White wine punch

Most summer punches are based on red wine making them very similar to sangria, a Spanish fruit punch. If you do have some white wine to spare or simply prefer white wine to red, here is an easy punch you can prepare in a matter of minutes.

Here is what you need to serve about 8 to 10 glasses, always depending on the size of the glasses you use.

1 bottle white wine
2 cups peach schnapps
3 large peaches, peeled and chopped into bite-size pieces
1 fresh orange
1 fresh, local lemon
Lemonade or Tonic water.

Simple place the peeled peach pieces in your punch bowl and top up with the wine and the schnapps. If you have time, or if you would like to prepare this punch ahead of time, allow the peaches to rest in the wine. You can leave them to rest for a couple of hours or even overnight.

Once you are ready to serve the punch, top up with the lemonade. Now cut the lemon and the orange into thin slices and cut each slice into a minimum of 4 pieces. Place the orange and lemon pieces into the punch so that you will have the peach pieces which have sunk to the bottom and the citrus pieces floating on top.

Sundried tomato, potato and rosemary pizza

Here is what you need to make a Pizza for 4:
To make your dough
500g plain flour
5 teaspoons sugar
5 teaspoons dried yeast
2 teaspoons salt
5 tablespoons olive oil
For the filling
4 boiled potatoes, skin on
3 sun dried tomatoes
Fresh rosemary sprigs
Olive oil

Preheat your oven at 230C, or at the highest possible mark.

Start off by preparing the dough, preferably a couple of hours in advance. Place all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix them together. Now, make a well in the centre and add the oil. With a glass of luke-warm water in one hand start to add enough water little by little until a soft dough is formed. Place the dough in a floured bowl and allow it to rest for a couple of hours punching it down should it rise too much.

Once you are ready to use the dough, stretch it open with your hands, forget the rolling pin, and place it in a well oiled and floured baking tray.

Give it enough time to find its shape in the dish then with the back of your fingers press the middle down slightly allowing the edges to be thicker than the centre.

Now peel the potatoes and slice them into 1 cm slices. Place them in a bowl and add the chopped sun-dried tomatoes and the rosemary. It would be best to chop the rosemary needles slightly but if you are in a rush just slide them off the stalk and add them to the bowl. Now add a generous helping of Extra Virgin Olive oil, some salt and pepper and stir slowly. It is important to coat all the potatoes with the oil but be careful not to break the potatoes up too much.

Next spread the filling in the middle of the pastry leaving a thick boarder around the whole of the pastry. This will allow the pasty to puff up slightly around the edges.

Bake the pizza in the preheated oven at 180C for electric fan ovens for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Curried chicken salad

This salad is also called coronation chicken as it was once created for Queen Elizabeth’s coronation celebration in 1953.

It is an easy salad to prepare and will make a prefect fresh dish for your summer entertainment or as a side dish to your BBQs. Here is what you need to serve 2 persons as a main course

2 Chicken thighs
200g roasted unsalted peanuts
1 tablespoon Medium curry paste
5 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 x 180ml natural yoghurt
1 tablespoon Mango Chutney
Mixed salad leaves

Start off by cooking the chicken thighs. You can do this by boiling them with some root vegetables until they are cooked through.

Once your chicken is done, allow it to cool then cut it into small, bite-size pieces.
In the meantime prepare the sauce. Mix the mayo, yoghurt and curry paste together in a large bowl. Add the mango chutney and finally stir in the chicken pieces.

Make sure that you do not break the chicken whilst stirring it, so mix slowly.

Once you are ready to serve, prepare your presentation bowl and line it with the mixed salad leaves. If you do not find mixed leaves, then you can just use some lettuce leaves.

Next pour in the chicken mixture and spread it evenly around the bowl. Finally sprinkle with the roughly chopped roasted peanuts.

This salad is best served at room temperature. Do not keep for more than 3 days after the salad has been prepared.