Healthy whole nut chocolate bar, sugar gluten dairy free and suitable for raw vegans

Ok so before I begin I want to expel the myth that all chocolate is bad for you.

So chocolate starts life as a humble cacao bean.  Chocolate companies then buy up the expensive beans but in order for them to make a profit on what they have bought they process the hell out of the beans to increase the mass, otherwise we would be paying a tenner for a mars bar.  Fats, sugar, oils and flavourings are added to the beans during processing to turn one bean into, for example, one hundred times the volume.  Flavourings are then added to make the processed mass taste like it originally did - raw cacao.

Cacao in its original form is a really powerful superfood (super high in nutrtients) Rich in vitimins and minerals, it has more than 300 nutritional compounds and is one of the richest sources of antioxidants in the word. Raw cacao also aids in weightloss and promotes healthy skin and brain function. SO this is truly a treat you don't have to feel guilty about.  You can pick up raw cacao online or Holland and Barrett on the high street for around £5 per bag, 3 times the price of cocoa powder but remember what I said about the processing/bulking out and adding crap.... Making this bar will cost you about a fiver, again highlighting the need for chocolate companies to bulk out the raw beans, but just remember the health benefits and always always remember refined sugar is rapidly stored as FAT on the body! Its your choice.

Ingredients

200g toasted hazelnuts, they really need to be toasted as the flavour is a million times better. If you have bought untoasted simply add them to a medium heat frying pan and fry for around 5 minutes until golden all over, shake/rub off the skins if they have them on after toasting.

200g raw cacao butter (again online or Holland and barrett)

100g coconut sugar or maple syrup

sea salt (develops the flavour of chocolate so much, I prefer pink salt but sea salt flakes are fine)

1tsp vanilla

60g raw cacao powder

Method

Melt the cacao butter in a double boiler nice and slowly, don't let it get too hot so keep an eye on it.

Stir in everything else

Pour into a clingfilm lined tray, or a foil disposable, make sure the hazelnuts are equally dispersed.

Chill until set.

 

My ultimate clean eating shopping list

Ive been asked to compile a list of my store cupboard and fridge favourites when it comes to clean eating.  When I first started to eat clean about a year ago I really didn't know what it meant, I researched myself and slowly I got the hang of it, its not hard and you can eat almost anything you crave as long as you substitute. this is my shopping which I get every week its costs me around £40 but that's just for me. It does for all the stuff for my juicing too as I have one or two juices a day.

My eat clean diet is basically as whole and natural as possible. I want to look at my plate and see food that pretty much looks like how it came from the earth. (ie. donuts don’t grow on trees…so that’s not clean.) Eating clean makes me feel energetic, my body responds well to it, and it keeps me full! I try to fill my plate with mostly lean proteins, veg and then some good low glycemic carbs like sweet potato or brown rice. This is a balanced and very healthy meal that will surely cleanse your system. Most important thing too is to try and get at least 2 litres of water a day.

Vegetables:
Kale
Spinach
Brocolli
Carrots
Apples
Beetroot
lime
ginger
lemons
cucumber
celery
avocados
tomatoes
bananas
blueberries
strawberries
raspberries
squash


Protein:
salmon
chicken
tinned tuna
eggs


Dairy:
greek yogurt (the expensive total stuff not the greek style)
almond milk
cottage cheese


Grains/good carbs and beans:
Oats
black beans
quinoa
brown rice
sweet potatoe
chicpeas


Fats and Oils:
almonds
sunflower seeds
pumpkin seeds
chai seeds
poppy seeds
golden linseed (also known as flax)
coconut oil
natural peanut butter
extra virgin olive oil
raw honey
pure maple syrup

Sticky BBQ pork ribs with bean salad from This Morning

A good BBQ sauce recipe is golddust! Ive been using this one for years and it never fails!  It works just as well with any meat and is a perfect dipping sauce for nachos, corn on the cob and lots more BBQ favourites!

Ingredients

Serves 6

For the ribs:

3 racks (approx. 550g each) of pork spareribs (You want to serve around 3 ribs per person)

1 onion, finely diced

80g soft brown sugar

80ml dry sherry

1 inch piece of grated fresh ginger

2 garlic cloves crushed

200ml tomato ketchup

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

100ml soy sauce

1 pinch of chilli flakes

1tsp ground cumin

For the salad:

1 can of your favorite beans, i like butterbeans, drain and rinse them.

A handful of vine tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 large courgette, diced  

1 small red onion , chopped very finely

Coriander and parsley , chopped or torn

The juice of 1 lemon

1 red chilli, seeds in if you can stand it, finely chopped

Olive oil

Sea salt and pepper

1 tsp ground cumin

Method:

For the sauce heat a little oil in a large saucepan and cook the onion gently until its soft.  Add the garlic, cumin, chilli flakes and ginger and cook for 1 minute, still on low.

Turn the heat upto medium, add the rest of the ingredients and simmer uncovered on low heat for 15 minutes, until thick.  The marinade can be made in advance and keeps perfectly well in the fridge, covered or in Tupperware.

While this is doing put your ribs in a pan of boiling water and simmer for the same time it takes you to make the marinade (around 20 minutes)

Pat your ribs dry and brush generously with the marinade.

To cook the ribs, BBQ for 20 minutes over hot coals; or roast on an oven set to 220 (gas mark 7) for 40 minutes.

Whichever way you cook them brush them with more marinade and turn them as they cook, at least twice!

Making the salad couldn’t be simpler, gently fry the courgette until golden in a little oil and then add all the ingredients to a large bowl.

Toss everything to combine then taste the salad, does it need perking up with more lemon, salt or pepper? If so go for it.  You can make the salad in advance, its best served room temperature for the flavors to mingle so take it out of the fridge 30 minutes before serving.

Serve the charred sticky ribs with the bean salad and an extra bowl of the marinade on the side for dipping.

Messy fingers ahoy – don’t forget the napkins!

Traditional mulled wine

Everyones winter favourite and so simple to make, choose this on a winters evening, Christmas eve wrapping presents is my preferred time, or when your putting the tree up.

Ingredients

Serves 4-5

1 bottle of full bodied red wine

1 vanilla pod

75g of caster sugar

2tbsp golden syrup

4 cloves

2 star anise

1 cinnamon stick

1 orange, peel only (use a potato peeler to remove thick strands of the peel)

Method

Add a good glass full of the wine to a saucepan with the rest of the ingredients.

Boil viciously until the wine has reduced by half.  This is really important to infuse the wine with all the flavours.

Add the rest of the wine, turn the heat off and leave for an hour or so to fully infuse.

This method ensures only a small amount of the alcohol in the wine is burnt off (in the initial infusion)

To serve warm gently, never boil.

5 spice duck with crunchy noodle salad and homemade sweet chilli sauce

This is my taste of the orient.  So fresh and tasty.  Duck is such a seasonal treat, readily available from September to January.  The richness of the meat compliments the sharpness of the sauce and the freshness of the salad.

Ingredients

serves 2

For the duck:

2 duck breasts

Salt and pepper

4tsp 5 spice powder

For the salad:

1 carrot

½ small white cabbage

A small handful of sugar snap peas

A small handful of beansprouts

1 sheet of medium egg noodles

2tsp Sesame oil

2tsp Sesame seeds

1tsp honey

2tsp soy sauce

For the sauce:

225g caster sugar

150ml water

1 red chilli and 1 green, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic crushed

1inch piece of ginger grated

1 stalk lemon grass

2tbsp fish sauce

1 lime, juice only

1 small spring onion finely chopped

1 very small bunch of corriander, finely chopped

Method

Begin with the sauce as it can be made well in advance.

To make the sauce:

Place the sugar and water into a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the chillies, garlic, ginger and lemongrass and simmer for 5-10 minutes until the mixture becomes a syrup. 

Remove from the heat, strain to remove all the bits and add the fish sauce, vinegar and lime juice.
Leave to cool, then stir in the spring onions and very finely diced coriander and refrigerate until required.  You can add more chilli for colour if you want but i like it clear.

For the duck:

Pre heat the oven to 200 / gas mark 6.

Score the skin of the duck to help render the fat.

Season the duck with the salt and pepper and the five spice powder on the skin and flesh.

In a COLD frying pan place the duck skin side down and then the heat on.

Set a timer for 3 minutes and cook the duck without touching it.

All the fat will render out of the skin slowly giving you a delicious crisp edible skin.

after 3 minutes flip the duck and fry for 1 minute on the other side.

After 1 minute transfer the duck to the hot oven and cook for 3 minutes in which time you can prepare the salad.

When the duck is cooked its ESSENTIAL you leave it to rest for at least 5 minutes to help the meat relax to make it really juicy and tender.

For the salad:

Cook the egg noodles as per the packet instructions, its usually simmer for 10 minutes until tender.

Cut the carrots into quarters lengthways then using a sharp knife, a food processor attachment or a mandolin slice the carrot as thinly as possible, so you have long thin slivers of carrot.  Do the same with the cabbage. 

Toss all the ingredients together in a large bowl.

For more flavour gently toast your sesame seeds in a dry pan over a medium heat until they are golden.  This releases lots more flavour than adding them un toasted.

Serve the salad drizzled with some of the prepared sauce with the duck sliced on the side and an extra little dish of dipping sauce on the side.  Totally food heaven!  Leave the duck out for a packed lunch staple!

Risotto with pan fried scallop, black pudding and poached duck egg

This is a delicious dinner party dish or a simple evening supper, its one of the dishes i do most at cooking shows because it shows a lot of technique and gives loads of tips.  Scallops arenyt as expensive as people seem to think either. i reckon around 80p for a good king scallop is a bargain.

Leave out the scallops for a simple supper or maybe substitute with some nice haddock or mackerel?

Ingredients:

serves 2

1tsp butter and 1tsp olive oil

1 shallot finely diced

1 clove of garlic crushed

700mls fish stock

100g black pudding

50g Butter

50g of grated parmesan

Salt and pepper

200g risotto rice

100mls white wine

1 fresh duck egg. (no more than 2 weeks old)

1tbsp of white wine vinegar

2/3 king scallops per person, cleaned without roe

Method

You want your risotto to be smooth and ozzy not stodgy and dry. 

Heat the stock in one pan.

In a separate pan, heat the olive oil and butter, add the shallot and garlic, and fry very slowly for about 15 minutes without colouring. (this is commonly referred to as ‘sweating’.)

When the shallot and garlic have softened, add the rice and turn up the heat.

The rice will now begin to lightly fry, so keep stirring it.

After a minute it will look slightly translucent. Add the wine and keep stirring — it will smell fantastic.

Any harsh alcohol flavours will evaporate and leave the rice with a tasty essence.

Once the wine has cooked into the rice and reduced by half, add your first ladle of hot stock and a good pinch of salt. Turn down the heat to a simmer so the rice doesn’t cook too quickly on the outside.

Keep adding ladlefuls of stock, stirring and almost massaging the creamy starch out of the rice, allowing each ladleful to be absorbed before adding the next. This will take around 15 minutes.

Taste the rice — is it cooked? Carry on adding stock until the rice is soft but with a slight bite.

Don’t forget to check the seasoning carefully. If you run out of stock before the rice is cooked, add some boiling water.

Remove from the heat and add the butter and Parmesan. Stir well.

Place a lid on the pan and allow to sit for 2 minutes. This is the most important part of making the perfect risotto, as this is when it becomes outrageously creamy and oozy like it should be.

Working quickly cook the egg and scallops as below.

Get a saucepan of water boiling with the vinegar added and also get a frying pan with a little bit of olive oil in it smoking hot (good idea to get these on a few minutes before so your ready to go as soon as the rice is done)

Crack the egg into a small cup and gently tip it into the pan of water and vinegar. Se the timer for 2 minutes to give you a nice soft poached egg.

While your egg is poaching, lighly season the scallops and add them to the hot pan along with the sliced black pudding, count to 1 and a half minutes then flip the scallops. 

Immediately turn the heat off, add a knob of butter, and baste the scallops for one final minute. 

This will give you perfectly cooked scallops every time.  Adjust the timings if the scallops are quite thin.

Serve the creamy ozzy risotto in a bowl with the scallops and black pudding on top and crown each plate with a soft poached egg and maybe a drizzle of the butter from the scallops pan.

Because its nice to be nice

Ive been lucky enough to have been sent a few items lately so its only fair they get a mention and a review.

First up i was sent a pot of Thai Taste Red Curry Paste.  I usually make my own paste however used this one as a quick tea fix, the paste was punchy and easy tyo use with plenty of flavour.  I sweated some onions in a pan then added a few tablespoons along with some chicken and a little coconut milk and simmered for around an hour, serving the finished dish with sticky rice.  When ive used pre bought pastes in the past ive had to top up the ginger/garlic/chilli to give a round flavour however this was spot on and made a perfect quick tea.

Next up we have Bottle Green cordial, you can find the brand in all good supermarkets, ive been a fan for ages, their winter spiced cordial which i served with hot water is out of this world, kind of like a none alcoholic mulled wine.  I drank buckets of the stuff over Winter.

I was sent a bottle of their new pomegranate cordial to try and it was beautiful, the kind of thing you would imagine drinking at Wimbledon.  Its light and super refreshing   Whatsmore the brand is doing its bit for charity.  The new range, featuring super stylish bottles are actually in support of Breast Cancer, check the web for more details or go buy a bottle and do your bit!

My final and favourite is Fancies cupcakes in Sheffield.  I was given a box after a recent visit and they were awesome, big enough to share, their buttercream is unreal, really light and creamy, almost like an Italian meringue.  If your in Sheffield check them out, they've got shops all over the city.

A glorious platter of beef, that costs less than you might think...

Every now and again you deserve something special, it doesn’t have to cost the earth but it has to be a one off delight for the senses! ALL of the senses!

This platter of beef from Donald Russell is just that, at its bones its simply 4 fat juicy steaks for 4 people but the presentation makes it look a lot more.

I serve this with garlic rubbed ciabatta bread, an olive tapenade, a huge rocket salad flecked with shavings of pecorino AND the piece de resistance, my slow roasted tomatoes, the quintessential side for the fabulous beef.

This recipe is merely my method to cook the perfect steak, but it’s a skill I can without arrogance say I have mastered and would like to share.  At the end of the day with beef this good you can’t go wrong…

Here goes…

Ingredients

A Donald Russell steak per person, we had the pleasure of a rump, a fillet, a sirloin and a rib eye.

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

Butter

For the black olive tapenade:

Around 100g of black olives

4tbsp of red wine vinegar

1tbsp of Dijon mustard

6tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

1 clove of garlic

For the tomatoes:

1 large tomato per person

1 clove of garlic per tomato

Sprigs of thyme

Olive oil

Extra virgin ilive oil for drizzling

Salt and pepper

Balsamic vinegar

Method

Start with the tomatoes, cut them in half, scoop out the seeds (the wet bit from inside) fill the hole with salt and pepper, a ½ clove of garlic, sprinkle with thyme and olive oil and roast in the oven on really low for around 1-2 hours.  Timing isn’t a big deal here you just want to cook them slowly to intensify their flavour.  Once they are cooked drizzle with the extra virgin oil and set on a platter ready to serve.

For the tapenade, blend the olives with the vinegar, salt and pepper, garlic and mustard.  Once that’s like a thick paste add the oil and mix together.  That’s it! Pop the tapenade in a ramekin ready to serve.

Ok so onto the steaks, the centrepiece for the platter.

Rub the steaks in a little oil, season with pepper – no salt at this stage.

Get a pan smoking hot, season 1 side (the side your going to place down on the pan) with salt and place the steaks in the pan, LEAVE THEM, step away from the pan and set a timer for 2.5 minutes.

After 2.5 minutes, season with salt on the side that’s facing up and flip the steaks and again leave them alone. Set a timer for 2 minutes.

After 2 minutes, turn the heat off, add the butter to the pan and baste the steaks in the buttery juices for around 30 seconds.

Remove the steaks from the pan and leave them to rest for at least 10 minutes.  This makes all the difference and the flavour will intensify and the steaks will be SOOO juicy!

The timings are for a standard 1 inch thick steak; if your steaks are thinner adjust the timings to cook the steak less.

The reason you don’t season the steaks with salt until the last minute is salt draws out moisture, if you season the steaks too early they won’t be as juicy J

Carve the steaks into thick slices and present on a wood board, or some slate, with the sides positioned around the beef!

When I made this the steaks were delicious, juicy, full of flavour, charred on the outside from the heat of the pan and knee quivering medium rare in the middle, the perfect black and blue steak! YUM!

Pigs cheeks braised in cider

Pigs cheeks are one of the most underated cuts of pork.  They are mouthwateringly tender when slow cooked and whatsmore they are one of the most, if not the most, ecenomical cut of pork you can get.  Ask your butcher for the cheeks, if your feeling adventerous, get the whole head and butcher it yourself.  The head can then be made into a fantastic gelatenous stock for filling pork pies, making a terrine or simply as the base for a soup. 

When you get the cheeks, theres quite a bit to butcher off, look at the pic below and you can see theres only a small pocket of meat you can eat. 

Here the pigs cheeks are served with creamy mashed potatoes.  The crisp bacon really adds a fantastic smoky tecture to the dish and the earthy carrots compliment everything on the plate.  Enjoy.

IngredientsServes 2/4
4 Pigs cheeks (I usually do 1 per person but the are quite small so you might want to do 2 per person)

Flour, for dusting
Olive oil for frying
1 onion peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 leek, chunkily cut
1 large carrot peeled and chunkily cut
1 stick of celrey chunkily cut
1 clove of garlic peeled
bay leaf
fresh thyme and rosemary (a sprig of each if you have any, if not dont worry)
250mls of dry cider
150mls chicken stock (or just enough to cover the cheeks)
salt and pepper
2 slices of streaky bacon per person
a bunch of baby carrots, as many of as few as you fancy
a good knob of butter

1 portion of mashed potatoes per person

Method
Preheat the oven to gas mark 2 .
Season the pigs' cheeks and dust with a little flour. Heat some olive oil in a large ovenproof pan and fry the cheeks until golden-brown on both sides. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Add the onions, leek, celery, carrots herbs and garlic and fry over a low heat until lightly browned.
Add the cider.
Reduce by half its volume on a high heat.
Return the cheeks to the pan and pour over just enough chicken stock to cover.
Add the bay leaf, season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer.
Cover with a lid and cook in the oven for 2-4 hours. (after 2 horus they will be perfectly done but the longer you leave them in the more tender they will become)
Stir every hour or so, adding a little more chicken stock if it starts looking dry.
Remove the cheeks and pass the sauce through a fine sieve into a clean pan. Bring to the boil and reduce on a high heat to your desired jus consistency. Season with salt and pepper.
In the meantime make up the mash as per the recipe.
For the carrots: Add the carrots to the pan with the butter and water. Steam the carrots until tender then take the lid off the pan turn the heat up high.  The carrots will begin to caramelise and become “glazed” in the buttery juices.  Make sure the pan doesn’t burn as there will be  very little liquid present.  When the carrots look glazed turn the heat off and keep warm until needed.
For the pancetta:  Heat a frying pan with a little oil.  Add the pancetta and fry until crisp on both sides.

To serve, put a spoonful of the mash on the plate. Cut a cheek at an angle and arrange on top. Pile on some carrot batons on the side of the plate and balance a crisp slice of pancetta on top of the pork.
Pour the cider jus around the dish.
Eat in abundance when its cold outside.

Mussels with white wine (can be done with pasta)

This is a versatile dish as its kind of 2 meals in 1, the mussels themselves are perfect with a chunk of French bread and butter and a green salad, but to make them more substantial and to eak out the mussels if you are feeding a few people, the simple addition of pasta to the sauce gives the dish a different dimension.  They also make a great starter.
A quick note about mussels, getting fresh shellfish is really really important, if you eat a baddie then you’ll know about it, they can make you very poorly.  You need to eat mussels alive.  You can test if they are alive or not by following the below steps.

BEFORE COOKING:
If the mussel is closed its good and you can use it.
If the mussel is open give it a sharp tap and if it closes then its alive and you can use it, if it doesn’t close then its dead and you must discard it.
AFTER COOKING:
If any mussels have remained closed discard them, they are dead.

 Ingredients
Serves 2
A glug of olive oil
1 garlic cloves, crushed or chopped
2 shallots, sliced
400g mussels in shells, beards removed (get your fishmonger to do it for you)
100ml white wine
70ml double cream
A bunch of chopped fresh parsley
300g pasta of your choice, I like spaghetti or linguini
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 lemon juice only.
Method
Cook the pasta as per the pack instructions in lots of salted boiling water, get this on first as the mussels will only take 5 minutes.
For the mussels, heat the olive oil in a lidded saucepan over a medium heat. Add the garlic and shallots and sauté for two minutes, until softened.
Add the mussels and white wine, stir well and place the lid on. Allow the mussels to steam for 3-4 minutes, then remove the lid and check that all the mussels have opened. Discard any that have not opened.
Remove the mussels from the pan into a separate bowl.
Add the double cream, fresh parsley and cooked pasta to the pan and stir adding the lemon juice, salt and pepper..

Add the pasta direct from the water it was boiled in to the mussels pan, a bit of water wont hurt it.  Drizzle with extra virgin oil and a little more parsley.

Rib eye steak

Dinner tonight, after the most lush day off ever was rib eye steaks from Northumbrian Quality Meat, they have been my butcher for years and their meat is outstanding, ive previously recommended them, they are on my likes section of my website check them out.  If they are a little to far check out Donald Russell too, equally superb!

So there realy isnt  much to cooking a steak, I had to do one in the pressure test of MasterChef and this is the method i used. 

First you take your steaks (this applies to any meat for that matter) out of the fridge a good 30 minutes before you want to use it, this relaxes the meat and brings it to room temperature. think of it like this, if you've just got in from the freezing your usually all huddled up like this baffoon below - your muscles are all tense until you get back to normal - well its the same principle for your meat.  It needs time to get back to the temperature its comfortable at and that way you'll get the best flavour and texture from your meat.

So, next you want to get your pan as hot as humanly possible, season the meat liberally with salt and pepper and a little oil then whack it in the pan, set  your timer for 2.5 minutes and LEAVE it alone. Step away, leave the pan on high, open a window for the smoke and leave it.

After 2.5 minutes flip the steak, and again leave it for another 2.5 minutes.

Nearly there, hang on in, so 2.5 minutes have passed, turn the heat off, whack about 50g of butter into the pan and as it melts spoon the juices over the steak, this is called arabouche in France and basically means to baste in butter. Do this for around 30 seconds and then remove the steaks from the pan and allow to rest somewhere for around 5 minutes to relax the meat, this is the most important step in the whole process, and like before it relaxes the muscle to create a tastier more tender piece of meat.

Home stretch - serve the steak with a sauce that you have made in the pan you took the steaks out of, something simple like the peppercorn sauce in my accompaniments section, or a red wine jus or something.  Nice and quick.

the finished article, black and blue steak,

My one stop shop for how I cook meat

I thought I would stick a quick entry in about cooking different cuts of meat and the required temperatures and times.  I know I would have found it useful, when I was learning to have all this information in one place rather than having to keep referring to different cook books.

Here are a few tips to help you get your meat from being great to extra special.  Firstly I always find it makes the meat tastier if you baste it throughout the cooking.  If you are cooking meat in the oven do this by spooning the juices that have come out of the meat over the meat every 30 minutes for the cooking time.  If you are cooking meat in a pan add a knob of butter to the pan for the last 30 seconds of the cooking time, take the pan off the heat to stop the butter burning and baste the meat with the butter using a spoon over and over again until the 30 seconds is up.  Don’t worry if the butter goes brown, it won’t burn as you've taken it off the heat.

It is equally important, with all meat to let it rest before you cut or serve it, this will allow all the juices which rushed to the centre of the meat during cooking to return throughout the meat, making it more tender and juicy.

Beef
Joint (rib or roasting)
Temperatures: no need to seal the joint of meat, just season it pop it in a pre heated roasting tin drizzled with a little oil and cook as follows: for the first 15 minutes on gas mark 9 (240) then turn the oven down to gas mark 5 (190)15minutes per lb PLUS 15 minutes for rare meat
20 minutes per lb PLUS 20 minutes for medium meat
25 minutes per lb PLUS 25 minutes for well done meat

Steak (1-1.5 inches thick)
Temperatures: no need to seal the steaks, just season them on both sides, drizzle them with oil (never put oil directly into the pan) and add them to a red hot frying pan for the following times remembering to baste them with butter as described in the introduction:2 minutes a side for rare meat
2.5 minutes a side for medium meat
3 minutes a side for medium well meat
4 minutes a side for well done meat
Its very important when cooking steaks to make sure the pan/BBQ or grill is red hot before putting the steaks in or the meat wont seal. Once the steaks are in the pan LEAVE them alone, keep the heat constant, don’t touch them or move them round the pan or this will stop a crust forming.  After the desired time turn the steaks over and again, leave the meat until the time is up.

Lamb
Leg
Temperatures:No need to seal the joint of meat, just season it pop it in a pre heated roasting tin drizzled with a little oil (and studded with garlic and thyme to make it extra special) and cook as follows: for the first 15 minutes on gas mark 9 (240) then turn the oven down to gas mark 5 (190)
20 minutes per lb for pink meat

Shoulder
The shoulder is full of muscle and therefore benefits from long slow roasting or braising in liquid such as wine / stock or even tinned tomatoes depending on what you are doing.  You can find several recipes for shoulder of lamb in my recipes section.
Temperatures:
Season the shoulder and drizzle with oil.  Seal in a hot pan on all sides then add to a large roasting tin, and depending on what your making throw in extra ingredients such as some, garlic, herbs, carrots, celery, onions and your chosen liquid, bring to a light boil on the hob then cover tightly with foil and/or lid and place in a pre heated oven
Gas mark 2 for anything between 2-7 hours. (or a slow cooker)

It really won’t do it any harm being in longer, it will just make the muscle and sinew break down even more therefore making the meat softer and more delicious!.  You'll know when it’s ready as the meat literally falls off the bone with the introduction of a fork.
Rack (3 ribs)
Temperatures:
The rack benefits from being sealed first as this creates a crust on the meat and seals in the juices as well as creating flavour, to do this rub with a little oil and seasoning and add to a red hot pan for 3 minutes a side until golden brown on all sides (remembering to baste with butter as described in the introduction), then add to a hot oven and cook as follows:
10 minutes for pink meat on gas mark 9 (240)
15 minutes for well done meat on gas mark 9 (240)Cannon (fillet from the eye of the rack)
Temperatures:Seal in a hot pan as above then add to the oven on a pre heated tray, as follows:8 minutes for pink meat on gas mark 5 (190)
12 minutes for well done meat on gas mark 5 (190)

Pork
A quick note about crackling:
To achieve the perfect crackling follow these steps:
Score the skin of the pork and pour over boiling water from the kettle.
Pat the pork dry.
Rub a few teaspoons of vinegar any kind) and sea salt into the skin, really rubbing in deep and getting in the score marks.
Place in a hot oven immediately and roast as described below.

Shoulder and Leg (roasting joint)
Temperatures:You don’t have to seal this cut of meat, carry out the steps mentioned above to create the crackling, season the flesh and pop it in a pre heated roasting tin drizzled with a little oil and cook as follows: for the first 15 minutes on gas mark 9 (240) then turn the oven down to gas mark 6 (190) and cook as follows:25 minutes per lb (450g) PLUS an extra 25 minutes  

Loin
Temperatures:This is my favourite cut of pork, I ask for it boned and rolled and usually unroll it and stuff it before rolling it back up and roasting it.  Ask your butcher for the bones, place them in the bottom of the roasting tin and put the pork on top once it’s ready for the oven.  This really creates fantastic roasting gravy.
You don’t have to seal this cut of meat, carry out the steps mentioned above to create the crackling, then season the flesh and cook as follows:
15 minutes at gas mark 9 (240) then 30 minutes per lb (there’s no extra 30 minutes on this one its just 15 minutes then 30 minutes to the lb)

Fillet also known as tenderloin
Temperatures: Rub the pork with oil and seal in a pan for 2 minutes a side remembering to baste with butter as described in the introduction. Transfer to a hot roasting tin and roast in a pre heated oven on gas mark 6 (200) for the following times:20 minutes for a medium fillet serving 1-2
25 minutes for a large fillet serving 2-3

Chop
Temperatures:Season the chops and rub with a little oil.  Heat a griddle pan until hot then place the chops into the pan and hold them skin-side down to create crackling. Cook them like this for 1 minute before turning onto the flesh, cooking each side for 1-2 minutes.
Transfer the chops to a hot baking sheet and place in the oven for the following times:
Gas mark 5 (190) for 8 minutes, or until completely cooked through.

Duck
Breast
Temperatures:With duck it is important to first render down the fat from the skin in order to crisp the skin and produce a piece of meat with minimal gristle.  To do this, season the breast on the flesh side.  Add the breast, skin side down to a COLD pan with no oil and turn the heat on.  As the temperature increases the fat will begin to come out, or render, from the meat.  Leave the breast untouched for 2 minutes until the skin is crisp and golden.  Turn the breast over and continue to cook for a further 2 minutes before adding to a pre heated oven on a hot baking tray on gas mark 6 (200) for the following times:
10 minutes for an average sized breast which would feed 1, larger breasts i would leave in for 12-14 minutes.

Whole
Temperatures:Season the bird inside and out, stuff with desired stuffing (if using) drizzle the whole bird with oil, prick the skin all over with a fork to allow the fat to render out of the bird and place in a hot baking tin and cook in a pre heated oven as follows:20 minutes per 450g/1lb plus 20 minutes