Pork belly, noodle and cabbage soup

This is a really tasty and spicy soup but you can make it less spicy if you like. Make sure you cook the pork belly for long enough on a low-ish heat so that it melts in the mouth.

For two people:

Roast a small piece of pork belly in advance. We did it the night before when we were cooking a roast anyway. Before you roast the pork, rub plenty of chinese 5 spice and a diced hot chilli into the flesh side. Once it's roasted (on a low/medium heat for about two hours), remove the crackling and eat it as a snack if you're greedy like us!

For the soup, fry a pack of shitake mushrooms in a little oil. After a few minutes add 3 diced spring onions and then 750ml of chicken stock. Then add a table spoon of mirin, a table spoon of light soy sauce and half a tea spoon of sugar. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes before adding some shredded savoy cabbage and the pork belly cut into slices. After another few minutes taste the soup... you may want to add a little more soy, some dried chilli flakes or a little more chinese 5 spice. Now add a packet of ready cooked noodles and continue to simmer until the noodles are warmed through.

Serve in warmed bowls with sesame oil and extra soy sauce on the side for people to add if they wish.

Plaice stuffed with crab

Mix together soft cream cheese with white crab meat and a few chopped chives. Season the mixture with black pepper. Put a spoonful of the crab mixture at the end of a plaice fillet and roll the fillet up around the crab and secure with a cocktail stick. Put the rolled plaice fillets in an oven proof dish and pour over 100ml of white wine and 100ml of stock.

Bake in the oven for approx 25 minutes until the plaice has cooked through. Add 100ml of double cream for the last 5 minutes of cooking time.

Serve with lemon wedges, potatoes and green veg.

Turkey, pancetta and sage risotto

Perfect Autumn food... Fry a diced onion with a clove of garlic in olive oil until softened. Add the pancetta, turkey (we used breast) and a handful of sliced chestnut mushrooms. Once the turkey has browned add the rice and keep adding white wine and stock until the rice has cooked. Add some chopped sage leaves and some green beans (chopped into three chunks) to the pan about 10 minutes after you've added the rice.

Check the seasoning and finish with a swirl of double cream and top with grated parmesan to serve.

Spanish salad

Mixed leaves with thinly sliced red pepper and red onion, sliced chorizo and cubed manchego cheese. Make a dressing with 2 parts Spanish olive oil to 1 part white wine vinegar with 1 heaped teaspoonful of quince paste stirred in.