Gastropub, the word can sometimes fill me with fear. The worst are cash-ins with no love of food, middle range is full to the brim with either pretentious overpriced offerings or clearly overstreched establishments who are jack of all master of none types. Occasionally though you happen upon a pub that cares about its food, drink and ambiance and performs excellently in each.

The Cricket Inn, Totley, South Yorkshire (just outside Sheffield) is one, a lovely little gem on the outskirts of Sheffield.

We we seated at a table by the fire, very welcome on this damp fresh spring evening, and had a short agonising time over starters (always my favourites) until we realised we could have a bit of everything to share. Local mini sausages, real pork scratchings, fish goujons, whitebait, spare ribs, home made bread and dips with chips arrived on a wooden board and in little aluminium pails - gorgeously presented and a real delight to eat, all washed down with excellent red wine (the ladies) and well kept ales (the gents).

Main courses also didn’t disappoint with bold flavours, pies, cheese topped fish, and big portions - so large in fact I couldn’t finish mine (unheard of, I assure you).

No room for pudding I’m afraid but they looked to be carrying on the great strong cooking coming out of the kitchen, if the treacle tart that wafted past me was anything to go by.

All in all a real delight, so if you ever find yourselves on the outskirts of Sheffield in need of some good grub…

4.5/5

The Cricket Inn
Totley, South Yorkshire
S17 3AZ
0114-236 5256

This is a classic summer staple, it takes minutes to make and is satisfying enough for a proper supper meal. You’ll feel full with hearty protein and veg without the lethargy of carbs which is ideal in these lovely long summer evenings when you want to be active until much later in the day.

It was one of the first meals I learnt to cook (at a later age than you might expect - this foodie used to be known as the girl who could burn water - how times have changed!). I love the huge dressing, all creamy salt and sharpness, against the crunch of the Cos (call it Romaine if you prefer, they are the same plant - Lactuca sativa).

Caesar Salad is great for summer entertaining as you can make the dressing and prepare all the bits well in advance, just taking a few minutes to flash fry the chicken and assemble at the end. And if you have pescatarian guests simply omit the chicken (no good for veggies because of the anchovies in the dressing I’m afraid).

Serves 2/3

Ingredients

1 medium head Cos/Romaine lettuce
2 small/med breasts of chicken
1 packet croutons (put in as much as looks right)
Parmesan, grate quite a lot with a potato peeler - again to your taste

Dressing
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 teaspoons mustard
1 splash Worcester Sauce
4/5 anchovy fillets (or a tablespoon of anchovy paste)
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar (not balsamic, use cider vinegar if you haven’t got red/white wine vinegar)
4 tablespoons olive oil
Big squeeze of lemon juice

1 In a bowl, mash up anchovy fillets and then add all other dressing ingredients and mix well - taste and adjust oil/vinegar until you have a happy balance of creamy, salty sharpness.
2 Wash and break/chop up Cos into a bowl, shave parmesan onto a side plate until you have a good pile
3 Chop chicken breasts into thin short strips
4 When you are ready to eat heat a little oil in a frying pan and put in the chicken, leave it to fry on a high heat whilst you assemble the salad
5 Dress the lettuce, mix well, then add parmesan and croutons, mix again
6 Back to the chicken, turn and continue to flash fry until it is cooked through and both sides are nicely browned. Throw onto salad and serve immediately with some bread and a nice rose.

It’s spring and those lovely green onions are at their biting best.

It’s spring and those lovely green onions are at their biting best.

Treat yourself to a proper breakfast/brunch this weekend with a tasty salmon and spring onion omelette. Ready in an instant and totally satisfying with a hunk of brown buttered bread or a few wilted greens.

Salmon scraps will do, if you’re feeling extravagant have it with a glass of bubbly and your main squeeze on the side.

Serves 2

Ingredients
2 spring onions
4 eggs
80-100g salmon scraps/pieces (small packet)
olive oil, pepper

1 Chop spring onions into 1/2 cm pieces
2 Fry gently in a little olive oil for 3-4 minutes
3 Whilst the onion is frying beat the eggs adding a splash of water, a grind of pepper and the salmon bits
4 Pour over the onions ans swosh around the pan to cover evenly, cook for 3-4 minutes or until bottom is nicely brown
5 Finish by either flipping over with a spatula or popping under a hot grill until top is also nicely tanned - serve with buttered brown bread or some wilted greens

I like chard, that sometimes maligned poorer cousin of the spinach, but it can be a little overpowering in its earthiness. I think it needs absolutely to be matched by other strong flavours to mellow it out a bit. If you are wondering what to do with the chard in your veg box (I don’t know many who buy it in the shops), or you fancy a bit of an adventure with a new veg then this omelette with its bold olives, sharp feta and barely cooked garlic is the easy supper treat for you.

It takes under 30 minutes and is a sure fire winner in our house, full of flavour and freshness.

Ingredients
1 medium onion
handful black pitted olives (super plain, tinned are best here, no kalamatas here please)
4 medium eggs
two big handfuls of chard
2 medium cloves garlic
splash balsamic vinegar

1 chop onion into thin strips (cut in half top to bottom then slice across thinly)
2 in a frying pan, sautee the onion gently in a 10cm pool of oil and a mean splash of balsamic (about a tablespoon)
3 after about 10 minutes wash chard, chop olives add to pan
4 crush garlic into pan and mix well, cover with a flat baking tray and cook for 3 minutes until chard is properly wilted
5 meanwhile beat eggs, S&P the mixture and put the grill on
6 add eggs to pan (when chard is done) and crumble feta on top
7 cook on hob for a few minutes and finish off under the grill - serve with bread, salad and a nice table wine

Last week I found myself with a glut of browning bananas - not sure how it happened as usually the bananas run out just before the veg box day, but this time there were just tons.

Rather than see them waste away I decided to make a banana loaf, a classic hearty cake that is perfect for a teatime treat. As it also lasts for ages you can enjoy the treat well into the working week.

As always with classic recipes I turned to Delia and the Good Housekeeping (a vintage gem, ours has hilarious photos of endless beige food, mostly in aspic, but is a great reference). Delia had a lovely easy version with bananas and walnuts. It really is a doddle, just assemble and bake. I didn’t have a loaf tin but the £1 shop down the road had packets of aluminium take out trays that were just perfect for the job (12cmx20cm at top).

Now I’m no baker but you’ve got to admit that is a pretty fine loaf, and it tasted as good as it looked. Not to sweet with a rich nuttiness and fruity banana flavour cut through by the citrus zest.

Ingredients
From Delia’s Complete Cookery

75g very soft butter/margarine
110g caster suger
1 large egg
225g plain flour
4 ripe medium bananas
1 orange
1 lemon
50g walnuts

1 Preheat oven to 180 C, Grease loaf tin, roughly chop walnuts, beat egg and zest lemon and orange
2 Put butter, sugar and egg into a large mixing bowl
3 Sift in flour and baking powder
4 Mix well (it will look a bit dry but don’t worry the bananas will sort that out)
5 Mash bananas with a fork and add to mixture with lemon and orange zests and walnuts
6 Mix well and pour into tin
7 Bake on middle shelf for 50-55 mins (it’s ready when it looks golden and springs back when pressed)
8 Cool in tin for 10 mins before turning out onto cooling rack (use a knife to loosen the edges) - store in kitchen roll in a cake tin for up to 4 days (maybe longer, it was finished by then in my house). Serve with a nice cup of tea

In case you didn’t know (!) it’s Red Nose Day and everyone is encouraged to do something funny for money. Though the night of television hasn’t started yet here is my fave funny thing so far, and it is food related (of course…).

www.justgiving.com/peterserafinowicz Pay £2 to upload your funniest veg musician.

The artichoke of noise anyone…

Trying to fit in your weekly portion of oily fish can sometimes be a bit of a strech for the imagination. For some reason I never cook salmon, don’t know why, it seems to have dropped off my radar. Maybe I should think about a salmon recipe next… But this is a delicious and easy recipe that uses smoked haddock or mackerel.

Traditionally it is a breakfast recipe, great for Saturday lunch/brunch, but I also like it for a weekday supper. A tasty dish that makes you feel like a Victorian!

When I want to make a traditional recipe I always turn to the master Delia and this is an adaptation of one of hers.

Ingredients

150ml rice (measure in a measuring jug)
300ml water/poaching liquid
450g smoked haddock/smoked mackerel
70g butter
1 onion
3/4 teaspoon hot curry powder
2 eggs
3 tablespoons fresh parsley
100g peas
1/2 lemon
S&P

1 Put the room temperature eggs into just boiling water and simmer for 1 minute, take off heat and cover, put to one side to finish cooking
2 If using smoked haddock poach for about 7 mins in about a pint of water - if using smoked mackerel skip this step
3 Chop onion and fry gently for 5 mins in 2/3 of the butter, add curry powder, fry for half a minute
4 Add rice and stir, add the water/cooking liquid, stir once and cover, simmer very gently for 15 minutes.
5 After 10 minutes add peas
6 Flake fish, chop eggs and parsley and add to pan with a squeeze of lemon and the last knob of butter. I like it piping hot but it can also be eaten warm.

Despite being and avid cook I had never made a risotto. I have eaten many but never made one, that’s Mr UF’s domain, he is risotto king. However, the other night circumstances left me with a craving for roast squash and feta risotto and no Mr UF until much too late to start cooking. So, I rolled up my sleeves and, armed with various wise risotto words (good and hot stock, lots of stiring), threw myself into the task…

The result was rather fantastic, sweet roasted squash matched by the creamy rice and foiled by the sharpness of the feta, with a little kick of chili and freshness from the parsley and lemon. It’s a really easy dish to make, you just need patience and a bit of care - there was, however, far too much time at the stove stirring for my liking so I may not make one again in a hurry, but then I have Mr UF to do that for me.

If you haven’t a willing partner to stir your arborio then I’d recommend you try it yourself, the result is really tasty - oh and cheap and veggie too.

Ingredients

200g arborio rice (about a mean mugful)
100g Feta (2/3 of one of the packaged blocks)
100ml white wine
Handful of parsley
1 onion
1 small squash
500ml chicken/veg stock
1/2 lemon
chili flakes
Olive oil, S&P

1 Heat the oven to 160 C and prepare the squash - take out seeds and skin too if necessary, I prefer all except butternut without. Cut them into bigish chunks, 2 inches across, sprinkle with a little oil, a pinch of chili flakes, S&P and arrange on a baking tray. Bake for 40 mins until browning nicely at the edges
2 Pick and chop the parsley, crumble/chop up the feta into small chunks
3 After the squash has been cooking for 20 mins, put the stock on to warm and chop the onion as finely as you can and fry gently in a little olive oil in a large pan.
4 When the onions are translucent (5-7 mins) add the rice and stir for 30 seconds
5 Add the wine and reduce right down
6 Add in the hot stock a ladle at a time, stirring constantly until the liquid is absorbed. The rice is cooked when it tastes right, about 20 mins in but start checking at 12mins
7 Take off the heat and add in the roasted squash, chopped feta, parsley and squeeze over the lemon juice - mix gently but firmly and serve in a deep bowl with a glass of fresh white

Well, I tried to make a pavlova for dinner with friends on Saturday night but my meringue didn’t quite turn out right (I think I didn’t beat it for long enough before adding the sugar).

Although delicious, toasted crisp on the outside and chewy in the middle, it didn’t look good - they really can blow up alarmingly in the oven - so I had to form a quick plan b.

And, inspired by the pudding Eaton Mess, I decided to deconstruct my pavlova, crumbling the unsightly meringue and mixing with the cream and raspberries before my guests saw it. Of course, what actually happened was we had a bit of wine and a bit of a laugh about the meringue growths, it’s best not to get too precious about food presentation, and then thoroughly enjoyed the pudding. Mmmm pavlova.

Ingredients

For the Meringue
(from Nigel Slater’s Appetite - quantities slightly modified and cooked as individual nests)

4 medium / 3 large organic egg whites
180g sugar
1 teaspoon cornflower

For the topping
200ml (big carton) whipping cream
2 small punnets raspberries (or 8 passion fruits if they are in season)

Serves 4-5

1 Heat the oven to 160 C, line a baking tray with parchment (non stick) baking paper, measure out the sugar
2 Separate the eggs - careful not to add even a smidgen of yolk or the whites won’t thicken
3 Whisk the whites until they are stiff and shiny - I did this in the magimix
4 Add the sugar in two batches, whisk until really thick and glossy
5 fold in cornflower by hand and then dollop 4/5 mounds onto baking paper (space them well apart) building them up into nests by adding to the edges - or you can make one big one
6 Put in oven for 1 hour, then turn off oven and leave meringues in to cool for 1 further hour
7 Meanwhile you can be whipping the cream into thick clouds and sieving about a quarter of the raspberries with a teaspoon of sugar to make a coulis (just push through the sieve, instant sauce!)
8 When you are ready to eat, present either pre-assembled (meringue, cream, raspberries, sauce), or in separate bowls for guests to make as the please, or make a(n Eaton) mess and serve with a smile!

A new service popped up early this new year - Graze.com, portioned snacks sent straight to your desk.

In the name of research, I have signed up so that I can give you a full and honest review of the service.

The deal is you pick things you like from the graze offering (dried and fresh fruits, nuts and seeds etc) and they send you a selection of 3 varied size portions in the post, they arrive, very nicely packaged in a simple cardboard and recyclable plastic box, as often as you like. You pay per box - about £2.99.

All very straightforward and a real boon for the really time poor (I have my hand up here) - grazing is the way to keep your blood sugars even through the day and having dried fruits handy is always going to be better than reaching for the office biscuit tin…

So what about the most important factor - how good is the food?

Well, I’ve had 3 boxes now and I have to admit the dried fruit can be a little on the dried side, and the nuts a slightly too frequent offering, that may be just bad ordering on my part. however, the fresh fruit is always tasty and it is nice to have a bit of exotic variety to my veg box apple and pear staples.

So although you can probably get slightly better dried fruits if you shop around for yourself, the portion control, variety and time saved are definitely appealing - I’ve had three boxes and haven’t cancelled yet…