4-6

3 lb. boned leg of lamb, cut into

1-inch cubes

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon cumin seeds, crushed

11/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

3 tablespoons pine nuts, crushed

1 lb. noodles

3 oz. butter, cut into small pieces

Preheat the grill to moderate.

Thread the lamb cubes on to 8 or 12 skewers. Set aside.

In a small mixing bowl, combine the oil, vinegar, lemon juice, cumin seeds, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, the pepper and half of the nuts. Using the pastry brush, brush the lamb cubes with half of the oil mixture. Place the skewers under the grill and grill , turning and brushing frequently with the remaining oil mixture, for 15 to 20 minutes or until the lamb is cooked through and tender.

Meanwhile, half fill a large saucepan with cold water. Add the remaining salt and set the pan over high heat. Bring the water to the boil. Reduce the heat to moderate, add the noodles and, stirring once or twice with a fork, cook them for 6 to 8 minutes or until they are ‘al dente’ or just tender.

Remove the pan from the heat and drain the noodles in a colander. Place the noodles on a large warmed serving platter. Add the butter and, using two large spoons, toss the noodles until the butter has melted and they are thoroughly coated. Set aside and keep warm.

Remove the skewers from the grill . Slide the lamb cubes on to the bed of noodles. Sprinkle over the remaining nuts.

Serve at once.

The duck is stuffed with spices and pastes, hung by its beak for over 10 hours, then glazed with malt sugar or honey mixed with vinegar or soy sauce and sometimes a little red colouring. The next day it is cooked quickly over hot coals until the skin is crisp.

Peking Duck, in a restaurant in Peking (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The rich brown skin is separated from the flesh, cut into squares and served on one platter and the flesh is cut into pieces and served on another. The skin, flesh and chopped shallots or spring onions are then wrapped in a pancake, which is first spread with a sweet sauce.

1 teaspoon unsalted butter, melted

1 lb. canned crabmeat, shell and cartilage removed

2 oz. medium oatmeal juice of

1 lemon

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 teaspoons prepared French mustard

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 eggs, well beaten

8 slices of brown bread, crusts removed

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Preheat the oven to fairly hot 400°F (Gas Mark 6, 200°C). With the teaspoon of butter, lightly grease a 9-inch pie dish.

Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the crabmeat, oatmeal, remaining butter, the lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper, beating until all the ingredients are thoroughly blended. Set aside.

Place the eggs on a plate and dip in the bread slices, one by one. Line the pie dish with the bread slices, pressing the edges together to seal them.

An adaption of a traditional Scottish recipe, Peebles Crab Bake makes an elegant supper dish.

Exotic and spicy, Peleponnesian Lamb with Noodles makes an excitingly different dinner party dish.

Spoon the crabmeat mixture over the bread.

Place the dish in the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the filling is golden brown.

Remove the dish from the oven. Sprinkle over the parsley and serve at once.

Pectin is found in comparatively large quantities in cooking apples, quinces, black- and redcurrants, damsons, some plums and citrus fruit – thus these fruits make the most successful jams and jellies.

As the skins and pips, particularly of citrus fruit, apples and quinces, contain much of the pectin, these are sometimes tied in a cheesecloth bag and added to other fruit jams to give them a firm set.

6 oz. sugar

10 fl. oz. m cups water

4 large peaches, blanched, peeled, halved and stoned

8 oz. blackberries

2 tablespoons kirsch

12 large blackberries

Peches

In a medium-sized saucepan, dissolve the sugar in the water over low heat, stirring constantly. When the sugar has dissolved, increase the heat to moderate and boil the syrup for 3 minutes, without stirring.

Add the peach halves to the pan, cut sides down, and poach them for 3 to 5 minutes, or until they are just tender.

Remove the pan from the heat. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the peach halves to 4 individual serving glasses, allowing 2 peach halves for each glass. Set aside.

Pour off all but 2 fluid ounces of the poaching syrup from the pan. Stir the blackberries and kirsch into the reserved syrup and return the pan to moderately low heat. Cook the blackberries, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes, or until they are beginning to pulp.

Remove the pan from the heat. Strain the mixture into a small mixing bowl. Using the back of a wooden spoon, rub the blackberries through the strainer into the bowl. Discard any dry pulp remaining in the strainer.

Spoon equal amounts of the blackberry puree over the peaches. Decorate each glass with three of the whole blackberries.

Place the glasses in the refrigerator and chill the dessert for 1 hour before serving.

2 teaspoons cornflour

8 oz. Marzipan I

8 oz. sugar

12 fl. oz. water

1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

4 peaches, blanched, peeled, halved and stones removed

6 fl. oz. Apricot Glaze

5 fl. oz. Creme Chantilly

2 tablespoons chopped pistachio nuts

Preheat the oven to moderate 350°F (Gas Mark 4, 180°C).

Sprinkle the cornflour over the working surface and roll out the marzipan into a rectangle about J-inch thick. With a 3- inch round pastry cutter, cut the marzipan into 8 circles. Line 8 patty tins with the marzipan circles.

Place the patty tins in the oven and bake the marzipan for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium-sized sauce-pan dissolve the sugar in the water over low heat, stirring constantly. Add the lemon rind, increase the heat to moderate and bring the syrup to the boil. Add the peach halves, cut sides up. Reduce the heat to low and simmer them for 3 to 5 minutes or until they are just tender. Remove the pan from the heat. Using a slotted spoon, remove the peach halves from the pan and place them on a plate to drain and cool. Discard the syrup or reserve it for future use.

Remove the patty tins from the oven and allow the marzipan cases to cool completely in the tins.

Remove the marzipan cases from the patty tins and arrange them on a serving dish. Place a peach half, rounded side down, in each case. Spoon the apricot glaze over the peach halves.

Spoon the creme chantilly into a forcing bag fitted with a 1/2 inch star nozzle. Pipe swirls of cream over the peach halves. Sprinkle the cream with the pistachio nuts and serve immediately.

6 peaches, blanched, peeled, halved and the stones removed

6 tablespoons redcurrant jelly dissolved in 1 tablespoon peach brandy

10 fl. oz. milk vanilla pod eggs

2 egg yolks

2 oz. sugar

1 tablespoon flour

1 oz. butter

6 oz. crushed macaroons

1 teaspoon almond essence

First make the filling. In a medium-sized saucepan, scald the milk with the vanilla pod over moderate heat (bring to just below boiling point). Remove the pan from the heat. Set aside to cool slightly. Remove and discard the vanilla pod.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat the eggs, egg yolks and sugar together with a wooden spoon until the mixture is pale and thick. Stir in the flour.

Gradually pour the cooled milk into the egg mixture, stirring constantly. Return the custard to the pan and bring to just under boiling point, stirring constantly.

Remove the pan from the heat and beat the thickened custard until it is smooth. Beat in the butter, macaroons and almond essence. Spoon the custard mixture into a bowl and set aside to cool. When the mixture is cool, cover the bowl and put it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Place the peach halves in the refrig-erator and chill them for 30 minutes.

Arrange the peach halves, cut sides up, on a chilled serving dish and spoon equal quantities of the filling into them.

Pour equal amounts of the redcurrant jelly mixture over each filled peach.

Serve immediately.

10 oz. sugar

1 1/2 pints water

1 vanilla pod

4 large peaches, blanched, peeled, halved and stones removed

8 fl. oz. Melba Sauce, chilled

1 tablespoon kirsch

5 fl. oz. Creme Chantilly, chilled

12 fresh raspberries, chilled

2 tablespoons flaked almonds, toasted

In a large saucepan, dissolve the sugar in the water over low heat, stirring constantly. When the sugar has dissolved, add the vanilla pod, increase the heat to moderate and bring the syrup to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the syrup for 3 minutes. Remove the vanilla pod. Carefully place the peach halves, cut sides up, in the syrup and simmer them for 3 to 5 minutes or until they are just tender.

Remove the pan from the heat and set the peaches aside to cool in the syrup. When they are cool, transfer the peaches and the syrup to a large shallow mixing bowl. Put the bowl in the refrigerator and chill the peaches for 1 hour or until they are very cold.

In a small mixing bowl, combine the melba sauce and kirsch. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the peach halves to chilled individual glass dishes. Discard the syrup or reserve it for future use.

Pour the melba sauce and kirsch mixture over the peaches.

Spoon the cremc chantilly into a forcing bag fitted with a 1/2 inch star nozzle.

Pipe stars of creme chantilly around the edges of the peach halves. Decorate the cream with the raspberries and scatter the almonds over the peaches.

Serve immediately.

6-8

1 X 8 to

9 lb. goose, oven ready

1 lemon, quartered

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 lb. canned sauerkraut, drained

1 oz. butter

1 large onion, thinly sliced

3 medium-sized cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped

1 large potato, grated grated rind of

1 orange

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon caraway seeds

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg

Preheat the oven to very hot 450CF (Gas Mark 8, 230°C).

Prick the goose all over with a fork. Rub the skin of the goose with three of the lemon quarters and discard them. Squeeze the juice of the remaining lemon quarter into the cavity of the goose and discard it. Rub the salt and pepper all over the skin and set the goose aside.

To make the stuffing, squeeze out the excess moisture from the sauerkraut and set aside.

In a large frying-pan, melt the butter over moderate heat. When the foam subsides, add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 to 7 minutes or until it is soft and translucent but not brown. Add the apples and potato to the pan and cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl.

Stir in the sauerkraut, orange rind, salt, pepper, caraway seeds, allspice and nutmeg and mix well to blend.

With a metal spoon, spoon the stuffing into the goose cavity and secure the opening with a trussing needle and thread, or with a skewer.

Place the goose, on its breast, on a rack in a roasting tin. Place the tin in the oven and roast the goose for 15 minutes.

Reduce the oven temperature to mod-erate 350°F (Gas Mark 4, 180°C) and continue roasting for 2 to 3 hours, removing the fat frequently from the tin with a basting bulb or spoon. Turn the goose on to its back halfway through the roasting period. To test if the goose is cooked, pierce the thigh with the point of a sharp knife. If the juices that run out are clear, the goose is cooked.

Remove the goose from the oven. Remove and discard the trussing thread or skewer. Place the goose on a carving board and serve immediately.

8-

6 egg yolks

6 oz. sugar

1 tablespoon coffee essence

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

11/2 oz. cup fine fresh breadcrumbs

4 oz. pecans, ground

6 egg whites

8 fl. oz. brandy

10 fl. oz. double cream , whipped until stiff with

1 tablespoon sugar

12 pecan halves

Preheat the oven to moderate 350°F (Gas Mark 4, 180°C).

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar with a wire whisk or rotary beater until the mixture is light and fluffy.

Mix in the coffee essence, cinnamon, breadcrumbs and ground pecans.

In another medium-sized mixing bowl, beat the egg whites with a wire whisk or rotary beater until they form stiff peaks.

Using a large metal spoon, fold the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture lightly but thoroughly.

Pour the mixture into an 8-inch round cake tin. Set the tin on a baking sheet and place it in the centre of the oven. Bake for 45 minutes. Reduce the heat to very cool 275°F (Gas Mark 1, 140°C) and cook for a further 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Remove the tin from the oven and place it on a plate. Pour the brandy slowly over the hot cake. When all the brandy has been absorbed, allow the cake to cool completely.

When the cake is cool, remove it from the cake tin. Place the cake on a serving dish. With a flat-bladed knife, cover the top and sides of the cake with the whipped cream.

Decorate the cake with the pecan halves and serve.