After the excesses of the festive period, and the general cutting back on rich food during January, we start to regain our appetite for the occasional treat. Here from the Fruisana Kitchen is a quick and easy recipe which uses store cupboard ingredients.
Chocolate is always a favourite and this delicious cake, with its soft, rich, gooey centre makes a perfect dessert perhaps for Valentine’s Day?

‘Candlelight, romantic melody and aromatic scent all add to the pea-fect ambience of the night, while the brilliant green of each dish assaults your vision. If you can let yourselves merge with the richness of gourmet sensuality you can actually imbibe romance.’

Blimey! We’re talking abut peas here, more romantic than you think apparently. Here’s a complete Valentine pea meal for you

Frozen herbs? Well why not, they’re convenient and far better than the dried stuff which is about as much use as sawdust. Freezing keeps the flavour and saves the waste normally asscociated with fresh herbs when the last bits go all manky in the fridge. Dorot are the masters at freezng herbs and have some rather tasty recipes. You can find Dorot frozen herbs in Sainsburys.

Great recipes from Cherry Valley Duckling mean the Chinese New Year is now the perfect opportunity for budding Nigella Lawson’s and Gordon Ramsay’s to learn new culinary talents and create their own ‘STAGS’ – Stay at Home Gourmets

Classic Indian dishes are made tastier and even easier with Seed of Change sauces.

‘Kung Hei Fat Choy’ or ‘Happy Chinese New Year’! The Year of the Ox is celebrated on 26th January and with Chinese households cleaning, repainting and handing out Lai See (lucky money); Alan Coxon has developed a menu for those who want to join in with the festivities. Food is an integral part of the celebrations and Alan has scoured the Orient to come up with a delicious menu for all to enjoy.

We all do it, there is some madness which happens to us just before Christmas and we become domestic goddesses, with the need to fill the house with everything and anything that anyone could possible crave over the holiday. Come January, we find ourselves with bowls of nuts waiting to be shelled and those ubiquitous boxes of dates, bought because Granny always likes them

Looking to save money on family feedtime? Sainsbury’s have a solution with a menu in association with top Soho restaurant Quo Vadis. You can knock out this fabulous meal for under a fiver a head,

Popular recipe website MyDish.co.uk is celebrating the success of celebrity member, Camilla Dallerup, who has just been crowned Queen of the Dance floor in this year’s ‘Strictly Come Dancing’. Proving that fitting into those tiny dresses has not required a cut back in excessive cheese eating, Camilla reveals her favourite calorie topping meal of “Three Cheese Pie”.

Canapés add elegance to every celebration and they are an especially welcome treat on Christmas Eve while everyone is passing time waiting for Santa to arrive. One way to make sure you are ready to whip up a lovely selection of tasty bite-sized treats is to keep some Peppadew Peppers on hand. They are a Christmas store cupboard essential for anyone planning to entertain friends and family over the festive season. These spicy yet sweet little peppers from South Africa are deseeded and then bottled in a secret brine recipe to retain a crisp texture and give just the right balance of flavour. Here are four recipes from Peppadew to help you create an elegant first course for your holiday meal.