Ingredients:

• 1 large yellow melon (spanspek)
• 2 small green-flesh melons
• ½ onion, finely diced (preferably red)
• 1 – 2 oranges

Ingredients: Dressing:

• 250 ml plain yoghurt
• 15 ml honey
• orange juice to taste

Preparation:

• Cut and seed the melons, and cut into wedges or balls. Place in a bowl with the chopped onion.
• Cut the skin off the orange(s), and cut out the segments between the membranes. Work over a bowl so that the orange juice isn’t wasted.
• Add the orange to the bowl.
• Mix the dressing ingredients together and season to taste. Chill salad and dressing.
• Either serve the dressing in separate bowl, or fold into the salad just before serving chilled.

Serves 6.

Ingredients:

• 2 kg unpeeled baby potatoes
• 10 spring onions, chopped
• 155 g creamy blue cheese
• 2 tbl wholegrain mustard
• 200 – 250 ml olive oil
• freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

• Boil potatoes in salted water, until just tender, drain, refresh, then drain again thoroughly.
• Cool slightly then cut into halves or quarters, depending on size, and combine with the spring onions.
• Blitz the cheese, mustard, pepper and oil in a food processor until smooth.
• Check the seasoning, but you shouldn’t need extra salt because the cheese is usually very salty.
• Pour over the potatoes and onion, and stir gently to coat thoroughly. Line a bowl with sprouts or watercress, and spoon in the potato.

Notes:

• You get a lighter and, for me, pleasanter flavour with sunflower and olive oils mixed, or use just sunflower oil.

Serves 8 – 10.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 kg unpeeled baby potatoes
• 8 eggs, hard-boiled
• small bunch parsley, finely chopped
• 3 long celery sticks, sliced
• 2 large pickled cucumbers, diced
• small bunch little radishes, thinly sliced
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 125 ml bottled mayonnaise
• 60 ml sour cream
• 45 ml red wine vinegar
• 15 ml Dijon mustard
• salt & pepper to taste

Preparation:

• Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender, drain, refresh with a couple of splashes of cold water, then drain again thoroughly.
• Cut into quarters, and place in a bowl.
• Chop six of the eggs, and add to the potatoes, together with the celery, pickled cucumbers, radishes, onion, salt and pepper.
• In a small bowl whisk together the remaining ingredients and pour over the vegetables.
• Mix well to ensure that everything is well coated. Check the seasoning. Garnish with remaining eggs.

Serves 8 – 10.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 kg baby potatoes, unpeeled
• 2 tbl parsley, finely chopped
• 1 small onion, red preferably, finely chopped
• 45 ml wine vinegar
• 45 ml sour cream
• 30 ml German mustard
• 10 ml caraway seeds
• 180 – 250 ml sunflower oil
• salt & pepper to taste

Preparation:

• Scrub potatoes and boil in salted water until tender. Drain, refresh with a splash or two of cold water, then drain again thoroughly.
• Place the onion, sour cream, mustard, caraway seeds, salt and pepper in a bowl.
• Whisk until well combined, then slowly pour in the oil, whisking all the time, until the dressing emulsifies and thickens slightly. Use the lesser amount of oil at first.
• While the potatoes are still fairly hot, cut them into halves or quarters, depending on their size, and drop them straight into the dressing. Stir gently so that the potatoes are well coated with the dressing.
• Because some potatoes absorb more moisture than others, you may find that the salad seems a little dry, in which case add more oil.
• Leave to cool to room temperature. Stir in the chopped parsley, taste for seasoning and serve.

Serves 6 – 8.

Ingredients:

• 40 g butter
• 1 medium-large onion, finely sliced
• 1 kg floury potatoes
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 300 ml milk
• 300 ml light cream
• 400 gr crème fraiche
• salt
• black pepper, freshly ground

Preparation:

• Cook the onion in the butter for 20 minutes until soft and not browned, using a saucepan big enough to hold all the ingredients.
• Add the garlic and cook for a further minute or so.
• Peel and slice the potatoes thinly, and add them with all the other ingredients to the saucepan. (Do not soak the potatoes in water, as the starch helps to make the finished dish even creamier.)
• Stir the potatoes to coat them with the creamy mixture, and cook gently until the potatoes are just tender.
• Pour the potatoes into a large, shallow buttered baking dish, arranging the top layer as attractively as possible.
• Bake at 180° C for about 45 minutes, until the potatoes are meltingly soft and the top is browned.

Serves 8.

Ingredients:

• About 8 medium potatoes – try to select potatoes that are more or less the same size
• 1 packet brown onion soup
• 400-500 ml sour cream
• Milk, if necessary
• squeeze of lemon-juice, if liked

Preparation:

• Boil the potatoes in salted water, whole and in their skins, until just tender. Leave to cool, or at least cool enough to handle.
• Place them in a flat ovenproof dish into which they fit snugly. Cut them into half centimetre slices, but without cutting all the way through.
• Combine the onion soup, sour cream and lemon juice (if using), adding milk if necessary to make a pouring consistency.
• Pour the mixture over the potatoes, trying to get some in between all of the slices.
• Bake at 170° C for about 35-45 minutes.
• As recipe one, this may also be made well ahead, and reheated – in fact, any leftovers, heat up very well the next day. Probably not the healthiest of dishes, but very yummy served with things like spit-roast lamb, braiied meat or even something like sauerbraten.

Serves 8 – 10.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg unpeeled baby potatoes
• 1 – 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 125 ml olive oil
• 1 bunch chives, finely snipped
• 5 ml fresh thyme leaves, chopped
• 5 – 10 ml basil, chopped
• 75 g fresh Parmesan, shaved (or fairly course grated)
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

• Boil potatoes in salted water, until tender. Drain, refresh with a little cold water, then drain again thoroughly.
• Allow to cool slightly, then cut into halves or quarters, depending on size.
• Mix the olive oil with the finely crushed garlic, salt and pepper, and stir into the potatoes with all of the chopped herbs.
• Check the seasoning, and just before serving top with the Parmesan shavings, made by drawing a vegetable peeler over the block of cheese.

Serves 5 – 6.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg unpeeled baby potatoes
• 2 tbl toasted pine nuts, for garnish (optional)
• 1 cup (30 gr) loosely packed mint leaves
• 2 tbl pine nuts
• 1 clove garlic peeled
• ¼ tsp salt
• 50 g Parmesan, freshly grated
• 60 ml olive oil
• 125 ml sour cream

Preparation:

• Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender, drain, refresh with a little cold water, then drain again thoroughly.
• Allow to cool slightly, then cut into halves or quarters, depending on size.
• Place the mint leaves, nuts, garlic, salt, Parmesan and olive oil in a blender or food processor and process until the ingredients are well chopped and combined.
• Stir in the sour cream and mix to combine.
• Pour over the warm, not hot, potatoes, stirring gently until well coated. Check the seasoning.

Notes:

• Pine nuts are hideously expensive, so another type of nut may be used. Macadamias are good as are cashews or almonds. You could garnish the salad with the same kind of nut, toasted and chopped, or even toasted sunflower seeds.

Serves 6.

Ingredients:

• 60 g butter
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 kg floury potatoes
• salt
• black pepper, freshly ground
• butter for greasing the dish
• 400 ml well-seasoned chicken stock
• 150 ml light cream

Preparation:

• Melt 45 g of the butter in a large frying pan, add the onion, and cook very gently for about 20 minutes, until the onion is soft but not browned.
• Add the garlic and cook for a minute or so longer. Set aside.
• Grease a fairly large oven-proof dish generously. Peel the potatoes, and slice very thinly.
• Layer the potato slices in the dish with the onion mixture, adding a little salt and pepper to each layer.
• Once the potatoes are layered in the dish, heat the stock with the cream, pour over, pressing the potatoes down firmly, so that they are completely submerged in the stock.
• Dot the top of the dish with the remaining butter, and bake at 170° C for about 1½ hours, or until the potatoes are tender and browned on top.
• This may also be made ahead and reheated, but is at its best cooked and served right away. I have never frozen it, so don’t know whether it would work.

Serves 6 – 8.

Ingredients: Salad:

• 250 ml samp
• 200 ml brown/green lentils
• 60 ml seedless raisins
• 1 large red pepper, seeded, diced
• 6 – 8 spring onions, chopped
• handful toasted sunflower seeds
• handful chopped parsley
• 250 ml finely shredded spinach (baby is best)

Ingredients: Dressing:

• 125 ml oil
• 30 ml soy sauce
• 45 ml lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 30 ml honey

Preparation:

• Mix all dressing ingredients together.
• Soak the samp for at least 2 hours, or overnight, then rinse and simmer in sufficient water to cover, until tender and most of the water has been absorbed.
• Soak the lentils for 2 hours, then, in a separate saucepan, simmer them in the same way as the samp.
• Drain both grains, if necessary.
• Tip both steaming hot grains into a large fowl, then fork through the dressing.
• Add the remaining ingredients, and toss lightly to mix.
• Cool, then cover, and leave to stand for the flavours to develop – or place in the fridge overnight.
• Check seasoning before serving. Best at room temperature.

Serves 6.