The British Larder Inspirational recipe diary

Friday was a joyful day for us as we received our Christmas present -a Rocket Garden.

Last year was the first year that we had planted fruits and vegetables. It was an amazing experience and it pushed us into looking at the food that we eat in a completely different way. We have a newfound respect for the produce as we now appreciate how long it takes to grow somethning as humble as a tomato.

We spent most of Saturday planning and planting our fruit and vegetable garden; now all we need to do is water, weed and wait for the fruits of this summer’s crop.

This salad is a true reminder of the kind of vegetables that I could harvest this year. Fresh tender new season spinach, earthy new potatoes and golden beetroot.

We have a special affection for beetroot and love it in all colours, shapes and sizes.

It’s nearly the barbecue season or braai weather, as my family would say.

Cooking the chicken on the bone is the best way for me as the bone helps keep the delicate flesh moist and gives it that extra injection of flavour.

This dish can be cooked over the coals or in the oven. If you decide to barbecue , I would definitely recommend  that you part cook the chickens in the oven for at least 30 minutes to ensure that the skin does not burn and that you are not left with raw meat on the bones.

I have cooked these half chickens at a low temperature in the oven and not only does it ensure that the meat is moist and tender but it ensures that the marinade does not burn and become bitter.

The marinade becomes sweet as it gently caramelizes and the coconut toasts and becomes

These marshmallow, cardamom and bitter chocolate naughty dunkers are a bit of fun! It’s very simple and easy to make, but the guilty pleasure it provides is irresistible.

I dunk the chocolate in cup of hot milk, stir and enjoy a cup of unbelievably naughty but nice hot chocolate.

Vary the flavours and allow your guest to choose their favourite. Flavours such as cinnamon, cloves, orange, star anise and basically anything you fancy will work pretty well. I choose to use bitter dark chocolate but milk chocolate work just as well.

Wrap them in various different coloured parchment papers and give them to friends and family as a gift. They are guaranteed to put a smile on anyone’s face.

I found Ramon Morato’s book called Chocolate inspirational for two reasons, his technical explanations and flavour combinations are both outstanding!

Wow did I have fun making this dish today!

Thanks to Great British Menu last week featuring the Welsh heat with Stephen Terry and James Sommerin. Both their desserts reminded me of my childhood. I love jelly and custard and James made a trifle that looked like my mums Christmas delights.

So being inspired by the Great British Menu and my wonderful box of seasonal vegetables from the market I was happy as Larry. The box contained the most fragrant strawberries, it did really remind me of summer. I have almost forgotten the aroma and taste of ripe strawberries.

I cooked up a jelly from half of the strawberries using an old technique that I used to use when working in the restaurants, we called it jus-de-fraise. The beauty with this technique is that you should use the ripest and most bruised strawberries to make the strawberry jus as they