Browse Recipes

Oodles of butter transform this gently spiced Lebanese Red Lentil Soup into an extra creamy, lip-smackingly good lentil soup.

[feast_advanced_jump_to]

Ingredients for Lebanese Red Lentil Soup

• Onion.
• Red lentils.
• Butter. I prefer to use unsalted butter to help avoid the risk of burning the butter when frying the onion in it.
• Cumin. The only spice in this soup, and all that is needed for a bowl of deliciousness.
• Salt.
• Lemon. Perhaps not strictly an ingredient, since the lemon is sliced into wedges and served alongside the soup. However, a squeeze of lemon truly transforms this soup, so don't leave out.

See the Recipe Card below for quantities and the full recipe.

Useful Equipment

No special equipment is needed for this Lebanese Lentil Soup recipe. I have listed the key useful items below.

• chopping board
• chopping knives suitable for chopping the onion
• two large saucepans
• spoon for mixing
• food processor or hand held blender for blending the soup

How to Make Lebanese Red Lentil Soup

You will have this Lebanese Soup ready in no time. Red lentils are particularly quick to cook, and there is just one onion to chop. Here's how to make Lebanese Red Lentil Soup.

---

• Prepare the onion. Finely chop 1 medium-sized onion.

---

• Cook the red lentils. Put 1 ⅓ cups of red lentils in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring the water to a boil and then turn down the heat so that the water comes to a simmer. Gently simmer the lentils for about 20 minutes by which time they will be soft and easily crushed. Add more water if needed to keep the lentils covered. Whilst the lentils are cooking, start cooking the onions and butter as described in the next step.

---

• Melt the butter. Put 4 tablespoons of butter into a saucepan and melt over a low heat.

---

• Fry the chopped onion. Add the chopped onion to the melted butter and gently fry for about 5 to 10 minutes.

---

• Combine the lentils and onions. Add the cooked red lentils, together with the cooking water, to the onions and butter. Add 1 ¼ tablespoons of cumin, a generous pinch of salt and mix all ingredients well. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 10 more minutes.

---

• Blend the soup. Blend the soup to a smooth consistency. Once blended, check the seasoning and add more salt if needed.

---

• Ladle into soup bowls, sprinkle with a little cumin and serve with a wedge of lemon. Lipsmackingly-good lentil soup!

---

More Soup Recipes using Pulses

Lentils. I love lentils. They have saved me so many times when I've been short of options in the pantry. Lentils are particularly great for last minute healthy meals. They generally take under 30 minutes to cook and, unlike other pulses, do not require any soaking beforehand.

Red lentils are particularly quick to cook and this delicious Mediterranean Red Lentil Soup with Carrots has the added spices of paprika and ginger for a little extra heat.

For the more earthy taste of green lentils, try this Simple French Green Lentil Soup with Bacon or our family's Simple Hungarian Lentil Soup.

Chickpeas. Chickpeas are great when canned, unlike some forms of beans which do not can well, becoming mushy and losing some of their taste. This makes canned chickpeas the perfect choice for last minute meals such as this Quick Chickpea and Tomato Soup with Peppers.

---

📋 Recipe Card

Spiced with paprika and topped with soured cream, this Hungarian Lentil Soup is as delicious as it is simple.

[feast_advanced_jump_to]

🍅 Ingredients for Hungarian Lentil Soup

• Onion.
• Garlic Cloves.
• Oil. A suitable oil for frying the onions. I use either olive oil or sunflower oil.
• Ground Paprika.
• Green Lentils.
• Salt.
• Soured Cream (optional).

See the Recipe Card below for quantities and the full recipe.

🍽 Useful Equipment

No special equipment is needed for this Simple Hungarian Lentil Soup recipe. I have listed the key useful items below.

• chopping board
• chopping knives suitable for chopping the onion and garlic cloves
• large saucepan
• spoon for mixing

🔪 How to Make Hungarian Lentil Soup

With only an onion and a couple of garlic cloves to chop, this easiest of soups can be made from scratch in no time. Here's how to make a Simple Hungarian Lentil Soup.

---

• Prepare the onion and garlic. Finely chop 1 medium-sized onion and 2 garlic cloves.

---

• Fry the onion. Put 3 or 4 tablespoons of oil, such as sunflower or olive oil in a saucepan. Add the finely chopped onion and over a medium heat gently fry the onion for about 5 minutes until it has softened.

---

• Fry the garlic and paprika with the onion. Add 2 finely chopped garlic cloves and 2 teaspoons of sweet paprika to the fried onion. Fry over a low heat for a couple of minutes until the garlic aroma is released. Paprika burns easily, becoming bitter, so take care not cook at too high a heat.

---

---

• Combine all remaining ingredients and cook. Add the dried lentils and enough cold water to generously cover all the ingredients. Bring the mixture to a boil and then turn down the heat so that the soup comes to a gentle simmer.

---

• Simmer and Season. Gently simmer the soup for about 20 to 25 minutes. Add extra water if needed towards the end of the cooking time to give your preferred consistency and volume of soup. Check the seasoning at the end of the cooking time, and add salt and pepper as needed.

---

• Ladle into soup bowls, top with a dollop of sour cream and enjoy!

More Soup Recipes

Lentils. If you want to make a healthy soup in a hurry, lentils are a perfect choice. Another great green lentil soup is this Simple French Green Lentil Soup with Bacon. It can easily be transformed into a vegetarian version and, like the Hungarian Lentil Soup, you can add celery, carrots or your other favourite vegetables without losing the character of the soup.

Chickpeas. Moving away from lentils, but still with healthy pulses, try this super Quick Chickpea and Tomato Soup with Peppers. Made with canned chickpeas and tomatoes, this soup is a brilliant as a last minute meal.

---

📋 Recipe Card

Canned chickpeas and tomatoes are spiced with the Cuban flavours of cumin and oregano in this Chickpea and Tomato Soup with Peppers.

[feast_advanced_jump_to]

🍅 Ingredients for Chickpea and Tomato Soup

• Onion.
• Oil. A suitable oil for frying the onions. I use either olive oil or sunflower oil.
• Sweet Pepper. I usually use bell peppers, but other sweet peppers will work well. I prefer green bell peppers for some colour contrast, but for more sweetness use red bell peppers.
• Ground Cumin. Ground cumin with oregano is a classic Cuban spice combination and gives this soup a delicious earthy and sweet spiciness.
• Canned Tomatoes. This recipe uses tinned tomatoes for speed. If you have very ripe fresh tomatoes these can be substituted for the tinned tomatoes.
• Tomato Paste (optional). Sometimes, to give extra tomato richness and a slightly thicker consistency to the soup, I will add a teaspoon of tomato paste.
• Oregano. Dried or fresh. If using fresh oregano double the quantity given for dried oregano.
• Canned chickpeas. Tinned chickpeas make this a truly speedy soup to put together. If you plan ahead, you can use dried chickpeas, soaking and cooking them before you start this recipe. The fully cooked chickpeas may then be substituted for the canned chickpeas.
• Salt and Black Pepper.

See the Recipe Card below for quantities and the full recipe.

🍽 Useful Equipment

No special equipment is needed for this Chickpea and Tomato Soup recipe. I have listed the key useful items below.

• chopping board
• chopping knives suitable for chopping the onion and pepper
• potato masher and mixing bowl (useful if using tinned whole tomatoes rather than ready-chopped tomatoes)
• large saucepan
• spoon for mixing

🔪 How to Make Chickpea and Tomato Soup with Peppers

Bring out the cans of chickpeas and tomatoes! Here's how to make this easy Chickpea and Tomato Soup.

• Prepare the onion and pepper. Finely chop 1 medium-sized onion and 1 green bell pepper.

---

• Fry the onion. Put 3 or 4 tablespoons of oil, such as sunflower or olive oil in a saucepan. Add the finely chopped onion, together with a pinch of salt, and over a medium heat gently fry the onion for about 5 minutes until it has softened.

---

• Fry the green peppers with the onion and cumin. Add the chopped green pepper and 1 teaspoon of cumin to the fried onion.

---

• Mash the tinned tomatoes. If you using finely chopped canned tomatoes, you may skip this step. Otherwise, a good way to quickly cut whole tinned tomatoes into small pieces is to use a hand held potato masher. Put the tin of tomatoes into a small mixing bowl and mash with the potato masher until completely crushed.

---

• Combine all remaining ingredients and cook. Add the canned chickpeas, crushed canned tomatoes and 1 teaspoon of dried oregano to the fried onions and peppers in the saucepan. Add enough cold water to generously cover all the ingredients. Bring the mixture to a boil and then turn down the heat and so that the soup comes to a gentle simmer.

---

• Simmer and Season. Gently simmer the soup for about 20 to 25 minutes. Check the seasoning during the cooking and add salt and pepper to taste. Add extra water if needed towards the end of the cooking time to give your preferred consistency and volume of soup. Check again the seasoning at the end of the cooking time, and add more salt and pepper if needed.

---

• Ladle into soup bowls and enjoy!

---

More Soup Recipes using Pulses

Pulses, such as beans, peas and lentils, are perfect for protein-rich meals that can be put together in a hurry.

Lentil soups are particularly good for last minute dishes, since lentils require no soaking beforehand. Both this Simple Hungarian Lentil Soup and Simple French Green Lentil Soup with Bacon use green lentils which hold their shape when cooked.

Red lentils break down on cooking to create delicious creamy soups such as this Mediterranean Red Lentil Soup.

📋 Recipe Card

Bursting with the Provençal flavours of tomatoes, thyme and marjoram, this Simple French Green Lentil Soup with Bacon is delicious as a veggie version too.

[feast_advanced_jump_to]

I can’t rave enough about this French Lentil Soup. I so love its simplicity and the ease with which it can be thrown together. No need for chicken broth or any other meat or vegetable stock, just water will do.

This easy lentil soup is perfect at the end of the day with a hunk of crusty bread. There are times when we have variations of this hearty soup almost every evening meal of the week.

I have tinkered with the recipe over the years, and my whole family loves this version. Earthy green lentils, sweet simmered down tomato with onions and garlic, the Provençal flavourings of thyme, marjoram and bay leaf and gently cooked bacon lardons all come together to create the ultimate French Green Lentil Soup!

🍅 Ingredients

• Onions.
• Garlic.
• Lardons. Little bacon pieces with plenty of fat are best, smoked or un-smoked. If you are not able to get lardons, streaky bacon will work well in this soup too.
• Oil. A suitable oil for frying the onions. I use either olive oil or sunflower oil.
• Tomatoes. I generally use canned tomatoes, partly for convenience but also so that I can be sure the tomatoes are fully ripe. Fresh ripe tomatoes can, however, be substituted for the tinned tomatoes.
• Tomato Paste (optional). Sometimes, to give extra tomato richness and a slightly thicker consistency to the soup, I will add a teaspoon of tomato paste.
• Marjoram. Dried or fresh. If you do not have any marjoram, oregano is a good substitute.
• Thyme. Dried or fresh.
• Bay Leaves. Dried or fresh.
• Lentils. The French green speckled lentils are ideal for this soup, otherwise any green lentil will go well in this soup. Brown lentils are a good alternative to green lentils. I don't recommend red lentils as these will lose their shape too easily for this soup. A great recipe for red lentils is this Mediterranean Red Lentil Soup recipe.
• Salt and Black Pepper.

See the Recipe Card below for quantities and the full recipe.

⭐ Let's Look at French Green Lentils

Now by green lentils I mean the type of lentils that are often described as Le Puy lentils, and which are known in France as lentilles vertes (green lentils). Le Puy lentils (Lentilles Vertes du Puy) are in fact a variety of French green lentils and which, to be called Le Puy lentils, must be grown in certain parts of the Haute Loire region of France.

But not to worry if you do not have French green lentils to hand, or even the bacon for that matter. This is a forgiving soup, allowing you to easily swap and change ingredients. And that is one of the reasons it is such a great soup!

🍽 Useful Equipment

No special equipment is needed for this Lentil Soup with Bacon recipe. I have listed the key useful items below.

• chopping board
• chopping knives suitable for chopping the onion and garlic
• potato masher and mixing bowl (useful if using tinned whole tomatoes rather than ready-chopped tomatoes)
• large saucepan
• spoon for mixing

🔪 How to Make

Here's how to make this easy French Lentil Soup. No need to soak the lentils, so you can get cracking with this recipe straight away! If you don't have any bacon, or prefer vegetarian, this soup is great without.

📋 Recipe Card

The sweetness of apples and crunchy cabbage balances the tang of lemon in this Sugar-Free Creamy Lemony Coleslaw with Apples!

[feast_advanced_jump_to]

Homemade coleslaw is surprisingly quick to make. I love this simple combination of apples, green cabbage, lemon juice and creamy mayo. I keep the skin on the apples for extra colour and flavour. A fuss-free Creamy Coleslaw. No carrots, no onions, no peeling!

I often make this Apple Coleslaw last minute from scratch as it’s so easy and quick. You can cut time even more with a ready bagged coleslaw mix.

I like to add plenty of creamy mayonnaise as the coleslaw dressing, and our Homemade French Mayonnaise is perfect for this crunchy salad. A generous amount of mayo helps to soak up the added lemon and juices from the cabbage and apple, helping to avoid a watery coleslaw.

🍎 Ingredients

Coleslaw Ingredients

• Cabbage. White cabbage works well for this Creamy Coleslaw recipe.
• Mayonnaise. I use my Homemade French Mayonnaise for this Apple Slaw, but a ready-made shop bought mayonnaise will work well also. To give an even deeper apple flavour, you can use apple cider vinegar, instead of wine vinegar, when making your own Mayonnaise.
• Lemon.
• Apples. I find sweet apples work best. The sweetness of the apples enhances the sweetness of the cabbage and avoids the need to add any additional sugar. I prefer red apples to give some colour contrast to this delicious slaw. Gala apples have a lovely red colour and I like to use Royal Gala, a particularly red variety of the sweet Gala apple. Other sweet red apple varieties you could use include Fuji, Braeburn and Honeycrisp. However, a sweet green apple such as the Golden Delicious will work well too.
• Salt and Pepper.

See the Recipe Card below for quantities and the full recipe.

Mayonnaise Ingredients

If you would like to make your own Mayonnaise, full instructions on how to make our quick and foolproof Homemade French Mayonnaise are given in our recipe post on how to make Mayonnaise.

🍽 Useful Equipment

No special equipment is needed for this Apple Slaw recipe. I have listed the key useful items below.

• chopping board
• chopping knives suitable for chopping the white cabbage and quartering the apple
• grater for grating the apple
• large bowl
• spoon for mixing

🔪 How to Make

💭 More Ideas

• Mayonnaise. I like to vary the coleslaw dressing by adding yoghurt or creme fraiche to the Mayonnaise. This gives it an extra tang and lightens the taste. If running short of Mayonnaise, I also find that adding yoghurt, creme fraiche or soured cream is a good way to stretch the Mayonnaise further.
• Apples. You can tune the sweetness level down by changing the apple variety (or adding more lemon juice). The FruitGuys.com website has a useful chart for comparing the sweetness of various apple varieties. Although I prefer red apples, you can of course go all green and use a sweet green apple variety such as Golden Delicious. If you prefer a more tangy coleslaw, try using tart apples, such as tart Granny Smith apples.
• Nuts. Echoing the flavours of a Waldorf Salad, sprinkle chopped walnuts onto the Coleslaw for some extra crunch.
• Dried Fruit. Add dried fruit such as raisins or cranberries to give some extra bursts of sugary sweetness.

👨🏻‍🍳 Top Tips

• Sprinkle the grated apple with lemon juice as soon as possible after it has been grated. The lemon juice helps to prevent the apples from browning.
• Add the Mayonnaise to the grated apple and mix together thoroughly before adding the chopped cabbage. Again, this helps to prevent the apples from browning.

📋 Recipe Card

Eggplant is twice-cooked to melting perfection in this easy, rich Vegetarian Lebanese Eggplant Moussaka with Chickpeas (garbanzo beans).

[feast_advanced_jump_to]

Gloriously delicious, gloriously simple. Despite its Moussaka name, this Lebanese Eggplant and Chickpea dish (also known as Maghmour) is vegan. Unlike the Greek Moussaka, there is no béchamel sauce and no meat in this easy vegetarian alternative

I love that the eggplants (aubergines) are cooked twice, firstly fried and then baked. I find that this two-step cooking process deliciously intensifies the smoky flavours and melting silken texture of the eggplant.

Great hot or cold. I like to have this Lebanese Moussaka with Chickpeas on stand-by in the fridge. I then have a no-fuss ready-made light lunch or supper, perfect with just some pitta bread or a hunk of crusty bread to mop up the gloriously rich tomato sauce. For a more substantial meal, you can serve this chickpea dish with couscous, rice or pasta.

For a true Lebanese feast, enjoy this Eggplant and Chickpea Moussaka as part of a Mezze meal.

🧂 Ingredients

• Chickpeas. Dried or canned chickpeas work well.
• Bicarbonate of soda (not shown in photograph). If you use dried chickpeas, I recommend that you add a little bicarbonate of soda to the water you soak the chickpeas in to help soften them.
• Sunflower oil (or other suitable oil for frying the eggplants)(not shown in photograph)
• Eggplant (aubergine). I used the commonly found globe eggplant.
• Olive oil (not shown in photograph)
• Onion.
• Garlic.
• Tomatoes. You can use fresh ripe tomatoes or canned tomatoes, but tinned tomatoes are best if you are not able to get juicy, sun-ripened fresh tomatoes.
• Tomato paste (puree). An optional ingredient, but I find that adding some tomato paste really intensifies the tomato sauce.
• Mint (optional). Dried mint or fresh mint.
• Salt and Pepper.

See the Recipe Card below for quantities and the full recipe.

🍽 Useful Equipment

No special equipment is needed for this Lebanese Moussaka recipe. I have listed the key useful items below.

• chopping knives for preparing the aubergines, onions and garlic
• deep frying pan such as a sauté pan
• strainer
• bowl or other container for straining excess oil into
• large saucepan
• baking dish

🔪 How to Make

🔪 How to Prepare the Aubergines

Peeling

I’m too lazy to part-peel the aubergines before cooking, as you may find recommended in some recipes for Lebanese Moussaka. By part-peeling, I mean peeling the eggplants lengthwise to leave stripes of peel remaining. The skin does have a more intense smoky taste than the flesh of the eggplant, and it is, of course, tougher. If you want to soften the intensity of the eggplant flavour and texture, part-peeling will help with this.

Fry or Roast?

It’s true that by frying the aubergines in oil, some of that is taken up by the aubergine. For me, this is a bonus. I think it enhances the flavour of the aubergine, and the added oil helps create that richness in the tomato sauce. Draining the fried aubergine after cooking for a few minutes will take away much of the excess oil.

Roasting the eggplants is a great method, however, for minimising the amount of oil used. Roasting can also cut down the time preparing for this dish.

How to Roast the Eggplant Cubes

Set the oven at a high temperature (425F/218C). Put the cubes of eggplants into a large bowl. I add about 4 or 5 tablespoons of oil, and stir the eggplant cubes to coat them evenly with a light film of oil. Put a sheet of parchment (baking) paper onto a baking sheet or roasting dish and spread the oil covered cubes across the baking tray. I try to make sure that the cubes are not crowded. This allows them to get golden brown. Put the aubergine (eggplant) cubes into the hot, preheated over and roast for about 20 to 30 minutes.

📖 Inspiration and Sources

I used Hussien Dekmak's version of Lebanese Moussaka in The Lebanese Cookbook as my starting point, but have strayed from the original recipe a little.

Rather than slicing the eggplants lengthwise as done in The Lebanese Cookbook’s version, I prefer the slightly simpler method of cubing the aubergines and mixing the fried cubes into the chickpea mix. I also like to add mint (not included in the original recipe) to Lebanese Moussaka to give freshness.

Various recipes for Moussaka, with varying names, can in fact be found across many parts of the Middle East, including Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, as well as parts of Europe (such as Bulgaria and Romania). Often with meat, but there are vegan and vegetarian versions of Moussaka as well, such as this Lebanese Moussaka recipe.

The word "Moussaka" seems to have a number of meanings, including "cold" or "moistened" with the word said to have originated from Arabic. Certainly this Lebanese Moussaka, glistening in oil, can be described as moistened and is perfect served cold. Want to know more? There is a great article by Felicity Cloake in the National Geographic on "Everything you need to know about moussaka".

🍲 Storage

I generally store the Lebanese Moussaka in an airtight container in the fridge for no more than 3-4 days. After a few days, I find that the skin of the aubergines can discolour the chickpeas, but this does not seem to affect the flavour.

Can you freeze Lebanese Moussaka?

Yes. I like to freeze Lebanese Eggplant Moussaka after all the ingredients have been mixed together (Step 7 of the Recipe Card). I let the mixture cool and put it in an air-tight container before freezing. Then, when I take the frozen dish out of the freezer, I let it thaw and bake it in the oven, following Step 8 of the Recipe Card.

📋 Recipe Card

Looking amazing in their frosted orange skins, these French Orange Sorbets are made without an ice cream maker. 3 ingredients. Oranges, sugar and a little lemon for extra zest. The perfect treat for a hot day!

[feast_advanced_jump_to]

🍊 Ingredients

• Oranges. Sweet oranges with lots of juice are the oranges of choice here. Valencia, Navel and Blood Oranges will all work well.
• Lemon. Don't leave out the lemon. The tartness and acid of the lemon help to enhance the flavour of the frozen sorbet.
• Sugar. Keep to a white sugar so that the flavour of the orange can shine. Caster sugar works best since it will be quick to dissolve. Otherwise granulated sugar is fine.

See the Recipe Card below for details of quantities and the full recipe.

🍽 Equipment

• small sharp knife (for removing orange pulp from orange skins)
• 2 bowls (for collecting orange pulp and mixing orange sorbet)
• hand food mill (mouli) or electric blender
• juice squeezer
• fork (for breaking up sorbet)
• airtight container (for storing the Orange Sorbets when placed in freezer)

🔪 How to make Orange Sorbets without an ice cream maker

🍊 Which Oranges are Best for Sorbet?

As we primarily need orange juice for this summer treat, the juiciest, ripe orange you can find the better. There are a number of orange varieties to choose from. I used Navel Oranges to make the Orange Givrées. These were the only oranges on sale in my local supermarket at the time, and so not so much chosen but my only option.

Navel Oranges are easy to identify as their base resembles a bellybutton (navel), this appearance apparently caused because the Navel Orange tries to grow a second orange from this point. My family and I found that the Navel Oranges made a great tasting Orange Sorbet, but given a choice I might have gone for the Valencia Orange.

Navel Oranges vs Valencia Oranges vs Blood Oranges

Three types of oranges seem to stand out as being a good choice for making an orange sorbet: Navel Oranges, Valencia Oranges and Blood Oranges.

Whilst Navel Oranges are apparently very popular for eating fresh, according to a paper from the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension "Valencia oranges are most often processed because of their excellent quality juice which has a deep orange color, high sugar content and an unparalleled richness of flavor. This is the primary fruit processed in Florida for juice."

Although Valencia Oranges seem to win out on the juice front, another article looking at the differences between Valencia Oranges and Navel Oranges states that, "While Valencia oranges have a bit of bitter tang mixed in with their sweetness, Navel oranges are simply quite sweet.". 

So, maybe Navel Oranges win out after all. Another point in favour of Navel Oranges is that they are seedless. One less chore, no seeds to remove.

A final factor, though, worth noting on Navel Oranges, is that their juice turns bitter hours after it is squeezed. This is because of the high level of the bitter chemical limonin in Navel Oranges, which is present in the white pith and which gets into the juice during the extraction process.

We didn't notice any bitterness when eating the orange sorbet shown in the photographs, so perhaps freezing the juice slowed down the various chemical processes that bring about this bitterness.

Last but not least, if you want to create a dramatic effect with your orange treat, Blood Oranges are the ones to choose. The orange of the peel will be contrasted beautifully with the ruby red of the blood orange sorbet itself. The juiciness and sweetness of the Blood Oranges will depend upon the variety.

What Makes a Successful Sorbet?

There are two key components to a successful sorbet. They are flavour (no surprises there!) and texture.

A sorbet is essentially fruit juice or fruit puree that is frozen. So, the choice of fruit ultimately determines the flavour. However, the flavour of a sorbet is usually enhanced by:

• added sugar. Sugar also plays a role in the texture of the sorbet. More on this below.
• added acid. Freezing food can alter flavours and dull them. Adding acid (such as citrus juice) helps to counter this. Don't leave out the lemon juice in the recipe. It helps to draw out the flavour.

There are some ingredient ratios that help ensure your sorbet recipe success. Harold McGee advises in his book, On Food and Cooking, that sugar may make up to 25% to 35% of the sorbet mixture, and acid up to 0.5% of the sorbet mixture. The overall sugar to acid ratio should be similar to that of watermelons, which is 30-60:1.

Since this recipe works so well, I can only assume it meets all these parameters. I have to confess that I haven't checked!

For a successful sorbet, not only must it taste good, but it must also have the right consistency and texture. A good sorbet is often described as a creamy sorbet, and by creamy we mean here that the sorbet has a soft, smooth consistency.

A creamy sorbet is easy to scoop and the creamy texture also enhances the flavour. A gritty sorbet, which you will get if the sorbet forms ice crystals as it freezes, does not taste great.

Ice crystals are described by Dr Stuart Farrimond, in his book The Science of Cooking, as "the enemy of smooth ice cream". Although we are dealing with sorbet here, the principles for combatting ice crystals remain the same.

How to Prevent the Formation of Ice Crystals and Make Creamy Sorbet

For a creamy sorbet, we want the ice to have formed small crystals that slide easily past each other. This is what will make the frozen sorbet soft, with a smooth icy texture. We can achieve this in a number of ways:

• Mechanical breaking of the crystals. Undisturbed water freezes to create a solid block of ice. Break that ice crystal structure up whilst the water freezes, and you will no longer have a single block of ice. This is the key reason for using an ice cream maker. The ice cream maker continuously churns the sorbet (or ice cream), as it freezes, ensuring that large ice crystals are unable to form.
• Quick Freezing. According to The Science of Cooking, the faster the freezing, the smaller the crystals. Freezing in a shallow container will help the sorbet to freeze faster, due to the larger surface area. I didn't use this technique when making the sorbet photographed, but will definitely try this out the next time I make this sorbet.
• Bits of Fruit. Bits of fruit (fruit debris) help to soften the fruit sorbet by acting as a lubricant for the ice crystals. Harold McGee explains that the more debris there is, the easier it is for the crystals to slide past one another when pressed (such as with a spoon). Solids also help with the formation of small crystals.
• Sugar. Sugar has similar functions to the fruit debris. It acts as a lubricant and helps with the formation of small ice crystals. Corn syrup is sometimes used to replace part of the sugar since it helps to soften the sorbet without adding as much sweetness.

Incidentally, sorbets have about double the amount of sugar as ice cream. Harold McGee explains that this is because ice creams contain fat and protein which help to soften the texture.

Sorbet or Sherbet?

In the United States a small amount of milk solids is sometimes added to fruit ices (about 3-5%), to help soften the texture. These iced desserts are called sherbets. A sorbet is dairy-free. So if you add a tablespoon or two of cream to this Orange Sorbet, it will be transformed into orange sherbet.

Sherbet has a completely different meaning in the UK. It is a fizzy type of sweet. Flying Saucer Sweets such as these, with a fizzy sherbet centre, were really popular when I was at school.

Food Mill (Mouli) or Blender?

I used a food mill to puree the orange flesh. I found this worked really well since it strained the larger pieces of orange, including the bitter pith, at the same time as pureeing the orange.

You could also use a food processor or hand held immersion blender (stick blender) to mash up the orange. I haven't yet tested this out, and would expect it to be quicker than using a food mill.

However, I think that before blending it would be best to pick out as much of the pith as possible. Otherwise, the bitterness from the pith could taint the flavour of the sorbet. Alternatively, you may wish to try straining the puree. However, I'm not sure how effective that will be if the pith has been blitzed as well.

Felicity Cloake found in her recipe trials that if you do not strain the mixture after using a food processor, it gives the finished sorbet a "vaguely woolly texture". You have been warned!

More on this Recipe

Sorbet works particularly well with citrus fruits. They also provide the perfect container in which to serve the sorbet, their own peels.

Many versions of Orange Givrées use a classic sorbet method, in which sugar and water are heated to make a simple syrup and the juice from fresh oranges is added to the syrup. The sorbet mixture is then churned in an ice cream machine before the frozen sorbet is packed into chilled orange skins.

In this recipe, the syrup stage is completely left out, and the ice cream maker stage is replaced by the hand mashing or whisking of the sorbet in stages.

I came across this method for making orange sorbet in the very first cookbook I ever owned, Menus de la Famille Moderne. A great cookbook for simple recipes needing few ingredients. This fresh orange sorbet recipe is no exception.

💭 More Ideas

• Strawberries. A serving tip from the great chef Auguste Escoffier: dip 3 or 4 strawberries first into Curaço (an orange liqueur made from the peel of bitter oranges) and then into caster sugar. Top the Orange Sorbets with these drunken strawberries before serving. From his book Ma Cuisine. If you don't have Curaço, you can of course use another orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier or Cointreau.
• Biscuits. Serve these summery treats with delicate Lemon Butter Biscuits.

📋 Recipe Card

Minimal ingredients in this potato-free Celery and Leek Soup allow the delicate flavour of its star ingredient, celery, to shine through.

[feast_advanced_jump_to]

⭐ Star Features to Love

• Quick to make delicious soup.
• Short list of ingredients.
• Budget friendly.

Ingredients

• celery
• leeks
• butter
• flour
• water
• salt and pepper

See the Recipe Card below for quantities.

How to make this recipe

A Little Background

This version of Celery and Leek Soup is a combination of two recipes from British Cookery (edited by Lizzie Boyd). Described by Delia Smith as a "British standard work [to place] alongside Escoffier, Larousse and the rest", I often raid this brilliant collection of British recipes for ideas.

📋 Recipe Card

In a hurry? Ridiculously easy, with a delicious creamy lemon sauce, this simple Smoked Salmon and Crème Fraiche Pasta dish is for you!

This delicious pasta dish is supremely simple and quick to put together. Cooking anything at the end of a day's work is challenging. After doing battle with London public transport, this is one of the very few dishes I am happy to cook from scratch in the evening.

Something with Bread, Something on Toast or Something out of a Tin are my usual go-to quick and easy meals. To be honest, my favourite evening meal when I used to work really long hours was muesli drowned in lots of cold milk. Any why not? Quick, easy, delicious and healthy - it's the perfect supper! So the bar is set high for a simple dish...

No problem. The most challenging step of this recipe is probably slicing the lemon and squeezing out the juice. Otherwise, this is one of those chuck in the pan and mix the ingredients type of recipes. The result, pasta lightly coated with a slightly sharp, creamy lemon sauce combined with intense bursts of flavour from the lemon sprinkled smoked salmon.

[feast_advanced_jump_to]

🧾 Ingredients

• pasta (I used fusili pasta)
• fresh lemon juice
• crème fraiche
• smoked salmon
• salt and pepper

See the Recipe Card below for quantities.

🔪 How to make this recipe

📋 Recipe Card

Nokedli (also known as Hungarian egg noodles, pasta or dumplings) are a Hungarian essential. Paprika Chicken without Nokedli? Unthinkable!

[feast_advanced_jump_to]

⭐ Star Points to Love

• Easiest pasta to make. No special equipment necessary. Although a Hungarian grater (Nokedli Szaggato) will help speed the making of this pasta, Nokedli may be easily shaped using just a couple of spoons.
• Just 3 key ingredients. Flour, egg and water. If you want to add a little spice, paprika may be added but it is not essential.
• Authentic Hungarian recipe. Make Nokedli as eaten in Hungary.

🧂 Ingredients

• flour
• egg
• water
• salt
• paprika spice (optional)

See the Recipe Card below for quantities.

🍽  Equipment

• saucepan
• mixing bowl
• mixing spoon
• jug
• Nokedli Szaggató (this is a form of "grater" used in Hungary to make these egg noodles - if you are not able to get this, 2 teaspoons may be used instead)

🔪 How to make Hungarian Egg Noodles

💭 More Ideas

Our family loves to eat Nokedli with Hungarian Paprika Chicken. This is the classic Hungarian way of serving Paprika Chicken, and very delicious too!

📋 Recipe Card

The easiest easy chocolate pudding! Sophisticated in its simplicity, this is a moreish, intensely chocolatey French Dark Chocolate Cremeux. A 4 ingredient delight!

[feast_advanced_jump_to]

⭐ Star Features to Love

• Chocolate Intense. Chocolate dominates. Choose your favourite chocolate and make this decadent dessert your own!
• Gluten-free and without egg. This is a flourless and egg-free recipe. A Crémeux au Chocolat (Chocolate Cremeux) is often made with Crème Anglaise (egg custard). Here, cornflour (corn starch) rather than egg yolks is used as the means of thickening the milk to create the perfect pudding.
• Amazingly quick and easy. This is an easy chocolate pudding recipe. So simple, its a joy to make. Since cornflour (cornstarch) is used as a thickener, there is no egg custard to worry about. Separating out the egg yolks from the egg whites and taking care to avoid overheating the egg yolk mixture; let's face it, egg custard can be a bit of a hassle to make.
• Short shopping list. A simple recipe that has 4 simple ingredients: a chocolate bar, milk, sugar and cornflour. That's it!
• Authentic French recipe. An elegant dessert, this is chocolate pudding as eaten in France. For an unadulterated French version, check out the section on chocolate below for which type to use.

🍫 Ingredients

• Cornflour (cornstarch). This thickener is made from corn (rather than wheat) and contains only carbohydrate (no protein). In the U.K. it is known as cornflour, and in the U.S. it is called cornstarch. Since it contains no protein (which gluten is a form of), it is often used as an alternative to flour when a gluten-free thickening agent is needed. However, cornstarch is great as a thickener in its own right.
• Milk. I prefer to use whole milk rather than low-fat milk. This recipe has no need for double (heavy) cream to create a delicious creamy custard.
• Chocolate. These creamy puddings are all about the chocolate, so for best results use a good quality solid chocolate. For a Dark Chocolate Cremeux, I think anything from a 55% cocoa content bar to an 85% cocoa content bar will work well. 85% cocoa content gives an incredible intense chocolate taste, although I have to admit this is probably for the more hardcore chocoholics amongst us. See the section below for more discussion on which chocolate type and brand to use to get that perfect taste.
• Sugar. If you have a choice, caster sugar works best since it will be quick to dissolve. Otherwise granulated sugar is fine. I tend to avoid dark brown sugar as the strong caramel taste may be too overwhelming.

See the Recipe Card below for quantities and the full recipe.

🔪 How to make Dark Chocolate Cremeux

📖 More on this Recipe

A little background

I first came across this simple method for making Dark Chocolate Cremeux on the French food blog Papilles et Pupilles, which in turn found the recipe in La Petite Crémerie by Eva Harlé. Papilles et Pupilles is a treasure trove of recipes for food that you will find cooked in the French home. The silky-smooth texture and intense dark chocolate experience of this creamy chocolate pudding transports me back to France each time I eat it.

Crème au Chocolat, Crémeux au Chocolat, Pot au Chocolat. What's the difference?

The French and the British have very different ideas when it comes to chocolate pudding. With my British hat on, chocolate pudding means a large bowlful of a hot steamed pudding, generously ladled with rich chocolate custard. This is true comfort food at its best. With my French hat on, I think of a very different type of chocolate pudding.

Wander down the chilled aisles of any French supermarket and you will come across a section filled with an incredibly wide range of small chocolate puddings. A little bit of heaven for any chocolate lover. These chilled chocolate French desserts are often referred to generically as a Pot au Chocolat. Called various names, including Crème au Chocolat and Crémeux au Chocolat, they may be just a plain chocolate pudding or topped with cream.

Generally you will find a selection of little chocolate mousse puddings (Mousse au Chocolat) alongside the Pot au Chocolat section of the chilled aisles in French supermarkets. I don't tend to think of chocolate mousse as a Pot au Chocolat, and I don't believe that there is a hard and fast rule on this. The key difference between a chocolate mousse and the other Pots au Chocolats is that the mousse is made with whipped egg white, which gives it a light airy texture rather than that silky-smooth texture of a cremeux.

Which Chocolate Works Best?

Dark chocolate

So what do we mean by dark chocolate? Most probably you don't need any labelling to tell you what is or is not dark chocolate. Your own taste buds will have very definite ideas on this. Nevertheless, there is legislation that dictates what may be classed as dark chocolate, and there are degrees of "darkness".

Dark chocolate will often be labelled with the percentage of chocolate that it contains. This in essence means the amount of cocoa mass contained within the bar of chocolate, divided by the weight of the bar. The original recipe from La Petite Crémerie recommends a 55% chocolate. For a 100% French chocolate taste why not try the French brand Valrhona, which is well-known for good quality chocolate.

Whilst the cocoa content percentage does give a good indication as to the strength and bitterness of the chocolate, it is not everything. Both the quality and taste may vary greatly between chocolates that have the same cocoa content percentage.

The puddings photographed were made using M&S Single Origin Dark Chocolate from Peru. An 85% chocolate, it is described as having "Intense cocoa flavours with aromas of ripe fruits & mixed berries with a touch of honey". Certainly, the M&S chocolate flavoured puddings seemed to have a sweeter and more rounded flavour compared with the puddings we have made using Lindt 85% Cocoa Dark Chocolate from its Excellence range, which were decidedly more robust in taste. Both versions were delicious, just different.

Milk Chocolate

Transform a Dark Chocolate Cremeux into a Milk Chocolate Cremeux simply by swapping the dark chocolate with milk chocolate. This will be sweeter than the dark chocolate version, so you may want to add the sugar in stages when making a Milk Chocolate Cremeux, checking the sweetness level before adding more.

White Chocolate

For a completely different look (and taste!), white chocolate can be used instead of dark chocolate. White chocolate is very different, however, from dark of milk chocolate. This difference is not just in looks, with white chocolate's primary cocoa ingredient being cocoa butter. Indeed, there is some debate as to whether or not it should be classed as chocolate at all.

White chocolate is generally even sweeter than milk chocolate. As with the milk chocolate version of the Cremeux, you may need to adjust the sugar and add less. I haven't yet tried a White Chocolate Cremeux (I will update this post once I do so), but I think it might be too sweet and rich on its own. A tart raspberry coulis might help to give balance. The Belgian chef, Eddy van Damme, uses a sour cherry coulis with pretty effect in his White Chocolate Cremeux recipe.

💭 More Ideas

• Whipped Cream Topping. Transform each of these French desserts into a Chocolat Liégois by topping with Crème Chantilly (sweetened whipped cream). For a little extra something, why not try whipped cream infused with alcohol? How about whiskey, or perhaps an orange liqueur? Here is a recipe for whipped cream with Cointreau.
• Chocolate Swaps. Dark chocolate combines perfectly with many flavours. A great way to introduce another layer of taste easily is to use dark chocolate flavoured with another ingredient. There is a huge range out there to choose from. Orange, mint, ginger or coconut flavoured dark chocolate would all work brilliantly instead of just plain dark chocolate. Take your pick!
• Go Mexican. With Mexico being one of the places in which cocoa was first cultivated, how about giving these little puddings a Mexican flavour? Mexican chocolate has its own specific qualities and I've been inspired by this Mexican Hot Chocolate recipe to try adding vanilla and cinnamon flavouring to the chocolate puddings. However, I'm not sure about including chile powder Mexican style. Would it work for a chilled pudding? I will experiment and update this post once I have done so.
• Add a biscuit. For some contrasting crunch, serve with a little biscuit such as mini versions of these delicate Lemon Butter Biscuits.

🍲 Storage

We have trouble in our family keeping these little puddings beyond a day. If you are more disciplined than us, you may be able to keep these in a fridge for about 2 to 3 days.

FAQ

📋 Recipe Card

Sour cream and paprika, the essence of Hungarian cooking, combine to create this gently spiced Creamy Paprika Chicken in a luxurious sour cream sauce.

The popularity of Paprika Chicken (Paprikas Csirke) in the United States "is almost as great as in Hungary" declares Paula Pogany Bennett in her excellent book The Art of Hungarian Cooking. And for good reason! Creamy Paprika Chicken is an easy, delicious chicken recipe whose success is down to very few ingredients; the magic trio is chicken, sour cream and paprika.

According to Culinaria Hungary, this Hungarian national treasure impressed the renowned chef Auguste Escoffier to such an extent that he included it, in the 1880s, on the menu at the Grand Hotel in Monte Carlo, as Poulet au Paprika. Indeed, Auguste Escoffier is credited with first introducing this dish to the wider world.

I have found varying versions of it in my many British and French cookbooks. This recipe, however, is the real deal, direct from Hungary!

[feast_advanced_jump_to]

Ingredients

• oil
• onion
• garlic (optional)
• ground paprika (preferably Hungarian)
• red pepper (optional)
• tomatoes (optional)
• chicken pieces
• sour cream
• double cream
• flour

See the Recipe Card below for quantities.

Hungarian Paprika: history and what type to use

History

Paprika is the cornerstone spice of the Hungarian cooking of today. So, you might be surprised to learn that this has not always been the case. The introduction to Gundel's Hungarian Cookbook explains that paprika was not generally used until the 19th century, with paprika not mentioned in cookbooks published more than 200 years ago.

There are a couple of theories as to how paprika came to Hungary. One of these is that the plants at least were introduced by the Turks during the 17th century at the time of the Turkish occupation of Hungary. Culinaria Hungary favours another theory, which is that whilst fleeing from the Turks, certain ethnic groups from the Balkans brought pepper seeds to Hungary. It claims that this is the more likely theory since the two towns that battle for the title of "Paprika capital", Szeged and Kalocsa, are close to the Balkans.

What type to use

Hungarian paprika comes in different strengths. In ascending order of spiciness: különleges (meaning "special"), csemege (delicate), édesnemes (fine-sweet), félédes (semi-sweet), rózsa (rose-red), erős (hot). For Paprika Chicken a gentle paprika works best such as an édes paprika. If you are based in the UK, the paprika that is generally sold in supermarkets is a sweet paprika (unless labelled otherwise) and will be fine to use with this recipe. I have also come across a supplier of Hungarian products (which we are yet to try) Best of Hungary which is based in the UK and has a range of different paprikas. Unfortunately, it does not appear to deliver outside of the UK.

Garlic, Peppers, Tomatoes: the choice is yours

Not to worry if you do not have any of these ingredients. Certainly none of them make it into Paula Pogany Bennett's recipe for Paprikás Csirke (pronounced "papri-kash cheer-ker") in the The Art of Hungarian Cooking.

🍽 Equipment

• sharp knife (for chopping onions, tomatoes and pepper)
• large saucepan
• spoon for stirring and mixing
• small bowl
• ladle

🔪 How to make Creamy Paprika Chicken

👨🏻‍🍳 Top tips

📋 Recipe Card

Lemon zest gives a gentle zing to these crisp butter rich biscuits (cookies). Lemon Butter Biscuits or Cookies that are truly melt-in-the mouth sensations!

These delicious lemon butter biscuits (cookies) are a doddle to make. They have a high butter content, which gives them a uniquely delicate crispness that crumbles in your mouth to release a burst of sugary lemon flavour. The perfect biscuit with a nice cup of tea as an afternoon treat.

This easy lemon biscuit recipe started life as Ginger Shortbread Biscuits in a 1970s edition of a Marks & Spencer publication called Picnics and Barbecues. The photograph in the cookbook shows pretty star shaped biscuits as the finished result. However, when I first made the biscuits it became clear very rapidly that rolling out the biscuits was going to be a challenge. Even after chilling the pastry, the dough refused to co-operate, alternating between a chilled dough prone to cracking and a sticky, buttery mush.

Deciding that life was too short to do battle, I ditched the plan to roll out the pastry and used instead the technique of forming the soft pastry into a cylinder roll shape using greaseproof paper. This roll is then chilled for at least an hour or two. To make these delicious biscuits, you simply cut slices from the roll, place on a baking tray and bake. See the photos below. So easy!

After the rolling out challenge, and having tasted these wonderful crisp butter biscuits, I started to query whether or not they were truly shortbread biscuits. After looking more into what makes a shortbread, it seems to me that recipes for shortbread biscuits generally have a higher flour to butter ratio. So I ditched the shortbread name. I also felt that the rich butter taste of these buttery biscuits worked better when flavoured with lemon, rather than ginger. And that's how the original ginger shortbread recipe morphed into an easy lemon biscuits recipe.

Have a go at both and see what you think! I have given the ingredients for the ginger version in the More Ideas section below.

[feast_advanced_jump_to]

🍋 Ingredients

• fresh lemon (preferably unwaxed lemon) - only the zest is used, no lemon juice
• sugar
• unsalted butter
• plain flour

See the Recipe Card below for details of quantities.

🍽 Equipment

• fine grater
• mixing bowl (optional)
• greaseproof/baking paper
• sharp knife
• baking sheet
• cooling wire rack

🔪 How to make Lemon Butter Biscuits (Cookies)

💭 More ideas

• If you would like to try out the original ginger version of these sweet buttery biscuits, swap the lemon zest with 2 teaspoons of ground ginger. Add the ground ginger to the flour.
• How about a softly spiced biscuit? Swap the lemon zest with 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of ground mace. Add the ground spices to the flour. The ground mace is a delicious complement to the sweet cinnamon, and gives a gentle warmth.
• The traditional Tosset Cakes (we would think of these as a cookie or biscuit nowadays), have a high butter content similar to these lemon biscuits and an unexpected spice combination of caraway and coriander that is truly wonderful. Swap the lemon zest, and lemon flavour, with about ½ teaspoon each of caraway and coriander seed. Grind the caraway and coriander seeds well. You need a slightly rounded teaspoon of the ground mixed spices.
• These delicate butter biscuits are a perfect accompaniment to many types of puddings. Why not try making mini versions to serve with: Strawberries and Raspberry Whipped Cream, Orange Sorbet.

🍲 Storage

• Once cooled, you can store the cooked biscuits in an airtight container, such as an airtight tin, for about a week.
• I have kept the uncooked dough in the fridge for about 2 to 3 weeks, and baked fantastic biscuits using this dough.
• At the time of writing I have not attempted to freeze the dough, but would imagine it would freeze well. I will update the post once I have tried this out.

📋 Recipe Card

Sugared strawberries are perfectly complemented by a raspberry whipped cream (cream delicately flavoured with a raspberry purée). Add a dash of kirsch or Grand Marnier for a little extra something!

Strawberries, whipped cream, raspberries, orange and sugar are combined to create a gloriously simple summer pudding.

This recipe is drawn from the fantastic Cordon Bleu Cookery Course first published in the late 1960s, which was one of my mother's favourite cooking companions in the kitchen. There are a number of strawberry recipes in this cooking series, mostly varying combinations of strawberries, sugar, other fruits and alcohol. They are a celebration of simplicity.

Auguste Escoffier, in his book, Ma Cuisine (published in 1934), has a couple of very similar recipes to this Strawberries and Raspberry Whipped Cream. The first, Fraises Ritz, includes wild strawberries as well as raspberries in the purée but there is no orange or any form of alcohol. The second, Fraises Tosca, is almost identical to the Cordon Bleu version (Escoffier give no amounts, however, for the ingredients) and was the original inspiration perhaps?

[feast_advanced_jump_to]

🧾 Ingredients

• fresh strawberries
• fresh raspberries
• an orange
• double cream
• caster sugar
• icing sugar

See the recipe card below for details of quantities.

Do you need both caster and icing sugars?

Not necessarily. Yes, you can use just caster sugar. However, it may not be so easy to use just icing sugar. Caster sugar is a fine granular sugar and mixes and dissolves easily. This means that you can use it for sweetening both the raspberry purée and the strawberry mixture. However, icing sugar, as a powdered sugar, can tend to clump together, and so will be more tricky to mix evenly within the strawberry mixture.

🍽 Equipment

• 3 bowls: 1 for the strawberry mixture, 1 for the raspberry purée, and 1 to whisk the cream
• vegetable knife for hulling the strawberries
• balloon whisk or fork for mixing the raspberry purée
• a couple of tablespoons
• electric mixer for whisking cream (or balloon whisk)
• wire strainer
• juice squeezer for the orange

🔪 How to make Strawberries and Raspberry Whipped Cream

💭 More Ideas

• Add one or two tablespoons of kirsch or Grand Marnier to the strawberry mixture
• Sprinkle the finished pudding with crushed macaroons (this idea comes from Auguste Escoffier's book Ma Cuisine). He spoons the strawberries into the bowl first and tops them with the raspberry cream.
• Serve with a delicate Lemon Butter Biscuit.

🍲 Make Ahead

This is a great recipe to make ahead in stages. You can make the raspberry purée up two days ahead, and store it in a covered container in the fridge. The raspberry cream and the strawberry mixture can both be prepared a day ahead, and kept in separate covered containers in the fridge. I think it works best if the raspberry cream and the strawberry mixture are placed together in bowls shortly before serving.

📋 Recipe Card

Authentic Homemade French Mayonnaise in less than 5 minutes. Add lemon for a touch of sharpness. Perfect!

So quick to make and such a useful sauce. A jar of Homemade French Mayonnaise is always in my fridge. This must be the first recipe I learnt, most probably because it is very easy to make (yes, really easy!) but also because the ingredients and their respective quantities are so simple to remember.

The magic ratio is one egg yolk to one tablespoon of vinegar. To that I add enough oil to make the mayonnaise come together and just sufficient salt to bring out the flavours. This is a French Mayonnaise at its simplest.

[feast_advanced_jump_to]

🍋 Ingredients

• oil
• egg yolk
• mustard (optional)
• lemon (optional)
• salt
• pepper (optional)

See the Recipe Card below for details of quantities.

What type of oil should you use?

I prefer to use sunflower oil.  If I don't have sunflower oil, vegetable oil is my next choice.  Although some recipes will suggest olive oil for French Mayonnaise, I find that using just olive oil can make the Mayonnaise a little bitter.  I am in good company on this as the chef Richard Bertinet in his book Cook in a Class of your Own finds the same and recommends using a mixture of rapeseed oil and olive oil.  He also notes that if using just extra virgin oil, it can separate shortly after you have made it.  So I'm sticking with the sunflower oil.

Mustard

Whilst you don't have to add mustard, not only does it give some spice to the Mayonnaise, it helps to bind the egg yolk and oil together.  This means that you have less chance of curdled Mayonnaise if you include mustard.  I prefer to use Dijon mustard.

Lemon

The French Mayonnaise recipe I learnt from my mother contains no lemon.  I was inspired to try adding lemon after watching the DVD that accompanies Richard Bertinet's book Cook in a Class of your Own.  Just a squeeze of lemon gives a little extra sharpness to the Mayonnaise that I love. Incidentally, Richard Bertinet uses a slightly different technique to making Mayonnaise, initially mixing just the egg yolk and mustard together (no vinegar), next adding the oil, and then adding the lemon.  On this, however, I'm keeping to my own method; it works.

🍽 Equipment

• tablespoon
• bowl
• whisk
• measuring jug
• jar or other container for storing the French Mayonnaise

📖 How to prevent your Mayonnaise curdling

Mayonnaise is one of those dishes that, although incredibly simple to make, success can sometimes be elusive.   This is because of its annoying habit of "curdling".  What is curdling?  Curdling is when the oil and egg separate and refuse to bind together or "emulsify".  The picture below shows a good example of curdled Mayonnaise.

Why does Mayonnaise curdle?

My mother warned me that French Mayonnaise can be affected by the weather, particularly if there is "thunder in the air", when it is more likely to curdle. Is there any science to support this?  I don't know.  In any event, it is immensely comforting that if your Homemade Mayonnaise does curdle, it is nothing to do with your cooking skills. The weather was just not "right". 

How to prevent curdling? The Golden Rule.

In the Top tips section below, I have listed a number of ways to prevent curdling. The most important of these is to add the oil to the egg and vinegar mixture very slowly, particularly in the early stages of adding the oil.  

So, drizzle just a little bit of oil into the egg and vinegar mixture to begin with, whisking all the time until it is thoroughly mixed in. I always use a balloon whisk, but you can use an electric mixer instead. Then drizzle a tiny bit more of oil, and again whisk in thoroughly before adding another little drizzle of oil. Keep going like this, until the Mayonnaise shows signs of emulsifying; the Mayonnaise will start to turn a slightly lighter colour and the mixture will being to thicken slightly. You may then start to speed up the rate at which you add the oil. But take care!

My sauce has curdled. What do I do?

Ignore the weather and start again!

Using a fresh egg yolk, and clean dry bowl, follow steps 1 and 2 of the instructions for making French Mayonnaise. At step 3, instead of adding the oil straight away, instead add the curdled sauce mixture to the egg and vinegar mixture, being very careful to drizzle in the curdled mixture very slowly and in small amounts. Whisk in each small amount added thoroughly, before adding a further amount.

Once all the curdled mixture has been added in successfully (with the sauce showing signs that it has safely emulsified) continue with adding the oil and following the rest of the instructions.

🔪 How to make French Mayonnaise

🍲 Storage

I like to store my Homemade Mayonnaise in a jam jar, keeping it covered with the lid. I really like the shape of the jars from the Bonne Maman range of jams, so I keep a stock of their empty jam jars (plus I love their jams). The jar you can see in the photographs is a Bonne Maman jar. I find that the Mayonnaise keeps for at least a week in the fridge.

• Use a slightly warm bowl. I learnt this tip from the watching the film Julie and Julia, which is about the cookery writer Julia Child. The reason for this takes me onto the next tip.
• Use eggs that are at room temperature. The egg yolk is an emulsifier and helps the oil combine with the vinegar and lemon. Harold McGee in McGee on Food & Cooking explains that egg yolks work better as emulsifiers when they are warm.
• Add the oil very, very slowly, drizzle by drizzle, whisking all the time and in between drizzles. This stage must not be rushed, particularly when first adding the oil to the egg yolk mixture. This is the Golden Rule of making Mayonnaise.
• Mustard is also an emulsifier. Although not essential for making French Mayonnaise, it helps to avoid curdling and, of course, give it a little extra kick.

What to Serve with Mayonnaise?

Where to start? Mayonnaise is a truly versatile sauce that may be used as is or easily adapted as the perfect accompaniment to many vegetable, fish or meat dishes.

Mayonnaise is considered one of the "mother sauces" (sauce mère) in French cuisine, meaning that it is a sauce that may be used as a base for many other sauces. For instance, coleslaw dressing, remoulade and sauce tartare are all examples of sauces with Mayonnaise as their base. In fact there is the view that, strictly speaking, Mayonnaise does contain mustard and that Mayonnaise with mustard is a variation of the basic mother sauce.

Here are some of the dishes with which we use our Homemade French Mayonnaise.

• Coleslaw. Mayonnaise is perfect as a coleslaw dressing. You can vary the flavour by adding yoghurt or crème fraîche for a more tangy, lighter coleslaw dressing. Adding soured cream gives an extra creamy coleslaw dressing. I like to use this French Mayonnaise to make our Creamy Lemony Coleslaw with Apples (Sugar-Free).
• Oeuf Mayonnaise.
• Canned Tuna Fishcakes.
• Celeriac Salad (Céleri Rémoulade).
• Chips (French Fries).

📋 Recipe Card

Grilled Tinned Sardines on Toast is the perfect dish when you're on a tight budget and short of time. A tin of sardines, butter and bread. That's all you need to conjure up this tasty meal on toast.

Tinned Sardines on Toast was one of our staple meals when I was growing up, along with Cheese on Toast, Tomatoes on Toast, Cheese and Tomatoes on Toast, Scrambled Egg on Toast and, last but not least, Baked Beans on Toast! Yup, there's a pattern here...

This sardine recipe is still one of my favourite recipes for when I need something quick and easy to make for the family. A great healthy eating option, this tasty meal has the added bonus of being so very cheap! Add a generous squeeze of lemon to the finished dish for perfection. I try never to be without a can of sardines in the larder!

[feast_advanced_jump_to]

🧾 Ingredients

• tinned sardines
• butter
• tomato puree (paste) - not needed if using sardines in tomato sauce
• salt & black pepper
• good bread for toasting

See the Recipe Card below for quantities.

Tinned sardines: olive oil, sunflower oil, water, brine or tomato sauce?

There is a lot of choice out there. I don't worry too much about which type of tinned sardines to use, although there will be variations in taste depending on your choice. I used to always go for sardines in tomato sauce, but now just add some tomato puree (paste) when using sardines in oil or brine. If using sardines in oil, you may need to adjust the butter and add slightly less.

Butter

I prefer to use unsalted butter, particularly if using tinned sardines in salty brine. I can then add salt as needed once the sardines, butter and, if using, the tomato puree (paste) have been mashed together. Its easiest to mix the butter into the sardine mixture if it is beautifully soft. Not to worry if it is rock solid having just been taken out of the fridge. I cut the butter into small pieces and add to the sardines. A little more work is needed to mash the solid butter in with the sardines, but not a huge amount.

🍽 Equipment

• Bowl (to prepare sardine mixture in).
• Cutlery: knife, fork, teaspoon (for measuring tomato puree) and breadknife.
• Weighing machine (if using).

🔪 How to make Sardines on Toast

📖 Are Sardines good for you?

According to the UK's National Health Service (NHS) sardines belong to that group of fish classed as "oily fish". Oily fish, as well as being a good source of vitamin D are, apparently, high in long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, which the NHS advises may help to prevent heart disease.

Well, it probably goes without saying that fresh sardines are good for you, but are sardines in a can good for you? According to the NHS website tinned sardines are among a small group of fish whose bones we can eat easily. This means that tinned sardines also provide calcium and phosphorous which, according to the NHS website, are good for keeping bones strong. An article asking the opposite question "Are Canned Sardines Bad for You?" gives even more detail of all the many benefits you may get from eating canned or tinned sardines.

So, if you are looking for a light lunch or supper dish as part of a healthy diet plan, look no further. This is one to add to your list of healthy recipes.

📖 Sardines: All about canning

A quick history of Sardine canning

For all you want to know about the history of sardine canning, from its beginning in France, to big business in Portugal and across to North America, take a look at this fascinating article The Surprisingly Rich History of Sardines.

Not forgetting that the UK has its own Cornish tinned sardines, which traditionally have been called pilchards. Cornish sardines have been caught and eaten for centuries, and the Cornish Sardine Management Association's website gives a detailed history of sardine fishing around Cornwall. To see how and where the Cornish sardines are caught, take a look at this Cornish Sardine Fisheries page.

How are Sardines canned?

The general principle of canning is that the fish are prepared (washed, heads and tails removed) and then cooked (such as by steaming or frying), before being packed in tins with some form of liquid such as oil, water, or sauce. The packed tins are then heated for a final sterilisation process.

Sardines are big business in Portugal. Ramirez claims to be the first cannery to operate in Portugal and now the oldest. For state of the art canning processes take a look at the Ramirez video of its canning factory. At the other end of the scale there is Pinhais & Cia where the canning of the sardines follows a traditional method, with the preparation and packing done by hand. So do take a look at this video on the Pinhais & Cia website showing its traditional approach (and I love the accompanying music!).

💭 More ideas

• Sardines are delicious when lightly spiced and tinned sardines often come in a spicy oil or spicy tomato sauce. Add a few red pepper flakes to the sardine mash to spice it up. Otherwise, a dash of the gently spiced Worcestershire Sauce works well.
• Serve with lemon wedge. A squeeze of lemon juice over the toasted sardines magically adds a touch of sweetness as well as sour, so balancing the richness of the fish. For a more intense lemon flavour, add a little lemon zest to the sardine mixture before toasting.
• When tomatoes are in season, I like to serve the Tinned Sardines on Toast with a few slices of fresh tomato sprinkled with just a little salt. Otherwise, a simple salad, such as tomatoes and cucumber with fresh herbs completes this healthy snack.
• Use the sardine mixture as a sandwich filling.
• Sardines are great just out of a tin. I particularly love the French Parmentier Sardines in extra-virgin olive oil, with just some crusty bread and good butter.
• How about mashed sardines on toast French style? The renowned French chef Joël Robuchon created a rich buttery mashed sardines recipe that could perhaps be called Sardine Butter. It uses copious amounts of butter enriched with crème fraîche, and to spice it all up a generous amount of French mustard, such as Dijon mustard. Take a look at On Rue Tatin for the recipe.
• For another easy to make fish dish try this Smoked Salmon and Crème Fraîche Pasta.

🍲 Storage

The tinned sardine mixture can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. The mixture may solidify in the fridge. If it is fairly solid when using again, just put small spoonfuls of the solidified mixture onto the toast and grill (broil) very briefly (not even a minute) to soften the butter. Then spread the softened mixture on top of the toast evenly with a fork before grilling (broiling) again.

FAQ

📋 Recipe Card