BLACKBERRY AND PEAR STRUDEL

This is a lovely recipe that I use in the autumn when pears, apples, plums and blackberries are in abundance. You can use any combination of these, but blackberry and pear is my favourite. I like to serve the strudel warm, with thick clotted cream or homemade vanilla ice cream.

Serves 6

120g (4¼oz) unsalted butter

½tsp natural vanilla extract

3 ripe pears

1tsp grated orange zest

Juice of half a lemon

100g (3½oz) blackberries

60g (2¼oz) sultanas

50g (1¾oz) flaked almonds, toasted 120g (4¼oz) caster sugar

5 sheets of filo pastry

120g (4¼oz) fresh white breadcrumbs Icing sugar, for dusting

Heat your oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4. Line a baking tray with parchment. Gently melt 100g of the butter with the vanilla extract. Peel, core and dice the pears. Melt the remaining butter in a frying pan, add the pears and sauté for 2-3 minutes to soften, then drain. Tip the pears into a bowl, leave to cool, then toss with the orange zest, lemon juice, blackberries, sultanas, flaked almonds and sugar.

Lay a sheet of filo on a clean tea towel on a work surface. Brush with some of the vanilla-butter mixture and sprinkle with a fifth of the breadcrumbs. Repeat these layers until you have used all the filo pastry and crumbs, saving a little butter to finish.

Place the fruit filling along a short edge of filo, leaving a 5cm clear border. Fold in the long sides and then gently roll up the strudel from the short edge, using the tea towel to help. Place seam side down on the baking tray and brush with butter. Bake for 40 minutes, until golden. Leave to cool slightly, then dust with icing sugar to serve.

All copy extracted from How To Bake by

Paul Hollywood, Bloomsbury, £25.

You must, must try this! Phat Thai, pronounced Pad Thai, is central Thailand’s greatest snack food. Sold in hawkers’ markets within Bangkok and in the many towns that surround it, it is never very spicy; the chillies are added at the end, usually by the consumer, sometimes along with other ingredients set out on tables. To me the special ingredient is pickled turnip, which you can buy from Asian stores, and which gives the noodles that extra sour dimension and crunchy texture.

Serves 6

600g (1lb 5oz) thick, flat rice noodles

A bunch of fresh coriander, with roots

20 garlic cloves, finely chopped 100ml (3½fl oz) vegetable oil 20 medium fresh raw prawns, peeled

150g (5½oz) pickled turnip, drained and chopped

PHAT THAI

30g (1oz) sugar

50ml (2fl oz) concentrated cooking tamarind (from supermarkets)

4 eggs, beaten

2tbsp oyster sauce

50ml (2fl oz) fish sauce 100g (3½oz) beansprouts 1 lime, juiced

1 bunch of spring onions, cut at an angle

100g (3½oz) roasted peanuts, crushed

3 fresh red chillies, de-seeded and sliced

Crispy fried onions, to serve

Soak the rice noodles in warm water for 20 minutes, then drain and keep to one side. Pick the leaves from the coriander and reserve, and discard the stems. Soak and wash the coriander roots, then pound the roots and garlic together using a mortar and pestle (if you have no roots use the coriander stems). Heat the oil in a wok or deep frying pan over a high heat and when it’s shimmering, add the pounded garlic and coriander roots. Stir for a few moments, then add the prawns and half the pickled turnip.

Cook for 30 seconds, then add the sugar and tamarind. Add the noodles and toss, then add the eggs and stir-fry for a further 2 minutes. Pour in the oyster sauce and fish sauce and toss to mix, then stir-fry for 4-5 minutes. Add half the beansprouts and finally finish off with the lime juice, half the spring onions and half the peanuts.

Pile the noodles into a large serving dish and garnish with the remaining turnip, beansprouts, spring onion and roasted peanuts, and the coriander leaves, chillies and crispy fried onions.

From John Torode’s Sydney To Seoul, Headline Home, £27.