This is a delicious flan which freezes well and is very easy to make as it does not involve any conventional pastry making!

For the base and sides of the flan:

125g wholemeal flour
125g rolled oats
125g margarine or butter
1 egg

For the filling:

1 onion
50g butter
125g mushrooms
125g grated cheese
1 egg
5 fl. oz milk
Seasoning

Peel and cut the onion into small pieces and cook for a few minutes in the butter. Wash and cut up the mushrooms, add to the onion and cook for a further ten minutes. While the onion and mushrooms are cooking make the pastry by rubbing the margarine/butter into the flour and rolled oats and then add the egg. Press the mixture into a greased 9inch/23cm flan tin to line the bottom and sides. To complete, beat the egg with the milk and then add the cooked mushrooms and onion, together with the grated cheese and seasoning. You can then sprinkle the top with nutmeg if you like. Pour the mixture into the ‘pastry’ lined dish and bake in the oven at 375F/190C/gas mark 5 for 30/40 minutes until the flan is a golden brown and the filling is set. Delicious served hot with a green vegetable and new potatoes or cold with a salad.

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Approx 750g spring cabbage
1 onion finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
6 juniper berries
Salt and freshly milled black pepper

Remove the hard stalk and outer leaves of the cabbage. Shred the cabbage finely. I find the best way to do this is to lay a few cabbage leaves on top of each other, roll them up and then cut through the roll in fine strips. Repeat this until all the cabbage is shredded. Wash and dry thoroughly. Crush the juniper berries – easiest to do this using a pestle and mortar.

Pour just enough olive oil into a flame proof casserole to cover the base. Add the chopped onion and garlic and fry gently until softened but not browned. Stir in the crushed juniper and cook for another minute, then add the shredded cabbage together with salt and pepper to taste. Give everything a good stir so that it has a fine coating of the oil. Cover the casserole and bake for 30/40 minutes at 200C/400F/gas mark 6.

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Serves 4

4 pork loin chops
3 red apples cored and diced
5cm piece of fresh root ginger peeled and grated or finely chopped
300 ml unsweetened apple juice
25g unsalted butter, diced

Using a sharp knife, make several deep cuts through the fat of the pork chops as this will stop them from curling up in the pan. Rub the chops all over, especially the fat, with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Put the apples into a bowl and stir in the ginger.

Heat a frying pan over a moderate heat and then add the chops. Leave them for 3 – 4 minutes by which time some of the fat will have been released and the meat will be browning. Press the chops down into the pan occasionally with a wooden spoon – this will help them brown and improves the flavour of the finished sauce. Turn the chops over to brown on the other side.

When they are browned add the apples and ginger to the pan and cook for a further few minutes until the pork is cooked through. Remove the chops from the pan and keep warm.

Pour the apple juice into the pan, turn the heat up and let the juice bubble until it is reduced by half. Whilst this is happening you can use a wooden spoon to scrape any crispy bits from the bottom of the pan and incorporate them into the juice. Swirl the butter into the pan juices and then spoon the sauce over the pork. Delicious served with new potatoes and a green vegetable.

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Kulich is a traditional dessert served in Russia and other Eastern European countries on Easter Sunday. This recipe can be made in the Silverwood 18cm Panettone Tin and is often accompanied by Pashka.

Serves 6 to 8 people

For the dough:

110ml milk
100g caster sugar
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon salt
55ml water at room temperature
Quarter ounce packet of active dried yeast
560g plain flour
2 eggs, beaten
2 additional egg yolks, beaten
2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
85g raisins

To glaze the Kulich

140g icing sugar
3 tablespoons double cream
Half a teaspoon vanilla essence
50g chopped candied fruit or other decoration of your choice.

Put the milk, sugar and butter into a saucepan and stir over a low heat until the butter is melted and the sugar dissolved. Remove from the heat.

Mix the water and yeast together in a bowl and set aside for approx 10 minutes to activate the yeast.

Put 420g of the flour into a large mixing bowl, make a well in the centre and then add the yeast mixture, the milk, sugar and butter mixture, the eggs, yolks, cardamom and vanilla. Mix everything together to form a dough. Mix the raisins with a small amount of flour and then stir these into the dough.

Take the dough out of the mixing bowl and put on to a floured work surface. Knead it, adding extra flour as required, until the dough is elastic and no longer sticky to the touch. Put the dough in a large, lightly oiled bowl, cover with a teatowel and put in a warm place for a couple of hours by which time it should be doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 200C, gas mark 6. Grease your panettone tin. Take the dough out of the bowl and put back on to a lightly floured work surface, then punch it with your fists to deflate it. Put the dough into the panettone tin, cover with cling film and then set it aside to rise for another half an hour or so or until the dough reaches the top of the tin.

Remove the cling film and place the panettone tin on to a baking sheet. Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 180C, gas mark 4 and bake for another 35 to 40 minutes by which time the bread should sound hollow when tapped and the top should be golden brown.

Let the Kulich cool in the tin for 20 minutes then remove it.

Mix together the icing sugar, cream and vanilla essence then pour it over the top of the Kulich allowing it to drizzle down the sides. Decorate with the candied fruit or if you are serving it at Easter you can replace the fruit with any appropriate Easter decorations.

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