Heat the butter or oil and fry the caraway seeds until they spit and release their aroma.
Add the onion over medium heat until glassy, then add the garlic and fry until it takes a little colour.
Deglaze the pan with a glass or two of sherry and bubble to reduce.
Add the meat and the cabbage (in batches if necessary). When the cabbage collapses, season, cover, and cook gently for about 15 minutes until the cabbage is tender.
Remove the lid and cook off any excess moisture.
Serve with coriander potatoes, or parsley couscous, if you like.

Generously butter the inside of a 1.2litre/2 pint pudding basin.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.

Spoon 50g/2oz of the golden syrup into the base of the pudding basin and set aside.

Beat the remaining 50g/2oz golden syrup, butter, sugar, dates and lemon zest with an electric whisk until light and fluffy. Whisk in half of the eggs followed by half of the flour. Whisk in the remaining beaten eggs and flour. The mixture should be just a dropping consistency. (Add a splash of milk if the mixture is very thick.)

Spoon the mixture into the pudding basin and smooth the surface.
Bake for 40 to 50 minutes until well risen and brown.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 and put in a baking sheet.
Make your pastry. Line a pie dish, weight with baking beans, and blind bake for 40 minutes at Gas Mark 4. Cook the chicken lightly - you might roast or poach it. Cut into chunks.
Halve or quarter the mushrooms unless very small.
Chop up the bacon and fry, if using.
Make a blue cheese sauce from a couple of tablespoons mayonnaise, a couple of tablespoons sour cream, 2 cloves pressed garlic, most of the juice of a lemon less a tablespoon for a spinach side dish if using, 100g blue cheese.
Warm the blue cheese sauce and all the other ingredients gently in a saucepan.
Pour the filling into the pie dish.
Roll out a puff pastry lid and cover the pie.
Put on the baking sheet irrespective of any thermal function, the sheet will catch any blue cheese sauce leakage and bake at 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6 for 15-20 minutes until golden.

Trim tops of chilies and discard seeds (see here for more detailed instructions). Place on a microwave-safe plate and microwave on high power until pliable and fragrant, about 15 seconds. Cut chilies into thin strips using kitchen shears or a sharp knife.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onions and garlic and cook, stirring, until softened and just starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Add oregano and chili strips and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add tomatoes and chipotle chilies with their sauce and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer for 10 minutes. Process the mixture with a hand blender or in a standing blender until a loose purée is formed. Stir in cilantro, soy sauce, and lime juice and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside to reheat as required.

Simmer the beans (in stock if you have it) for 45-60 minutes until tender but not collapsing. Season with salt and pepper.
In a frying pan fry the sausage (you might need a little oil if they aren't too greasy), then add the crushed garlic and tomato purée. Fry until the raw flavours evaporate and add to the pot with the chopped celery.
Cook for another 20 minutes until the celery is tender.

If, like me, you're using dried mushrooms - soak the mushrooms in water for an hour or two, then chop finely and fry in a little butter until they're cooked, but not completely shrivelled. Make the puff (or suet) pastry and roll out.
Mix the mushrooms with the pâté and a little crushed raw garlic. Smear in a layer over the pastry, leaving the edges clear. Roll up the pastry, press the edges together to seal and place, seam-side down on a baking sheet. Bake at Gas Mark 6 for 20 minutes until the pastry begins to turn golden, then turn the heat down to Gas Mark 4 for another 20-30 minutes until the roll is cooked through.
Serve with something that has a sour, mustard or creamy sauce to it. Cauliflower cheese works fine.

Bring the tomato juice to a simmer then slowly add enough polenta probably about a fifth the volume of juice to thicken while stirring continuously. Season with salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Reduce the heat to the lowest you can manage, cover, and simmer for half an hour to an hour until the polenta absorbs the liquid and loses its grittiness to become smooth. You could bake the polenta to cook it if you prefer. You may need to add a little water if the polenta sticks. Serve with a soft blue cheese crumbled on top.

Soak the beans overnight.
Put the beans in a large pot and cover with tomato juice you may need to add water if the stew dries or starts to stick. Season, cover and start simmering. Leave them for 15 minutes or so.
Peel a carrot, slice in half (or quarters) lengthways, then into chunks add to the pot.
Peel the chorizo, slice in half lengthways and then into chunks. Peel and halve or quarter the garlic cloves. Heat a frying pan and fry the chorizo with the garlic briefly to colour then add to the pot.
Peel and roughly chop the onion (or use a few small ones). Cut the leeks into fat rounds and wash thoroughly to remove any grit. Fry the onion and leek in the frying pan with a little extra oil if necessary until they take on a little colour, then add to the pot.
Wash the cabbage leaves, cut out the stalks you can chop these and add them to the pot earlier so they cook through and roughly chop. Add to the pot with about 15 minutes to go. The beans should be cooked between one and two hours.
Taste, adjust seasoning and serve.

Remove the heel (crusty end) from the loaf and cut fat slices from about ½ of the rest. Cut the slices into large cubes (1-1½") - you can leave these crusts on. Adjust the amount to fill your casserole dish.
Slice the leek (whitish part only) into fat rounds, wash thoroughly, then drain. Peel and slice the garlic.
Whisk the eggs with double cream and milk. About twice as much milk as cream - and enough to cover the bread in the casserole. Season with salt & pepper.
Grate the cheese. Chop the parsley if using. Cut the mushrooms into quarters or fat chunks.
Break up the black pudding and fry it if it's a jar of Oma's Roter you're using you just need to break it up - it's already cooked. Put in a casserole dish.
Fry the leeks until they caramelize a little around the edges. Add to the casserole.
Fry the mushrooms and garlic until the mushrooms begin to lose liquid.
Mix all the dry ingredients together in the casserole dish, adding enough bread to fill the dish. Don't overfill - the contents will swell quite a bit during cooking.
Pour in egg mix to barely cover the bread. It's best to have a few bits sticking out - press any floating cubes into the mixture. Leave for the bread to absorb the egg for an hour or two, or a day in the fridge.
Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4/350°F/175°C, then bake the pudding on a baking sheet uncovered for 1-1½ hours until it rises enthusiastically, the top browns a little, and the custard is set throughout.

Add the flour, salt and flavourings to a bowl. Stir to combine. Crack the eggs into a small bowl and whisk them. Whisk in the main quantity of milk. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the liquid. Use a wooden spoon, or a mixer with a dough hook attachment and knead the dough for 16-20 minutes, or until bubbles appear. Add as much additional milk as required to achieve the consistency of muffin batter. After 15 minutes or less of beating, use a wooden spoon to scoop and pull the dough. If bubbles/holes appear, the dough is done. Bring at least 2 quarts of lightly salted water to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Using the Spätzle maker of your choice, cut the noodles into the simmering water. They will sink to to bottom. When they float to the surface after a minute or two, they're done (though they may need a nudge to free them from the bottom of the pan). Use a slotted spoon to transfer the noodles to a colander, and then dump the noodles in a large bowl of ice water. Drain thoroughly again.
They can be stored in the fridge for at least a couple of days before using.

To serve, heat some butter in a large frying pan and toss in the spätzle to heat through. Season again if you like.

Mix the ground spices with enough water to make a thick paste. Heat a generous amount of oil or ghee in a small pan and cook the paste over a gentle heat until the raw aroma goes and the oil separates.
Add finely chopped red onion and fry a little until the onion begins to crinkle but don't burn the spices.
Stir through crushed dried fenugreek leaves, add quartered tomatoes and pressed garlic and cook until the tomatoes begin to collapse.
Throw in the cabbage and cook briefly until it begins to collapse.
Add a tub of barbecue sauce (one of those you get free from a burger joint) and a tub of hot sauce (or their equivalent from bottles!).
Add the baked beans, and stir until heated through.
Serve.