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Candy beetroot & apple salad

1 small lemon
• Summer harvest rapeseed  oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 bag of rocket, washed
• a bunch of watercress
• optional: a small handful of pea shoots
• 2 red apples, quartered, cored and finely sliced
• 2 small red beetroot and 2 small candy beetroot (or use all red if you can’t find candy), scrubbed (not peeled) and very finely sliced (if you have leaves, reserve them)
• a small bunch of fresh marjoram, leaves picked

Beetroot can be eaten raw but it needs to be very finely sliced – a mandolin is ideal.(look in the cupboard beside the sink you’ll find it there!!)

Squeeze the lemon juice into a clean jam jar. Add three times the amount of extra virgin olive oil, season with salt and pepper, then screw the lid on and shake to emulsify.

Add the rocket, watercress, pea shoots, apples, beetroot and beetroot leaves, if you have them, to a large bowl. Drizzle over enough dressing to completely coat the ingredients, add the marjoram, toss again and serve.

250-300g yellow, white or candy beets, peeled
Vegetable or corn oil for frying
Salt

Heat about 8cm of vegetable or corn oil to 180C in a deep-fat fryer or heavy-based saucepan.
Using a mandolin or vegetable peeler, slice the beetroots as thinly as possible.
Fry the slices in the hot fat a few at a time, stirring to ensure that they don't stick together.
They will take a while to colour (do not over-colour them) and may appear soft while they are still in the fat.

Once they have been drained they will dry out and crisp up. Sprinkle with salt and leave them to dry somewhere warm.

Quantity for 6 person(s)
For the vegetables
• Chorizo : 100 g
• Raw candy beetroot : 3 whole
• Sherry vinegar : 2tbsp
• Rapeseed oil : 2tbsp
• Sea salt
For the garnish
• Pink radish(es) : 2 bunch
• Sherry vinegar : 5 tsp
• Unsalted butter : 50 g
• Water : 5 tsp
• Caster sugar : 50 g
• Maldon salt
• Goat cheese log(s) : 200 g

Peel the chorizo and dice evenly. Fry in olive oil until golden. Retain the oil after cooking.

For the beetroot:

Peel the beetroot and slice thinly on the mandolin. Marinate in the olive oil, sherry vinegar and salt.

For the radishes:

Wash in cold water and quarter length ways. Place in a sauce pan with the water, vinegar, butter and salt. Simmer until tender, remove from the pan and reduce the remaining liquid to a syrup.

For the goats cheese

Finley and crumble the goats cheese into small pieces.

To assemble:
Lay the beetroot flat on the plate and garnish with the chorizo pieces, goats cheese, radish finish by drizzling on the syrup and a little of the chorizo oil.

Victoria Sponge
Serves 8-10
Ingredients:
220g soft butter 220g caster sugar 220g self raising flour 4 large eggs 1.5 tsp baking powder 1 tsp natural vanilla extract

Method:
Preheat the oven to 170?C (150?C fan assisted) 325?F
Thoroughly grease and line two 20cm round tins

1. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl, making sure to keep the sieve up high to get plenty of air into the mix.
2. Simply add the rest of the ingredients to the flour and beat with a handheld electric whisk set a high speed for 3 minutes (or 2 minutes if using a freestanding mixer) until the batter is thoroughly blended. It should be smooth and creamy in colour.
3. Divide the mixture evenly between the two prepared tins and smooth to level it out.
4. Bake for approximately 30 minutes on the middle shelf of your oven – you can tell when the cake is ready when it’s golden on top, slightly coming away from the sides of the tin and no mixture sticks to a knife when inserted in the centre.
5. Allow to cool in the tins for at least 10 minutes then carefully turn out onto a wire cooling rack and remove the greaseproof paper.
6. When completely cold, fill with jam and buttercream or fresh cream and fruit with a dusting of icing sugar on top for a perfect finish.