Broccoli & Feta Potato bake

What a grim day! What happened to (the increasingly lesser spotted) Summer season? I'm certain that I haven't slept through it because I'm definitely not that well rested. Regrettably.

To banish the rainy day blues, I've been tucking into satisfying summer comfort food. This one pot meal is a great way to use up that tired looking bag of potatoes that's been hanging around for a bit too long. You could also use leftover boiled potatoes (skip the par-boiling if they've already been cooked or you'll end up with mush!) so it can be a super thrify meal too. I'm partial to a little ham or bacon thrown in but it's also delicious without if you're going meatless.

You might not have tried roasted broccoli before now but I think this will convert you. It brings out a sweet earthy flavour that shows off the little green trees at their best. Coupled with the mushrooms, you'll have a lovely rich mouthful. Don't forget a sprinkling of feta to cut through the warmth and give it a summery taste.
Broccoli & Feta Potato bake

Serves 4

300g new potatoes (or leftover cooked potatoes)
1 large head of broccoli
100g mushrooms, cleaned
handful of spring onions, sliced
50g ham or cooked bacon, roughly chopped (optional)
50g curly kale, storks removed and sliced
4 – 6 cloves of garlic, peeled
120g feta cheese, crumbled
2 tbsp (gluten free) soy sauce

- Preheat the oven to 180C. Add a drizzle of oil to a large roasting tray and pop into the oven to warm up.
- Boil the kettle while you half or (if they’re big ‘uns) thickly slice the potatoes.
- Prepare the broccoli. Cut bite-sized florets from the main stem, halving any trees that are too big. Cut the stem into chunks.
- Simmer the potatoes (if they need cooking) and broccoli stem for five minutes or until just tender. Throw in the spring onions so that they get a few moments in the hot water then drain the whole lot.
- Remove the roasting tray from the oven and add the potatoes, broccoli stems and spring onions – stand back as they may spit. Move them around in the hot oil so that they are nicely coated and start to colour in places.
- Add the broccoli florets, mushrooms and garlic to the roasting tin and then shove back into the oven for 30 minutes or until the broccoli starting to go a tawny golden colour and is cooked to your liking. I like it with a little bite left in it but this is up to you.
- Meanwhile, boil the kale for 4 minutes or microwave for around 3 minutes until just cooked.
- Remove the tin from the oven. Add the ham/bacon, kale and half of the feta before stirring and putting it back in the oven for 10 minutes.
- Serve generously heaped on plates and covered in the remaining feta cheese.

Summery chicken stew

The Boy and I have spent a glorious week touring the country to see friends and family. Naturally, our trips tend to revolve around food. We’ve barbecued near Bristol, sipped cider on the Cam (bringing a little bit of Somerset to Cambridge!) and noshed on marshmallows on a narrow boat.

Summer signals a flurry of activity for most people – time to make hay while the sun shines. If it’s raining – or if you’re busy dashing about doing a myriad of things simultaneously – you might like to come in after a long day to a bowl of stew.

This creamy chicken stew is light and fresh enough to suit a warm (if damp) summers day. As with all of my recipes, it’s easy and rather forgiving; you can leave it bubbling away on the stove (or in the oven – a similar amount of time at 180C should do the trick) while you go about your business. And, as long as you take care to ensure that it doesn’t boil dry, it won’t be ruined if you accidentally forget about it while you’re taking on the world.

This is a great recipe to have up your sleeve as a versatile and tasty dish. Although I’ve suggested kale, carrots and peas, you could throw in any vegetables that are in season and need using up. Asparagus works well if chucked in at the same time as the kale. In fact, you needed use kale – finely sliced cabbage, greens or spinach would work equally as well. An ideal one-pot supper to cut down on washing up without compromising on taste!

With all of the vegetables and light stock, this is a deliciously healthy meal. I would recommend using Quark instead of cream. It might sound like a Star Trek character but it’s actually a virtually fat free mild cheese that tastes lovely and creamy without being high in calories.

Summer Chicken Stew
Serves 4 – 6

6 chicken thighs, skin on
3 shallots or small onions, sliced
4 cloves garlic, sliced
4 carrots, sliced
½ chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
50g dried apricots, chopped
700ml chicken stock/water
300ml white wine/cider
50g curly kale, stalks removed and sliced
1 tbsp dried tarragon
100g quark or 100ml single cream
50g peas, ideally fresh from the pod but frozen is fine

- Add a drizzle of oil to a pan large enough to take all of the chicken pieces and vegetables with plenty of space over a high heat. Brown the chicken in batches, placing them skin side down for a few minutes and once golden brown, turn over. Remove from the pan.
- Brown the onion for ten minutes until golden brown and soft. Remove and set aside.
- Deglaze the pan with wine/cider; pour in the liquid and scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon or spatula to remove all of the cooked on flavour.
- Add the chicken and onions to the pan with the garlic, carrots, chilli, tarragon and apricots then cover with stock/water. Top up with boiling water if needed until everything is covered.
- Put a lid on the pan and turn the head down to a gentle simmer. Cook for 30 – 40 minutes until the carrots are tender and the chicken is cooked through.
- Remove from the heat and skin off a cup of the cooking liquor. Set aside to cool while you stir in the kale so that it is submerged in the liquid. The residual heat will cool it nicely.
- Meanwhile, whisk the quark or cream into the cooking liquor until smooth and lump-free. Add this back into the pan, along with the peas and stir through.
- Serve with jacket potatoes, boiled jersey royals or rice.

Pomegranate & Feta Bulgur Wheat Cous Cous Salad

There seems to be one standard topic of conversation today: the weather. Our chatterings have stubbornly circled the subject like flies buzzing lazily around an enclosed room. Anyone venturing outside has returned sullen and soaked through - ah April, we'll be glad to see the back of you and your persistent showers.

I don't know about you but I was certainly in need of some sunshine to brighten up my lunch break. As the English weather wouldn't provide, I decided to get my fix in a culinary form: pomegranate. I adore its mouth-watering sweet flavour and sharp tangy after taste which makes it an ideal partner to salty, milky feta cheese.

A pairing like this needs a hearty foundation which is why this recipe calls for bulgur wheat. It's basically the butch big brother to cous cous - chunkier and meatier with more bite. It's easy to prepare and is ideal for salads; adding spices in the soaking liquor effectively self-dresses the salad so it just needs finishing off with simple lemon juice and mint. Ideal for prepping in advance and assembling at the last minute! Unfortunately, bulgur wheat isn't suitable for those that are sensitive to gluten but it can be substituted for quinoa or rice if necessary.

Pomegranate & Feta Bulgur Wheat Cous Cous Salad
Serves 2 – 4

1 ripe pomegranate
1 red onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 green chillis, chopped
200g feta
1 tsp dried cumin
1 tsp dried coriander
½ tsp cinnamon
Pinch of ginger
Pinch of turmeric
100g dried bulgur wheat
½ veg stock cube
Juice of half a lemon
Small bunch of mint

- Boil a kettle of water with enough water for around three cups of tea.
- Meanwhile, place the stock cube, dried spices and bulgur wheat in a deep bowl. Once boiled, pour water over the dried ingredients until it is completely covered by ½ inch of water. Stir well and set to one side.
- Sweat the onion with a drop of oil over a low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally so that it does not stick, until soft and translucent.
- Add the garlic and chilli and allow to soften and the flavours mellow for a minute or two. Set to one side off the heat.
- Remove the seeds from the pomegranate and crumble the feta. Remove the leaves from the mint and roughly chop or chiffonade if you’re fancy.
- Check the bulgur wheat; it should be plump and tender and have absorbed the liquid. If it’s not tender, leave it to soak a little longer. If it’s tender but still has excess liquid, drain through a sieve.
- Assemble the salad by tossing the tender bulgur wheat with the softened onions, pomegranate seeds and crumbled feta. Dress with mint and lemon juice.

Oriental cucumber noodle salad

It’s official: Spring is officially in full swing. The daffodils are out and proud in cheerful yellow hues and there’s a carpet of delicate purple crocuses in St James Park. It’s not all that long until the long Easter weekend, which we tend to fill with socialising and lots of food. Now that the weather is getting warmer, I'm starting to shun my trusty soup recipes and bust out my refreshing salad recipes. I tend to lean towards zingy and fresh flavours in simple combinations that are - as always - easy to throw together.

This oriental-style cucumber and noodle salad is my current favourite. The ribbons of cucumber are cool and refreshing while the dressing of sweetened vinegar, garlic, soy and a touch of chilli is punchy. If you have time, you can toast the sesame seeds but I like to keep them pale and interesting; the toasted sesame oil in the dressing adds richness anyway. Use whatever noodles you fancy; rice ones are tasty if you're observing a gluten free diet. It keeps pretty well and can be made in advance; prepare the dressing and drizzle over before serving.

I call it "oriental-style" because I'm not certain whether it's Japanese, Chinese or something-else-ese. Apologies for my ignorance and enjoy!

Oriental cucumber noodle salad
Serves 2 (or 4 as a side)

For the salad:
½ a large cucumber
1 small cos lettuce
90g dried (rice) noodles
2 tbsp sesame seeds

For the dressing:
50ml white/rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 green chilli, finely chopped
1 tbsp mirin (optional)
Squeeze of lime juice
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp soy sauce (or to taste)

- Boil the kettle and cook the noodles as per the instructions (mine needed submerging in boiling water for four minutes). Drain and rinse with cold water to stop them from over cooking.
- Meanwhile, warm the vinegar, sugar, garlic and chilli together in a pan over a medium heat, whisking to encourage the sugar to dissolve. Set aside to cool.
- Half the cucumber lengthways and scoop the seeds out with a teaspoon. Finely slice or use a peeler to produce thin ribbons. Finely slice the lettuce.
- Whisk the remaining ingredients into the cooled flavoured vinegar.
- Combine the cucumber, lettuce and noodles and drizzle with dressing and sesame seeds.
- Plate up and scatter with a few more sesame seeds.

Walthamstow Farmers Market

The cosmopolitan streets of London may be the last place that you think of when you go in search of local produce but across our capital, there are numerous markets offering a variety of field and farm fresh ingredients.

Walthamstow’s weekly farmers market is no exception. Head to the top of the Victoria line after breakfast on a Sunday to sample everything from fresh bread to scallops – there’s something for everyone! Their collection of stalls changes week on week but when I visited there were around a dozen sellers touting their wares. You can get your meat, fish and vegetables from several stalls dotted around the pedestrian street as well as a few other unusual treats.

High Aldam Farm hail from Shepton Mallet which isn’t at all far from the flat that I share with The Boy. They have been farming there for generations and decided to invest in buffalo in a bid to diversify the herd. They never looked back and sold most of their cattle in 1999 to raise buffalos in their fields in Somerset. They have been travelling to farmers markets every weekend to sell their cheese, meat and milk for the last 15 years. They even make their own mozzarella! Welfare is paramount to the family who rear their animals to strict organic standards. Buffalo-organics.co.uk

Bread can be bought from Aston’s Bakery stall where I counted up around two dozen different types of bread including traditional soda bread and wheat & yeast free deli rye loaves. They’re a family business who have been baking in London for 25 years and are proud that they supply traditional hand crafted bread in all shapes, sizes and permutations. Their stall held a variety of gluten free breads that I’ve not seen before. Needless to say that their emphasis is on quality rather than quantity.

Le Moulin tempted me towards their stall with a decadent selection of cakes; the chocolate and pear tart and cream éclairs looked particularly glorious. They’d travelled over from their base in Hornchurch, Essex and can also market veterans. It’s run by a passionate French patisserie chef whose ambition is to bring the best flavours of her nation to the UK.

Millwhite’s Cider were generously handing out free tasters which – needless to say – drew me to their stand. Their Scrumpy is great but I really fell for their award winning Rum Cask Cider. Holding the refreshing middle ground between sweet and dry, it’s extremely drinkable but at 7%, you need go steady.

If all of that larder stocking has got you working up an appetite, the smiley proprietors of the Giggly Pig will serve you a sizzling sausage or bacon bap. They produce a staggering 75 different flavours of banger made from the meat of their Essex-reared outdoor rare breed pigs. There’s also a tea and coffee stall where you can indulge in a hot brew and a rest when your shopping bags start to weigh you down.

Walthamstow is lucky to have a truly charming market which brings a taste of the countryside to the city. You could stock up on fresh ingredients for the entire week here if you wanted. There’s a touch of rural atmosphere which is very welcome what can be a faceless anonymous metropolis.

Walthamstow Farmers Market is organised by the London Farmers Markets and can be found at Selbourne Walk Shopping Centre,(just off the High Street) every Sunday between 10am and 2pm. They have a famously popular plant sale which happens twice a year; the next is on 22nd April 2012.

Caramelised balsamic onions

 

I don’t know about you but I love a versatile ingredient; an item that can spark (at least) a dozen recipe or meal ideas and a flush of food-related excitement. There are many, many things that have that effect on me but there’s one in particular that I would like to share with you today.

Caramelised onions.

Those two words set off a firework of cooking concepts in my mind; recipes sizzle in my sub-conscious while images flicker in front of my eyes. Caramelised white onions in bolognaise sauce, sweet fried onions piled onto cheese atop a crisp cracker, crumbly goats cheese tart mingled with caramelised red onions, a rich onion-y hit in soups and stews… the list goes on and on. My mouth is watering while I type!

You can buy jars of onions chutney in the supermarkets which is all well and good but you can easily make your own easily and cheaply at home. Onions are a staple which I always have in my store cupboard because they are the foundation of many (most!) of my savoury dishes. Caramelising simply involves cooking them over a low heat for an extended period of time to bring out their natural sweetness. Once cooked, they can be kept for up to a week in the fridge but I doubt very much that they will last that long! If you have enough self-control, a jar of deliciously soft and sweet onions can make a fantastic gift idea for foodies.So if you’ve ever wondered how to make caramelised onions, read on.

I’d love to spend tons of time slaving over the stove but I genuinely don’t have the time. My recipe below gives you a cheat’s option which side steps the traditional yet time-consuming caramelising process. Of course, if you have the time to spare, by all means sweat them down over an hour or so to get the most out of them. If, like me, you’re short on time but need your onion fix, give this easy healthy recipe a go!

Balsamic caramelised onions
Makes 1 jar

Ingredients:
2 onions (red or white)
1 tsp sunflower oil or butter
½ tsp sugar or honey
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

- Halve the onions, peel and slice. Sniffle.
- Pour in the oil (or butter, allowing it to melt if using) to a heavy based frying pan over a medium heat.
- Add the onions and sweat (covering with a lid) for five minutes or until softened.
- Remove the lid and reduce the heat. Cook for a further 10 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden brown. The onions may catch on the bottom of the pan which is okay but don’t let them burn. If the mixture starts to look too dry, add a little water.*
- Add the sugar/honey and salt and stir well.
- Drizzle the onions with balsamic vinegar and use a metal or wooden spatula to scrape any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Simmer until the balsamic has evaporated.
- Store in a jar in the fridge for up to a week. Smother on crackers, add to cheese toasties... the possibilities are endless!

*At this point, you could cook for up to an hour if you have time for a more traditional caramelised flavour.

Pineapple and mango upside-down cake - sunshine on a plate!

Do not adjust your display settings. I thought I'd bring you a little edible sunshine in Spring! It this doesn't cheer you up after the freezing, wet days that we've had, I don't know what will! When you think of seasonal food at this time of year, your thoughts might fall to comforting root vegetables but tropical fruits are in their prime right now. Admitedly, they're not grown in the UK so there are a lot of food miles involved but if you're going to buy them, you might as well have them when they are at their best!

Pineapples, mangoes and passionfruits are all in season so I decided to combine them in one tasty cake for a fund-raising event at work. I adore pineapple upside-down cake so I thought that I would go one better and marry all of these exotic beauties together with a hint of lime in this famous retro dish. Its incredibly easy but the results are fantastic plus my colleagues mentioned that it tasted virtuous because each bite was filled with fruit. I'll cast no illusions - this isn't a healthy cake but I'm glad that it felt good to eat.

I'd also like to highlight the fantastic (even if I do say so myself) glaze that gives the cake it's glossy day-glow yellow tone. This stuff is so so morish; it's unreal! It's well worth the faff of sieving the passionfruits - my top tip is to microwave the fruit for less than a minute before halving them as it helps to encourage the pulp to slide out. If I'd have been making this cake for me, I would have been tempted to keep the pips in but as it happened, I stirred them into yoghurt for pudding as they have a lot of flavour. I'm tempted to make the glaze to top cheesecakes or to drizzle on pannacota in future.

Pineapple and mango upside-down cake with lime and passionfruit glaze
Makes 10 servings

For the topping (or should that be... bottoming...?)
1 mango
1 227g can of pineapple (packed in juice) or ¼ fresh pineapple
60g butter, softened
60g golden caster sugar

For the cake
150g butter, softened
150g caster sugar
150g flour
3 eggs
1tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 lime
3 passionfruits

 - Preheat oven to 180C. Line a 20cm by 20cm square deep baking tin (or a 25cm round baking tin) with greaseproof
 - Start with (what will eventually be) the topping by creaming the butter and sugar together then smearing into the bottom of the pan. Skin the mango and drain the pineapple (retaining the juice for later) then arrange by pressing the pieces into the butter-sugar mix. Make a pretty pattern or go geometric... the choice is yours!
 - Next make the sponge base by creaming the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the zest of the lime and the vanilla extract.
 - Add the eggs one by one, beating well between each addition then fold in the flour and baking powder.
 - Spoon the cake batter over the fruit and gently shake the tin from side to side to encourage the mixture to get between the fruit pieces.
 - Bake for 35 minutes or until the sponge is firm and a knife/skewer comes out clean.
 - Meanwhile, pierce the passionfruits and microwave them for 30 seconds or until they are warmed through. Halve and scrape out the pulp then sieve out the seeds (you don't have to do this if you don't want to but it depends if you want the seeds to pepper your cakes caramel topping or not). Press the pulp through a non-metalic sieve with a spoon or similar for the best results.
 - Simmer the passionfruit pulp with the reserved pineapple juice and the juice from the lime until it has halved and become thick and sticky.
 - When the cake is ready, remove from the oven and set aside for five minutes before turning out onto a plate. Drizzle or brush with the glaze and ideally serve warm with coconut icecream.

Leek and Potato soup

I think I’ve started something. I like to make a batch of soup at the start of the week (or ideally, the end of the weekend) to feed me throughout the working week slog. With the delayed cold snap creeping in, my office kitchen has a rush hour between 1pm and 2pm where we all crowd around the microwave to heat up our lunchtime fare. Most people have been bringing in soup since Christmas but it’s mainly in the form of cartons or tubs of the readymade supermarket stuff. It seemed like a big thing when my colleagues would ask “Is that homemade!?” Naturally I instilled the virtues of making your own and I think I inspired someone. One of my colleagues came in on Monday looking fresh faced and glowing with a tub of her very own homemade soup. She was really pleased with the results and has followed the trend by making more this weekend. Fab!

I love homemade soup because it’s a great way to use up leftovers and can be adapted to whatever is in season. British leeks are in season at the moment and, combined with potatoes, they make a warming meal that will keep you full for ages. I think that soup has something of a bad name because many people think that it needs hours of boiling on a stove in order for it to ‘proper’ soup. This just isn’t the case! You can make soup incredibly quickly and for much less than the supermarkets. You can pack it with cheap ingredients that are seasonal and good for you plus you know exactly what went into it.

I have leek and potato in my lunchbox this week. Despite its luxuriously creamy taste and texture, there’s no added fat in the recipe so it’s healthy too! I like to add a swirl of wholegrain mustard to add a little je ne c’est quoi.

Leek & Potato soup
Makes 6 – 8 servings

1 onion, sliced
2 sticks of celery, sliced
½ parsnip, cubed
2 leeks, washed and sliced
3 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced
1l or so water or stock
3 tbsp fat free yoghurt
2 tbsp wholegrain mustard

- Sweat the onion, celery, parsnip and leeks over a low heat for three minutes or until soft and sweet. Add a splash of water (instead of butter or oil) to stop it catching and burning.
- Add the potatoes into the pan then top up with water or stock to cover the vegetables. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until the potatoes are soft.
- Remove half of the mixture and blitz in a blender – or use a hand blender in the pan so that the soup is mostly smooth but with a few chunks of potato and leek to chomp on.
- Adjust the consistency by adding more water or stock if you like a thinner soup then add the yoghurt and mustard before serving. Sprinkle with your choice of cheese or slurp with a side of cheese on toast.

Review: Ottolenghi, Islington, London

London is a vibrant mix of people and cultures so it stands to reason that the food here is varied and colourful. When you look past the indenti-kit Starbucks and dig a little deeper than the usual high street dining suspects, there are some truly amazing places to eat in the capital.

I moved here over two months ago but haven't had a chance to properly immerse myself in the sights and sounds of London food until now. I've been out of the city every weekend and there's only so far you can go in a lunch hour but last weekend, The Boy came to me so there was double the reason to get out and about.

We hopped on a train on Saturday morning (starting our culinary adventure with toast and newspapers) and made our way to Highbury & Islington in the search of Ottolenghi. A previous employer got me hooked on the Guardian's website for which Yotam Ottolenghi often writes. His weekly recipes on the Guardian’s website always inspire but – shame on me - I’ve yet to try any out. Originally from Israel, Ottolenghi trained as a journalist but came to London to study at Le Cordon Bleu. After gaining experience elsewhere, he opened his own establishments including four branches of the delicatessens (only the Islington branch houses a restaurant as well) that bear his name and Nopi, a separate restaurant in Soho.

With glowing reviews, I was keen to get The Boy to sample Ottolenghi's delights with me. The restaurant and deli is easy to find from Highbury & Islington station - take a right out of the station and it’s an easy ten to fifteen minute stroll along Upper Street with Ottolenghi on the right.

The simple white and red shop frontage doesn't do justice to the produce within (though the Windows are filled with delectable cakes and pastries that are cooked on the premises). Once inside, we were faced with a large queue of people (for the café) and a table stacked high and groaning with colourful platters of salads and other goodies. I was completely in my element and awash with food-related adrenaline, much to the amusement of The Boy. We couldn’t help but dither a little before deciding that it all looked good (so we simply couldn’t fail to choose well!) and making our selection. One of the chatty shop assistants helped us to fill a small salad box with four different salads from the selection on show, one (savoury) pastry and some meat. The delectable cakes on show were calling to me – particularly the passion fruit meringue tarts - but I managed to resist (seriously regretting that now!). Our goodies were packed into a neat paper bag, complete with cutlery and napkins, and we were soon headed out the door to share our feast.

No sooner than we were out the door and The Boy was already unwrapping the intriguing savoury Danish that we had peaked our curiosity. Like the common sweet variety, it had a base of crunchy puff pastry but, instead of the usual fruit or custard filling, it was topped with roasted tomatoes and peppers and sprinkled with crumbly goats’ cheese. It was delicious though I think we left a conspicuous fairy tale trail of pastry flakes along the pavement while we scoffed it en route. The Boy was in his element as, despite being a savoury person, he loves Danishes.

Having settled ourselves on a bench in front of the town hall, we opened up our small box of salad. There are two options for salad – the ‘small’ box that we went for and a ‘large’ which was huge. A small would easily have fed me generously for a lunch on its own but in the interests of trying as much as possible (all in the name of research, naturally!), we shared a small between two which worked very well. It had been expertly layered with strata of broccoli, cauliflower, creamy yoghurt and tomato. Each mouthful was different. My first was full of chargrilled broccoli with chilli and onions which was a revelation as the humble broccoli lends itself very well to grilling – something that I’d never have thought of. My next bite featured roasted cauliflower with celery and fat blanched almonds which equally as delish. I’ve been reading a lot about roasting cauliflower lately so I must try it for myself soon. The baked Jerusalem artichokes with radishes, chilli yogurt and pomegranate seeds appealed to me as I’m always on the lookout for new recipes with the nutty beauties. The musky creamy flavour of the chokes went well with the initial creamy taste of the yoghurt but the mouthful was lifted by a sharp zing of chilli and pop of pomegranate. Amazing! The only salad that wasn’t mind-blowing was the roasted aubergine with cheese, tomato and pine nuts. It was nice enough but it lacked the bold flavours that the others had in fistfuls.

Next, we moved onto the meaty treats that we’d chosen. I would recommend the lamb kofte with sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts; it was tender and well spiced, balanced with the yoghurt sauce that came with it. The honey roasted chicken with almonds was nice – juicy and well cooked – but didn’t blow my mind. It was perfectly nice but, again, it lacked flavour. I imagine that the strong flavours in the rest of our meal made this all the more noticeable.

We were left with pleasantly full bellies and happy spirits. Everything that we’d eaten was fantastically fresh and a joy to eat. The Boy liked the fact that the food was inspiring yet achievable – he could imagine putting together similar combinations at home. Strangely, this didn’t make us feel short changed but encouraged – to try new recipes and cooking methods with familiar ingredients. The food isn’t cheap – a small salad box will set you back £9 – so, for us, it was a treat but I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending Ottolenghi’s to stoic Londoners and enthusiastic tourists alike.

Our trip definitely gave us food for thought and I already have plans to try out some Ottolenghi-inspired recipes (watch this space!) I hope to return to sample the cakes and maybe try a sit down meal in the not-too-distant future! Hint hint…

Ottolenghi has three take-away branches – Kensington, Nottinghill and Belgravia – while the Islington branch also includes a small café.

Tender kale salad with roasted peppers and feta

Winter isn’t a season synonymous with salads but, with delicious leaves like curly kale in season, you can kick start your New Year with a nutritious and healthy salad. It’s a fantastically versatile dish which can be served hot or cold, with a main dish or on its own – the choice is yours! It’s quick and easy to zap in the microwave or bung on the hob. You can throw it together in about 10 minutes and it keeps really well – I’ve been making it in the evening while I make dinner and then scoffing it at my desk for an easy lunch.

It's a great accompaniment to fish, roasted vegetables or Parma ham (as you can see) but is strong enough to stand alone as a main meal. Choose the low fat feta if you're trying to be virtuous or omit it entirely if you'd rather. I tend to pop a tray of peppers in to roast whenever I have the oven on and then freeze them (any I don't nibble off the tray, at least) for a later date.

Kale salad with roasted peppers and feta
Serves one as a main or two as a side

For the salad:
150g curly kale
1 roasted pepper
100g feta cheese (or similar)
50g mushrooms, sliced

For the vinaigrette:
½ tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp cider vinegar

- Microwave (or sweat in a pan over a low heat) the mushrooms for 4 minutes or until softened and awash with flavourful juices. Drain, keeping the juices for later, and transfer to a salad bowl.
- Remove any thick stalks that linger among your kale leaves. Wash the kale well in a bowl of water, drain (leaving a little moisture on the leaves) and transfer to a microwaveable dish (or pan). Cover with a plate and cook for 3 minutes or until wilted down and tender. Add to the mushrooms.
- Slice the peppers into long strips and crumble or cube the feta before adding both to the bowl with the other ingredients.
- Whisk the vinaigrette ingredients with the mushroom juices and pour over. Serve hot or cold with Parma ham or on its own.

Peach, Pear and Almond Pavlova

Happy New Year, my foodie friends! I’m afraid that I suffered with a “festive cold” over Christmas which meant that, instead of getting online and telling you how awful I was feeling, I decided to stay in bed (apart from a few misguided days when I went to work) and concentrate on getting better. Hope you don’t mind!

Despite my illness, I enjoyed my break and loved spending a whole ten days at home (proper Somerset home! Yay!) with The Boy and our families. We were given a gorgeous pasta maker by my grandmother so we’ve been mastering fresh pasta during the holidays. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to make and am now on the lookout for pasta dishes to match our tender sheets.

We spent New Year ’s Eve with good friends that The Boy and I went to school with. Our evening characterised the simple yet successful entertaining equation of great company plus delicious food (divided by optional banter, multiplied by reminiscing) equals wonderful evening. I was tasked with providing a pudding and with a glut of egg whites leftover from festive baking, the choice was clear. It was pavlova time. I made mine slightly more virtuous by substituting the traditional whipped cream with half fat crème fraiche.

I find that whipped egg whites can be something of a wild card ingredient. My top tips for limiting egg white disasters? I would recommend using a painstakingly clean glass or metal bowl (rubbed with a lemon if you’re really superstitious) for whisking in and be sure that your whisk is really clean too. Separating eggs can require a steady hand too so I break the egg over a mug or bowl to catch the egg whites before transferring them individually to the mixing bowl. That way, if a yolk happens to break, it only affects one egg (keep it for scrambled eggs or a cake) rather than your whole bowl – sods law says that its always the last egg when all of the others have separated perfectly!

Peach, Pear and Almond Pavlova
Serves 6 – 8

4 egg whites
225g caster sugar
1 tsp cornflour
1 tsp white wine vinegar (optional)
4 pears
1 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1 vanilla pod
1 tin of peaches in juice
200ml apple and mango (or fruit of your choosing) juice
50g almonds
300ml half fat crème fraiche
25g icing sugar (or to taste)
Dark chocolate to decorate (optional)

- Preheat the oven to 180C. Cover a baking sheet with grease proof paper or baking parchment.
- Whisk the egg whites until they are just stiff and form shiny peaks. Ideally you want to do this with an electric mixer but if you don’t have one, you can do it by hand.
- Gradually add the caster sugar a couple of tablespoons at a time, whisking gently but thoroughly between spoonfuls.
- Once all of the sugar has been added, continue to whisk for a few minutes until the mixture is stiff and glossy. Fold in the corn flour and vinegar (if using) at this stage.
- Smooth onto the prepared baking tray (using a few blobs of meringue mixture under the parchment to keep it in place if necessary). The mixture needs to be about 4cm thick and it’s best if the outsides of your chosen shape are higher than the middle – I find the easiest way to do this is to gently smooth out the middle rather than piling up the sides. Of course, you could be fancy and pipe the meringue to make it look really pretty.
- Pop in the oven and immediately turn down to 120C. Bake for one and a half hours then leave in the oven until completely cool.
- Meanwhile, peel, core and quarter the pears. Drain the peaches, reserving the canning juice and set aside.
- Put into a saucepan and pour in enough juice (from the peaches as well as your chosen juice) to cover. Add the star anise and cinnamon. Slice open the vanilla pod lengthways (scrape out the seeds with a teaspoon and set aside) and add the empty pod to the pan.
- Poach the pears over a medium heat, keeping the pan to a gentle simmer, for around 15 minutes or until the pears are pleasantly soft. Remove from the poaching liquor and turn up the heat to reduce it to a syrup – this will take another 10 – 15 minutes or until thickened.
- Mix the crème fraiche, vanilla seeds and icing sugar. Taste and add more sugar if necessary then spoon on to the meringue base.
- Pop the almonds into a frying pan over a low heat and toast for a few minutes until slightly darker. Keep a close eye on them and don’t let them burn as they’ll become bitter.
- Arrange the fruit on top of the crème topping and intersperse with the toasted almonds. Scatter with grated chocolate to decorate. Serve drizzled with the poaching liquor syrup.

Honey glazed carrots

A chilly winter breeze has blown in and had me reaching for my thick coat, scarf and gloves. This is the time of year has me craving comfort food in the shape of rich risottos, beautiful bakes and sumptuous soups. In addition, my stomach seems to be gearing itself up for the big day and its legendary roast of epic proportions. Although I adore the meat element of a roast, I am a big fan of the accompaniments too. Crispy potatoes, Yorkshire puddings (not just with beef, I might add) and as many different kinds of vegetables as possible (as the season allows). 

Saying that, I like to keep things simple and, in my tiny kitchen, that means minimising the number of pans on the hob. Glazed roasted roots are a fantastic way to do this as it brings out their natural sweetness while reducing your hob-top saucepans. I’ve jotted down my recipe for carrots but it would work equally as well with parsnips or beetroot depending on your tastes. A little wholegrain mustard swirled through the glaze is a delight too!

Honey glazed carrots
Serves four as a side

250g chantenay carrots
1 tbsp sunflower oil
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp butter
Salt and pepper to taste

-          - Preheat the oven to 180C.

-          - Scrape or peel the carrots (top and tail if necessary) and slice in half.  Place in a bowl, drizzle with oil and stir or toss with your fingers to coat them evenly. Season with a little salt and pepper.

-          - Spread out thinly on a baking tray and put in the oven for 30 minutes. Stir them once or twice to ensure that they cook evenly.

-          - Gently melt the butter and honey together over a low heat or in the microwave, stirring until combined.

-          - Remove the carrots from the oven and pour over the glaze.

-          - Return to the oven for another five or ten minutes until the carrots are browned on the outside but are soft enough to cut easily.

Butternut Squash Risotto

The winter cold season is well and truly upon us and there are people coughing and sneezing wherever I look. I’ve started using my newspaper as a shield during my commute (has covering your mouth when you cough and sneeze gone out of fashion?) in a feeble attempt to avoid the inevitable. So far so good though I’ve probably jinxed myself by saying that! Whether you are currently suffering or if you, like me, are desperately trying to dodge the sniffles that are doing the rounds, you could help yourself by eating right. Butternut nut squash is a fantastic versatile ingredient and it’s packed full of vitamin C (great for boosting your immune system!) and calcium as well as other fantastic vitamins and minerals. Despite its luxuriously silky texture, it’s also low in saturated fat.

We’re coming to the end of the winter squash season but they keep for up to three months in a cool dark environment so there’s still time to squirrel some away under the stairs or in your larder cupboard. I like to buy them up when they’re in season and cheap in the supermarket then peel and roast them when I’ve got the oven on anyway to save on energy. This is a great excuse, if you’re in need of one, to make a cake or maybe some cookies! You can then box or bag it up and freeze it cooked ready for winter salads, warming soups and hearty risottos.

Butternut Squash Risotto with sage
Serves two amply 

½  medium-sized butternut squash, seeds removed
½ onion, finely diced
1 stick celery, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
1 clove garlic, sliced
150g risotto rice
80ml white wine or dry vermouth
500ml vegetable stock
1 small bunch of fresh sage, chopped or 2 tsp dried sage
50g butter
50g parmesan

-          Preheat the oven to 190C. Peel and chop the squash into 1.5cm chunks. Pop them on a non-stick baking tray and stick them in the oven for 30 minutes or so while you make the risotto. Check the squash every so often and turn it with a spoon to ensure that it cooks evenly. The squash is cooked when its soft and slightly golden. If you are using pre-cooked butternut squash, you can obviously skip this step and commend yourself for being well organised.

-          Heat a little oil in a heavy-based saucepan and sweat the onion, carrot and celery until soft and sweet.

-          Tip in the rice and stir until it has absorbed all of the juices of the vegetables in the pan. Pour in the wine and keep stirring while that absorbs to ensure that the rice doesn’t stick.

-          Add the garlic and then the stock a ladleful at a time, stirring until all of the liquid is absorbed before adding more.

-          Check the butternut squash, which should be cooked through. (If it isn’t, cover the risotto and turn off the heat below it.)  Mash half of it to a course purée and stir this into the risotto with the butter, sage and parmesan. Fold in or top with the rest of the roasted squash.

Stall let down

Everywhere I look, I read the unhappy tales of our home grown producers and suppliers here in the UK. The price wars of the major out-of-town supermarkets have milked footfall from our town centres and this, combined with consumers looking for perfect produce available at all times of the day and night, has threatened many small businesses.

Normally, I’m a vocal advocate of small local businesses. As a consumer, I would rather put my money into a small business that will appreciate the income and will be more likely to feed this back into the surrounding community than a huge faceless corporation. Plus, the produce tends to top-notch because the owners take pride in providing great food and the whole buying process is more personal and friendly. I love becoming a “regular”; you get lots of insider information, tailored recommendations (much better than Amazon!) and a big smile to boot.

I’ve recently started a new job in London and, naturally, I set out during my first week to explore the foodie haunts local to my base in Westminster. I was overjoyed to discover the hustle and bustle of Strutton Ground, just minutes from my office, where the maze of Eat and Pret outlets morph into one-off bakeries and stalls groaning with clothes, hot meals and coffee. I was in my element!

I was especially pleased to find a small grocers stall with lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. I couldn’t resist buying a bag of figs and some late raspberries to go with my post-cycle breakfasts during the rest of the week. Happily rustling my paper bag of treats, I returned to the office with a smile on my face. Unfortunately, my smile quickly faded the next day when I discovered that my beautifully ripe figs had gone bad in less than 24 hours. I opened them up to find that they were rotten from the core – what a waste! The raspberries were better but were right on the cusp of being over-ripe and some were specked with mould. What a waste!

And herein lies the problem. This might have been bad luck. The stall may be a pillar of quality most of time and may have lots of regular custom. However in my mind, in these hard times every company needs to up their game. I know many consumers who, after my experiences, wouldn’t return. They wouldn’t bother to go back and let the seller know (which I will be – feedback is important) as they’re busy people. They’ll use it as another reason to by-pass their local suppliers in favour of schlepping to the nearest Tesco because you know where you are with the big four. It frustrates me that companies are wasting such a prime opportunity to make a great first impression.

You may say that this is simply natural selection in the business world. If a company doesn’t do what they do well, they won’t survive. And I would agree with you but I would appeal to the small business owners out there – please take note. It genuinely amazes me how many shops - both big and small - seem to get the simple things wrong. If you want to survive in these hard times, you need to up your game! Take pride in your produce, be friendly and offer useful advice – these are simple things that will keep people coming back.

Do you prefer swinging your basket around your local market or filling your trolley at your local supermarket? Do you have any thoughts on your local shops to share?

No such thing as a free lunch?

Volunteers in the Feeding 5k kitchen working hard to feed the hungry lunchtime masses

Or so they say. Who are 'they' anyway? Because they are wrong.

Friday saw queues that stretched around Trafalgar Square as many hurried to be one of the lucky 5,000 to be fed with surplus food that would have otherwise been thrown away. The sun shone as speakers instilled the captive audience with the virtues of creating less food waste. I stood in raptures as we were told stories of sorry cauliflowers that grew ‘too big’ for the supermarkets standards (!) and delicious but ‘misshapen’ fruit and vegetables that are turned away by the Big Four.

Beautiful curly carrots!

Producers and chefs alike had turned out to meet and share with their knowledge with the public and it was great to see the number of people that had been drawn to the event. I got my (geeky) thrills by spotting Valentine Warner casually mingling with the crowds before his turn on stage to cook in front of the masses.

We arrived early, just before midday, as we were keen to taste what discarded dishes the huge industrial kitchens had put together. I was slightly staggered by the queue – there must have been about two hundred hungry folks ready and waiting – but this moved extremely quickly when food starting being served. There were plenty of friendly volunteers around to direct us to our free portion of vegan veggie curry and rice, which was flavourful but not at all spicy so it seemed to please everyone from us young professionals in office wear to the under-fives in buggies.

Grabbie, grabbie. Visitors go mad for discarded produce.

Once we’d filled our faces, we explored a little more of what the event had to offer. There was an air of premature January-sale-hysteria as volunteers from the wonderful Fareshare and local school children handed out bags of fruit and vegetables, which would have otherwise gone to waste. Although the odd slightly squishy grape was obviously sub-par (though still perfectly edible), the vast majority was virtually perfect. Between us, my group were given half a dozen bananas, a large bunch of grapes, a teensy pumpkin and four or five pears which were all delicious and apparently unblemished. We also saw curly carrots and small pineapples in the arms of fellow revellers. This prompted a lot of healthy debate about the peculiar standards the supermarkets have developed in response to our demands. Why on earth are the supermarkets throwing perfectly good food like this away?

A mere hour inspired a lot of conversations among my peers, which has got to be a good thing. The most common comment that I overheard was the realisation that we’re so lucky to have food at all and disbelief that, while some are starving, we are turning edible food away because it doesn’t conform to our aesthetic expectations. And all of this is before the food even hits our shelves! We throw away about 4.4 million tonnes of food that could have been eaten. If we stop this blatant waste of resources, our family finances will see the benefits as well as the environment that we live in.

If you’re looking for more information on how to reduce your food wastage, have a look on Love Food Hate Waste. If you’d like to help the amazing efforts of Fareshare in redistributing unwanted food to some of the most needy in our nation, have a look at their website. To find out more about the fantastic Feeding 5k day, have a peek at this year's event website.

Falling food waste and a free lunch

Food prices are rising while salaries are staying stubbornly still and that’s if you’re lucky enough to have successfully found and kept hold of a job in the last year or so. Many households are struggling with rising bills and a new study from the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has found that the current economic situation has encouraged everyone to reduce the amount of food that we throw away.

Despite a 13 per cent drop in usable food waste, as a nation we still generate 7.2 million tonnes of household food waste every year of which around 60% could have been eaten. This is crazy – when money is tight, we should be watching the (compost) bin as well as our wallets. I don’t think that the confusion over sell by dates helps though hopefully the recent shake-up of regulations will make things clearer for everyone. However, I think many people (and many of my twenty-something-old peers are particularly guilty of this one) need good ways to use-up leftovers.

If you’re London-based and interested in reducing your food waste, you might want to check out Feeding 5k in Trafalgar Square tomorrow. With plenty of inspiration by way of living cooking demos from the likes of Valentine Warner and Thomasina Miers, you can find out great ways to cut the amount of edible stuff that you might otherwise throw away. If you're not London-based, fear not as I'll be schlepping over to capture the best bits (and bites) so that you're not left out.

As well as highlighting clever cooking, the event is championing the work of fantastic charities like Fare Share, a national charity who redistribute surplus food, that would otherwise be discarded, to the most needy. They also provide training on nutrition and safe food preparation. What lovely people!

So head on over to see the waste-eating pigs and flex your muscles while having a go at surplus apple pressing. Oh and you get a free lunch to boot! What more could you want?

Feeding 5k will be taking place on Friday 18th November in Trafalgar Square, London between 12 and 2pm. First come first served!

Autumnal Tomato & Marrow Soup

It definitely feels like autumn. The days are starting to draw in and I'm getting forgetful... If you're part of the Facebook revolution, you'll already know that we went away to enjoy some time on our friend's narrowboat this weekend. I'd prepared a warming casserole for our first meal on the boat and promised to share more details with you on my return. Now, I can be rather forgetful at times so I wrote a list for myself. Toothbrush? Check. A little light reading? Check. Camera? Check. All set. Or maybe not because, when I packed away my faithful camera, I didn't check that it had a memory card in it. School girl error! So I had a camera but no way of recording what turned out to be a lovely meal (though I do say so myself). I gave myself a stern talking to, I can tell you. That aside, we had a fantastic weekend with lots of picnic lunching on the roof.

For now, please warm your cockles with another marrow recipe. Come rain or shine - blustery chilling showers or crisp icy sunshine - this soup is rich, flavoursome and easily prepared in far less than thirty minutes. I made it first thing in the morning so that the only thing that stood in our way of a tasty hot dinner was a little heating up. I even took a serving to work for my lunch, which went down a treat.

This recipe was great for using up some of the marrow that I've recently been given by a colleague however there's still half left in the fridge so there's sure to be another marrow recipe popping up on here in the next few days!

Autumnal Tomato & Marrow Soup
Serves 4

½ onion, sliced
½ large marrow, cubed (my whole marrow was about 40cm by 15cm - a whopper!)
1 green pepper, sliced
1 tin of plum tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp of vegetable stock powder
1 sprig of thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme leaves
1 sprig of oregano or 1 tsp of dried oregano
1 clove garlic, sliced

- Sweat the onion in a large saucepan for a few minutes until soft and slightly translucent.
- Throw in the marrow and cook over a medium heat. It will soften, break down and become a little watery in the pan.
- Add the tomatoes, pepper, stock and herbs to the pan. If the juice from the tomatoes doesn’t cover the marrow, top up with boiling water. Bring to a simmer and add the garlic.
- Simmer for 10 minutes or until all of the vegetables are soft.
- Serve with grated cheddar or crumbled goats cheese and a hunk of crusty bread.

Hearty Healthy Pizza Stuffed Marrow

It's not often that I get déjá vu however this particular incidence is unique because it revolves around vegetables. Marrows, in fact. Around this time last year, we had been gifted tons of courgettes and marrows through The Boy's workmates. This year, it's my workmates that are donating their vegetables to us. I've turned to my trusty stuffing technique for the ginormous marrow that's been taking up the best part of an entire shelf in our fridge for the last few days.

Admittedly not my best photograph for this very reason and I very nearly didn't post it for that very reason but I couldn't let vanity get in the way of showing you just how big this beast was! I decided to go for a combination of tomatoes and herbs to bring out the sweet roasted marrow flavour. Topping the whole lot with a little cheese made it quite reminiscent of pizza! The trick with this recipe is to reduce the filling down until it's almost dry; that way, the marrow doesn't go soggy when you stuff it. Slice it up and serve it with wilted swiss chard and wild rice or crusty bread to mop up the juices.

Pizza Stuffed Marrow
Serves 4 - 6

1 marrow (30cm or so long)
1 onion, chopped
1 stick of celery, chopped
1 can of plum tomatoes
2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 tsp vegetable stock powder
50g mature cheddar cheese

 - Preheat the oven to 190c.
 - Rinse the marrow and cut it lengthways. Scoop out the insides, leaving a 1cm (or so) strip of flesh around the skin. Place the empty halves on a baking tray and put in the oven for 20 minutes.
 - Meanwhile, sweat the onion and celery in a little oil over a medium heat while you chop the marrow innards into chunks. Add them to the pan and let them cook down. They'll express a lot of watery liquid and when they do, turn up the heat to simmer it off. Sprinkle the herbs and garlic into the pan.
 - While the marrow simmers, drain the tomatoes (keep the juices for something else) and roughly chop. Add them into saucepan and stir. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally to ensure that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
 - When the mixture has reduced down so that there's no remaining liquid, remove the marrow halves from the oven and spoon the mixture into it until it is level. Top with cheese and pop back into the oven for 15 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown.

'Sell By' Dates set to expire?

There's a lot of hoo-ha going around the newspapers today regarding the dates that appear on the packaging of boxes, cartons and wrappers that go in our baskets and trolleys. You know how those reporters like to make mountains out of molehills! Some of the headlines make my blood boil - "Sell-by dates to be scrapped to cut food waste" is a prime example from the BBC News website today - as they don't make it clear enough that, although some of the advisory dates are changing, there will still be dates on food wrappings.

Headlines aside, there seems to be a tug of war going on between the government who wants to cut the amount of edible food that we throw away and the food companies and supermarkets who are petrified of getting sued after consumers eating gone off produce. I can see where both are coming from - as a nation, we throw away the equivalent of £12 million a year in food which we've bought but don't eat and during 2010, there were over 84,500 cases of food poisoning in England and Wales. We need to find a happy medium that, at the end of the day, benefits us 'normal folk' as consumers.

Dates on food packaging can be useful; they're used by the supermarkets for stock rotation (whereby the seller takes measures to ensure that the oldest stock is sold first which in itself reduces waste) and many consumers use them as a guide when planning how to use the contents of their fridge or larder. Having a 'Used by' date on packaging for food which is deemed perishable (foods which need to be kept refrigerated) is actually a legal requirement in the UK in order to ensure that the food that we buy is 'safe' to eat.

The change in guidelines which are being publicised will banish 'Expiry' dates on items which won't actually become hazardous to health after a certain date and replace it with a 'Best Before' date. This would apply to things like vegetables, dried pasta or jam and it's like saying "you'd like to enjoy this item to the max, you're better off eating it before Tuesday when it won't make you ill but might not taste quite as good".

Any changes to the way we perceive food is a positive in my book but, to me, this doesn't go quite far enough. Although some bacteria that is present in food that has 'gone off' doesn't change the smell or appearance of the food, I do think that a little common sense and knowledge does go a long way. I feel like this needs to be taught, along with nutrition and cost effective cooking measures, in schools while children are still developing their relationship with food and their ideas about meals. There are a few ways that I would test an apple, onion or cucumber, for example, to see if they were past their best.

Craving more information about cutting down your food waste? Check out Love Food Hate Waste for hints and tips on everything from cutting down the amount that you buy to canny uses of those pesky leftovers.

Summer Fruit Crumble and Homemade Spiced Custard

Autumn commeth. I can feel it in the air; there's a chill breeze (or gale, as it's been in the last few days!), the leaves are starting to turn from lush green to crisp yellows and oranges and every so often you get the faintest whiff of mulching leaves and drying conkers. I must admit that I struggle to keep warm at the best of times so as the weather turns colder, I'm looking forward to warming my cockles with some lovely home cooking.

The days may be getting shorter and darker but, thankfully, Summer's not completely gone (truthfully, I'm not sure if it ever arrived in the UK). The limited amounts of watery British sunshine haven't limited the supply of fruit and vegetables in the garden's, allotments and veggie patches of my family and friends. We've been gifted boxes and bags full of delicious home grown goodies; most recently, my Mother-in-Love filled a box with apples, pears, rainbow chard, mangetout, runner beans and a carton of home-grown home-juiced apple juice. Unfortunately, after a busy weekend, I put the box on top of the car to rearrange the mess on my passenger seat only to forget about it completely. I promptly remembered it after driving a third of a mile and hearing it slide across the roof and land, with a thunk, in the middle of the road. Whoops. Luckily, the produce were a little worse for wear but still edible.

Our bruised and bashed apples and pears were combined with some plums to make a delish crumble. Crumble, for me, is up there with mashed potato and hearty soups as possibly the best comfort foods of all time. It's versatile, quick and easy (prerequisites of pretty much all of my recipes). This time, I decided to challenge myself and try making custard. We often keep a can of the ready made stuff in the larder for emergencies (emergency apple pie, emergency pineapple-upside-down cake...) but I've never tried making it from scratch. Now that I've given it a go, I can say with some confidence that it's amazingly easy. It takes about 10 minutes to make - no more than microwaving a can of the ready made gloop.

Summer Fruit Crumble
Serves 6

For the filling
450g prepared summer fruits of your choice
or 2 cooking apples, cored and chopped
    4 plums, stones removed and chopped
    4 pears, cored and chopped
2 tbsp sugar

For the topping
50g plain flour
50g rolled oats
50g unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
50g caster sugar

 - Preheat the oven to 180c.
 - Place the prepared fruit in a baking dish and sprinkle with the sugar.
 - Pulse the topping ingredients in food processor, or rub together with your fingers, until it resembles bread crumbs.
 - Pile on top of the fruit and pop into the oven for 30 - 40 minutes or until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is golden.

Spiced Homemade Custard
Serves 2 - 4

330ml milk
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
1 cardamom pod, crushed
1 vanilla pod or 1 tsp vanilla extract
2 egg yolks*
15g caster sugar
1 level tsp cornflour
grated nutmeg to taste

 - Split the vanilla pod length ways and scrape out the seeds. If you're using vanilla extract, hold your horses - you add this later. Add the seeds, pod and other spices to a saucepan and pour in the milk. Cover and gently bring to the simmer. Keep a close eye on it as milk has a mischievous tendency to boil over as soon as you turn your back. When it's warmed through, remove from the heat and allow to cool a little. This stage can be done in advance - the longer the better as the spices will infuse the milk.
 - When you're ready to serve, whisk the yolks, sugar and cornflower together in a bowl until nicely blended and creamy.
 - Remove the vanilla pod (if using) and the spices and pour the milk over the egg yolk mixture, whisking all the time so that the mixture is lump-free.
 - Return the mixture to the pan (with the vanilla extract if using) and stir gently over a very low heat until it is thickened to your liking.

*Not sure what to do with your leftover egg whites? Make meringues or pop them in a mug in the fridge until tomorrow when I'll be putting up a new recipe that will use them up!