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If you’re a bit of a masterchef at home, try turkey in your recipes and make some fabulous new versions of classic dishes.

Where you’re thinking of chicken – go turkey. How about swapping turkey for your usual meat not only in family favourites – like spaghetti Bolognaise or Stir Fry – but in upscale gourmet dinners to impress your friends? How about Turkey Tikka Masala? Or Turkey Kebabs – Turkish-style? There are so many recipes for turkey that you can try, and lots of reasons to eat and serve more turkey – good value, great flavour, and amazing versatility.

Turkey recipes can also help towards a healthier balanced diet. Bernard Matthews Farms supports http://changeyourmeatnotyourmenu.co.uk/ a website that is packed with ideas and on how you can serve your family’s favourite recipes, but give them a healthier twist by simply substituting turkey for your usual meat choice. For example by using turkey mince instead of beef mince in spaghetti Bolognese or pasta Carbonara, you can reduce your saturated fat intake by up to two thirds, that’s 11g per average portion! It really is that easy.

And turkey breast meat is also high in protein and low in fat, which makes it the top option to give your family a more nutritious and balanced diet.

Bernard Matthews Farms turkey cooked meat products such as slices, wafer thin and chunks are also a healthier choice – typically under 3% fat – and are equally versatile in recipes for family favourites. Their website has loads of great recipe ideas and inspirations using their cooked meat products and there are even ideas for recipes using turkey leftovers.

Browse the recipe section of their website you’ll come away with some exciting new ideas.

Parma Ham and seafood skewers make for a stylish dinner party starter, and they only take minutes to make.

All you need to do is to simply wrap slices of Parma Ham around scallops and thread on to rosemary spears, along with king prawns. Cook on a griddle or barbeque and serve with a delicious caper and coriander salsa.  Done!  The full recipe is given below.

Parma Ham is a completely natural food with nothing added except salt. Making a Parma Ham is a long and painstaking process. The curing is controlled carefully so that the ham absorbs only enough salt to preserve it to retain its distinctive sweet flavour.  Prosciutto di Parma, is produced in the hills surrounding the Italian town of Parma. The air in the Parmesan hills is unique, dry and sweet-smelling with breezes from the Apennine mountains, creating perfect environmental conditions for a natural “drying” of the hams.

The unique taste of Parma Ham is dependent on the traditional production process passed down from Roman times, carefully controlled by the Consorzio del Prosciutto di Parma. Only hams that have passed stringent curing regulations approved by the EU can be awarded the stamp of the Ducal crown – a five pointed coronet logo with PARMA in the centre which is branded onto the ham’s skin. The Ducal Crown is now a certification trademark.

For more information on Parma Ham, please visit www.prosciuttodiparma.com

Recipe for Parma Ham-wrapped scallop and king prawn surf ‘n’ turf skewers with a caper and coriander salsa

Serves 4 as a starter or 2 as a main

4 long stems of fresh rosemary

4 slices Parma Ham, sliced in half lengthways

8 scallops

8 raw king prawns

olive oil

salsa:

2 handfuls chopped coriander

3 tbsp chopped capers

3 tbsp diced cucumber

1 tbsp finely chopped red onion

½ green chilli, finely chopped

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

zest and juice of 1 lemon

zest and juice of 1 lime

salt and black pepper

1.  Strip the leaves off the rosemary spears, leaving 2-3cm leaves at the end of each

2.  Wrap a strip of Parma Ham around each scallop

3.  Thread a prawn onto each rosemary skewer followed by a Parma Ham-wrapped scallop. Alternate prawns and scallops so that each skewer has 3 prawns and 2 scallops

4.  Combine all of the ingredients for the salsa and season to taste

5.   Heat a lightly oiled heavy based frying pan, griddle or barbecue  and cook the skewers for 1-2 minutes per side until the prawns are pink and no longer raw, and the scallops are firm to touch

6. Serve the skewers with plenty of salsa and green leafy salad leaves

Cook’s tip: If you are short of time, prepare the skewers in advance and refrigerate until you are ready to cook. The salsa can also be made and chilled for 3-4 hours in advance

How about  firing up your taste buds with a delicious Oriental twist for this summer’s barbecue.  If you’re looking for an alternative to the usual ketchup laden affair then try covering your summer sizzlers with a mouth watering Chinese sauce.

The UK’s leading Oriental grocer, Wing Yip, offer a huge own-brand range to awaken the senses this summer. Glaze or marinate barbecued meat, fish or vegetables in mouth watering Hoi sin, Oyster, Mushroom or Kung Po sauce.  And if you want to spice up a dull salad try mixing a Thai Sweet Chilli sauce with olive oil, lemon or lime juice to make a light dressing.

Mr Wing Yip, founder and chairman of the Oriental grocery empire, said: “Summer is the perfect time to sample a taste of the Orient. Our sauces and dips can add a bit of spice and flavour to any British barbecue.  There are also a number of great Chinese recipes which can add a bit of colour to alfresco dining.  Burgers can be made with Oriental seasoning or cool things down with cold spizy Szechuan noodles. Even the traditional potato salad can be spiced up with a tangy rice vinegar dressing.”

Wing Yip is the UK’s leading Chinese grocer, with stores in Birmingham, Manchester, Cricklewood and Croydon Each store is situated close to the city centre with easy access to the motorway and plenty of free car parking for customers. A visit to one of our stores is like taking a trip around the world. With over 2,500 products from the Far East.

SEARED TUNA STEAK WITH A PEKING SAUCE GLAZE

In this recipe tuna steak is glazed with two Wing Yip sauces resulting in a harmony of yin and yang flavours. Extra sauce can be used as dips for prawn crackers and carrot sticks. To make up a Hoisin dipping sauce, mix a tablespoon with a little hot water, chopped spring onions and sesame seeds. The plum sauce can be used straight from the jar as a dip or mixed with light olive oil to make a light Oriental dressing.

Ingredients

• 1 tuna steak (double up for more)
• 1 Tbsp Wing Yip Plum Sauce
• 1 heaped tsp Wing Yip Hoisin Sauce
• 1 tsp Wing Yip Light Soya Sauce

Method

• Mix the Hoisin and Plum sauces together.
• Season the tuna steaks with light soya sauce.
• Place tuna steaks on a hot barbecue to sear.
• Carefully turn over and brush the tuna steaks with a little Peking Sauce mixture.
• Turn the tuna steak over and brush the other side.
• Cooking times would be dependent on the thickness of the tuna steaks and how rare they are to be served.
• Remove the tuna steaks from the heat and pour over the remaining Peking Sauce mixture before serving.
• Serve immediately with a light salad.

CHARGRILLED CHICKEN SKEWERS WITH CHINESE MUSHROOM SAUCE

Remember to soak the wooden skewers well before use, about 1 hour should be sufficient. Thigh meat is ideal for these skewers but use boneless breast meat if you prefer. Cut chicken into chunks approximately 2cm square and cut the spring onions into length of about 2cm.

Ingredients

• 228g chicken thighs
• OR 2 large chicken breasts
• 2 bunches spring onions (use the white part)
• 2 Tbsp Wing Yip Mushroom Sauce – (for glazing)
• Wooden skewers

Method

• Cut white part of spring onions into 2cm lengths. The hollow green part can be saved for use with another recipe.
• Soak the wooden skewers in cold water for 20 minutes.
• Thread the chicken onto the wooden skewers with a piece of spring onion between the pieces of chicken.
• Cook slowly on a barbecue hot grill for approximately 20 minutes, turning occasionally. It is important to cook the chicken thoroughly on all sides.
• Just before serving brush with Wing Yip Chinese Mushroom Sauce.
• Serve immediately.

Further information: www.wingyipstore.com

The help available for novice chefs has moved on a long way since the time when looking through a leading chef’s cookbook was the only way to increase your culinary knowledge; the Internet is now home to food sites that contain everything from online recipes to information on the seasonality of fresh ingredients like vegetable sand spices. It has never been easier for people to access information and advice about cooking, building up their culinary expertise in the kitchen with a few clicks of the mouse.

The development and growth of the Internet has seen a gradual move away from physical cookbooks to having thousands of recipes online that can be accessed by anyone, at any time, anywhere in the world. The ease of accessibility of recipes online is a great advantage for people who don’t have a lot of time but are interested in increasing their cooking ability and are keen to learn more about food and how to create perfect dishes.

The availability of everything from chicken recipes to vegetarian recipes is one of the main attractions of food websites, but the sites are also home to more than just recipes: these sites now contain a wide range of information that can provide the most basic cookery help and advice for novice chefs, as well as catering for more advanced chefs who are simply looking for some inspiration for their next culinary masterpiece.

For people who are looking to get the most out of their ingredients, the information on what products are in season will be of great help and may go a long way to whether they decide to cook a hearty winter stew or a fresher and lighter summer salad. For each in-season ingredient, a wide range of recipes are available for access and feature details on that specific ingredient and how to utilise it to its full potential.

Another advantage of food websites is that they are home to an online community who can give advice and feedback on the recipes that they have tried. You can access people’s own thoughts about particular recipes and whether the dish worked well or not, with the feedback given by others used to compile a list of the most popular and most highly rated dishes that may well influence your choice of dish to cook.

The sites are also a great starting place for novice chefs in particular, with recipe videos on hand to provide a visual demonstration about how to go cook a specific dish. There are videos available on easy and more difficult recipes, so if you have mastered the simple dishes you can move onto cooking a more complex dish when you feel that you are confident enough to tackle it.

Time is always something that people are short of as well, so if you only have a spare half an hour to cook a dish then you can choose a recipe that takes a short time to prepare and cook. The recipe of your dreams is also easy to find through the search functionality, and once you have found the perfect recipe then you can save it in your recipe folder so that you can access it straight away when it comes to cooking it again.

Yesterday, we loaded up some video recipe tips for French Goats Cheese.

Today, we have another French cheese video in which Garth Delikan, lifestyle coach and Vive le Cheese Ambassador for the French Dairy Interprofession(CNIEL), and chef Sophie Wright tell us how to add French Flair to meal times and discover the very best of French cheeses.

When we think about cooking with cheese we tend to think of using parmesan in our pasta, or some mature cheddar topped on toast, but there are a lot of different recipes out there involving cheese and similarly there are a lot of different cheeses.

In fact in France alone, there are over 1,000 different kinds of cheeses made, that range from Camembert to Époisses and of course the well known goat’s cheese which delight’s everyone’s palate. This creamy cheese comes in lots of flavours and textures from the mildest soft cheese to the hardest strong cheese and tastes great when baked in the oven and spread on bread.

Goat’s cheese is made all over France and especially in the Loire Valley and Poitou regions; it is great tasting and also makes a great alternative for those that are allergic to cow’s milk.

In the following video, chef Sophie Wright shows you just how simple it is to create a simple but tasty goat’s cheese, roasted beetroot and parsnip salad that you can enjoy anytime.

There is still tiem to enter the Home Baker of the Year compeition. The first 100 recipes will receive a pair of tickets to the Ideal Home Show and the chance to attend a champagne reception on March 25th at the Ideal Home Show.

Furthermore, the best 5 recipes will be decided by our panel of expert judges, and go into a LIVE BAKE OFF FINAL, at the Ideal Home Show, on 30th March.

The winner of the bake-off challenge will also receive a chance to be published in the Ideal Home Show’s official recipe book to be launched at the show in 2011, as well as a cake decorating course with Baketique chef Mychelle in her London based kitchen, a VIP nights stay for two at Hotel Rafayel, London, including dinner for two and a spa treatment in the hotels beauty spa.

Deadline for entry is 10th March 2010.

For further information visit http://www.idealhomeshow.co.uk/home_baker/

Or email your entries to: homebakeroftheyear@stuart-higgins.com