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The sweetness of beetroot, and the acidity of vinegar, balance very well. In this recipe the beetroot isn't really pickled at all - fresh cooked beetroot is flavored with vinegar and served as soon as it is chilled. Very refreshing.

It is best to cook beetroot whole, skin on. If it is home grown, just wash it and cut the leaves off (leave a couple of cm of stalk). Keeping the root whole helps prevent the colour and flavour leaking out. When it is cooked, drain and leave it until it is cool enough to handle. Top and tail the root, and the skin should just slide off.

Cabbage is not everyones favorite vegetable, but it is very nutritious.

This delicious, healthy soup is easy and cheap to make. It is very tasty, and keeps very well in the fridge (if anything the flavor improves after a day or two). It can also be served chilled as a Vichyssoise

Cottage pie is a complete meal in a single dish, and is great winter comfort food. Not really a pie at all, of course, it is a layering of mince, vegatables and mashed potato, baked in the oven to give a crispy top.

This pie is a family favorite. For a family of four a full pie can make two meals, hot on the first day, cold on the next. It is great both ways.

The secret of this pie is the wonderful stock created by boiling the chicken and ham, then reduced to give an intense flavour.

The recipe calls for 450g of shortcrust pastry (ie 300g flour, 150g butter). This will give quite a thin crust for a 30cm pie dish, you could use more pastry if you wanted a thicker crust. You could also use prepared puff pastry, but nothing beats home made shortcrust pastry.

Shortcrust pastry is used in many pies and flans. Pastry uses half fat to flour, so it is very easy to adapt this recipe to any required amount.

Pastry should be light, crisp and melt in the mouth. To achieve this, you need to mix the flour and butter thoroughly, but without melting the butter. In good pastry, the grains of the flour fry in the butter as it cooks. If the butter melts during mixing, it is absorbed by the flour and you end up with cardboard pastry.

This simple, delicious beef stew requires long, slow cooking so that the meat melts in the mouth.

It is essential to use stewing or braising steak for this. Frying steak would dry out during cooking.

Despite the long cooking time, the actual preparation is quick and easy. The long slow cooking ensures the meat is very tender, and creates a rich gravy.

Pearl barley is a nice addition which helps to thicken the gravy and make the stew more filling. It doesn't matter exactly how much you add, but remember it swells during cooking. A small handful is usually about right.