Lauraine Jacobs
Classic Tart Tatin
This classic dessert never fails to impress. With meltingly tender apples cooked in rich caramel, crisp puff pastry and served with some softly whipped cream, it is my idea of heaven. It was invented by the Tatin sisters in their rustic restaurant in the Loire Valley, and requires careful cooking of the caramel and lots of confidence to flip it out of the pan. You need a 22cm ovenproof frying pan with a heavy base, or a 22cm round Le Creuset-style gratin dish, as the tart is cooked on the stove top before finishing in the...
Coconut and Curry Fish Soup
All of my favourite things come together in this recipe: fish, shellfish, coriander and coconut. Redolent of saffron and spicy tones, this soup makes a great luncheon dish on a cold day.
Courgettes, Baked Onions, Shallots and Bacon with Caper and Chilli Dressing.
This is a tasty salad that can be served as an entrée or as a main course dish with steak or lamb. The dressing is really zingy and the chilies add a spicy punch to the taste buds.
Crab Meat with Mint and Orange Salad
This is a terrific zingy-tasting starter if you can get fresh crab meat. I love the fresh crabs we often gather in traps not far from our beach house, but it’s terrifically hard work and always seems to take ages to shell the crabs and extract enough meat. Luckily you can buy Waikanae crab meat from a good fish supplier, and fresh crayfish meat can always be substituted for a similar taste. There are great textures in this dish, as the celery adds crunch to the crab and the orange supplements the...
Crayfish Summer Salad
I always treat crayfish – the richest of all seafood, I think – as a real treat, and find I need only a little of it to make me happy. Served like this, with refreshing cucumber and chunks of papaya and avocado, it makes a simple and elegant starter that can be prepared ahead for festive occasions.
