Rhubarb fool is a classic — a sunshiny pudding to enjoy on one of the first really warm days of spring.
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Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 2 minutes.
Serves: 4—6

•    Orange, 1
•    Rhubarb stalks (i. e. no leaves), 350g
•    Caster sugar, about 40g
•    Double or whipping cream, 150ml (or 1 small carton)
•    Icing sugar, 15g
•    Citrus juicer, chopping board, sharp knife, medium-sized saucepan, wooden spoon, 2 medium bowls, whisk (either electric or a rotary beater), tablespoon.

Directions:
Squeeze the juice from the orange. Trim the ends off the rhubarb, slice it into half-finger lengths and place in the saucepan with the sugar and orange juice. Put the pan over a low to medium heat and slowly bring the fruit to a gentle simmer.

Cook, stirring carefully and only occasionally with the wooden spoon, until the rhubarb pieces are completely tender but some of them still have their shape. (There comes a point when you're cooking rhubarb when the stems completely disintegrate

By: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

I've had my nose to the grindstone these last couple of months, finishing off a new book (wait and see — that's not what it's called, but it is the current answer to the question, 'What's it all about, Hugh?). Nonetheless, I've been taking plenty of little breaks from my office chair to spend some time out in the garden, planting, pruning and just generally filling my lungs with the rapidly warming air.

We've been blessed with some really gorgeous spring days already down here on the Devon/Dorset border. The orchard is in full blossom and the pond is heaving with frogspawn (though I haven't yet found a way to combine the two in a recipe). After such a long and genuine winter, it's been an absolute pleasure to be able to go outside in shorts and shirtsleeves these last few days.

[Useful: Why we need to return to the hand-packed lunch]

In my years as a fledgling vegetable gardener, I often found early spring to be a bit of a back-breaking time, as the

Prep time: 5 - 10 mins (+ 30 minutes chilling)

Cook time: About 1 hour (total)

Serves 4-6:

•    For the shortcrust pastry:
•    250g plain flour
•    125g unsalted butter
•    A pinch of sea salt
•    1 medium egg yolk
•    25—50ml cold milk

For the filling:
•    2 large or 3 medium leeks (about 500g), trimmed of tough green leaves, washed and sliced into 1cm rounds
•    A knob of unsalted butter
•    Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
•    100g Dorset Blue Vinny or other good blue cheese, grated
•    2 medium eggs
•    2 medium egg yolks
•    350ml double cream

Directions:
First make the pastry. Put the flour, butter and salt in a food processor and pulse until the mixture looks

Combine oranges and lemons for a homemade squash recipe from River Cottage Every Day!

Prep time: Simmer mixture until it becomes a syrup.

Cook time: Bring mixture almost to boiling point.

•    1kg sugar
•    1l water
•    Zest of 3 or 4 oranges
•    Zest of 3 or 4 lemons
•    500ml orange juice (you'll need about 10 oranges)
•    50mml lemon juice (you'll need about 10 lemons)

Directions:
Dissolve the sugar in water over a low heat. Add the lemon and orange zest and bring to the boil, simmering the mixture until it becomes a syrup.

Add the lemon and orange juice the turn up heat and bringing the mixture almost to boiling point but not quite.

Sieve the mixture and pour the hot squash into sealable bottles.

Serve your squash diluted with water.

Homemade croissants 

Kelp crisps

Potato and fennel soup 

A frittata is simply a thick, chunky omelette made with some vegetables and usually a little cheese. Served warm, in wedges, it makes an excellent supper.

Left to go cold, then sliced into chunks, it's robust enough to pack into a lunchbox or picnic basket. 

In fact, it's ideal prepare-ahead food. Quite apart from this, frittata appeals to me because you can add almost anything you like to it: bacon or cooked sausage, flaked fish, any kind of cheese, peas or broad beans, asparagus, kale, spinach or broccoli, mushrooms, and so on. My only caveat is to avoid 'wet' ingredients such as tomatoes, which will stop the eggs setting properly.

Serves 4:

• 1 tablespoon rapeseed or sunflower oil
• 75g pancetta or bacon, cut into small cubes
• 4 shallots, thinly sliced
• 100g young leaf spinach
• 8 medium eggs
• 25g Parmesan, Cheddar or other hard cheese,
• finely grated
• A grating or two of nutmeg
• 100g soft goat's cheese, crumbled into biggish chunks
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Spinach,

A lovely, soothing, creamy soup, like a faintly aniseedy vichyssoise. Served  with one of the suggested toppings below, it's posh enough for a dinner party.

If you're serving it on a hot summer's day, it's delicious chilled.

Ingredients:
Serves 4

• 1 tablespoon rapeseed  or olive oil
• A knob of unsalted butter
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 3 large fennel bulbs, trimmed and chopped (feathery fronds saved, if they look good)
• 500g floury potatoes, such as Maris Piper, King Edward or Desiree, peeled and roughly chopped
• About 800ml chicken, fish or vegetable stock
• 100ml cream or crème fraîche (optional)
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Heat the oil and butter in a large saucepan and add the onion, celery, garlic and fennel, plus a good pinch of salt. Stir well, then cover and sweat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add the potatoes and stock, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for

What could be more lovely than light, fluffy croissants with jam and butter for breakfast?

Best to start this one the night before, as you need the dough to be cold when you work with it. 

Ingredients:

Makes about 24—28

• 1kg strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting 20g salt
• 330ml warm water
• 330ml warm milk
• 10g powdered dried yeast
• 140g caster sugar
• 500g unsalted butter

For the glaze:

• 2 medium free-range egg yolks
• 50ml milk

Directions:

1. Use a food mixer for the first stage as the dough will be soft, sticky and difficult to knead by hand.
2. Put all the ingredients, except the butter, into the mixer bowl and fit the dough hook.
3. Knead on low to medium speed until the dough is soft, stretchy and satiny — about 10 minutes.
4. Put the dough in a decent-sized polythene bag (it needs room to rise), suck out the air, tie a knot in the bag and put it in the fridge to rest overnight.
5. First thing in the morning, get the butter out of the fridge. You need it to warm up a bit so it is

Be careful not to overcook, as the flavour of burnt seaweed is one that will stay with you for some days. Sugar kelp is the best and you can also use dulse.

Ingredients:

• A length of dried kelp (dried straight from the sea, without rinsing)
• Sunflower or groundnut oil for deep-frying
• Use scissors to cut the kelp into 3—4cm squares.

Directions:

1. Heat a 10—12cm depth of oil in a deep, heavy-bottomed saucepan until it registers 180°C on a frying thermometer, or until a cube of stale white bread dropped into the oil turns golden within a minute.
2. Deep-fry the kelp in small batches: carefully drop about 4 pieces at a time into the hot oil and fry for about 5 seconds — they will be ready when the surface bubbles up.
3. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper while you cook the rest. Eat them straight away.

John Wright's kelp crisps is just one recipe from the brand new River Cottage Online Edible Seashore course, where you'll find over eight hours of video and pictorial tutorials.