Ideas for cooking in March

Okay, let's start thinking about what makes good eating in the lion of a month that is March. It's cold (most likely), windy (I'd imagine) and rainy (isn't it always?), so we're in the mood for something warming. BUT - we're also in the mood for a spark of spring to awaken our senses. Or, at least, I am.

Well, as I said last March (check this post out for some more ideas), we've got a few new seasonal items to choose from, like radishes, mint, parsley and purple sprouting broccoli. Add that to the stalwarts carrots and leeks and some yummy seafood like sardines and mussels, and we're good to go I think. Parsley, mint and lemon will provide us with the hints of spring we're so desperately craving.

Anyway, I'm not going to do that thing anymore where I give you a list of ingredients and some ideas for using them. Instead, I'm just going to tell you what I fancy cooking this month...

Grilled sardines with tabbouleh
Sardines are oh-so-easy to cook - grill them with a little bit of lemon juice and garlic. Meanwhile, tabbouleh is still my top dish of all time. (In fact, I'm making it tonight, with sea bass instead of sardines...)

Leeks vinaigrette with eggs
I told you all about how I made this lovely dish for Valentine's Day. What I didn't tell you is that I loved it so much I'm making it again! Worth a try (or two). See original version here.

Broccoli-cheese soup
I love the idea of cooking up this retro soup. If I'm feeling flush, I might use purple sprouting broccoli - but you can make it easily and cheaply with a couple heads of broccoli, some bouillion, a little garlic and a bit of cheddar. (You could also make it with fusilli pasta - something I'm considering about to prepare before long runs).

Cauliflower and cumin fritters
I haven't yet got around to raving about my newest cookbook, Ottolenghi. It makes me so happy to peruse this book. Most of you know that the brains behind the restaurant Ottolenghi write a column in the Guardian Weekend - but the book far surpasses the column. Cauliflower and cumin fritters are just one of the recipes I can't wait to try.

Ham with swede, leeks, carrot and celery with parsley sauce
For my birthday in January, my lovely friend Sarah gave me Valentine Warner's cookbook What to Eat Now, which is based on his BBC2 show. He's full of fantastic autumn/winter food ideas - one of which is this lovely and rustic idea. I can picture myself eating this on a chilly yet clear Sunday afternoon in March.

Stuffed cabbage
It sounds so dull but it seems so full of potential to me - stuff this brassica with mushrooms, maybe a little bacon, perhaps some walnuts, maybe some breadcrumbs, or some cheese if I'm in the mood. Wrap and steam - or saute then wrap. Either way it sounds a winner.

Pork, anchovy and black olive stew on polenta
Another Valentine Warner dish. I'm cooking this at the weekend and serving perhaps with a Chianti? I can't decide yet...

Spicy cauliflower soup
I have a love-hate relationship with cauliflower, but if anything's going to make it taste good, it would be those earthy spices like cumin and curry. Creamy without the cream, this soup feels ideal for an overcast, rainy day.

Puy lentils with sour cherries, bacon and gorgonzola
Other Ottolenghi brainchild. But doesn't it sound absolutely gorgeous? My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Baked bananas
I've been trying to figure out what to do with the umpteen bananas I have in my freezer, chucked there right before they go off so that I can convince myself I'm not wasting them. Valentine Warner suggests baking them with a little rum. Mmmmm....

Baked eggs with herbs and chopped mushrooms
One from The Pauper's Cookbook. This strikes me as an ideal Saturday brunch dish, to be cooked up in little ramekins.

So what do you think? What sounds good, what doesn't? What are YOU making this March? Do share...

we got the beet

Not only are beets/beetroot in season around Christmas, they’re remarkably festive in colour too. That should make them ideal ingredients in our meals this month, but beets are too easily made sickly. Their sweetness needs – in my opinion – to either be tempered by roasting, balanced by the savoury or put to good use in something sweet.

I’ll give ol' beetroot credit – they’re extremely versatile and can be used in starters, mains, soups and desserts. Check out a few of the best I’ve seen around.

Starters
Traditional hummus, eat your heart out. Beets and almonds make this dip a festive winner.


Main courses
I’ve had beets in risotto only once, at a lovely cozy little restaurant in San Francisco. While the grains weren’t quite cooked enough for me, I recognised that this recipe for beetroot risotto definitely has potential.


Side dish
This recipe for swiss chard, goats cheese and raisins would compliment roasted turkey or chicken quite well.

Roasted beets and carrots makes for a very beautifully caramelised side dish. I’d throw in a few parsnips too…


Soups
Okay, I think soups are where beetroot is used best.

My fave - beetroot and horseradish soup – a total winner

This one I’m intrigued by, but less sure of: coconut and beetroot soup is either a complete winner or a flat-out loser. You decide.

This recipe's worth a try because it’s local – the London chef Oliver Rowe named it Barnet soup, after the north London borough from which the ingredients came.


Dessert
Beetroot and chocolate are a surprising combination, but it makes sense when you think about it. I had some amazing brownies awhile back (not that kind...) that used prunes for sweetness, and I imagine beetroot works in much the same way in this beetroot chocolate cake.


So get started! If you can't get enough of beetroot, check out this website. Just mind the stained fingers…

fill your boots (and your stockings) with December grub

You’re probably busy with Christmas present shopping at the moment. But stop and relax. Let’s think of all the yummy December goodies we can eat over the next month.

There are so many occasions to eat this month, and I think we often get bogged down with ‘old hat’ fare. I have no problem eating tried-and-true favourites, but it’s nice to add a bit of sparkle to the plate to go along with that sequined top.

We’ve got a rainbow of reds, oranges, greens and deep browns: all our root veggies, sea bass, red cabbage, celery, pomegranate, duck, beetroot and pears, to name a few.

Oh, and you might notice the absence of sprouts. It’s intentional.

whenever May it come...

It's a new month, it's a new day, it's a new life for me.... and I'm feeling good.

Okay, I'm no Nina Simone. But I am feeling good, because it's May! Hooray! Plenty of new and exciting produce will be available. We've had a few teasing tastes of asparagus, of strawberries, but now, even more is available. My tongue - and my stomach - can't wait. Here are a few ideas to whet the appetite.

Strawberries

Thus far, I'm still a fan of the "eat them on their own" team. The flavours are so new, so fledging, that to pair them with anything else might not work.

But if you must:
-put together a simple fruit salad for breakfast: strawberries, bananas, and some natural yogurt taste amazing together.

-add to some muesli. I'm loving Waitrose's apricot and fig muesli at the moment. Very fruity.

-pair with some dark chocolate - not too much, mind. Best to go with those mini Green and Blacks rather than the big 'uns.

Asparagus
I'm a little confused - one week Sainsbury's is overloaded with the stuff, and the next week it's all Peruvian produce. Asparagus eludes me once again. But when it is around, here are some lovely ideas:

Asparagus, pea and basil soup: ever so easy. Combine them all with some veggie stock, and simmer. Puree when it's ready. Don't fancy basil? Use mint instead. Or use watercress. Or leek. Any and every green vegetable will do. But the first three are my personal preference.

Keep it simple: poached egg, grilled bacon, steamed asparagus. The most beautiful triptych you'll ever come across. Museum-quality.

I love this idea - asparagus mimosa. Egg and asparagus, but classy-like. Just add champagne.

As a side dish, asparagus with hollandaise can't be beaten. But hollandaise isn't exactly low-calorie. I have never been let down by the South Beach Diet's mock hollandaise sauce. (Note: Smart Balance spread is a heart-healthy spread available in the US. In the UK, try a similar product.)

Welsh lamb

I know things are looking up when Waitrose stops stocking New Zealand lamb and starts stocking the Welsh variety. It's very young, and very new, but excellent in a variety of recipes. Try these:

Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall offered up this excellent idea in a recent Guardian weekend column. Lamb, spelt and kale: It's part stew, part casserole - but all one-pot meal. You can't go wrong.

I got a bit creative in the kitchen earlier this week, combining diced leg of lamb, light feta cheese, black olives, onions, chopped tomatoes and spinach. Another fabulous one-pot meal: just sear the lamb, then allow to rest on the side. Saute the onions, and add the chopped tomatoes and simmer. Add chopped olives, spinach and black olives just before serving. Go crazy and add harissa too if you have it on hand, but it's not a requirement. I served it with green beans and carrots for myself, but with plenty of rice for those with larger appetities.

Grilled rump steak of lamb would taste lovely with steamed sweet potatoes and some sauteed courgettes.

New potatoes

Thanks to Jersey, the new season of potatoes is upon us. These little nutty nuggets are perfect, just lightly steamed. But with fresh herbs and a tiny bit of olive oil, they are even better. Just don't get too carried away!!

Radishes

On their own, they're not particularly exciting. (Though word is that Nicole Kidman considers them her pregnancy craving... how strange.) But combined with other veggies, they are a crunchy addition to a summer salad.

-In a food processor, combine radishes, carrot and oregano (or thyme). Serve as a side salad as part of a mezze or along side a fresh fish dish.

-Chopped salad: chop baby spinach, carrot, radish, capers and plenty of lemon juice. Makes a lovely and bright light lunch.

To be honest, spring has come quite late this year. Fingers crossed that June brings us our favourite produce in droves. In the meantime, keep eating!

Sunday's simple surprises

The brilliance of the Sunday roast dinner (or lunch, depending on what time of day you eat) lies in its tradition. There’s just something comforting about roast chicken, beef, fish, or lamb. It’s soothing. It whispers to you: “Come on, every thing will be all right, just sit down and eat.” And the smells are out of this world.

I love cooking a roast dinner, partially because I can prepare, go away, return as necessary, checking on progress, and continue about my day, pottering about the flat.

But as some one who enjoys cooking new recipes and ideas, the simple roast can get a bit old. So my job is to add pieces of flair to the roast without it losing its simple, traditional roots.

There are obvious ways of tarting up a chicken, but they’re not all particularly healthy – butter, sausage meat, bacon, the works. Instead, I want something that will inject flavour and make the bird sparkle without worrying about clogging up my arteries, thanks very much.

That’s why I was intrigued by this recipe in the Sunday Times supplement a week ago. Now, I normally stuff herbs between the skin and the breast meat on a whole chicken (and in the old days this is where the butter would come in), but I hadn’t thought of cream cheese.


A lovely mixture of fragrant thyme, chopped garlic, lemon zest and cream cheese (I used light, without any problems) gets stuffed under the skin prior to roasting – keeping the breast meat juicy and succulent, but allowing the skin to brown quite nicely (for those who can’t resist a bit of chicken skin).

The 2 kg bird needs about 1 hour and 40 minutes in the oven, so I don’t have to do much else, aside from basting the chicken every 20 minutes with lemon juice (my favourite trick – you don’t need oil or butter, or even wine, lemon juice is top), until about 30 minutes before the chicken is due to come out of the oven. No need to rush – the chicken sits happily for about 15 minutes on the counter prior to carving.

On to veggies – purple sprouting broccoli, chantenay carrots (quite possibly the world’s perfect carrot), steamed leeks, boiled red potatoes, and some steamed sweet potato. It sounds like a lot – but I planned it that way. There are tons of leftovers, perfect for weekday lunches. And all the veggie trimmings get dumped into a pot with the carcass to make a load of wonderful stock.

An hour after dinner, pleasantly stuffed full of proper food, I feel very pleased with myself.

Image credit: Sunday Times

March on, fellow foodies

Blog devotees may remember my rather melodramatic post from a few weeks ago, as I was mired in a pit of despair over the lack of new seasonal foods to eat. Well, my goal is to emerge from that pit this month as best as possible. And in the spirit of Easter, as they say, “always look on the bright side of life.” Brian would be proud.

So, moving from Brian to Tom, what’s new, pussycat? Well, a couple of herbs, for a start – parsley and mint. Now, I absolutely love both of those, and shall be thinking of some excellent ideas. The others aren’t exactly new so much as, well… old, but take heart, my plan is to spice them up with some strong flavours.

On another note, this is my 200th post! Thanks to everyone who reads this labour of love of mine.

Parsley
This Mediterranean herb can evidently hold up against the chill of March, though at the moment all of the parsley in the supermarkets seems to come from either Morocco or Israel. So keep an eye out for some grown a little closer to home.

The best thing about parsley is that it adds so much flavour without the calories. And it's a breath freshener! Just check your teeth for green bits.Here are some recipes that include parsley:

Tabbouleh - my favourite dish ever.

Gremolata - a dry sauce of lemon, garlic and parsley. It's gorgeous added to anything, as a garnish or as a primary ingredient.

Parsley and eggs is a great combo. Try Ainsley's parsley and garlic frittata: it's very healthy. I'd use skim milk - and you know, I don't think it necessarily needs that much oil. Swap wholegrain for white bread

Chop in the food processor and add to any root vegetable (boiled or mashed) for a fresh taste.

Chop in the food processor (again) and add in droves to soups or sauces.

Mint
Mint may make you think of ice cream and chocolate after-dinner sweets, but it actually takes on such a savoury quality when added to other more savoury ingredients. That's why it's such a classic with meats like lamb. And it's one of the ingredients in my favourite, tabbouleh. But here are some other simple ways to use mint.

Minted peas - just grab some peas from the freezer and steam. Stir through the finely-chopped mint just before serving. Or whiz them with a blender for a yummy minted pea soup. Add some chopped ham to bulk it up.

Minted potatoes - or carrots - are a great way to add that spring zing to your plate.

For a warm drink, infuse ginger, lemon and mint with hot water, and add just a touch of honey at the end. It's a real superdrink, inspired by my friend Sarah's advice when I was suffering from a cold.

Yogurt and mint is a fabulous combination, used for a sauce with lamb, or one of my favourites - falafel. Try this cucumber and mint raita - but eat it with lots of crudites, not poppadums! It's a great pre-dinner dip.

Purple sprouting broccoli
I am loving the purple-sprouting at the moment (as you can see by this month's banner on the site). It's British, it's in season, it's not expensive - I bought it as part of a buy one, get one free offer at Sainsbury's only yesterday. Stock up while you can.

I love purple sprouting broccoli as is, just steamed, but there are plenty of other ways to use it:

With chicken and wholewheat fusilli pasta and an anchovy-chilli-olive oil sauce, inspired by an Italian recipe, Orecchiete ai broccoli, that I found in my latest favourite cookbook, Twelve, by Tessa Kiros. It's a bible of Tuscan food, divided by the months of the year. The only problem is that I get a little jealous knowing that asparagus season starts in March for Italians! But I digress...

Beautiful in a stir-fry with any number of spices and herbs - garlic, chilli, cumin, and so on. Match the herb you use to the rest of your dish.

Use it in a veggie soup with other great British late-winter vegetables, like chantenay carrots and leeks. Top it off with some lovely creme fraiche - and maybe some gremolata - see above in the parsley section.

Sardines
I'm not just talking about those out of the tin (though they're not that bad, come on). I'm talking about the lovely, fresh, silvery ones beckoning to you from the fishmonger's window. Sardines stand up to really strong flavours. Go on, you'll like them...

Grill them after marinating them in lemon, garlic and chilli. Reserve a bit of those flavours in olive oil and drizzle (responsibly) over top. Serve with some dill potatoes - warm or cold.

Delia has a great linguine recipe using tinned sardines (of course), capers and chilli. She is right though; they are a great storecupboard ingredient.

Grill them with cumin and lemon, one of my favourite ways to cook mackerel, originally inspired by the wonderful Nigel Slater.

In a great lunchtime salad - use tinned sardines (boneless and skinless, and drained of olive oil) with baby spinach, julienned carrots, sliced cucumber and reduced fat feta, with lemon juice. I take this to work all the time.

Leeks
We'll miss 'em when they're gone, I'm sure. They truly are the soldier of winter. Thank you, little leeks. You have served us well. Keep it simple in the next month or so:

Steam chopped leeks with other veggies - those beautiful chantenay carrots and purple sprouting gems of broccoli. Serve with roast chicken - perhaps this mouth-watering recipe that I read just last week that uses cream cheese. Use light cream cheese and nix the butter, mind - you don't need it.

Dill is a great way to inject spring into the leeks - try this braised leek recipe, which serves six, so may need reducing.

Leek and potato is a classic combination that I think, to be honest, is a little boring sometimes. Skip the soup, and instead saute leeks and sliced, peeled red potatoes and serve up with some fresh French goats cheese (only about 45 calories per serving). Yummy.


Well, I hope that's enough to get us started in March. Next month will be exciting, I promise: strawberries (hooray!!!!!!), spring lamb (that bit too late for Easter, unfortunately... cook a chicken instead), rosemary and spinach are just a few of the delights on the way.

jolly good eating in January

Don’t be glum just because the holidays are over. It’s time for crisp, cold January, the first month of the year, and the month of my birthday no less. It’s the month of the diet, as we all agonise over the holiday weight. I myself managed to put on five pounds, which isn’t horrible, but I’m not particularly pleased with either.

I’m full of ideas, too. Where most people look ahead and think of watery tomatoes and an endless parade of root vegetables, I myself am inspired. Sure, there will be a glut of roots on my table – turnips, squash, potatoes, celeriac, swede – but that’s a good thing. They’re nutritious and warming. Come late spring, we’ll trade them in for asparagus and tomatoes, and be happy to do so. But for now, we’re okay, aren’t we?

There are plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables and meat to keep us full and healthy over the next month. I’m working to find new ways to cook them up.

This is by no means an exhaustive list – but hopefully it’s an inspirational one. See you in the kitchen.

Apples and pears
The pears are starting to get a bit harder at this time of year, so they’ll need more time in the fruit bowl to ripen. The problem is, they go soft extremely quickly.

For a snack, instead of throwing a pear in your bag, slice it up in a bowl and squeeze lemon juice over. It will hold for a few hours and they’ll be easier to eat, too.

As for apples, the good ol’ Bramley is still around for cooking. Throw it in your red cabbage for an excellent braised side dish. Other eating and dessert apples are still around, like the Sturmer Pippin, for snacking. This is the fruit that gets me through to Spring – as long as I can get an apple from the UK or France, I’m happy.

Cauliflower and kale
I love both of these vegetables. Cauliflower is a great winter side vegetable – it’s filling and you can eat as much as you like, guilt free:

A Sunday roast chicken with cauliflower and cabbage is fantastic. (Just eat the breast meat)

For a weeknight meal, I like grilled mustard-coated chicken with steamed cauliflower and shallots.

Kale is brilliant in stews – try a lentil stew with a bit of torn Canadian bacon and a spoonful of crème fraiche on top.

Cauliflower and leek soup is a great lunch option. Just boil up the vegetables for a few minutes with some bouillon and whizz with a hand blender. It freezes well too.

Get back to your roots
Mix and match any of these vegetables – potato, celeriac, parsnip, carrot, turnip, swede. Although sweet potatoes aren’t local, they’re a worthwhile exception. They’re fairly low calorie (about 80 calories per 100g) and they’re filling too.

Roast chunks of any of these, except for perhaps potato, in a bit of olive oil and keep refrigerated. They’ll work well in a winter salad to take to work. I love EAT’s superfood salad – sweet potato, beetroot, spinach leaves, bean sprouts, and a bit of goats cheese – why not make one of your own?

I continue to enjoy the recipe from You are What you Eat’s website for sweet potato and squash soup, although I prefer to leave it chunky. Just be sure to chop your vegetables into bite-size pieces.

Swede-celeriac-parsley mash was a star at my dinner table recently, served with roast monkfish from Borough Market and braised celery.

Hugh-Fearnley Whittingstall’s parsnip and apple cakes are one of the most divine creations I’ve had the pleasure of eating.

I like the sound of Delia’s carrot and artichoke soup with saffron. But Nigel Slater’s carrot soup with cayenne is a great choice too.

Shallots
These are the ultimate guiltless flavour addition. Drop them in soups, roast them whole, or fry in a few sprays of olive oil.

This shallot-loving website has loads of ideas should you need a few.

Seafood
Now is the time for some great water treats – scallops, mussels and lobster. A bit pricey, though, so perhaps they’re best for a weekend treat. I’m not about to cook lobster at home though.

Bill Grainger’s recipe for seared scallops with carrot fritters sounds absolutely amazing. I’m keen to try it.

One of my favourite pasta dishes is mussels with garlic and tinned tomatoes over wholewheat spaghetti. A bit of chilli in there doesn’t hurt it a bit. Use cooked mussels or steam them in their shell.

In the new issue of Bon Appetit, there’s a very exciting recipe for scallops with cauliflower, dried cherries and capers. (Which reminds me: dried fruit is an excellent way to make it through the winter months. Just be careful with the sugar content.)

Oranges (not quite English)
Seville oranges will be available soon, and the lovely, yet bitter citrus fruit will help us wait until the berries of late spring.

Chicken with orange, red onion and watercress salad – it’s been done before, but it’s a great way to make a winter salad into a proper dinner.

Forced rhubarb
Now, I’ll admit up front – I’m not really a fan of rhubarb. But maybe I haven’t had it right yet. Evidently, this early bird needs a bit of sugar to make it more palatable.

Delia has come up with a reduced-fat rhubarb dessert to get you (and me) started.

Try a few of the BBC’s recipes for it – and hopefully I’ll have a few recipes for you before long.

duck and red cabbage

With all the Christmas madness setting in, I forgot to post about our Wednesday night dinner. I roasted a warming winter treat: duck. I would have preferred to use breast, but the legs were so cheap I figured I would simply remove the skin at the end.

Alas, the temptation was too much for me, and I tucked into the crispy skin. Luckily, we had a few healthy side dishes – braised spiced red cabbage and sliced turnips.

I wouldn’t recommend getting the legs if you’re trying to eat healthy – stick with the duck breast, even at the extra cost. But the red cabbage was divine: serve it with any roasted meat.

spiced braised red cabbage
(serves 2-3, generously)

1 small head of red cabbage, quartered, cored and sliced
1 English apple, cored and cubed
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2-3 cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of sugar (optional)
1 litre freshly boiled water

Blanch the red cabbage in boiling water for a minute or two, and then drain. Add to a large pot with half a litre of boiling water. Throw in the vinegar (a MUST for the cabbage to keep its bright colour), apple (though a pear would be nice too), nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and allspice. Should you want to add a pinch of sugar, do so here.

Bring to the boil and reduce the heat so that it simmers for about an hour. (The timing works particularly well with duck). Season with salt and pepper before serving.

Make sure when serving that you don't let anyone bite down on a clove - they're not particularly tasty! Remove if possible.

Cauliflower or parsnips would be a great addition to the meal too.

“seasonable” vegetable soup

Today I went to the Horse bar with a few work colleagues for a leaving lunch. The food there is generally quite good.

Checking the specials board, I spied “seasonable vegetable soup” and stopped to contemplate. Surely it didn’t mean that I could have a go at adding as much salt and pepper as I would like? I’m being pedantic I know – the word “seasonable” can mean timely, or appropriate.

But seasonal sounds so much better! But there were no references to the actual vegetables, so I enquired further. After the waitress consulted the chef, she returned: “Carrot and peppers”. Not exactly seasonal – but possibly seasonable, I suppose. I ordered it.

It was…not bad, though not great either. I had no real complaints. Plenty of salt and pepper already in there – perhaps seasoned vegetable soup would have been a better description?

tis the season for december produce

It's the first of December - though the Christmas season began a few months ago, it feels official now. Lights go up on the streets, red and green decorations are found at each turn, and wonderful winter warming foods are on the menu. This morning on Saturday Kitchen, as two-star Michelin chef Michael Caine (recently voted Chefs' Chef of the Year) said, "There should be no red peppers or asparagus on a menu now. There's just no need."

He's right - with such fantastically fragrant and vividly-coloured root vegetables, the menu possibilities are endless. Read on for how to make the best of December's gifts:

celery
I know a lot of people who dislike celery, but I love it. It's fresh, crunchy and palate-cleansing. As I explained to a friend once, celery works on its own but also as a medium for other foods, like cheese, in place of other, more fattening snacks like crisps. There are plenty of ways to get the best of celery's pungent aroma and fun crunch.

-On a cheeseboard with blue cheese and apples

-Celery risotto (which I'm making this Friday)

-Chop it and serve it in a cold salad with tuna and white beans

-Served with peanut butter, smeared down the middle (great for kids).

red cabbage
This vegetable practically screams winter to me. It must be the vivid royal red of the leaves. An amazing vegetable cooked for three hours or served raw in a salad.

-Braised it, sliced, for an hour with chopped apples, red wine vinegar, cloves, bay leaves and a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg. Gorgeous served with duck and turnips (which, incidentally, I plan on cooking for Sunday lunch tomorrow)

-Served in a salad with raw root veggies (use a mandolin or the side of a grater).

-Pickled cabbage (it takes awhile if you make it from scratch), in a chicken salad or sandwich

turkey, duck and goose
There's a reason poultry is on the holiday table. While turkey is the leanest and most common of these three, duck and goose have an intense richness to them.

-Roasted turkey is a beautiful thing to behold. But after Christmas, turkey sandwiches are the order of the day, with avocado and spinach leaves.

-I love pan-fried turkey steaks in any season with the best vegetables of the month.

-Duck is a stronger meat which needs rich flavours like wild mushrooms or citrus sauces to slice through the taste. Try pan-fried duck breast (though I would remove the fat before serving) with sauteed wild mushrooms and plum sauce.

-I have to admit, I've never cooked goose. This recipe for roast goose with apple and prune stuffing sounds really interesting.

-Many chefs hail using goose fat for perfect crispy roast potatoes. It doesn't strike my fancy, though perhaps for a Christmas treat, it's not a bad option.

sea bass
I'll always choose fish, on any menu. Although sea bass isn't cheap, the creamy flesh makes it worth it.

-This fish works well with eastern flavour combinations like ginger, citrus and spring onions. Marinate and roast it for 30 minutes and serve with seasonal vegetables.

-Fennel, for some reason, is one of the best accompiaments to sea bass. There are two options that immediately come to mind. Either bake in a foil packet with sliced fennel, or grill a whole sea bass and serve with a fennel, parmesan and lemon salad.

swede, celeriac, turnips, parsnips
Root vegetables are the quiet stars of the season. I must admit, I haven't used potatoes in ages - who needs them when you've got such a selection?

-I love the mix-and-match approach to these roots. Parsnip and celeriac soup has a flavour that can't be replicated anywhere else - this sum is so much more than the addition of its parts.

-Whip up a soup with a mixture of roots, including squash. Then add fennel and radishes. Here's where I admit it is a Gillian McKeith recipe - but erase her image from your mind and focus on the fact that it's a very tasty soup indeed.

-Use the roots anywhere you might use potatoes. Purees and mashes really carry us through those winter months - I have to admit, I don't get bored with them at all. Experiment with different earthy spices in the cupboard and winter herbs like rosemary and sage. (One warning: should you want to roast swede, prepare to wait awhile - I recommend at least 75 minutes.)

-Swede and carrot, finely diced and steamed, is such a fun, colourful side dish. Or, mash them together and use as a topping on shepherds pie.

-I ate braised turnips as a side dish to venison recently and loved it. Braise in a stock for added flavour.

-Grated celeriac works beautifully in salads. Yesterday, I ate a salad with grated carrot, celeriac and beetroot mixed with sliced mushrooms, chopped parsley, lime juice and seasoning.


beetroot
I have been converted to this strangely sweet vegetable. I believe it works best in simple applications.

-Beetroot and goats cheese is a tried-and-true combination. Serve with walnuts and green salad leaves and dash of lemon juice and pepper.

-You've heard my beetroot soup stories before. Here's one.

-Beetroot is a great way to bulk up a salad in place of heavier carbohydrates. I like to make sardine, feta and beetroot salad in a soup-and-salad combination. Use a root vegetable for a soup - spicy pumpkin is a great option.

chestnuts
You can buy this holiday nut in the shells, or in tins or vacuum packs. Determine which one you need based on the recipe.

-Roasted chestnuts have an amazing aroma and are an ultimate holiday treat.

-Chestnut stuffing is a divine option on the Christmas table. I made this one last year and loved it.

-Chestnut soup is still on my to-try list. I can't wait to cook this one.

pears
I went on and on about pears last month, so I won't subject you to it again. But, it's now Pear Month in the States, and as the pears are starting to soften quickly in the fruit bowl, it's time to use them in purees, juices and desserts.

That should be enough to keep us busy for a month, eh?

how to throw a dinner party that is healthy and delicious, part III

Well, you've made it this far with me. Watching the pre-dinner snacks and the portions may seem obvious, but when there's so much to coordinate, they are concepts easily forgotten. What's next?

Tip #3: Go seasonal

Keeping everyone entertained is one of a host’s main jobs at the dinner party. Conversation should flow (and ideally faster than the wine). Food is a topic on everyone’s mind. Unique ingredients like imported oils or unusual herbs are talking points around the table.

Unfortunately, these exotic ingredients are often expensive, full of calories or have been flown halfway around the world before arriving on your table. By using seasonal ingredients, the produce you serve will be at its freshest and most delicious.

Seasonal ingredients also add an instant theme to the dinner: tomatoes and berries refresh in the summertime, apples and pumpkins inspire the harvest in the autumn, cranberries, parsnips and pears feel festive in the winter and watercress and broad beans awaken the palate in the spring. These touches are certain to charm your guests.

By using local ingredients, you can take this idea one step further. One of my friends has told me before: “I love telling my guests where the food on their plates is from. Mushroom soup is one of my specialities, and it’s great to say that the chestnut mushrooms are from Suffolk, the shallots from Lincolnshire and the fresh rosemary from my windowbox.”

Roasted mushroom soup
(serves 8 as a starter)

750 g chestnut mushrooms, quartered
250 g shallots, peeled and sliced
4 cloves of garlic
4 stalks of rosemary
20 sprays of olive oil
8 pints of hot vegetable or chicken stock

Preheat the oven to 200 C.

Add the mushrooms, shallots, garlic, rosemary, and olive oil to a foil-lined roasting tin. Roast for 30 minutes.

After roasting, decant the vegetables and juices into a large pot and add the hot stock. Season with a bit of salt and pepper.

Bring to the boil and reduce to a simmer for at least 20 minutes.

Remove the pot from the heat and use a hand blender to puree the soup, adding 1 pint of skimmed milk during blending.

Serve in shallow bowls, garnished with fresh rosemary and freshly ground black pepper.

November nibbles

It’s November – to some, the official start of the Christmas season. While I wouldn’t go that far, I am excited about all the lovely pears and root vegetables on the way. Many of November’s treats are extremely healthy and very versatile.

So what’s on the menu this month? Of course, looking at it by month is slightly pedantic, as though on 31 October apples are still in season, and on 1 November they are not. It might be useful to look at it by week. (Click here to have a look at what’s in season in Australia)

In any case, prepare yourself for beautiful greens, oranges and reds as we reap the rewards of the harvest.

Pears

Home-grown conference pears have been lurking in the supermarket for a few weeks now, but I’ve been waiting for the elegant comice, with its softer skin and sweeter flesh.

These fruits are wonderful just on their own, as a snack. But these ideas are great – and healthy too:

-poached pears in red wine… add a square of dark chocolate for a stylish touch.

-upside down pear cake – I’ve not made this before, but I’m really coming around to the idea. Or pear muffins, even: try this Epicurious recipe.

-in a salad with walnuts, blue vinney and watercress

-or this salad with roasted fennel and pear and a balsamic dressing

-as part of a stunning autumn/winter chutney

Parsnips

After growing up not knowing what parsnips were, and then spending years turned off by the sight of them (white carrots, what?), I gave in, and tried parsnips. I’ve never looked back – these creamy vegetables are divine.

My favourite parsnip recipes to date:

-Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s parsnip and apple cakes. Absolutely brilliant with a couple of sausages (get them as lean as you can) and a dab of Colman’s.

-this cream of parsnip soup recipe – though without the cream. If anything, use skimmed milk, as the parsnips are creamy and luscious enough on their own.

More to try:

-use parsnip in place of potatoes in classic recipes such as shepherd’s pie. They are stunning in place of mash potatoes – except the parsnips are better as a puree – and served with salmon.

-curried parsnips: the spicy earthy seasonings suit the sweetness of the parsnip. Serve as a side dish or whiz into a soup. Or try Paul Rankin’s spicy burger and roasted parsnip recipe.

Root vegetables galore (pumpkins, potatoes, swede, celeriac)

Aside from parsnips, autumn brings a range of root vegetables to our doorsteps. Pumpkins and butternut squash are still around, potatoes are our perpetual friends, and now swede (also called rutabaga in the States) and celeriac are just waiting to be eaten.

These vegetables are healthy, and importantly to many, cheap! So enjoy. Many of these work beautifully in unison, picking up on each others’ best qualities.

-try this root vegetable gratin from Abel & Cole, though I’m hesitant about all the cream needed. Perhaps a mixture of skimmed milk and cream could do the job just as well…

-my friend Sarah makes an excellent root vegetable stew with dumplings. In go parsnips, carrots, potatoes, swede and celeriac, simmered with a touch of cider, and, if it’s a special occasion, dumplings made of flour, cheese, spring onion, and a bit of butter. Perfect for a dark chilly evening.

-Delia does a great reduced fat slow-cooked soup too

-root vegetable and barley risotto – perhaps with a bit of single Gloucester, as recommended by Godsells cheesemaker

-root vegetable slaw, served with smoked fish cakes. Love it.

Cranberries

Cranberries are another one of winter’s sweet fruits, arriving long after we picked the last of those regal blackberries. This is a down-to-earth fruit, pulled from bogs, and rife with a tart flavour that often needs a touch of sugar. For antioxidant fiends, evidently the fruit has been shown to have more antioxidant phenols than 19 commonly eaten fruits.

Here are a couple of ideas:

-in a pear-cranberry smoothie with low-fat yogurt – the sweet pear will hold up to those tart lovely berries

-homemade cranberry sauce for turkey – either at Thanksgiving in the US or on the Christmas dinner table in the US. (Use the leftovers to make this exciting quesadilla)

Cabbage

This vegetable has some awful historical connotations, much like the swede. Much of this stems from poor preparation – cabbage can be fantastic when cooked properly.

Red, white, green, summer, leafy, savoy – the possibilities are endless. But at this time of year, the hard and round ones are best.

-for red cabbage, try braising it with earthy spices – such as nutmeg and cinnamon – as well as something sweet like apples and a splash of vinegar to preserve the colour. Great with lean poultry and lots of other vegetables for a healthy Sunday lunch.

-stir-fry shredded green cabbage with leeks for one of my favourite crunchy side dishes. All it needs is pepper and some olive oil spray (if it seems dry, just add a splash or two of water)

-the traditional Irish dish colcannon contains potato, cabbage and onion with cream, salt and pepper. For a healthier version, substitute semi-skimmed milk in for cream and use potato, cabbage (or kale) and leeks.

Leeks

I love leeks. Their flavour is so distinctive, yet never too harsh. You know that old phrase, “Behind every good man is a woman”? The analogy applies to leeks. They back up soups, casseroles, stews, you name it.

-a week or so ago I made a watercress soup – that my husband was literally dreading – that ended up a hit. Two rather large leeks were responsible for quite a lot of that flavour.

-leek skillet: sauté leeks with parboiled cubed potatoes. Add a bit of spinach and top with goats cheese before serving. It’s a perfect casual Saturday afternoon lunch.

-roasted leeks add miles to any vegetable combo. Roasted baby leeks work well in a salad.

-in a frittata with mushrooms and watercress.

I could go on forever, especially as I haven’t even touched on beetroot or nuts. But that’s enough to keep you – and me – busy in the kitchen for now.

autumn roast chicken that will last for at least four meals

I admit, I may be harping on and on about the season, but for good reason. Nothing feels – or tastes – better than cooking seasonally. There must be some synapses in the brain which fire when seasonal produce hits the tongue or when the eye spies the colours of the season.

Sunday evening’s menu, on the face of it, may seem uninspired: roast chicken with vegetables. But seasonal cooking takes a seemingly ordinary dinner and completely enlivens it. Roast chicken with vegetables becomes apple-stuffed roast chicken with butternut squash and kale. I also added a few spices – some dried thyme and a bit of ground ginger.

The chopped Bramley apple serves as a humidifier from within the chicken’s cavity, keeping the breast meat ever so moist. The butternut squash, once chopped and loaded into the pan with the chicken along with a few red onions, soaks up some of the lovely juices from the bird without becoming completely drenched. And the kale – needing only four minutes in the steamer – provides a fresh, textured, and importantly, green, counterpart to the chicken and squash.

As for the chicken, although £7.50 may seem like quite a lot for a 2 kg free-range corn-fed chicken, remember that there will be enough breast meat for another meal (either another round of this meal – or, as I’m doing, putting the shredded breast meat into an Italian chicken salad). Furthermore, there’s enough dark meat for some excellent chicken and cucumber sandwiches to take to lunch, and the carcass will boil up wonderfully with all the odds and ends of your veggie basket (i.e. the hearts of celery, carrot peelings, the dark green part of leeks, the skin of onions…)

Luckily, you don’t have to take my word for it – try it for yourself. There are ten weeks of autumn left, before my mind converts to winter and I begin espousing the credentials of pears, cabbage and swede. (And you know I’ll do it.)

Apple-stuffed roast chicken with butternut squash and kale
(serves 2-4, with leftover chicken for another night’s dinner, lunchmeat for sandwiches, and a rather beautiful stock for a carrot soup I’m making later this week)

2 kg free-range chicken
1 large Bramley apple, cored and chopped
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, scooped, and chopped
1 medium red onion, sliced
1 bag of curly leaf kale
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Spray olive oil
Dried thyme (or fresh, if you have it)
Ground ginger

Preheat the oven to 200 C. Prepare the chicken by rinsing out the chicken and coating the inside with salt and pepper. Place in a foil-lined roasting tin. If using fresh thyme, stick the herbs between the skin and the breast meat and season. Spray a few squirts of olive oil.

Surround the chicken with the chopped butternut squash and a few slices of onion. Sprinkle with a bit of thyme and ginger. Roast for 2 hours – 30 minutes plus 45 minutes for each kilogram – checking on the chicken every 20 minutes or so. Use a basting brush to redistribute the juices over the chicken.

Once the chicken is done (meaning the juices run clear), remove it from the oven and transfer to a carving plate. Allow it to sit for 10 minutes before carving. Move the butternut squash and onion to another dish and pat with a paper towel to remove excess fat.

Place the kale in a steamer over medium-high heat and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Steam for about five minutes.

Carve the chicken, and serve the desired cuts with a bit of the apple from the inside of the chicken, a helping of butternut squash and onion and a healthy serving of kale.

autumn arrives

Mindsets change on the twenty-first of September. No longer are the long summer days sought; instead, delight comes from crisp afternoons and maroon and marigold leaves delicately strewn on the pavement.

For food-lovers, a decided shift occurs in the psyche. The season for berries, cherries and peas has passed. In with the apples, in with the squash. As September transitions into October (and I can’t wait to make my pumpkin soup), have a look at some of the best fruits and vegetables of the new season:

Last of the blackberries

I noticed sadly on Saturday that there weren’t any blackberries on the shelf. It could be there’s a late-summer run on this regal purple fruit, or, as the season changes, there are few left for the shops.

In any case, if I can get my hands on any more blackberries, I’m aching to try an idea that sprung into my head last week: nectarine and blackberry crumble.

Apple harvest

According to the BBC, we should be able to find Worcester Pearmains, Bramleys, Discoveries, Early Windsors and Cox’s Orange Pippins before long. I found a few baby Cox’s in my local last weekend, and they weren’t half bad either.

Mushroom nights

There’s nothing lovelier than a roasted mushroom soup, especially as the wild varieties will be available soon. But dried mushrooms work great too and add so much flavour. A few years back I tried a Gary Rhodes’ recipe – a creamy pork and mushroom stew – from Keeping it Simple (a cookbook I really like). It’s a great warming fall recipe for chilly nights.

Marrow merriment

Of course, the obese (and less flavourful) older sibling to the courgette makes an appearance. Like pumpkin, marrow lose flavour and hold more water as they grow. I like marrow best stuffed with other, more vibrant flavours – perhaps a sun-dried tomato stuffing?

Pumpkin time

Truly the star of the autumn season, pumpkin is extremely versatile. Enjoy its flesh and its seeds in a spicy pumpkin curry or pumpkin soup and roasted pumpkin seeds – and the shell can be used as a bowl or a jack o’lantern for kids.

in season: mussels

I awoke Saturday morning with a clear plan. The goal: mussels. Pete and I walked from London Fields to London Bridge, with our minds dreaming of Borough Market. The smells wafted on to the bridge as we weaved our way down into the market.

If we had the means, I would visit this market every Saturday morning. But dropping in for just one ingredient feels somehow more special. We beelined for the fish counter. Bags of mussels, fresh from the Scotland coast, were piled high on the right of the stand, nestled in ice.

Feeling hungry already, I inquired just how much I'd need for two people that night. Two kilos, figured the man behind the counter. Not three? I asked. Now you're just being greedy, he laughed.

I agreed, picking up two kg of mussels for a mere £8.80.

That night, we scrubbed and polished the mussels to a fine shine, eagerly awaiting our prize. A small wine's glass worth of Viognier, an entire bulb of pressed garlic and a finely chopped bunch of parsley went into the pot with the mussels. Steamed in a large pot, covered, for 10 minutes, the mussels relented, exposing the lovely pearls within.

I saved the cooking liquid and poured about half of it into a saute pan already full of spinach leaves and olive oil, allowing the mixture to bubble for a few minutes. My patience got the best of me and I decanted the liquor over the mussels.

Served with a stick of French bread and the remainder of the Viognier, I can't recall having eaten a better meal in recent memory. The mussels, huge and fleshy, were completely infused by the garlic and white wine.

I won't let another September go by without a trip to Borough Market for these mussels. You simply can't go wrong - shellfish is so healthy (about 90 calories per dozen mussels), and at seasonal prices, you can easily afford to feed two for less than £15. Considering that our overflowing bowls of mussels would have set us back at least £15 each, plus wine, at any decent restaurant, I'd say you can't get a better deal than that.

big red peaches, roadside

My brother is graduating from university in Florida, so my family hopped in the car to head down for the celebration this past Saturday. I was excited for a couple of reasons - the obvious one as well as the promise of the unknown on a road trip. Deviations from the planned route are always fruitful.

The trip from Atlanta to Gainesville is a 6-hour one, and about two hours in I'm distracted by the promise of roadside peaches. (Well, I was first distracted by the Forest Park Farmers Market, but unfortunately we didn't have time to visit - but maybe next time).

I was not going to miss these peaches. So as we approached the Fort Valley, Ga. exit, we veered right and headed five miles down the road to the Southern Orchards. Corn fields were on the right, pecan plantations were on the left. My excitement was building.

On the right was a large white building - the packing facility for the goodies surrounding it - inviting visitors inside. There were more than just peaches (although they grow 30 varieties) - there were Vidalia onions, the sugar-sweet variety originating from a town only 100 miles southeast of Fort Valley; there were Georgia vine-ripened tomatoes, big and beefy; but my most inspiring find were local blueberries, like none I've ever tasted. No hint of tartness, only pure, sweet flavour. I spent the next few days forcing anyone who couldn't get away in time to taste these blueberries. I never found someone who said they weren't the best they ever tasted.

There were also sauces bottled on-site; my mother picked up peach hot sauce and a bottle of pecan oil. But I was more interested in what I could make at my brother's celebratory barbecue the next day.

Georgia peach salsa
(serves everyone)

2 large Georgia 'Big Red' peaches (the last of the peach season - mid-August), pitted and chopped
3 large Georgia vine-ripened tomatoes, chopped
1 med-large Vidalia onion, chopped small
1 med red pepper, diced small
1 small handful of cilantro/coriander leaves
juice of 1 lime
seasoning - salt, pepper, and my favourite New Orleans blend, Tony Chachere's

Combine and serve - allowing it to sit and the flavours to mix for half an hour doesn't hurt.

The salsa got rave reviews, even by the college boys that I expected to eschew the salsa on the grounds that it had peaches in it. (I forgot that college boys will eat anything.) The only complaint was from my friend who didn't like cilantro, but I do think it was an important part of the recipe - for flavour as well as colour.