Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6.

Oil a small roasting tray with half the olive oil. Wrap a half-slice of serrano around each asparagus spear stem leaving the tip naked. Place the wrapped spears in the oiled roasting tin and brush them with the remaining olive oil. Season the spears with pepper.

Just before you are ready to serve, roast the asparagus and ham in the oven for ~10 minutes, depending upon thickness, until tender but still firm.

[A little aioli for dipping would not be wasted, if you fancy it.]

Method

First, sweat the onion, together with a pinch of salt, in the olive oil until soft and translucent. Toss in the chopped garlic and fry for two minutes more making sure that the garlic doesn’t toast. Set aside to cool.

Top each slice of baguette with some of the sautéed onion and garlic together with a little of the pan oil. Arrange two slices of goat’s cheese on each.

When ready to serve, warm your assembled treasures in a 160°C oven for a few minutes to soften (but not toast) the cheese.

Method

The caramelized red onion. In a small frying pan, melt the butter with one tablespoon of the olive oil and then sweat the finely sliced red onion for five minutes until soft and translucent. Pour in the red wine and sherry vinegar, then add the sugar and a pinch of salt. Simmer gently until the liquid has evaporated (~20-30 minutes).

The Pedro Ximénez. Boil it to reduce by 50% then allow to cool before use.

Cooking and assembling. When you are ready to serve, fry the chicken livers in the remaining half tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat leaving them slightly pink in the middle. Top each slice of baguette with some of the caramelized red onion and sit a chicken liver on top. Drizzle over a teaspoon or so of the reduced Pedro Ximénez.

Method

Rinse the asparagus tips then cut them to a length of about 5cms/2ins. Steam them for 2-3 minutes (depending upon thickness – go for an al dente finish). Let them cool then tie them into four bundles of three spears using the chive stalks.

Spread the baguette slices thinly with a little mayonnaise. Fold a half slice of salmon attractively on top of each baguette slice and top with a bundle of asparagus spears.

Method

Deftly chop together the crab meat and prawns before mixing it together in a small glass bowl with a couple dollops of mayonnaise. Season to taste. Handle the piquillo peppers very gently as they can be frustratingly fragile. Open the peppers and support them in one hand while you stuff them with the crab and shrimp mixture using a teaspoon.

Just before serving, top the bread, if using, with the stuffed peppers (do not do this too early ‘cos the bread may go soggy). Either way, sprinkle over a few drained capers.

[A decorative squiggle of Marie Rose sauce on each pepper wouldn’t go amiss if you happen to have some in the cupboard/refrigerator.]

Method

In a small glass bowl, mix together the finely chopped egg, olives and anchovies. Moisten the mixture with some of teh reserved anchovy oil to make a pleasing consistency. Season with a few turns of black pepper – you won’t need salt because of the anchovies.

Invert the tomatoes so that they stand on the stalk end. Cut a cap off the round end of each tomato and hollow it out carefully with a teaspoon. Slightly over-stuff each tomato with the mixture and sit a cap back on top to pretty it up.

[If you can get a mixture of red and yellow tomatoes, you’re really cooking on gas – or not.]

Method

Roast the peppers in a blisteringly hot oven (230°C/450°F/gas 8), turning a couple of times, until they are, well, blistered all over (~25-30 minutes). When nicely blackened, put the peppers into a bowl and cover them with cling film. Let them steam thus for ~15 minutes to help loosen their skin.

Hold each pepper over a clean bowl and snip a hole in its base (the pepper’s, not the bowl!) gently squeezing the juices out. Peel off the blackened skin (a blunt knife can help with this and let’s face it, most people’s knives are blunt). Remove the stem, core and seeds before slicing the flesh of each pepper into thin strips. Arrange alternating coloured strips of pepper on a serving plate.

To the reserved pepper juices, add the olive oil, sherry vinegar and crushed garlic. Whisk together seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Cut each olive lengthwise into 2 or 3 pieces.

When ready to serve, drizzle a little dressing over the pepper salad, then scatter over the olive pieces, capers and chopped marjoram/oregano.

Serve as part of a mixed spread of tapas , preferably with some dry sherry as is traditional.