Smoked salmon with brown bread should be a treat, but when you’ve had too many garden parties with canapés of sun-warmed smoked salmon on curling bread, it’s time to give it a makeover. This recipe makes a dinner party starter or light lunch main course. The quality of the end result obviously depends on the quality of the fish, but it’s worth knowing that this is also a useful way of dealing with any rather fatty or oily smoked salmon. Serves 6 as a starter 20g fresh ginger

Another from my Sunday Times recipe series, again very relevant right now - November and the run-up to Christmas are definitely a time when a little bit of scrimping wouldn't go amiss... They aren’t cheap eats in the completely threadbare student sense, but ideas for entertaining on a tighter budget. After all, feeding friends at home is perennially the new going out, isn’t it? They involve cheaper cuts and types of meat and poultry and fewer or less luxurious ingredients. No