Basic white sauce

275 ml milk – this can be infused (e.g. with garlic) but must be cold
20 g cornflour


Place the milk in a small pan, add the cornflour and, over a medium heat, bring everything gradually up to simmering point, whisking vigorously and continuously with a balloon whisk until the sauce has thickened to a smooth, rich creaminess. Then add flavourings and allow it to cook very gently for 5 minutes on the lowest possible heat.

If you are concerned that the flavourings may be too delicate and might need “empowering” with a made up low salt stock cube or white wine, thicken the sauce a little more than you usually would and then let it down with the stock (made up with only a little water) or (previously-reduced) white wine

Example flavourings

For fish (or fish pie): dill, pepper, Basic seasoning, lemon juice, reduced white wine

Shepherds Pie

Leftover roast lamb (visible fat removed and diced) or lean lamb mince
Similar quantity of mushrooms (sliced)
8 TBS Basic seasoning
Fresh stock from lamb bones or low salt beef stock cube (made up)
Celery, sliced
1 TBS each of tomato puree, reduced salt tomato ketchup and reduced salt brown sauce.
Pepper to taste
Potatoes and milk for mash

Optional additions to the meat sauce: Onion/spring onion (diced/sliced), carrots (sliced), sundried tomatoes (finely chopped) , a little fresh mint or mint sauce, ½ tsp low salt yeast extract(let down in a little boiling water)

Optional additions to the mash: spring onion (sliced), mustard, Quark, garlic-infused milk instead of plain

Alternative version – cottage pie: use minced beef / leftover roast beef instead of lamb, in which case you will have a cottage pie rather than a shepherds pie – if using beef, do not include mint or mint sauce, but a little horseradish or wasabi would be a good addition.

To make the meat mix:

Fry lamb mince, if using, then strain off any liquid and leave to separate, using a gravy separator or by refrigerating overnight, discarding the fat content, before adding back to the reserved meat.

Soften the celery (and onions and/or carrots, if using) by frying a little then add to the meat and stock.

Fry mushrooms. When they are fully cooked and have released their liquid, add back the meat mix and add then all remaining ingredients except for mash, milk, a little of the Basic seasoning and any optional mash ingredients being used. Leave to cook down until gravy has become fairly thick and all vegetables are fully cooked (and, if using roast lamb, the meat is falling apart)

To assemble the “pie”:

Make your mash, then when placing it on top of the meat mix, try not to pack it down tightly and leave the surfaces rough. Packing it down and smoothing it out would mean you only get a little “crust” and the crunch and well-done taste of the crispy bits are an integral part of shepherds pie. Bake in a hot oven until golden, and – of course – crispy.

To serve: Pickled red cabbage is a traditional accompaniment, but until I work out a recipe for this without salt (using vinegar) beetroot is a good alternative. I simply roast a few whole beets on a tray (no oil) until shrivelled slightly, then peel when cool and douse in a little vinegar for 5+ minutes.

Fattoush (tomato and pita salad)

Mix up a dressing of pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, olive oil, parsley and mint (a little mint sauce from the jar, not made up, will do if you don’t have fresh mint to hand).

Bake pitas until brittle, then break into bite size pieces. Roughly chop tomatoes. Mix and dress immediately.

I have in the past added shredded lettuce, walnuts or pine nuts, and diced cucumber, as well.

Pomegranate & walnut chicken

2 large onions, chopped into a fine dice
1 cup water
6-8 chicken breasts
5 TBS pomegranate molasses
Pinch each of black pepper, cinnamon, turmeric and nutmeg (or allspice or “mixed spice”)
2 cups of low salt chicken stock
2 TBS lemon juice
2 TBS sugar
200g ground walnuts


Using a few sprays of oil, saute the onions until golden, then remove from pan and set aside. If you can’t get a good golden colour this way, use olive oil from a bottle and rinse away the oil with boiling water – caramelising onion provides flavour and a subtle sweetness that this dish needs that adding more sugar won’t provide.

Brown the chicken, then add the onions back to the pan along with the stock and simmer for 30 minutes.

Remove the chicken and set aside. Mix in the water, pomegranate molasses, ground walnuts and sugar and simmer for 15 minutes then return chicken to the pan and add spices and lemon juice before simmering for a further hour.

Pomegranate or tamarind satays

4 TBS pomegranate molasses or 2 TSP tamarind paste
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 TBS lemon juice
1 TSP sugar
1 TSP grated lemon zest
3 cloves garlic, crushed
10g fresh mint, chopped – or ½ a TSP of mint sauce (from the jar, not made up)
1 TSP ground cardamom

Simmer for 5 minutes while stirring but do not allow to boil. Cool before using as a marinade for satays of beef, lamb, pork, chicken or turkey breast. Grill or BBQ.