Tomato tarte tatin

2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 kg Roma tomatoes, halved
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
Salt and pepper, to taste
Puff pastry for a 12-inch tart
Fresh basil

1. Set the oven at 200 degrees C.

2. In a pan large enough to hold the tomatoes, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the sugar and cook to dissolve. When it starts to caramelize, add the tomatoes, cut sides up. Lower the heat and cook for 10 minutes or until the tomatoes release their juices.

3. Add the balsamic vinegar and cook 2 minutes more. Arrange the tomatoes in a 12-inch tart pan, cut sides up. Sprinkle with oregano, salt, and pepper.

4. Roll the pastry and with scissors, cut it into a 12-inch round. Place it on top of the tomatoes, tucking it in at the edges. With a fork, make small holes in the pastry.

5. Put pan on a baking tray and transfer to the oven. Immediately reduce the oven temperature to 180 degrees C. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown.

6. Let the tart sit for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the pastry to loosen it from the pan. Set a large plate upside down on the tart and using pot holders, turn the plate right side up so the tart comes out. Cut into wedges and garnish with fresh basil.

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What do the food critics say? Yum yum yum.
What does the cook say? I made the puff pastry myself which increases the time needed, but it was pretty easy ...also easy to stop and start at different points.

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Salad with croutons

300g ciabatta
1 tablespoon butter
1 clove garlic
1 cucumber
1 red onion
1 red chilli
10 pitted black olives
2 tomatoes
150g mozzarella
10 basil leaves

Dressing:
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon orange juice
sugar

Cut ciabatta into 1cm cubes and fry in butter with the garlic clove until golden and crunchy. Discard garlic and set croutons aside.

Slice cucumber lengthwise, remove seeds, and slice crosswise into 1cm strips. Slice onion into half rings. Remove seeds from chilli and slice finely. Cut olives into rings. Mix all together with croutons. Add dressing.

Slice tomatoes and mozzarella. Stack salad, a mozzarella slice, salad, a tomato slice, basil leaf and salad into a tower (6-8 cm tall). Decorate with a basil leaf and serve.

Beetroot Marmalade

500 grams white onions, peeled and chopped
750 grams raw beetroot, peeled and grated
375 grams green apples, peeled and grated
1 cup white balsamic vinegar
250 grams white sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 dessertspoon ground ginger
Small knob green ginger peeled and grated
Small amount of lime rind and a little of the juice

Combine all ingredients in large saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 1 hour (do not boil vigorously or you will lose the rich colour). Fill into sterilized bottles.

Serve with cold meats and cheeses.

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Olive-capsicum tapenade

4 red capsicums, chopped
2T olive oil
50g olives, pitted
2 cloves crushed garlic
4T balsamic vinegar

Fry the capsicums until soft. Blend everything. Adjust vinegar to taste.

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What do the food critics say? Yum, as long as you like olives
What does the cook say? Easy party dip.

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Source: my neighbour

Strawberry and balsamic ice cream

450g (1lb) strawberries, washed, hulled and chopped
3tbsp balsamic vinegar
300ml (10fl oz) double cream
1 x 218g tin condensed milk
200ml (7fl oz) ready-made custard

Line a 900g (2lb) loaf tin with clingfilm. Place the strawberries in a bowl with the vinegar. Stir and leave to marinate for about 30 minutes.

Whizz the strawberries in a food processor until smooth. Pour the double cream into a bowl and whisk until it forms soft peaks. Stir in the condensed milk, custard and strawberry purée.

Pour the mixture into the lined tin and freeze for up to 6 hours. Remove from the freezer 10 minutes before serving.

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Grilled goat's cheese with caramelised apple and toasted macadamia nuts

4-5 English Cox or red-skinned apples, unpeeled
5tbsp rapeseed oil
Knob of butter
A little Maldon salt
400g (14oz) Swiss chard or rainbow chard, stalks removed and roughly chopped, the leaves sliced into lengths
1tbsp white balsamic vinegar
3tbsp macadamia nuts, halved, toasted and roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
3-4tbsp wild-flower or other clear, well-flavoured honey
4 small goat's cheeses
Freshly ground black pepper

Halve the apples, remove the cores and slice each half into 4 wedges. Then slice each wedge in half so that you have 16 slim wedges per apple.

Heat 1tbsp of the oil in a wok and add the garlic and salt, then the chard stalks. Cover and cook gently for a few minutes, then add the leaves and stir for a further few minutes until tender. Leave in the wok and put to one side.

To make the dressing, whisk 2tbsp of the oil into the vinegar and add the toasted nuts.

Put 1tbsp of the oil and a knob of butter into a large, non-stick frying pan and add the apple wedges. On a medium heat, fry on both sides until tinged golden and soft.

Add the honey and let it bubble until the apples are cooked. Drain off the juices and whisk them into the dressing.

Cut each cheese in half and place, cut side up, on a foil-lined oven tray, adding a little pepper and oil to each. Place under a hot grill until golden.

To serve, put some wilted chard on each plate, followed by some apple, then top with the cheese. Drizzle over the dressing and scatter with a little salt and black pepper.

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Tomato soup

1kg ripe cherry tomatoes
4 large tomatoes
1 fresh red chilli
4 cloves of garlic
1 ciabatta loaf
2 small red onions
4tbsp balsamic vinegar
A small bunch of fresh basil
A few dollops of créme fraîche, to serve

Quarter the larger tomatoes, then put all the tomatoes into a roasting tray. Drizzle over a good lug of olive oil and season.

Halve and deseed the red chilli and add to the tray. Crush in 4 peeled cloves of garlic. Quickly toss everything, then put on the top shelf of the oven for 12 to 15 minutes.

CROUTONS: Get another roasting tray and rip the ciabatta loaf into 8 equal chunks. Add a good lug of olive oil, a pinch of salt and whack on to the bottom shelf of the oven.

Peel and roughly chop the onions and put them into the hot saucepan with a lug of olive oil and a good pinch of salt. Turn the heat up to medium and leave to soften, stirring occasionally.

Stir 4tbsp balsamic vinegar into the onions and let it cook away and reduce down.

Take the tray of tomatoes out of the oven and add everything to the pan of onions.

CROUTONS: Check them - if they are crisp and golden turn off the oven, but leave them in there to keep warm.

In two batches, carefully pour the vegetables from the saucepan into a liquidiser. Add most of the basil, put the lid on, cover with a tea towel and whiz to a fairly rustic consistency, pouring the mixture into a large pan or serving bowl as you go.

Once finished, mix well, season to taste and top with a dollop of créme fraîche, a few basil leaves and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Take to the table with a stack of soup bowls and the tray of croutons from the oven.

TO SERVE: Put a crouton or two in the bottom of each soup bowl. Ladle the soup on top, then dig in. Serve with guacamole and extra bread.

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