Easter is the time of year when special dishes are prepared in our kitchens. This is true throughout the Christian world but there are differences from one country to another. For example, we eat Hot Cross buns in this country on Good Friday. My family, like many today, didn’t make their own but the local baker used to come to the farm with a special delivery.

Lamb traditionally is eaten by many celebrating Easter or Passover and I know farmers rear them especially for this market.

EGGS CROSSED WITH SMOKED SALMON

Of course you can’t completely forget eggs at Easter, so here is a dish that can be used as a starter or by adding more salad a light lunch.

Ingredients

Six hard-boiled eggs, halved

2oz (50g) pasta twists

1 tablespoon oil

8oz smoked salmon

A few mixed lettuce leaves

Cocktail sauce:

4 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 teaspoon tomato purée

½ level teaspoon paprika

Little salt

Decoration:

Some sliced cucumber

2 tomatoes in quarters

Little lump fish (optional)

Method

1. Cook the pasta and drain well. Use your fingers make sure each piece is separated and not stuck together. Pour in the oil and stir.

2. Make the sauce with all the ingredients and stir half into the pasta.

3. Place some shredded lettuce on each (small) serving plate. Pile the pasta mixture on top, followed by the eggs. Mask them with the remaining sauce. Criss-cross the top with strips of smoked salmon.

4. Decorate with slices of cucumber, tomato and the lumpfish if using.

CHICKEN IN CIDER BRANDY

In the good old days a roasted chicken was a real treat and served on special occasions, but now they are so cheap they often appear on the menu. You can use cider instead of the brandy, but the sauce will taste different.

Ingredients

1 large chicken, jointed

3 tablespoons Somerset Royal Cider Brandy

2oz butter

2 tablespoons oil

1 chopped onion

4oz sliced mushrooms

4 tablespoons stock

1 tablespoon flour

½ teaspoon thyme leaves

4 to 6 tablespoons double cream

Seasoning

Method

1. Dust the chicken portions in the flour before sealing in the hot oil and butter. When brown remove and place in an ovenproof dish. Sauté the onions and mushrooms in the remaining fat and add that to the casserole.

2. Deglaze the pan with the stock and brandy. Pour over the chicken. Season well and add the thyme. Cover and cook for 45 minutes in a moderate oven. The chicken should be crisp and well cooked.

3. Remove the chicken and arrange on a serving dish. Pour the cream into this pan and bring just to the boil, pour over the chicken.

LAMB AND APRICOT CASSEROLE

You can’t beat a delicious roast lamb but here’s a dish that can be made in advance and allowed to cook for some time in its own. It’s nearly a meal in itself especially, if you add halved small potatoes. You can use ‘ready to eat’ apricots so there’s no need to soak them overnight.

Ingredients

2oz dried apricots

2lb cubed lamb or mutton

2oz butter

2 tablespoons oil

2 large onions, chopped

2 leeks, chopped

2 sticks celery, chopped (optional)

2 large carrots, diced

2 small parsnips, diced

½ medium swede, diced

1½ to 2 pints stock

Seasoning

Method

1. Soak the apricots in cold water overnight.

2. Melt the butter with the oil, and fry the onion for a few minutes until softened. Add the meat and the rest of the vegetables, and fry for a few minutes.

3. Add the stock and season well. Bring to the boil, and then reduce the heat and cook slowly on top of the stove or in a moderate oven (Gas Mark 4, 180ºC, 350ºF) for about 40 minutes to 1 hour, until the meat is tender.

EASTER BISCUITS

My grandmother used to make her own butter which she apparently kept chilled in the farm’s well. She then would make a huge batch of Easter biscuits that she sold in Bridgwater on market day.

The unique flavour found in Easter Biscuits and Hot Cross Buns comes from Oil of Cassia. This is a pungent liqui , and as literally two drops is all you need, a small bottle will last for years. (You may need to order it on the internet.) Sometimes cooks use a level teaspoon of mixed spice or cinnamon, but it’s not the same.

Ingredients

4oz butter

4oz caster sugar

1 egg yolk

8oz plain flour

2 drops of oil of cassia

Pinch of salt

2oz currants

Little caster sugar

Method

1. Cream the butter and the caster sugar.

2. Add egg, followed by the oil of cassia, flour, salt and currants

3. Roll out to ¼in thickness and cut out into 3in rounds.

4 Bake at Gas Mark 4/180ºC/350ºF for 10 minutes. Cool on a wire after sprinkling with caster sugar.