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Our favourite former River Cafe cook conjures a fragrant taste of summer We have been keeping our bee hives near the lavender patch this year. I really hope they realise that such tempting and fragrant flowers are at their disposal. However, they probably fly for miles to get at the lime trees instead. The lavender came out really early this season, like everything, but I know it will keep flowering longer than all the other plants. Its finest uses are as a soothing herbal remedy but I love it for the intense fragrance and hazy colour. Bees, lavender and summer holidays are synonymous to me. One of the first things I remember baking as a child were lavender biscuits. These are basically shortbread as they're sandy and crumbly and made with lots of butter, but I didn't want them to be great slabs of biscuit, more a dainty thing to put in your mouth. Just crushing the flowers in your fingers makes you realise how intense the oils it produces is, so use them sparingly, and I find a little added fennel seed brings out a lovely flavour. You could eat them any time, but a cup of tea or a scoop of ice-cream goes particularly well. Lavender shortbread Makes about 18 mini biscuits Ingredients 75g unsalted butter, at room temperature 25g caster sugar a pinch of salt 60g plain flour (I use '00' fine-milled) 25g rice flour 1tsp lavender flowers, crushed in a pestle and mortar ½tsp fennel seeds, crushed icing sugar, for dusting Heat the oven to 150C. In a mixing bowl, or with an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until soft. Crush the lavender flowers with the fennel seeds. Sift in the flours and salt and add the crushed flower and seed. Bring together to make a dough. It may be a little crumbly but the main thing is not to overwork it too much. Wrap the dough in film and rest in the fridge for about 20mins. Roll out the dough to about 1cm thick and cut out shapes with little cutters. Bake for about 20 minute

Cabbage sabzi in Marathi Serves: 3 to 4 persons Time: 20 minutes I ngredients: 1/2 kg Fresh Cabbage, (4 and 1/2 cup finely chopped) 1 medium potato 1/4 cup green peas Tempering: 1 tbsp oil, 2 pinches mustard seeds, 1/4 tsp cumin seeds, pinch of asafoeitda, 1/4 tsp turmeric, 4 curry leaves 3 green chilies, slit into two pieces 1/2 tsp grated ginger Salt to taste 1 tsp sugar 1 tsp lemon juice 1/4 cup fresh coconut, scraped 2 tbsp cilantro, finely chopped M ethod: 1) Wash the cabbage and finely chop it.

Pistachio or Pistacia Vera The pistachio, or Pistacia vera, is from a small tree that was originally from Persia. Now this savory little nut can be found in regions around the world including California, Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon and India. The pistachios that we eat today are sometimes confused with another form of this nut found in the wild.