Simple courgette fritters are perfect for a quick lunch or light supper, and they are very seasonal. I know the courgettes are available all year round in the grocery shops, but they now have a lot of flavour, and this is the time for many beautiful dishes with this humble vegetable. Although the word fritters conjures up deep frying and greasy dishes, the patties are light, and the cooking uses little oil. The courgette fritters can be eaten straight out of the pan or warm with a dollop of crème fresh. Find the recipe here…

The meatballs hold together better if you choose quite fatty pork such as pork shoulder. Cook the whole batch even though you don’t intend to eat them all at once – they reheat nicely and also freeze very well. Fry the meatballs over medium heat until golden brown, served over creamy mashed potatoes, with easy apple and beetroot salad. This dish can make a perfectly satisfying dinner after a busy weekday, it's tasty, warming and very comforting. Find the recipe here.

Ratatouille is a traditional Provençal vegetable stew, fragrant with garlic and thyme. It is excellent to have it on hand for a quick lunch or as a side dish for dinner. You can serve it warm or cold, on rice, with roast meat or a baguette. Aubergine, courgette, onion and pepper must be cooked separately in olive oil before being combined with diced tomatoes, tomato paste, chopped garlic, and herbs and stewed until all vegetables are tender. Use the vegetable at the peak of the season; then, you will get the perfect flavourful Ratatouille. Find the recipe here

A traditional polish delight is served usually on Christmas Eve. This meatless dish can be eaten on its own with a slice of bread or fill other traditional Christmas Eve meals – pierogi z grzybami (dumplings with sauerkraut and forest mushrooms). Sauerkraut is always prepared at least one week in advance as all flavours need time to combine and develop. We use porcini - the most delicious and aromatic wild mushrooms, a few dried prunes to balance the sour taste of fermented cabbage and a large glass of red wine that deepen the flavour of the dish. Find the recipe here…

Mackerel is great – extremely tasty, nutritious and packed with minerals and good fish oil. It’s usually eaten smoked, sometimes baked but less often battered and fried. Battered fresh mackerel fillets are delicious, no worse than cod or haddock fillets. They should be sold at the local fish and chips shops with fries, tartare sauce and peas because they make a wonderful British classic. This mackerel fried coated with fresh batter is an excellent rendition of a popular meal. I serve it with Mexican pickled onions, homemade tartar sauce and pulses salad. Find the recipe here...

Pepper semi-confit is exceptionally versatile in the kitchen. It can be used as a topping for toast and as crostini spread, in sandwiches, omelettes, pasta sauces, tarts and quiche. It’s great over grilled fish and with roasted meat or potatoes. Pepper semi-confit is sweet and very aromatic because the olive oil used for this condiment is infused with thyme and garlic. Confit should be refrigerated before serving and can be kept in the frige for 2 weeks. Find the recipe here….

I wouldn’t name it mayonnaise but a mayonnaise sauce because it requires a whole egg instead of the egg yolks and its consistency is a bit runny. But this sauce can be a good start of the adventure with emulsions and making the real mayonnaise from scratch. The recipe is fail-proof and super easy, calls for the whole egg, mustard, vegetable oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper – all ingredients at room temperature. You will also need a blender and a jug or a narrow jar that fits the head of the blender. The Whole-Egg Mayonnaise is perfect for salads and can be served as a dip. Find the recipe here…

Homemade Mayonnaise can’t be compared to any jarred stuff. Store-bought condiment usually lists many ingredients such as colouring, sugar or glucose-fructose syrup while real mayonnaise calls only for egg yolks, oil, vinegar or lemon juice, mustard and seasoning. That’s it! The whole process may look a bit fussy and overly complicated but requires, in fact, a bit of patience, a cook’s strong arm and the ingredients at room temperature. Real homemade mayonnaise is delicious!  It contains natural flavours of its ingredients and can be served as a fancy dip with shrimps or vegetables and even with fries. Once you make it yourself, you will never come back to shop-bought mayonnaise. Find the recipe here…