Here is a blast of colour to brighten your January day.  Not only is this salad glorious to look at it also tastes fabulous.   Crunchy raw veg always feels like it is doing us good but can, on occasion, be hard work to chomp through.  This however is an absolute joy to eat with its tangy, sweet and sour dressing and handfuls of herbs alongside the crunch of the radishes and cabbage.

I have mentioned before my aversion to stringent diets, casting aside any of the food groups or making January a form of penitence to salve our conscience following the season of plenty.   Food should be a pleasure, a treat to look forward to everyday and even if you are hoping to shake off a couple of pounds there is no reason why breakfast, lunch and supper shouldn’t be a feast.   You will find plenty of salads amongst my posts, not just leafy green ones although I won’t have a word said against my Favourite Green Salad (January 2014) but ones jammed with other ingredients full of crunch and flavour, freshness and colour.  Try the Thai-ish salad (November 2015), Roast Aubergine, Feta and Mint (July 2015), the Blood Orange, Beetroot and Feta (January 2014) or maybe the Celeriac Remoulade (January 2016) to which I quite like to add some sharp, crunchy apple if the mood takes me.

In short raw veggies are a great way to get yourself back on track.  You are eating healthily whilst tucking into something delicious – win, win.  I can’t recommend this one enough, I got the idea for the reduced dressing from an Ottolenghi salad and then tinkered around until I had this.  Easy and quick it always goes down a treat and that belt of pink, green and magenta goes a long way to lifting spirits on a dreary, grey day.

Red cabbage, radish and herb salad

1/4 red cabbage, finely chopped

10 radishes sliced

20g (a big handful) rocket

20g mint

20g coriander

50ml lime juice (roughly 2 limes)

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1/4 teaspoon chilli flakes

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 tablespoons light olive or sunflower oil

Toasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds, a handful (optional)

Heat the lime juice, maple syrup, chilli flakes and soy in a small pan until syrupy then add the oil, mix well and leave to cool.  When you are ready to serve roughly chop the rocket, mint and coriander then mix together with the cabbage and radishes in a bowl along with the dressing.  Sprinkle with the seeds if you are using them.  Serves 2 for lunch or 4 as a side.

We are nearing the end of that hazy week between Christmas and New Year.  The week when you are unsure which day it is and on occasion which year.  I dither between hanging on to the festive season and continuing to think a mince pie for breakfast a good idea and diving headlong into the good intentions of the New Year.

I rather look forward to January.  Like opening a brand new exercise book at school I relish that clean fresh page.  Although I don’t believe in weighing yourself down with stringent resolutions there is no harm in a shift towards anything that makes you feel good about life.  Whether that is a bracing walk in the fresh air, a crazily invigorating dip in the sea or simply giving the Prosecco a break is up to you.

For us the easy going, day sliding from one to another vibe continues until term starts.  Until then we are lying on the sofa watching telly, finishing those chocolates, going for walks and reading our Christmas books.

Whatever you are doing for New Years Eve have fun, treat yourself and look forward to that crisp white page of your 2020 exercise book.  Happy New Year.

There is a fizzle of excitement in the air.  The boxes of decorations in the attic are waking from their hibernation, the lists are itching to be made and the dodgy old seasonal playlist is at the ready.  We are in the countdown.  Christmas is on its way.

I say on its way but I’ve already held two of my Christmas cooking demo’s, the last one is a week away.  These are always such fun with a valuable exchange of Christmas top tips and ideas from the assembled along with all my suggestions of things to cook, presents to give, goods for your hampers and general festive chit chat.

I make no secret of my love for this build up.  Dare I say it, the anticipation and weeks before the big Ho Ho Ho are often the most fun.  Don’t get me wrong, I am no bah humbug and love Christmas Day itself, the excuse for a cocktail early in the day, the possibility of a new cook book, paper hats at a rakish tilt and all the bonhomie that comes from being with loved ones (and possibly from that 11am cocktail).

So back to the anticipation which goes hand in hand with the list making and wrapping.  First on the list are the spiced cherries in bacon which need to be soaked.  Possibly the craziest canapé recipe you will ever come across but surely one of the easiest and most delicious. You will find it along with other get ahead tips in my November 2013 post.  The longer the cherries languish in their Worcester sauce bath the better.

Secondly get those roast potatoes for the big day by getting them in the freezer now.  You’ll find details in the 2013 post mentioned above but essentially parboil them, give ’em a good shake and flat freeze before tumbling into a bag or tub for storage in the freezer.  On the day put them into a pan with hot oil and roast as usual.  This saves peeling a mountain of potatoes on Christmas Eve and then finding somewhere to put them, followed by boiling a vat of water the next day so your mascara clumps as you lean into the steam to check them.   Win win.

Christmas Biscotti, which I made a ton of last year for Christmas hampers (54 since you ask) is another treat to get under your belt (literally as well as figuratively). It lasts for ages, tastes delicious and is an absolute winner to give as a present, tied with a little red and white bow.

I would also recommend whipping up some Gougeres (November 2016) – little light and airy balls of cheesy fabulousness that I couldn’t countenance Christmas Eve evening without.  Easy to make, just a little heating and mixing and no reason to get out your piping bag unless you enjoy that sort of thing, two teaspoons will suffice.  These are another perfect canapé which freeze and reheat like a dream.

I won’t repeat all my other get ahead tips here as they are easily found on these pages but what I will reiterate is the calm, happiness and relief I feel knowing I have done as much as possible before Christmas really starts (ie a freezer and larder full of goodies to tuck into).  A couple of times when we have been a smaller gathering I haven’t thought it necessary to do so much ahead of time.  Believe me, it was and I won’t slip up again.  Never underestimate how many other things you would rather do on Christmas day than roll out pastry for some sausage rolls…..

This is a proper little treat that couldn’t be more Christmassy.  As a child the only candy canes I saw were those in the book Eloise at Christmas, I thought they were glorious and envied all our American cousins whom I imagined nibbling candy canes throughout the holidays.  Easily available here, they always shout Christmas loud and clear and this is my favourite way to eat them.   Although if this bark appeals you could always try my Chocolate Peppermint tart (December 2014), just saying….

Chocolate and candy cane bark

Ok so you can make as much or as little as you like.  The amounts below make a bar roughly 12x18cm which is just right for giving as a present or bringing out after dinner.  Children obviously love making, and giving (and eating) this.  You can even leave the layer of chocolate to set unadorned then top it with a layer of white chocolate before adding the candy canes.

100g dark (but not too dark or bitter) chocolate

1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil

Pinch of salt

2-3 candy canes broken into small pieces but not total dust

Melt the chocolate along with the oil and salt in a bowl over a pan of hot water.  When melted pour onto a piece of baking parchment (I find it easiest if this is on a small board) and spread to about half a centimetre then sprinkle over the candy canes.  Leave in the fridge to set then tuck in.

The picture you see above was some bark I made for guests at one of my demos – I barely had time to take the photograph before it disappeared.

I can’t remember where this recipe first came from.  I remember my Mother would make it, a classic for Saturday lunches but then I remember a friend of hers, Antoinette, also making it.  Hardly a surprise they were both fans, utterly simply to make and from ingredients you may well have to hand.  I like recipes with a smattering of nostalgia.  Food has moved on so far from what I grew up with and these days we eat a range of cuisines that that child of the ’70’s would barely recognise.  So, amidst the larbs and green curries, the free from cakes and oat milk flat whites I relish coming across those old friends from the past.  Chilli and Spag Bol, Rhubarb crumble and toad in the hole.  All these are classics for a reason and welcome at my table anytime.

So it is with this tart.  Four ingredients, yes just four ingredients and you have a top lunch with a surprisingly satisfying flavour combination.   Sweet tomatoes with savoury cheese atop the tang of mustard and crispy pastry – come on, you know its going to taste good.

Warm with a salad for lunch, perhaps along side some other bits and pieces, soup, good bread, olive etc – that sort of picnic arrangement that always looks such a feast on the table.  It is also good cold and has even made it into the odd packed lunch.  A winner.

Tomato, cheese and mustard tart

As is my way I have tried various additions, slow cooked onions and peppers with the tomatoes, different cheeses etc but whilst delicious, those things are for another day, another tart.  This one shines with the simplicity and harmony of the three toppings.

1/2 a 500g puff pastry

2 tablespoons dijon mustard

3 good size tomatoes, core removed and sliced

100g strong cheddar, grated

Preheat the oven to 200 and put a baking sheet in to heat.  Roll out the pastry on a piece of parchment to a rectangle about the thickness of a pound coin.  Spread with the mustard not quite to the edge and then layer the tomatoes on top.  Season well and then sprinkle over the cheese avoiding the edges.  Transfer the pastry on the parchment onto the hot baking sheet and cook for 20 minutes at 200 and then lower the oven to 180 for a further 10-15 minutes.  After this time the pastry underneath should be bronzed and super crisp.  Allow to sit for five minutes before serving, enough for 2 as it is or 4 alongside other things.

If pushed I think an apple would my choice if only able to eat one fruit ever again.  I love summer berries and would find it particularly difficult to cast aside juicy raspberries or fragrant, almost scented, wild strawberries but an apple would pip them all to the post.  Not only is it hard to beat the juicy, tangy crunch of a perfectly ripe apple but they work so well in all manner of recipes, both savoury but particularly sweet that one might never become bored.  Lacking the glamour of blowsy, vividly coloured summer fruits they are more the sensible prefect of fruits – jolly reliable and a proper all rounder.

Lucky enough to inherit a collection of apple trees when we moved here and having subsequently added to our small orchard, now is the time of year when we are spoilt.  Various eaters and a hugely prolific Bramley mean apples feature on our menu several times a week.  The turnovers in the photograph were an after school treat at the end of last week and a simple form of apple strudel hit the table for pud on Sunday.  A bowl of stewed apples alternate with plums to accompany granola and Greek yogurt for breakfast and an apple crisp is on the cards for supper tonight.

There are apple pies of course and crumbles (try my Apple and Raspberry Crumble, October 2015), elegant apple tarte fines, apple cobblers, crisps and Betty’s.  Grated apple works a treat in a treacle tart to soften that super sweet hit and I like it mixed with mincemeat for a slightly less rich and more tangy pie at Christmas.   My super easy Tarte Tatin (January 2019) enjoys regular outings here as does the Crunchy Apple Pudding (January 2015).  The sharp apple makes a perfect foil to sweet pastry and oaty crumbly toppings;  it melds perfectly with cream whether straight or in the form of ice cream or custard which is why it makes so many appearances as a pudding.  Apples and cinnamon?  A life long love affair and a little tangy apple works amazingly well in cinnamon buns.

So make the most of wonderful apples.  We grow them here and right now you can enjoy them super fresh without having travelled a thousand miles or languished for months in cold storage.   Check out farm stalls and farmers markets for locally grown and unusual varieties – above all make a delicious apple pudding – with all that fruit under the crumble, well its almost health food.

Apple Turnovers

These are a little different to the filo wrapped turnovers I wrote about in Turnovers and leftovers (October 2016).  Not only do these use puff pastry (as that is what I had to hand) but they also combine cooking and eating apples.   This means you get the fluffy Bramley which breaks down to a fluff along with small pieces of the eaters which retain a little bite.  The strudel I mention in the introduction was essentially a large, long turnover using the other half of the pack of puff pastry.  It was eaten before I could take a photograph.

1 large Bramley apple, peeled, cored and cut into small dice

2 eating apples, peeled, cored and cut into small dice

4-5 tablespoons caster sugar plus some extra for sprinkling onto the turnovers

A couple of tablespoons of water

1/2 pack of puff pastry

Milk or a little beaten egg

A little flour

Icing sugar to dust (optional)

Preheat the oven to 200.  Put apples, sugar and water into a large pan and cook gently until the Bramley has broken down and the eaters have lost their crispness.  Taste, you may need a little more sugar and when you are happy with it leave to cool.  Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle and cut into six squares.  Put a tablespoon of the apple onto one square of pastry, sort of in the right angle, brush the edges with milk or egg wash and fold over to make a triangle pressing the pastry well to seal, use a fork if you like.  Repeat with the other 5 and put onto a parchment lined baking sheet.  Brush a little more milk or egg over the triangles, sprinkle with caster sugar, cut a couple of slits in the pastry and bake for 12-15 minutes until puffed, bronzed and crispy.  Allow to cool a little before dusting with icing sugar if you like.  Makes 6 and depending on the size of the apples used you may have some apple left which would be delicious for breakfast…

There are piles of glorious, juicy homegrown tomatoes around at the moment.  Months spent basking in the sun has brought them to their peak and now is the time to relish proper full flavoured tomatoes.   We have plate after plate of tomato salad and a week doesn’t go by without us tucking into my Tomato Bruschetta (July 2013) which is, as described, summer on a plate.

This time I have used tomatoes with spaghetti but resisted cooking them so you still get that true fresh tomato flavour.  Combined with masses of fresh herbs, a whisper of garlic and a good glug of grassy olive oil, this is a truly delicious late summer lunch.

Spaghetti with fresh tomatoes and herbs

You can use whichever fresh herbs you have to hand, basil is an obvious winner or course but I also favour fresh marjoram, parsley and chives.  You are relying on the flavour of the tomatoes here so do make sure they are really ripe and juicy and don’t ever keep them in the fridge!

4 medium sized tomatoes

A handful of fresh herbs, chopped (see introduction)

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 a clove garlic, very finely chopped

150g spaghetti (or pasta of your choice)

Salt and pepper

Put the pasta on to boil in a large pan with a generous pinch of salt.  Halve the tomatoes and squeeze out most of the watery juice and then finely chop and put in a bowl.  Add the herbs, olive oil, garlic, 1/2 a teaspoon of salt and several turns of the pepper mill.  When the pasta is cooked, drain then mix with the tomato mixture.  Taste in case you need a little more salt or olive oil and then serve straight away.  Enough for 2 but easily doubled or trebled.