A beautiful, simple Christmassy recipe from Spain

2 tbps olive oil
4 partridge
Salt & black pepper
2 medium carrots, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 tsp pimentón
4 gloves garlic, sliced
200g chorizo, sliced
2 sprigs thyme
2 sprigs rosemary
2 bay leaves
150g manzanilla olives
1½ bottles decent wine white
3 sticks of celery, sliced, plus the leaves separately

In a pot heat the oil on a medium heat on the hob, season the partridge and fry until golden brown, then remove and place on a plate. In the same oil sweat the onion and garlic, add the pimentón and fry for 30 seconds.

Then add the garlic, partridge, chorizo, herbs and the olives with the wine, and add some water to cover. Cook for 1½ – 2 hours depending on how you like your partridge.

Five minutes before you want to serve up, add the celery and season to taste. Plate up and garnish with the celery leaves.

Life and style: Food & drink | guardian.co.uk

A vegetarian starter recipe lovingly borrowed from Paul, a chef at Rubicon in San Francisco in the 1990s

Paul was my Europhile sous-chef at Rubicon, a restaurant owned by Robin Williams, among others. I was working there the morning after he won his Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in Good Will Hunting – he came down into the kitchen and gave us all a bottle of champagne. Unexpected and very appreciated by his hard-working team. In California in the ’90s I feel certain they would have served this with a squiggle of balsamic reduction on the plate … thank God that trend seems to have bitten the dust.

Starter for 4 (12 little pancakes) and takes 10 minutes to get it ready then a 30-minute cook.

For the ragu:
20g / 3/4oz butter
150g / 5oz shallots, sliced
2–3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
220ml / 71/2fl oz tomato juice or passata
200g / 7oz vine-ripened cherry tomatoes
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
a touch of sugar (optional)

To serve:
a ball of buffalo mozzarella (about 200g/7oz), sliced

Melt the butter in a pan over a medium heat and cook the shallots with the garlic for a few minutes. When they start to sizzle but before they begin to brown, turn the heat down to minimum and put on a lid. Stir from time to time for about 8–10 minutes until they are well and truly softened, then set the lid aside and pour in the tomato juice. Simmer slowly for 12–15 minutes to a fairly thick sauce, seasoning along the way.

Lob in the cherry tomatoes and cook for 5-ish minutes, until their skins have split and they are just cooked, not collapsed. Turn the heat off, stir in the balsamic vinegar, and taste: you may want to add a touch of sugar, depending on the tomatoes.

While all that is going on, mush the brioche into the cream using the back of a spoon, then gradually stir in the eggs. In a blender, whiz together the basil, spinach and the soaked brioche until pale green and very smooth. Scrape it into a bowl, sift then fold in the flour and give it a decent shot of both salt and pepper.

Only start cooking the pancakes when the ragu is ready. In a large heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat, melt a teaspoon of the butter into a splash of olive oil. When the butter starts to sizzle, gently dollop in a desert spoon of the mix per pancake – you should be able to get at least 4 in the pan. Turn them over after 1–2 minutes and fry the other side until very lightly golden – it’s good to have a bit of goo left in the middle, so they should be in and out of the pan in 3 minutes. Drain quickly on kitchen paper and cover with foil to keep warm as you get on with the rest. Serve with the ragoût and a couple of slices of mozzarella.

• This recipe is taken from Bought, Borrowed & Stolen: Recipes and Knives from a Travelling Chef by Allegra McEvedy (Conran Octopus, £25). Order a copy for £18.75 from the Guardian bookshop

Life and style: Food & drink | guardian.co.uk

This tasty home-smoked dish originates in Uttar Pradesh, where it is called galavat ke kebab

Serves 4

500g / 1lb 2 oz boneless lamb from the leg, diced
100g / 4oz lamb fat (ask your butcher)
1 onion, sliced
50g / 2 oz cashew nuts
4 green chillies
1 tablespoon ginger and garlic paste
2 tablespoons papaya paste
½ teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon chilli powder
¼ teaspoon ground mace
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
pinch of ground nutmeg
60g / 2½ oz roasted chana powder
6 tablespoons ghee
large pinch saffron strands
few sprigs fresh mint, chopped
salt, to taste
chopped tomato, red onion and cucumber, to serve

Combine the diced lamb and lamb fat. Blend in a food processor until finely minced.

Fry the sliced onion, cashew nuts and green chillies until golden brown, drain on kitchen paper and blend to a fine paste in a food processor, adding water if required. Set aside.

Put the minced lamb, ginger and garlic paste, papaya paste, and the onion, cashew nut and green chilli paste in a large bowl. Mix well. Add the garam masala, chilli powder, mace, cardamom, nutmeg and roasted chana powder. Add 4 tablespoons ghee, the saffron, chopped fresh mint and salt. Mix until thoroughly combined.

For an authentic smoky flavour you can now smoke the lamb. Tip the lamb mixture into a large roasting tray with deep sides. Place a hot piece of charcoal in a small metal bowl and place it in the middle of the roasting tray. Pour a teaspoon of ghee onto the charcoal and then cover the roasting tray with a lid or some aluminium foil, trapping the smoke inside.

Leave to stand for 5 minutes. Discard the charcoal and mix well. Divide the mixture into balls and then press them gently to make flat patties.

Heat the remaining ghee in a non-stick pan and fry the patties one at a time, for about 1 minute on each side. Turn and cook over a medium heat until golden brown on both sides. Serve with chopped tomato, red onion and cucumber.

• This recipe is taken from Food of the Grand Trunk Road – Recipes of rural India, from Bengal to the Punjab, by Anirudh Arora and Hardeep Singh Kohli (New Holland, £19.99). Order a copy for £15.99 from the Guardian bookshop

Life and style: Food & drink | guardian.co.uk