Snacks, Savouries and Starters

These small yeast pancakes take a little while to make but are worth the effort. Delicious served with sour cream, smoked salmon, lumpfish roe or caviar and chopped hard boiled eggs. Ooh...we know how to live!

This deliciously creamy ranch dip is the perfect accompaniment to our southern fried chicken or to spoon onto a barbecued beef steak. It's good to serve as a dip with celery sticks, carrot batons and cucumber too. It's quick and easy to make and doesn't require exact measurements if you are in a hurry.  Use any soft and creamy blue cheese for the dip with a more crumbly cheese to fold in. You can thin it with a little milk if you fancy using it to dress a salad.

Buckwheat flour is gluten free and has a delicious nutty flavour.  In Brittany, France the buckwheat pancake is a regional speciality. Although delicious with a sweet filling, such as stewed apples, you cannot beat a savoury filled buckwheat pancake... bacon and egg .... smoked salmon and creme fraiche.....ham and melted cheese....

A delicious piquant aubergine dish originating from Sicily. Sicilians all have their own version of this slightly salt, sour and sweet dish, with many variations depending on what vegetables are available. Fennel is very good in place of the celery. Serve hot or cold, but never straight from the fridge!

A soup for all seasons that's full of herb flavour but simple to make - and much tastier than the ones in the shops. Use very good stock for the best flavour.

This is a Martin Morales Ceviche recipe. Taught to us when he came to Aldeburgh in Suffolk. A lovely light starter. The fish must be really fresh.

Cheese scones are very easy and quick to make. The secret is to handle the dough as lightly as possible and not overwork or over roll it.

This is just one of the best vegetarian scotch eggs you will ever eat!  Quite a claim I know but I created this recipe when I ran my own vegetarian restaurant in the 80's.  It has stood the test of time and still gets lots of oohs and ahhs when you put them on the table. Worth making lots because its a little bit of a fiddle to do just a few. Promise that they will all get eaten!

A quick and easy crab recipe which serves eight as a starter, or four as a large main course.

Italian Spinach and Ricotta stuffed pancakes served covered and baked with a Béchamel sauce. Make individual portions or a family size dish to bake in the oven. You will need one quantity of pancake batter.  Use the batter recipe for Buckwheat pancakes or from Crepes Suzettes.

Make ahead for a dinner party and just pop into the oven when required. Makes six individual gratins or one large dish.

Savoury muffins are delicious as a savoury snack at any time of the day or served with soup instead of bread. They are also a great way to use up leftover cheese, cooked meat and cooked vegetables. Just substitute the Feta for any other cheese that you fancy and the Peppadew's can be substituted for cooked meat such as ham or bacon or vegetables. The jars of antipasti artichokes, courgettes etc stored in oil work well and remember to use the oil up in the recipe instead of the olive oil. Makes 15.

Perfect for using up those unripe tomatoes and great for breakfast or supper. I like them with hot sauce.

Plan ahead for this recipe as it will take 4 days to cure. You must turn the fish each day and use the freshest salmon possible. It really is so much better than anything that you will buy in a pack from the supermarket, and cheaper too! Serve with Dill and Mustard sauce and on rye bread.

A favourite Winter soup which is vegetarian. Artichokes will discolour when peeled so place them into a bowl of cold water with a slice of lemon added to prevent them from discolouring.