Mini Seafood Tartlets

The finished tartlets will be square, with a perfectly round centre of aromatic seafood filling

Makes 12 tartlets. A tasty, fragrant snack which is excellent served hot. The texture of the filling is smooth and creamy rather than baked, like a quiche.

For the béchamel sauce:

• 50g butter
• 25g plain flour
• Half a pint of milk
• Pinch of salt
• Bay leaf
• Half an onion, chopped roughly
• A few peppercorns

The seafood filling:

• 100g cooked prawns, finely chopped
• Three tablespoons lobster bisque
• Two tbsp cream
• 50g cheddar cheese, grated
• One egg yolk
• A tube of herring roe spread (optional)

Garnish:

• A few fronds of finely-chopped dill
• A few fennel seeds
• Paprika to taste

And, of course, a sheet of pre-rolled puff pastry, cut into squares

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Place the milk, bay leaf, onion, peppercorns and a pinch of salt into a saucepan.  Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent burning, and set to one side to let the flavours infuse for about five minutes.

Now we're going to make the roux - the base for all white sauces.  In another pan, melt the butter over a low heat, taking care not to let it burn.  When it has all melted, add the flour and stir quickly to prevent the mixture scorching as it solidifies.  Continue stirring to cook out all the flour, until your mixture resembles a paste.  Remove from the heat when ready.

Next, pass the warm milk through a strainer, discarding the onions, peppercorns and bay leaf, and add it slowly to the roux in stages, stirring constantly and quickly over a low heat to remove any lumps.  You probably won't need the whole half pint of milk, but remember the golden rule - you can always add liquid to a recipe but you can't take it out afterwards!  Every time you add a bit more milk, your mixture will develop more lumps, but don't worry - keep stirring the béchamel sauce until it evens out and becomes smooth and silky but not too runny, because the next stage will cause the sauce to thin further.

Add three tablespoons of lobster bisque (you could also use a reduction of fish stock), then the prawns, cheese and cream. Stir until all the cheese has melted in to the sauce, placing it briefly back onto the heat if needed.  Taste the sauce and add seasoning if needed, and leave to one side to cool slightly.

Now take a Yorkshire pudding or muffin tray, the kind with twelve shallow indentations.  Take your squares of puff pastry, place into the indentations and press down to make a well in each one.  Place a small pea-sized blob of the herring roe spread into each tartlet.

Now, without returning it to the heat, quickly whisk the egg yolk into the sauce and mix well, taking care not to scramble the egg!  Spoon the mixture into each tartlet and decorate with the fennel seeds, dill and paprika, all of which are optional - you could equally mill fresh black pepper over each one or add a sliver of anchovy or smoked haddock.

Bake at 220C for 15 minutes or until pastry is golden.

Cream of Parsley Soup

My actual parsley soup, 20 minutes ago

A great way to use up leftover parsley rather than throw it away; a tasty soup you won't be able to get enough of!

Serves 2. Double the quantities of ingredients if you're serving four.

You will need:

• A bunch of parsley, flat or curly leaved
• A couple of small onions, sliced
• A couple of small potatoes, peeled
• 1 clove garlic, sliced
• Chicken or vegetable stock
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Single cream to taste

Firstly, take a saucepan and fry the onions in the olive oil on a low heat to soften them. While they're cooking, chop the stalks off the parsley. Don't worry about being too meticulous. Chop these stalks into small pieces and add to the onions. Set the parsley leaves to one side.

Continue cooking the onions and parsley and stir the mixture occasionally as you dice the potatoes. Why bother dicing something that you're going to put in the blender?  Good question, you at the back!  The potatoes will cook more quickly if you dice them first.  Add the potatoes and garlic to the pan and stir well. Cook for about ten minutes on the lowest possible heat you can manage. You don't want anything to get too brown in the pan if you can help it, and you'll be ready for the next step when the potatoes start to change colour.

Next, add to the pan either a pint of chicken stock, or a chicken stock cube dissolved in a pint of water.  Bring to the boil and cook for ten minutes; while the soup is cooking you can chop the remaining parsley leaves. Save the smallest bits for garnishing.

Once you're satisfied that the potatoes are cooked, turn down the heat to a simmer and add most of the chopped parsley leaves. Cook for two minutes more, then blitz the whole lot with a stick blender until smooth.  Gradually add no more than 100ml of cream while continuing to blend, or you could use creme fraiche if you prefer.

Serving suggestion: why not enjoy this with some of this sourdough bread?

Made In Essex (slight return)

Made In Essex 2013 calendar

Well, I've finally done it; brought out a calendar of photographs of the fantastic coastline that surrounds this beautiful county of ours. The Made In Essex calendar is packed with photographs that showcase a county which in my opinion doesn't get anything like the recognition it truly deserves. Help challenge the myths about our fine county by giving your friends the gift of Essex this Christmas!

Made In Essex costs just £9.95 from the Estuary Press website.

Terrine of Ham Hock

A delicious starter for a warm summer evening, served with fresh crusty bread or some thinly-sliced toast. Here I have served it with toast and potato salad.

• A large unsmoked ham hock from your butcher
• A large onion, roughly chopped
• A stick of celery, roughly chopped
• A large carrot, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• A couple of bayleaves
• A handful of green olives, sliced (these may be substituted for diced pickled cornichons)
• One raw red chilli, sliced
• Powdered gelatine
• White pepper

First take the ham hock and place it in a large pan of cold water. Add the onion, celery, carrot, bayleaves and garlic. Bring it to the boil, then bring down to a simmer, place the lid on and cook for two to three hours, until the meat comes off the bone by itself.  Remove the hock and any loose meat and place to one side.

Strain the remaining ham stock, using a sieve to remove the vegetables and retain the tasty liquid.  Make a note of the amount of stock you have left. You won't need any more than half a litre for this recipe and can discard any leftover liquid.

Return the stock to the saucepan and bring it back to the boil.  Carefully read the instructions on the gelatine before adding it to the ham stock; in my case, one pack of gelatine claimed to be enough to set a pint (568ml) of liquid, so I added the whole pack to my 500ml of stock.  If you only have a quarter litre of stock, only use half a pack of gelatine.  Stir until the gelatine is dissolved and add a generous quantity of white pepper to season.

Now take the ham and separate it from the bone using your hands or a fork.  You should find that the ham just flakes away. Feel free to chop any long strands of ham with a knife.  When you've got all the ham you can off the bone, mix in the olives and chilli.  If you don't like olives, you can use diced pickled cornichons for an authentic taste of France.  If you don't like chilli, what about some crushed black peppercorns? 

Place the meat mixture into ramekin dishes and press gently, taking care to leave a gap of a few millimetres at the top. Pour over the stock/gelatine mixture and leave to set in the fridge for between six and twelve hours.

When you're ready to turn the terrines out, you may find it helps to hold the ramekin dishes under warm water briefly to loosen the terrines.