

Classic potato soup

Also added bacon and two stalks of finely chopped celery. Didn't add milk. Tasty.

Serves 6. Cooking time 10 to 30 mins. Prep time 30 mins.

A comforting classic, this easy potato soup uses a handful of store cupboard ingredients to great effect.

Ingredients

• 55g/2oz butter

• 425g/15oz potatoes, peeled and diced to 5mm/1/3in

• 110g/4oz onions, diced to 1/3in

• 1 tsp salt

• freshly ground pepper

• 900ml/1½pt home-made chicken stock or vegetable stock

• 120ml/4fl oz creamy milk

• freshly chopped herbs to garnish

Preparation method

1. Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan. When it foams, add the potatoes and onions and toss them in the butter until well coated.

2. Sprinkle with salt and a few grinds of pepper. Cover with a butter wrapper or paper lid and the lid of the saucepan. Sweat on a gentle heat for approximately 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, bring the stock to the boil. When the vegetables are soft but not coloured add the boiling stock and continue to cook for about 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.

4. Add the milk. purée the soup in a blender or food processor. Taste and adjust seasoning.

5. Serve sprinkled with a few freshly chopped herbs or some of the following garnishes.

BBC Potato Soup recipe

Recipes from Delia Smith's Frugal Food

Ham in Coca Cola

Really delicious recipe, repeatedly recommended to me by friends. The recipe below is from the chat page of Nigella's website.

The stewing juice can be used to make her Black bean soup.

• 2kg mild-cure gammon
• 1 onion, peeled and cut in half
• 2-litre bottle of Coca-Cola

For the glaze:

• handful of cloves
• 1 heaped tablespoon black treacle
• 2 teaspoons English mustard powder
• 2 tablespoons demerara sugar

Serves: 8

1. I find now that mild-cure gammon doesn't need soaking, but if you know that you're dealing with a salty piece, then put it in a pan covered with cold water, bring to the boil, then tip into a colander in the sink and start from here; otherwise, put the gammon in a pan, skin-side down if it fits like that, add the onion, then pour over the Coke.
2. Bring to the boil, reduce to a good simmer, put the lid on, though not tightly, and cook for just under 2 and a half hours. If your joint is larger or smaller, work out timing by reckoning on an hour per kilo, remembering that it's going to get a quick blast in the oven later. But do take into account that if the gammon's been in the fridge right up to the moment you cook it, you will have to give it a good 15 minutes or so extra so that the interior is properly cooked.
3. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 240ºC/gas mark 9. When the ham's had its time (and ham it is, now it's cooked, though it's true Americans call it ham from its uncooked state) take it out of the pan (but do NOT throw away the cooking liquid) and let cool a little for ease of handling. (Indeed, you can let it cool completely then finish off the cooking at some later stage if you want). Then remove the skin, leaving a thin layer of fat.
4. Score the fat with a sharp knife to make fairly large diamond shapes, and stud each diamond with a clove.
5. Then carefully spread the treacle over the bark-budded skin, taking care not to dislodge the cloves.
6. Gently pat the mustard and sugar onto the sticky fat. Cook in a foil-lined roasting tin for approximately 10 minutes or until the glaze is burnished and bubbly. Should you want to do the braising stage in advance and then let the ham cool, clove and glaze it and give it 30-40 minutes, from room temperature, at 180ºC/gas mark 4, turning up the heat towards the end if you think it needs it.

Classic Apple Chutney Recipe

• 
  1½ kg cooking apples , peeled and diced
• 750g light muscovado sugar
• 500g raisins
• 2 medium onions , finely chopped
• 2 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp salt
• 700ml cider vinegar

Prep 20 - 25 mins

Cook 40 mins

Ready in 1 hour 10 minutes

Combine all the ingredients in a large, heavy saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil over a medium heat, then simmer uncovered, stirring frequently, for 30-40 mins, or until thick and pulpy. Remove from the heat, leave to cool and transfer to sterilised, clean, dry jars and seal.

From BBC Good Food website

Moroccan Chickpea Soup with Garlic and Chilli Pitta

Cut pitta bread into wedges. Mix with olive oil, garlic, chilli (fresh or flakes) and salt (all amounts to taste). Bake, 200 C for 7-8 minutes

3 tbsp olive oil

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 onion, chopped

2 1/2 tsp toasted cumin seeds

pinch sugar

400g tin chickpeas

600mls stock

400g tin chopped tomatoes

lemon juice

chopped coriander

Heat oil, add celery and onion and cook low heat 10 minutes

Add cumin, then tomatoes, chickpeas and stock

Simmer 5 minutes

Add lemon juice and coriander

Serve with pittas

From Sarah Shelton

Rachel Allen Apple Cake

Lovely moist apple cake. Had to use a 20cm diameter round tin which meant it took longer to cook but still delicious. My apples didn't sink so I poked them down into the middle after 5 minutes.

• 2 eggs
• 175 g caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 85 g butter
• 75 ml milk
• 125 g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 2 cooking apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
• 75 ml double cream, to serve

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6. Line the sides and base of a 20 x 20cm square cake tin with parchment paper.

2. Using an electric whisk,

whisk the eggs, caster sugar and vanilla extract in a large bowl until the mixture is thick and mousse-like and the whisk leaves a figure of eight pattern (this will take about 5 minutes).

3. Melt the butter in a saucepan with the milk, then pour onto the eggs, whisking all the time. Sift in the flour, cinnamon and baking powder and fold carefully into the batter so that there are no lumps of flour. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the surface.

4. Arrange the apple slices over the batter. (They will sink to the bottom.) Sprinkle over a tablespoon of sugar and bake in the oven for ten minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 180C/gas 4 and bake for a further 20–25 minutes or until well risen and golden brown.

5. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the tin. Cut into squares and serve warm with cream.

Adapted from Rachel Allen, Bake (Collins)