Onion soup with Madeira

a good thick slice of butter

large onions – 3, peeled and sliced

bay leaves - 2

flour – 2 tablespoons

white wine – 250mls

chicken or vegetable stock – 1 litre

Madeira 3-4 tablespoons

sourdough bread – 8 small slices

Gruyere, thinly sliced – 75g

Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan, add the sliced onions and the bay leaves and let them cook, without colour, over a medium heat. You want them to be soft and slightly sticky, which will take a good 25 minutes. Don’t hurry them. When they are ready, stir in the flour, cook for a minute or two then pour in the white wine and then the stock, bringing it to the boil. Season with salt and black pepper. Turn the heat down so that the soup simmers, and leave it, but stir occasionaly for a good 30-40 minutes. Add the Madeira and continue simmering for 5 -10 minutes.

Toast the bread on one side then cover the other with the sliced Gruyere. Check the soup for seasoning then spoon into ovenproof bowls. Float the slices of bread on top and place under the grill for a couple of minutes till the cheese has melted.

Frozen Grapes - with Dark Chocolate

I saw this idea in a book by Jamie Oliver once , and I was really interrested on how it would work, becouse if you buy beautiful fresh grapes then why would you freeze them, but it really works!! The inside of the grapes change to a sorbet like consistensy and are a great complement to a warm summer day.

The best way to eat frozen grapes is with some good quality hazelnut chockolate or dark Varlhrona chockolate and limonchello snaps.

Chickpea Pasta

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

250g mushrooms, sliced into quarters

2 carrots, sliced into 1cm chunks

fresh rosemary

olive oil

1 glass white wine

2 cans chickpeas

5dl chicken stock

100g pasta tortiglioni

fresh basil

fresh parsley

salt & pepper

Sweat the vegetables in some olive oil and fresh rosemary.

Add the white wine and reduce the liquid.Add the chick peas and chicken stock and let simmer on low heat for 20 minutes.

While it simmers, cook the pasta in salted water.Remove half the chickpeas from the pan and set aside. Blitz the rest in a blender or with a staf-mixer until creamy and smooth.

Then add the chickpeas and cooked pasta back to the pan. If the sauce is too thick add some of the pasta water to the pan.

Add some fresh basil and parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Serve with some bread and white wine.

Grilled Peaches – with Vanilla Mascarpone

4 peaches, halved and stone removed
2 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp caster sugar
1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out
250g mascarpone cheese
3 dl razberries
2 tbsp honey


4 servings


1. Put the peaches in a bowl, drizlle the olive oil and 2 tbsp of suger over and coat the peaches well. Grill on the meat side down on a hot grill for 5 minutes. Lower the heat on the grill, turn the peaches and cook for another 5 minutes.

2. Put the mascarpone cheese in a bowl and add the vanilla seeds, rest of the sugar and mix together.

3. Serve with some razberries and drizzle the honey on top.

My favorite Beef Stew

olive oil

a knob of butter

1 onion, peeled and chopped

a handful of fresh sage leaves

800g stewing steak, cut into 5cm pieces

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

flour, to dust

2 parsnips, peeled and quartered

200g button mushrooms, quartered

4 carrots, peeled and halved

½ a butternut squash, halved, deseeded and roughly diced

500g small potatoes

2 tablespoons tomato purée

½ a bottle of red wine

285ml beef or vegetable stock

zest of 1 lemon, finely grated

a handful of rosemary, leaves picked

1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 160ºC. Put a little oil and your knob of butter into an appropriately sized pot or casserole pan. Add your onion and all the sage leaves and fry for 3 or 4 minutes.

Toss the meat in a little seasoned flour, then add it to the pan with all the vegetables, the tomato purée, wine and stock, and gently stir together. Season generously with freshly ground black pepper and just a little salt. Bring to the boil, place a lid on top, then cook in the preheated oven until the meat is tender. Sometimes this takes 3 hours, sometimes 4 – it depends on what cut of meat you’re using and how fresh it is. The only way to test is to mash up a piece of meat and if it falls apart easily it’s ready.

Once it’s cooked, you can turn the oven down to about 110°C and just hold it there until you’re ready to eat. The best way to serve this is by ladling big spoonfuls into bowls, accompanied by a glass of red wine and some really fresh, warmed bread. Mix the lemon zest, chopped rosemary and garlic together and sprinkle over the stew before eating. Just the smallest amount will make a world of difference – as soon as it hits the hot stew it will release an amazing fragrance.

Greek Yogurt - with Mango and Banana Purré

This is a fresh healthy dessert, which can also be a sunday morning treat. My friend Marius Johannessen took this picture for our book "Desserts by seasons".

2 mangos

2 bananas

4 tsp honey

3 dl orange juce
300g greek yogurt

3 tbsp vanilla sugar, (sugar and seeds from 1 vanilla pod)
1 tbsp honey
25 g pistachios, chopped

6 servings

1. Peel and dice the mangos and the bananas and freeze for 1 hour. Then put the frozen fruit, honey and orange juce into a food processer. Mix until smooth.

2. Mix the yogurt, vanilla sugar and honey in a bowl. .

3. First put the friut smoothie in the bottom of the glas and then the greek yogurt, and so on. Sprinkle the chopped pistachio nuts on the top.

Scallops with Squash Sauce

1 butternut squash, peeled and diced
1 banana schalotte, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 glas white wine
100ml chicken stock
100ml cream, (full fat)
butter and oil
salt and pepper to season
300g mixed mushrooms
butter and oil
salt and pepper
8-12 scallops
butter and oil
lemon juce

For the sauce, heat a pan on high heat and sweat the onions and garlic in some butter and oil. Add the butternut squash, white wine and chicken stock to the pan and stir together. Season well with salt and pepper and let simmer on medium heat for 10-12 minutes or till the squash is ready. Add the cream and purré in a mixer.

For the mushrooms, add some butter and oil to another pan and cook the mushrooms for 2 -3 minutes and season with salt and pepper.
For the scallops, season well and cook for 1 min on each side on a hot grill with some butter and oil. When done, squeeze some lemon juce to give them a extra kick. Decorate with parmesan shavings and whatercress.