I watched this recipe lovingly prepared in a warm Fez kitchen. It explodes with flavour, showing the Sephardis' creativity in combining fruit, vegetables and spices to enhance the taste of the fish. Ask your fishmonger to gut the fish and scrape off all the scales and remove the large backbone.

At last, a plava of your dreams. This one is light as a feather, moist and freezes well. To make it extra special, split and layer with lemon curd (recipe below) and drizzle with a sharp lemon icing.

What a shame that a slice of this carrot cake does not count as one of your five-a-day portions.

A generous hand with the spices gives the cake added zip. You can also throw in a handful of walnuts, but as it already stuffed with good things, I think I would draw the line at that.

My mum Timmy makes, without doubt, the best pavlova ever, says Peter Gordon.

Blood oranges add much-needed colour to drab grey days and are one of the few truly seasonal fruits. Blink and you'll miss them. Before they vanish for another year, try this colourful salad. If you can't find blood - or as some supermarkets coyly term them, blush oranges - use ordinary ones. If you're in a hurry, pre-cooked beetroot (not in vinegar) works fine.

Serves 4

This Italian seasonal recipe is like bubble and squeak and one of my favourite dishes. I make it with fresh potatoes and cabbage - I prefer Savoy - and leave them chunky rather than making a fritter. The secret to a full flavour is to sauté the potatoes and cabbage in plenty of olive oil and to leave them to turn really golden, almost burned. A non-stick frying pan is essential.

Choose one or all of the three different fillings I have invented for these quick and easy hamantaschen. Each recipe is enough for 25-30.

Basic hamantaschen

Ingredients
● 450g ready-rolled puff pastry
● 1 egg yolk mixed with a dash of water
● 1 quantity of filling

Method

Children will love making and eating these, but be careful - the masks will break if you try to wear them. A real mask is useful as a template. Makes 6.

Ingredients
● 100g butter, softened
● 100g caster sugar
● 1 large egg, beaten
● 200g plain flour
● ½ tsp baking powder
● ½ tsp vanilla essence
● Sugar paste, white or coloured

JCI's delicious vegetarian starter or side. If your sweet potatoes are too small to make 5x10cm rectangles, line up smaller rectangles and roll them together. Lay them on a piece of clingfilm to help. Once rolled, the cannelloni can be refrigerated, covered, overnight. Bring to room temperature before baking.

Serves 6

Ingredients