Fruit and Cheese together can make a fantastic mix, one favourite that sort of came together with my love of feta cheese and my man’s love for pears, (I bet I hear you say!)

Well, this warm salad is quick, simply and delicious and once made you will be making this over and over again as I do! Ideal for a light lunch, supper or even a starter for your dinner party.

I use small, sweet and versatile Rocha pears which have a russeted skin, and you can enjoy this variety when firm and crunchy, or soft and juicy, either way they are delicious.

For my ‘warm Feta Cheese and Pear salad’, you are going to need: 6 slices of pancetta, 2 tblsp honey, 4 tblsp olive oil, 2 tblsp white wine vinegar, 1 tsp chilli flakes, 4 pears ( I like rocha), 850g watercress, 120g greek feta.

Preheat a frying pan and dry fry the slices of pancetta until crispy and golden. Transfer onto kitchen paper and allow to cool. Once cool slightly crumble into pieces and set aside. To make your dressing, mix together the honey, olive oil, vinegar and chilli flakes in a bowl. Core your pears & cut into wedges, add these to the dressing bowl and toss in the dressing. Reserving the dressing, transfer the pears to a hot griddle pan and cook for around 5 minutes, turning them occassionally until they are golden. In a salad bowl, toss the pears together with the watercress and crumbled pancetta, scatter with cubed feta and drizzle the remaining dressing before serving immediately with warm homemade crusty bread.

Tip - You can use cheese of your choice this is nice with a herb cheese or shilton even, try to your own taste as that is what true cooking is all about. I have added garlic croutons to this recipe and on other occassions I have added herbs and nuts such as walnuts too, which were all delicious as well.  So you can vary this recipe, so have a play and let me know what you come up with?

Check out my blog easy recipe for a Italian supper in minutes for a great frying pan and my previous blog regarding griddles too. Find some quick picnic recipes in my previous blog royal ascot food frollicks and lots more ideas within my blogs too.

My house always seems to be full of guests which I am not complaining about at all, infact I enjoy a full buzzing house and I wouldn’t want it anyother way. 

Everyone knows how important it is to eat 3 good meals a day. Enjoying seasonal nutritious foods that are a pleasure to eat, meals which keep you feeling full and satisfied and stop you nibbling on modern sugar packed snacks. However, in an ideal world we would all sit down to share our day in the evening over dinner, or plan out our days together over breakfast in the morning. This is something I have always insisted on, but this scenario is not always possible. Especially with children now with various hobbies and attending various clubs, which you need a whole dedicated diary for on their own now adays. Then you have adult members of the family being held up at work (as we work some of the longest hours in Europe now), stuck on public transport or even in the never ending traffic jams upon our roads today. Fewer and fewer families can get to do this.

So I make one rule in our house, to make at least one healthy meal that can be tucked into as and when all the family can sit together; and if this can’t be in the evening, as I must admit our evening meals seem to get later and later due to all of our commitments.  I like us all to catch up with each other, so we can support each other, sort out whose going where and whose taking them etc so we always make breakfast together. Just as our grandparents would of done, they ate 3 good meals, at regular times throughout the day and ate together.

So try to plan say a evening meals together and make sure to minimise those distractions insisting on no mobiles or TV, so you can catch up with each other and enjoy your food too.  I know you may find this hard to start with but it will be worth it in the end.

One supper which will always bring my son Ed and his mates out of the wood work is my Sesame chicken noodles.

For serving you sesame chicken noodles check out this swift spice chinese serving set. The  Swift Chinese Serving Set Includes: -Four ceramic bowls. -Four ceramic spoons. -Four bamboo placemats. -Four pairs chopsticks and rests, and can make serving and eatting a chinese meal alot more fun and its great for entertaining too.

To serve 4 people your going to need: 1 tblsp sesame oil, 1 tabls sesame seeds, 3 free range local chicken breasts, 2 teaspoons vegetable oil, a knob of root ginger peeled and shredded, 2 cloves of garlic peeled and sliced, 200g oyster mushrooms halved and quartered, 200g dried edd noodles, 6 spring onions trimmed and sliced on the angle, 150g sugar snap peas, 100g peas (fresh or frozen), 1 tblsp cornflour, 1 tsp five-spice powder, 2 tblsp rice wine or dry sherry, 1 tsp caster sugar and 2 handfuls of spinach.

Slice your chicken breasts into long narrow strips, heat a wok and toast the sesame seeds in it for about 20 seconds then tip into a bowl. Heat the pil and when sizzling add the ginger, garlic and cook stirring for 1 minute then transfer to a plate. Add the mushrroms and stir fry to 2 minutes then scoop out and put these on the plate too. Add the chicken to the wok and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until cooked through then tip in to a heatproof dish and keep warm in a preheated oven on a low setting. Bring a pan of water to boil on the hob & boil the noodles takes about 4 minutes or as shown on packet. Add the spring onions, sugar snap peas & peas to your wok with 2 tablespoons of water. Stir these over a medium heat for 3 minutes then return the ginger, garlic and mushrooms. Drain the noodles and toss with the sesame oil. Blend the cornflour with the five-spice, rice wine (or dry sherry), sugar and 3 tablespoons of water. Add this mixture to the wok and toss everything together over the heat for 1 minute. Toss the warmed chicken in the oven with the toasted sesame seeds and serve the noodles in bowls topped with strips of chicken and stir fried vegetables. You can drizzle with a little extra sesame oil before serving if you wish.

Take a look at my previous blog flexible spring cookery to cope with the great british weather for further recipes and my blog chinese new year - the year of the Ox. 

Whats your families favourite meals to eat together? have you got a favourite chinese recipe? Let me know its always great to hear from you all!

Well the sun has been shining again, and looking at the group of friends in my back garden this evening a little too much sun has been had from all the red sunburn patches I can see. ‘Oh that is definitely going to hurt later!’.

I have prepared some tasty delights which will suit all of my guests, as some are vegetarian. The bbq has been on for hours now and sizzling away on top now are some homemade lamb & mint burgers I have made. The jacket pototoes which were wrapped in foil in the coals have come out now and are keeping warm while my mexican delight is finishing in the oven.

While the weathers hot and the wine is flowing, my friends love their spicy flavours to come across in their food. With a large salad freshly prepared I have some homebaked baps, which I have to say are a little on the large side. But I am not going to hear the fella’s complaining and has it happens they have turned out to be the perfect size for my homemade lamb & mint burgers. In these baps I have chopped cucumber, sweet baby plum tomatoes, watercress and cubed feta, on top of which I shall place the lamb & mint burgers which I am serving with a mint & yogurt dip I made earlier.

And for my dear veggy friends mexican potatoes, with a crop of new potatoes fresh out of my garden. I have taken these around a pound in weight and sliced them, added around 5 floz of homemade chicken stock, 1 tin 14oz of kidney beans, 1 tsp of marjoram, 1 - 7oz tin of red pimientos (these make the dish), 1/2 - 1lb of rich smoked bacon from my local butcher & parsley to garnish. Place all this in a casserole dish & cover place in the oven at gas 3/ 160 c / 325 f for about an hour and this is delicious served with salad and a chunk of homemade bread.  (For your homemade bread try my blog loafing around in the morning, about bread machines with recipes for making your own bread as this will go down a storm at your bbq’s)

Although the tequilla should be served after you have eatten, but someone forgot to tell Aidy that one!!

Check out  my previous blog bar-b-q funtime for a great bbq with every practical part to make bbq safe and easy, so if your looking for a bbq to add to your household cooking appliances make sure you read this first, as everyone voted this BBQ a Winner!!. With fathers day just around the corner why not check out my apron blog for a great idea for that special man in your life.  Another blog you may want to visit from a while ago is my man size burger blog your fella will love you for it!

Why not send in your bbq ideas and what your friends and family enjoy at your bbq’s??

 Asparagus will soon be disappearing from our shelves (well the British Variety will anyway!) The asparagus season goes from April to mid June, but you can still enjoy this marvellous vegetable, if your quick.

When choosing your asparagus make sure you go for the firm asparagus with good colour, not wilted tops etc. You can simply cut off the woody ends and scrap this end with a knive, before you simply saute in a little butter and black pepper, delicious or why not try my Asparagus & Mushroom Fusilli, again simple to make and one of my sons favourites, so it has to be easy to prepare and cook!

You will need 300g Fusilli Pasta ( or use your homemade pasta as shown in my blog homemade pasta ), 25g Butter, 2 cm piece root ginger - grated, 125g mushrooms -sliced, 2 100g bunches of asparagus, 250ml tub half fat creme fraiche, 1 tbsp freshly chopped flat leaf parsley & salt and pepper to season.

First you will need to cook your pasta in a large pan of boiling slated water for about 10 minutes, (less time if fresh), while this is cooking melt your butter in a large pan and fry the ginger. mushrooms and asparagus (which you have prepared and cut on the diagonal into pieces) for about 5 minutes until cooked. Now add the creme fraiche, parsley and then seasoning to your taste. Drain your now cooked pasta

I found this great gadget for making draining pasta easy after I watched my mother in despair try to drain pasta using a saucpan lid only to feed the sink with some of this delicious homemade pasta as it slipped her clutches so to avoid this try using this great pasta spaghetti vegetable boiler colander drainer basket it  is made of  wireware, this stainless steel spaghetti, pasta vegetable basket is ideal for boiling and easily draining pasta or vegetables, for either domestic or commercial use.

Now mix into your sauce before serving immediately with either a salad or crusty homemade bread and a glass of cool white wine.

Also check out my other blog Tantalising spanish sunshine for another great alfresco asparagus recipe for you to enjoy in the sunshine with friends and family.

Stuffing a omelette is an easy way to transform a handful of eggs into a delicious dish in a matter of minutes. This can add flavour like fresh variety of mushrooms in a cream sauce, or a generous scattering of freshly picked herbs. The filling can also build substance like potato in a cheesey sauce, it can also offer the chance to use up left overs too. There are no rules to stuffing an omelette so you can experiment with your own variety of favourite flavours.

For perfect results where the egg is light, layered & slightly runny always make individual omelettes using a 15 to 18 cm omelette pan.    The Le Creuset non-stick omelette pan made from tough, durable enamelled cast iron which has excellent heat retaining properties. Each piece is unique, cast from molten iron in a sand mould which is used only once. Suitable for all cooker types and it is dishwasher safe

For 2 people break 4 to 6 eggs into a large measuring jug, seasoning lightly with salt and pepper and beat together. Put 15g of butter into your omelette pan over a high heat and when it is sizzling pour half of your egg mixture into your omelette pan and stir quickly with a fork. Draw the set mixture to the centre and tilt the pan to allow the uncooked egg to run underneath. Cook until the omelette is golden brown underneath but still moist on top. Remove the pan from the heat and spoon half of your choosen filling down the middle (slightly off centre) then fold the rest of the omelette over to enclose the filling as you roll it from the pan onto a plate and serve immediately.  (I cover with foil to keep it warm in the oven while I make the other omelettes so we can eat together).

One of our favourite fillings for omelettes is Haddock Cream: Simply skin, bone and flake 100g of cooked smoked haddock. Warm through the fish in 3 tablespoons of double cream stirring in 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley and plenty of black pepper. You could also used smoked salmon or even trout for this too which work well.

Tell me about your favourite omelette filling?