This recipe would work equally well with lamb – the secret is to cook it slowly and for a long time so that the meat is tender.

INGREDIENTS:
1 onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 cloves
8 cardamom pods
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon chilli powder
300g stewing steak
300g frozen spinach
4 pots yoghut

Heat some oil in a casserole on the top of the stove and add the whole spices. Fry for a couple of seconds and then add the onion and garlic. Fry on a moderate heat until soft and then add the meat, cumin, coriander, chilli and season with salt and pepper. Brown the meat. Add the yoghurt slowly and bring back to the boil, adding a couple of yoghurt pots of water. Add the frozen spinach.
Put into a pre-heated oven (160ºC) and cook for 3 hours. Serve with basmati rice.

Large amount of kale, deribbed and cut into strips
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup walnuts, roughly chopped

Cook the kale in boiling, salted water for 6 minutes.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok.
Add the walnuts and fry gently for about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and stir fry for another couple of minutes.
Add the kale and toss until heated through, seasoning with salt and pepper.

This is a great recipe for when the courgettes are in season and you’re looking for recipes to use them up. The quantities are for 6 people. It’s delicious and well worth trying.

INGREDIENTS
675g courgettes, thinly sliced in a food processor
560g puff pastry
3 medium eggs
3 tablespoons crème frâiche
115g gruyère cheese, grated
4 cloves garlic, crushed
6 tablespoons chopped parsley
75g breadcrumbs
5 tablespoons olive oil

METHOD
Heat the oven to 200ºC. Put some foil on a baking sheet and add the courgettes. Drizzle over the oil and roast for about 10 minutes.

Roll out the pastry onto the baking sheet into a rectangle.

Beat two eggs in a bowl with the creème frâiche, half the cheese, parsley and garlic. Season with salt and pepper.

Put the courgettes down the middle third of the pastry. Pour over the egg mixture. Sprinkle with the rest of the cheese and breadcrumbs.

Roughly fold up and over the edges of the pastry. Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Brush the edges of the pastry with the last egg. Bake for 30 minutes until the pastry is golden and the mixture is lightly set.

This is Vicky’s recipe for cauliflower rice which works well with curry and uses up the supply of cauliflowers we have at this time. The snail spice mix is typically used in Spain for preparing snails.

1 large cauliflower, coarsely grated
3 heaped tablespoons snail spice mix (coriander, cumin, pepper, chilli)
4 cloves garlic, chopped

Fry the garlic and spices in olive oil for 2 minutes until the garlic is soft.

Add the grated cauliflower and season with salt and peper.

Stir-fry for 10 minutes. Serve with curry.