Made By The Chef: Tips and Recipes

Turkish style Yoghurt and Mint Soup

This is a souper simple soup to prepare and so hearty and delicious. Enjoy all year round and as they say in Turkish, "Afiyet Olsun.

Filo Pastry Parcels filled with Feta Cheese and Spinach

Simply moreish!

You will need:

1 small pack of chilled ready filo pastry - about 12 sheets

Handful of baby spinach leaves per person

50g Feta cheese

25g melted butter, for brushing

Preparation:

Preheat oven to gas mark 6 or 180*C.

Quickly wilt the spinach in a little olive oil and salt.

Mediterranean Style Lamb Stew

Lamb Stew - You will need:

1 to 1.5kg of lamb shoulder or leg cut into small kebab style chunks

1 litre vegetable stock

1 to 2 tbsp tomato paste

150ml red wine or port

1 can of chopped tomatoes or try Sainsbury's own Creamed tomatoes, divine!

About 50g Plain flour for coating lamb

About 200g of French green beans, trimmed and cut in half

1 or 2 potatoes such as King Edwards or Maris Piper, peeled and cut into cubes

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 large carrot, finely chopped

1 stick of celery, finely chopped

1 stick of leek, finely chopped

Handful of flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Salt and Pepper to season

Olive oil for frying

Preparation:

Season the flour with salt and pepper.

Herby Lamb

So, now you've got your own herbs (if you read my tips for growing your own - http://madebythechef.com/Tips-and-Recipes/grow-your-own-herbs-fruit-and-veg ), you need to start cooking with them.

Grow your own herbs, fruit and veg

Enjoy the good life in your own back garden!

Almost every supermarket, DIY shop and local department stores are all advocating the benefits of growing your own herbs, veggies and fruit including lots of kits available to buy to get you started. In fact, the kids and I went shopping in April for our own selection of herbs and soil to brighten up our rather tired looking garden.

Vegetarian Flavours

Great seasonal recipes enough to turn any meat-eater veggie

Now summer time is well and truly in it's midst and the weather is hot hot hot, eating lighter, healthier food is top of our list. This week we pay homage to the Vegetarian, and living without meat.

Summer BBQ tips, marinades and salads

Finally we're seeing some really beautiful summer weather, enough to make the Mediterranean a touch jealous. The only thing missing is the sea and well, a respectable 2 hour car journey should remedy that craving.