Celebrity recipes

Get some advice and inspiration for your own Dine@Mine event from our celebrities:

• Linda Barker's salmon steaks wrapped in Parma ham with roasted red peppers
• Jeremey Irons's champ
• Lenny Henry's killer chilli
• Arabella Weir's chicken and mushroom risotto
• Lara Lewington's baked sea bass, lemon and coriander couscous and roast vegetables
• Helen Lederer's poppyseed cheese cake

Linda Barker's salmon steaks wrapped in Parma ham with roasted red peppers

"This is an easy dish to cook when there are a lot of people."

Preparation time: 50 minutes
Serves as many as you want!

You need

1 salmon steak per person
1/2 red pepper per person
2 strips of Parma ham per steak
Touch of olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Fresh herbs for seasoning

What to do

Halve the peppers and remove stalks and seeds. Place the halves directly on the grill (if it's still flaming a bit, so much the better) and allow the skins to blister and blacken. If you then put them in a food bag the steam will soften the skins and make them easier to remove.

Place a half over each salmon steak and wrap the whole thing in Parma ham. Drizzle over the olive oil and place in the oven at 200°C for 16-18 minutes or until the ham is crisp. Sprinkle the herbs and add the salt and pepper. Serve immediately with pasta or couscous and a green salad.

"I love people coming to my home for supper as I can make the house look lovely with china, flowers and candles – I like to spoil friends."

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Jeremey Irons's champ

"I inherited the love of potatoes from my mother who, in turn, inherited her liking probably from her Irish ancestors."

Preparation time: 50 minutes
Serves four

You need

11/2 lb potatoes, freshly cooked
4 tablespoons butter, melted
10 spring onions, chopped
1/2 cup milk
Salt and freshly ground
Black pepper to taste

What to do

Simmer the chopped spring onions (green parts too) in the milk. If you prefer, you can use two chopped leeks instead. Drain, but keeping the milk. Mash the cooked potatoes and season to taste. Add the cooked spring onions. Beat well and add enough of the milk to make the dish creamy and smooth. Place in a deep warmed dish. Make a well in the centre of the potatoes and add the melted butter. Heat through and serve immediately.

You can also add chopped parsley, chives, young nettle tops or young green peas to the potatoes. For supper you could replace the butter with scrambled eggs.

"This recipe will kindle even the coldest heart."

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Lenny Henry's killer chilli

"Bobby Knutt, a very funny comedian from Sheffield, wrote this out for me as I had told him how bored I was of take-away food. After a few kitchen conflagrations where I impressed potential girlfriends with my fire-fighting skills, I finally managed to produce an edible meal."

Preparation time: 90 minutes
Serves four

You need

454g (1lb) minced beef
2 big onions
2 green peppers
1 tin Italian tomatoes
1 tin kidney beans
10ml (1 tablespoon) tomato puree
Chilli powder – mild/hot – depends on whether your tongue is made of leather!
Pinch of oregano
Pinch of mixed spices
Pinch of cloves
Dash of Tabasco
Glass of red wine
10g (2 cubes) beef stock
115g (1/4lb) mushrooms

What to do

Chop the onions and green peppers. Fry them in a little butter until they are fairly translucent. Add the meat and fry until brown. Add the tomatoes and stir for a couple of minutes until the mixture is bubbling noisily. Add the tomato puree and stir until sauce thickens. Add all the spices and herbs, chop mushrooms, add them and stir for two minutes. Add kidney beans and give it a good stir. Next a dash of Tabasco and crumble the stock cubes and wine, and stir again.

Put on a low heat (gas mark 2) and simmer for about one hour stirring occasionally. After this time it should be a lovely dark brown colour and quite thick. If there is a layer of fat on top, scrape off with a spoon. Serve immediately with rice, pita or bread.

"It's yum yum in my tum!"

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Arabella Weir's chicken and mushroom risotto

"This is the only thing I can cook and everybody likes risotto. It's all in the stirring!"

Preparation time: 70 minutes
Serves four

You need

230g (1/2 lb) mushrooms, chopped
300g (2/3 lb) chicken breasts
1.25l (51/2 cups) low-salt chicken broth or stock, more if needed
1 tablespoon cooking oil
2 cloves of garlic
1 onion, chopped
350g (8oz) Arborio rice
125ml (1 glass) dry white wine
120g grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
10g (2 tablespoons) chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper

What to do

Brown the garlic and then onions in olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Have the hot stock standing by; low-salt is best as it reduces further when cooking into the rice and can become too salty. When the onions and garlic are done, add the rice little by little. Once the rice is in and has gone slightly glassy, start adding the stock little by little, stirring all the time. Cook the rice until al dente, then add the chopped up chicken and mushrooms.

Keep stirring – this is the boring bit – for about 30-40 minutes depending on how much rice you've got. Just before you take it off the heat, add the freshly chopped parsley, stirring it well in. Serve with grated parmesan and a green salad.

"I like to serve this whenever I have people round or whenever I want to be guaranteed my kids will eat something – they love this."

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Lara Lewington's baked sea bass, lemon and coriander couscous and roast vegetables

"It's healthy and light but still flavoursome so hopefully will please all. Plus I have a few friends who don't eat meat so it's easier to always make one thing."

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Serves four

You need

3 fillets of sea bass
2 cloves of garlic
200g fresh olives, black/green
3 large red peppers
1 large chilli (green/red)
2 fresh lemons
300g couscous (between 75–100g per person)
Coriander to serve

What to do

Preheat oven to 200°C (or 190°C in a fan assisted oven). Slice half the lemon to bake with the fish, dice the other half for the couscous. Lightly oil a baking tray to ensure the fish doesn't stick. Place fish on the tray then lightly cover in crushed garlic, chopped olives, and finely sliced chilli (but only if you like it hot) and the pepper.

Place in oven for around 15 minutes and, result, some tasty fish. Add the diced lemon to the couscous one minute before it is ready, and at the last moment mix in the coriander. Serve immediately.

"I like to have it when girlie friends come over for dinner – or my mum. Good for summer or winter and as it's not too filling, there's always room for dessert!"

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Helen Lederer's poppyseed cheese cake

"The cheese cake is an adapted Czechoslovakian cake from my grandmother."

Preparation time: 80 minutes
Serves eight

You need

50g sultanas
4 tablespoons lemon vodka
700g cream cheese
225g caster sugar
2 eggs
350g whipping cream
40g plain flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
25g unsalted butter
25g white breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon caster sugar

What to do

Soak the sultanas in vodka overnight and leave covered. Preheat oven to 190°C and grease 20cm cake tin. Mix the breadcrumbs and sugar and press to sides. In a processor, blend together the cream cheese and sugar, add the eggs and cream, fold in flour and vanilla until even. Add the sultanas and mix thoroughly. Place the mixture in the tin, cover with poppy seeds and cook for 45 minutes.

"I like to serve this dish at casual dinner parties – so people can take a doggy bag home if they are too full."

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