Ingredients

• 450g / 1lb butternut squash, peeled and deseeded
• 25g / 1oz butter
• 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• 15g sage leaves from a pot or pack
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 300g / 9oz arborio rice
• 150ml / ¼pt dry white wine
• 900ml / 1½pt hot vegetable stock
• 30ml / 2tbsp olive oil
• 75g / 3oz Dolcelatte, gorgonzola or other blue cheese, crumbled
• 25g / 1oz Parmesan cheese, grated
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• A little freshly grated nutmeg (optional)

Method

1. Cut the squash into 1cm chunks. Melt the butter in a large pan, add the squash and onion and cook over a medium heat for 6-8 mins or until pale golden.
2. Remove the sage leaves from the stalks, set aside about 12 leaves. Chop the remaining sage leaves finely. Then add to the pan with the garlic and rice, and cook, stirring until the rice grains are coated with butter.
3. Add the wine and cook, stirring occasionally until it has been absorbed. Add a couple of ladles full of hot stock to the pan, and then cook over a medium heat, stirring occasionally until the stock has been absorbed. Repeat this process until all the stock has been absorbed and the rice is tender - about 20 mins.
4. Whilst this cooks, heat the oil in a small frying pan and add the remaining sage leaves a few at a time, cooking them for about 20 secs until they sizzle and become crisp. Transfer to a piece of kitchen paper to drain. Set aside.
5. Stir the cheese into the risotto, and season to taste with salt and pepper and nutmeg if using. Serve with the fried sage leaves scattered over.

Ingredients

• 225g chorizo piccante sausage, chopped
• 1 red onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 15g fresh rosemary from a pot or pack, chopped
• 2½ml / ½ tsp dried chilli flakes
• 150ml / ¼pt red wine
• 1 (400g) can chopped tomatoes
• 30ml / 2tbsp tomato puree
• 225g / 8oz spaghetti
• 50g / 2oz pitted kalamata olives, torn in two
• 20g flat leaf parsley from a pack or pot
• Rocket, basil and parsley leaves to serve as a salad

Method

1. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil for the pasta. Meanwhile heat another large pan, add the chorizo and cook over a low heat for 3-4 mins until the oil has run out of the sausage. Discard all but 30ml/2tbsp of the chorizo oil.
2. Remove the leaves from the rosemary stalks and finely chop. Add the onion, garlic and rosemary and cook for 3 mins. Add the chilli, wine, tomatoes and puree and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Cover and simmer for 5 mins, then uncover and simmer for a further 5 mins.
3. Add the spaghetti to the boiling salted water, return to the boil, and then simmer for 10 mins or until ‘al dente’. Drain well and add to the sauce in the pan.
4. Add the olives and parsley to the spaghetti and toss until well mixed. If liked, toss the leaves together with a little olive oil and serve alongside the pasta as a salad.

Ingredients

• 1 jar Garner’s Pickled Shallots, drained
• 1 French stick
• Olive oil, to drizzle
• 1 jar pesto
• Your favourite fresh goat’s cheese or Camembert

Method

1. Pre heat oven 180°C / gas 4. Slice bread obliquely to create diagonal pieces.
2. Line a metal tray with baking parchment and fill tray with slices of bread then drizzle lightly with oil.
3. Place a thin wedge of cheese on each slice and press in two Garner’s Pickled Shallots – you can slice them if you prefer.
4. Add a dot of pesto and roast in oven for approximately 5 minutes until the cheese is just melting around the onions. Delicious served straight from the oven.

Ingredients

• 1 jar Garner’s Sweet Pickled Baby Onions, drained
• 1 small haggis, freshly cooked
• 1 jar cranberry sauce
• 1 sliced white loaf/ readymade pastry tartlets
• Melted butter, for brushing

Method

1. Pre heat oven 180°C/gas mark 4 and butter a bun tray.
2. Using a rolling pin flatten bread slices a little then use a cutter to make circles of the bread to fit dimples on tray.
3. Brush bread lightly with butter and bake in oven for approximately 10 minutes until crisp and golden. Remove from tray and repeat with remaining bread to make as many canapé cases as you require.
4. When required, fill cases with warm haggis, a teaspoon tip of cranberry sauce and top with a Garner’s Sweet Pickled Baby Onion.

Ingredients

• 1 cucumber (even better if it has a bend in it!)
• 4 wafer thin slices of Parma/Argyll ham or Bresaola beef
• 150g Lanark Blue/Roquefort cheese
• 1 jar Garner’s Sweet Pickled Baby Onions, drained
• Cocktail sticks
• Red pepper

Method

1. Rinse and dry cucumber. Cut a thin slice off one side to create a flat base. Mark skin with a canelling knife if desired.
2. Thread the cocktail sticks with a Garner’s Sweet Pickled Baby Onion and a nugget of cheese, weave on a sliver of ham and finish with another onion.
3. Jab completed sticks into the cucumber in two wavy ‘tramlines’ up the centre from end to end.
4. Use a small vegetable knife to shape a mouth at one end and push in a piece of red bell pepper shaped as a forked tongue to complete the snake.

Ingredients

• Cubes of monkfish (you can also use prawns or salmon)
• Red and green peppers
• Baxters Fire Roast Pepper Chutney
• Olive oil
• Bamboo skewers (soaked in water for 3-4 hours)

Method

1. Place the monkfish into a bowl and add enough chutney to coat the fish. Leave to marinate for 1-2 hours.
2. Deseed and dice the peppers to the same size as the monkfish and then thread the monkfish and peppers onto the skewers alternating, until the skewer is full.
3. Brush the kebab with a little olive oil, place under a hot grill (or on the barbecue) until cooked, turning kebabs regularly to ensure they cook evenly.
4. Serve with your choice of salad and rice or bread.

Ingredients

• 20 slices of bread, crusts removed
• 50g cheddar, grated
• English mustard, to taste (approx 3tbsp)
• 20 chipolatas or cocktail sausages

Method

1. Trim the crusts off the bread slices, and use a rolling pin to flatten them.
2. Grate the cheese (we use cheddar but you can use any variety you like) into a bowl, and add in the English mustard or whichever mustard you prefer, but my little ones like English the best. I would add around 3tbsp, but use as much as your tastebuds can handle.
3. Spread the cheesy mustard mix onto the bread, and add one small sausage (chipolatas or you can use two smaller cocktail sausages end to end) into the middle. You can pre-cook the sausages if you like the peace of mind that they are definitely cooked (as I do, I find it tricky to know if little sausages are cooked all the way through ithout stabbing them with a skewer!).
4. Roll the bread and cheesy mustard mix around the sausage until you have a fully rolled parcel. Cook the sausage rolls for about 15-20 minutes at around 180C, depending on how crispy you would like them.
5. Other quick and tasty ideas include sticky sausages – halfway through cooking your cocktail sausages, drizzle honey over the top of them for a nice sweet glaze. You can also add herbs or even mustard to the top.
6. The result is a crispy, yummy delight! They never last long at family parties we have anyway – especially if our Great Grandma has made them as hers always seem to be that bit tastier!