As a rule I remember always saying no to fruit and protein together. My first memories of eating out and trying lemon chicken still fill me with dread. However, these days I always pair game with fruit on my menu - I've my tune!

I'm currently waiting eagerly for the first Scotch raspberries to toss in with Venison loin in a balsamic salad. It's a recipe worth waiting for and takes just four minutes to prepare. We'll cover that when the first crop is harvested, I promise.

I am just not a fan of using mashed potato to bulk them out and if the balance is wrong then you get too much tattie and not enough fish.

I prefer just breadcrumbs. However, in this recipe these are not just ordinary breadcrumbs, they are very light.

If you cannot bear to buy in breadcrumbs then please just your own homemade ones. A word of warning though, the red fish dressing ones will not be very bonnie in this recipe!

And if you prefer , you can make these fish cakes into fingers if you want!

But I guess if you look out the window you will know why!

In Scotland we are prone to having winter style food rather a lot, however this still hits the mark in my home and, yes, it is really snowy outside my window.

Here is my recipe for a comforting sausage casserole. One of the recipes I really wanted to try was a cassoulet, but have no fear, I am sure there will be time for that before May no doubt!

This one can also be done in the slow cooker so you can easily come home to this  ready for you at tea time.

Have a great week.

However, I did say it would be easy, but like everything there is an element of difficulty. If this recipe stretches your culinary skills then I can give you details on cheating too!

It came about 14 and a half years ago when I ran out of a pudding on the menu at The Sisters in Ashton Lane. Well it was actually named Deirfiuracha (Irish for Sisters pronounced DRE_FOR_GA) in those days and when we moved premises we figured it was hard enough to give customers directions never mind a lesson on how to spell the name of the restaurant!!

That line is either Mum or Darling depending on who is asking obviously!

I love store cupboard suppers because, let’s face it, there are times when you go home and there is nothing in the fridge... so having items like red peppers and tinned tomatoes in my cupboards and chorizo, which lasts longer than your normal weekly shop, in the fridge is a must.

Using these items is almost cheating as you can make a tea from them that’s ready really quickly. I tend to buy a 2kg pack of Rosario chorizo then freeze packs of 3-4 sausages.

I prepare what I suppose you would say is fancy food daily so one of my favourite dinners, especially on a Monday is mince and tatties. However, I don’t like anything else with that: no carrots in the pot nor peas through the mince.

The only time I will add vegetables is if I have leftovers as if I bulk these up with carrots and peas then I can top it with mash and make a cottage pie.

Now I know that the wonderful Mattia Camorani of Cucina, Hotel MissoniEdinburgh, insists you never stir risotto and even runs a master class on how not to do so!

However, I have yet to follow Mattia’s rules, I’m more impressed with the way he say’s “Pappardelle!!”

So the nearest I can give you to that feeling again is to buy yourself a slow cooker with your Christmas vouchers, that is if you have don’t already have one. Check the cupboard at the side of the sink: it will have a bread maker, liquidiser, blender and ice crusher in there so you may have to move them out of the way to reach the slow cooker.

I was speaking with a lovely lady from Strathaven just before Christmas about this very cupboard. Now she found a Swan double boiler in there and she didn’t even know what it was for!