Makes 1 cup

• 20 black olives

• 1/4 cup butter

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup Fish Stock

• 1/2 cup milk

• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley

• 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh oregano, or 1/4 teaspoon dried leaf oregano

Pit the olives, then cut olive flesh in thin strips.

Melt butter in a small saucepan and stir in flour. Cook over low heat for about 3 minutes, stirring continually, until bubbly. Warm Fish Stock with milk in a separate saucepan. Add milk-stock liquid all at once; whisk to blend into a smooth sauce. Continue whisking gently until the sauce thickens. Simmer, stirring often, for 10 minutes.

Add olives, parsley and oregano and heat through well. Transfer to a gravy boat and serve with steamed or poached seafood.

Note: By substituting Sauce Espagnole for the fish stock and milk used above, you will have a rich accompaniment for lamb.

Makes 4 servings

• 12 oz yellow courgettes

• 12 oz green courgettes

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 3/4 cup halved cherry tomatoes

• 1/3 cup chopped pitted black olives

• 1 small head oak leaf lettuce

• 1 tablespoon pine nuts, toasted

GARLIC DRESSING:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

• 1/2 clove garlic, crushed

• 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

• salt

• pepper

Preheat oven to 425F (220C). Wash and trim zucchini and cut into 1-inch slices. PIut the courgettes into a roasting pan. Toss with oil. Bake on top rack 20 minutes or until tender.

In a large bowl, place tomatoes and olives. Stir in the cooked courgettes. In a small bowl, blend dressing ingredients together.

Add to bowl and stir well. Leave until courgettes are cool. Rinse and trim lettuce, discarding tough outer leaves. Tear into bite-size pieces. Arrange lettuce on 4 serving plates. Spoon courgette mixture over lettuce. Sprinkle pine nuts over. Serve at once.

For 4 people :

• 4 salmon steaks with skin (about 150 g each) 

• 4 tablespoons olive oil 
  

Marinade:

• pinch of salt 

• 1 teaspoon pink berries crushed or syrup such as cassis 

• Juice of 1 lemon 

• Dill

"One Sided Salmon" is always served half-cooked/half-raw.

Place salmon steaks in the marinade for at least 2 hours.

Heat the pan and add the steaks skin-side down. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes depending on thickness. The edges of the steaks should be turn a paler colour as they cook - the top should stay pink.

Arrange on serving dish. Pour a little olive oil over each salmon steak.

Serve with grilled vegetables.

Makes 4

• Large tin plum tomatoes

• Mozzarella cheese

• 8 fresh basil leaves (or 16 if they are small)

• 8 tablespoons of olive oil 

• Salt 

• Freshly ground pepper 

Carefully drain the tin of plum tomatoes, cut the tomatoes in half lengthwise, scrape out the seeds and dry the centres with absorbant kitchen paper.

Arrange these slices on an ovenproof plate, sprinkle a little salt and some fresh peppers and place in a moderate oven (150 ° C) for 45 minutes. Enough to dry them out without them actually baking.

Meanwhile, cut the mozzarella into thin slices and place these slices on absorbant paper to dry.

Wash the basil leaves.

In the bottom of ovenproof ramekins, place 2 or 3 slices of tomato, then one or two fresh basil leaf and 2 or 3 slices of mozzarella. repeat these 3 layers once more in each ramekin.

Pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the layers in each ramekin and bake in a moderate oven long enough to heat tem thrugh - they do not need to cook.

Use a knife to loosen the melted mozzarella and tip the terrines out of the ramekins directly onto the plates in order to keep the oily juices with each terrine.

Serve warm with toast drizzled with oilive oil.

Serves 4

• 750g strawberries 

• 6 mint leaves 

• 3 Tblspoons lemon juice 

• 2 Tblspoons of olive oil 

• 4 Tblspoons powdered sugar 
  

Wash strawberries, remove the stalks and in half cut lengthwise.

Mix the lemon juice and sugar in a bowl until smooth, add olive oil and mix together vigorously to emulsify it. Pour this mix over cut the strawberries.

Chop a few leaves of mint over the bowl and stir. Serve chilled.