Recipes

Here are our suggestions for five brilliant (and easy) things to do with your herbs in the kitchen. Lemon balm pesto - yes really, and probably not for the kids! This has been lifted straight and unashamedly from the wonderful Sybil Kapoor's book, Modern British Food. Put  55 g of...

  Mille Feuille made with fresh young rhubarb This is a recipe that works wonderfully well with tender fresh rhubarb such as Stockbridge Arrow (which you can cut from February onwards) and it helps use up all those frozen strawberries you have left over from last summer before the ones...

Seasonal Christmassy cake for when you are already full... Ingredients 150g Brown Self Raising Flour 50g Ground Almond 1 teaspoon of Baking Powder 225g Golden Caster Sugar 2 Eggs ½ teaspoon Almond Extract 150g Melted Butter 350g Cooking Apples, peeled, cored and diced into chunky pieces 25g Flaked Almonds Instructions...

  Celeriac and Apple Salad with Walnuts Serves 4 Ingredients: ½ a Celeriac, peeled and cut into matchsticks-on a mandolin, if you have one 3 Apples, using a variety of red and green, cut into match sticks on your mandolin 2 tablespoons of Chopped Parsley ¼ Red Onion, very finely...

Just the best squidgy cake This is a superb cake for early autumn. It sort of helps ease the passing of summer and reminds one why the seasons change.  Blackberry and apple is a classic combination and wrapped up in a super moist sponge they take on an extra dimension...

Honey where the bees have mainly collected pollen from lavender plants has such a beautiful flavour that we didn't want to spoil it by mixing it with anything. Instead it is drizzled on top of its perfect partner – goat’s cheese, to make a simple, but delicious salad. The perfect way to ease yourself into eating lighter foods as the temperature warms this spring.

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It’s Shrove Tuesday on 4th March, the day we all look forward to for our annual pancake feast and afterwards declare that we should eat pancakes more often. We rarely do of course, so this classic recipe is a way to ensure you make the most of your annual treat.

Berry season is long gone, but this sauce is a great opportunity to use up any frozen gluts from last year.

Makes about 6 pancakes, depending on the size of your pan

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This decadent cake is a brilliant way to use up any Bramley apples left over from the season. Serve warm with crème fraiche or even custard if you fancy, it will soak into the rich sponge and balance the tart apples

Serves 8

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2013 has been a bumper year for damsons.

A hot summer, with just enough rain to swell the fruit is best for damsons and results in branches that are groaning under the weight of all that fruit

And while you can of course make damson jam, damson cheese, damson chutney and damson sauce, there is nothing quite like damson vodka.

Decanted into decorative bottles this rich, syrupy liquor makes a perfect Christmas gift – and if you hurry, you might just be in time for this year's festivities. Give this a go, and we're sure that your friends and family will be glad you did!

If you already have your damson harvest, great – if not, hopefully you will find some still on the trees. Failing that, try your local orchard or farm shop! So grab a bag and get picking.
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