Simon Butler Skiing

• 220g Plain flour
• 100g room temp unsalted butter
• Teaspoon of salt
• Ice cold water

• 4 organic eggs wisked
• 50g butter
• 6 large finely sliced onions
• 3 rashers top quality smoked back bacon cut into fine strips
• 1x star anis star
• ½ Teaspoon chopped thyme

In a kitchen blender add the butter, flour. Mix briefly until fine breadcrumbs. Add enough water to form a firm dough. Take out of the blender and rest for 30 minutes.

Fry the onions in butter with the star anis star on a low heat until lightly brown and soft. Add the bacon and cook for a further 5 minutes Season with cracked pepper & thyme Line a 27cm spring for tin with the rested short pastry.

For a quiche there’s no need to bake the base. Add the onion mix and spread out evenly. Season the egg mix and pour gently over the onions then place the quiche/tart on an oven rack and bake for 25 minute or until set and the top is a lovely golden brown.

Leave to cool, serve with a dressed salad and a chilled glass of Alsace Reisling.

• 190g melted butter
• ½ cup sugar
• 3/4 cup organic oats
• 1 ½ plain flour

Place all of the ingredients into a bowl and mixed well. Press the mix into a 30cm by 20cm lined baking tray about 5mm thick. Bake at 180C for 15 minutes or until golden brown

For the topping.

• 3 eggs
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup plain flour
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• 300g organic dried apricots finely diced
• ½ cup desiccated coconut

Beat the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy (by hand is fine). Add the flour, baking powder, apricots and coconut mix well.

Spread an even layer over your baked base. Bake in a 180C oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown Cool in the tin before turning out. Cut into any desired shape.

Enjoy at your leisure.

I want to share a starter with you which will be a new taste sensation this season

Unlike the last few recipes this one is a bit more of a challenge. It has 5 components which are simple, they each need a small amount of attention to produce a perfect result. It’s a great lunch dish which works well with a garden salad.

Serves 6

• 500g fresh smoked haddock
• 1 bay leaf
• 500g Macaroni
• ½ cauliflower cut into small florets
• Bunch Flat leaf parsley chopped
• 150g grated parmesan
• 100g fresh course bread crumbs

For the white sauce

• 160g unsalted butter
• 125g plain flour
• 1 pint hot milk
• 150g good fresh parmesan

In a non-stick pan over medium heat melt the butter, add the flour to make a smooth paste with a wooden spoon. Cook for 2 minutes, slowly add the hot milk 100ml at a time. Stir until smooth between each 100ml batch of milk. Do not add the milk cold as this will cause a lumpy consistency. You need cook the sauce out, always stir whilst cooking over a low heat for 10 minutes. Add the parmesan. Season and add the chopped parsley

Cook the macaroni in 3 ltrs salted water ‘al dente’. Leave to cool

Blanch the cauliflower florets in salted boiling water for 3 minutes, leave to cool under a running tap. Drain in a sieve

Bring 2 ltrs of water to the boil with the bay leaf. Bring to a simmer and add the fish. Take off the heat cling film and rest for 10 minutes. Take out the fish a break up into small pieces. Caution of the bones.

To assemble you will need a large oval oven dish. Place the macaroni, cauliflower, fish into the dish, mixing slightly. Season. Heat the white sauce and pour over the macaroni mix. Sprinkle over the coarse breadcrumbs and grated parmesan. Baked at 180celsius for 30 minutes.

Serve with an fresh garden salad. This gratin will go really well with a cool Chablis

• 12 lamb cutlets, floured, egged and breadcrumbed.
• 300g red lentils
• 2 medium brown onions, finely chopped
• 50g fresh ginger, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 50g butter
• 1 ltr vegetable stock
• 1 x teaspoon of cumin
• 1 x teaspoon of paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 3 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons of tomato puree
• 200 ml of greek yoghurt
• 1/2 cucumber, finely diced and grated
• 1/2 red onion, finely diced
• bunch of coriander and mint

Fry the onion, ginger and garlic in the butter until soft (NO COLOUR) Add the spice and fry for 20 seconds. Then add the tomatoes and puree, lentils, stock and simmer for 20 minutes or until the lentils are very soft. Take off the heat and season.

Season last as salt added during the cooking process hardens the lentils.

For the riata, mix the yoghurt, cucumber, chopped herbs and red onion and season.

To serve, panfry the cutlets on a medium heat in oil, 3 minutes on each side. reheat the lentil mix. Microwave is fine, maybe will need a touch of water to gain the right consistency (like risotto) Place a spoonful of lentils on the plate, 3 cutlets on top and a large dollop of riata over the cutlets. This is a great dish, enjoy it with lots of flowing ice cold beers in the garden - Lovely!

• 2 medium butternut pumpkins - peeled, deseeded and chopped
• 2 brown onions, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
• 50g ginger roughly chopped
• 2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
• 2 leeks, washed and roughly chopped
• 2 ltrs vegetable stock
• 200ml single cream
• 60g good quality curry powder

Lightly fry the onions, garlic, leeks, celery and ginger until soft with no colour. Add the curry powder, pumpkin and stock. Simmer until the pumpkin is lovely and soft. Add the cream. Blitz with a hand blender until the texture of velvet.

Serve with greek yoghurt and a few leaves of coriander. Great eaten with a warm nan bread for the dunk!! Enjoy.

This soup will freeze well over a period of 2-3 months.