This Saturday afternoon I escaped the heavy skies into a place full of clean warmth and light: L’Atelier des Chefs in Marylebone. 

I spent the afternoon at a joyous cooking class with some fellow foodie bloggers. The event was organised by Niamh of eatlikeagirl.com and Trusted Places, our generous patrons, making, of all things, macarons!

Now, I’m not known for making fussy food - and there is surely nothing fussier than a mini gourmandise that takes upwards of 2.5 hours to make - but I have to say that we had a splendid time. The kitchen was impeccable, large and bright, the tutor charming and exuberant and the company enthusiastic and welcoming. Everyone delighted in the wonderful bright colours of the meringues, the siliness of the piping and the simple pleasure of throwing down the trays (to get rid of air bubbles, a noisy business). Laughter was the constant soundtrack to the day and I can honestly say it was the most collective fun I’ve had without alcohol in ages.

Plus the macarons were delicious (except for the foie gras ones that I really couldn’t stomach) and I hope I made the first steps towards expanding my foodie friend group.

Thanks to all for a great day: Lizzie, Su-Lin, Krista, Josh, Alice, Helen, Jonathan, Abi, Kang, Tom, Alex, Bron, Mark, and Shuna.

Not forgetting our hostess Niamh and director of photography Laura.

Read more on the trusted places blog

Ugly Fruit and Veg Back on the Shelves.

In the foodie news this week - the EU has finally scrapped 26 of the 36 controversial food rules governing the shape and size of fruit and veg.

Hopefully this means that we will see real fruit and veg back in the shops - although how much depends on how deeply conditioned we are to the ‘perfect’ carrot - and stop the 20-30% wastage of harvests that occurs today.

Interestingly, while the UK has been lobbying for this for some time now the rest of Europe is still mostly opposed to relaxing these regulations - putting a poke in the eye to the Daily Mail lot who claim that the EU is full of loony bureaucrats hell bent on wrenching power from this sovereign nation, rant, rant…

Stopping the veg waste and modern obsession with ‘perfection’ PLUS undermining the swivel eyed bigots - in my book that is a real win, win situation. Well done EU.

You can read more about it on BBC News 

I was a bit surprised to receive a head of spring greens in my veg box this week - the missing link between a cabbage and a sprout, cabbage leaves on a sprout like central trunk - surely the name suggests that this is not a November staple. Apparently I was not the only one, a fellow foodie blogger helengraves.co.uk had a similar shock, Able & Cole helpfully informed her that Spring Greens are the hardiest of veg bridging the green gap in earliest spring, hence the name, they are actually in season right through the winter - phew!

Helen not only helped with the research but also offered a delicious and filling soup that combines the sprightly folliage (which has a really bright, fresh taste) with smoky, spicy chorizo. Pork and cabbage is an eternal combination, as much a delight to the eye as to the palate. Thanks Helen!

Ingredients
(From helengraves.co.uk, I have adapted it slightly to suit)

1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
100g chorizo (I used a pre-cooked one sliced very thinly, but any will do)
1/2 head spring greens
2 medium potatoes
A slug of dry sherry
500 ml chicken stock
Olive oil, S&P

Serves 2/3

1 Chop onion finely and add to a heated 10cm pool of oil, fry gently for 5 minutes
2 Chop/crush the garlic, wash and cube potatoes (no need to peel) add pan with sherry, cook for 2 minutes
3 Add stock, a bit of S and lots of P, cook for a further 15 minutes
4 Chop greens finely
5 3 mins before end fry chorizo in hot frying pan (no need for oil)
6 Mash pots in soup a bit then add chorizo and oils from pan (I use a bit of water to deglaze) and greens, cook for further 4 mins
7 Serve with a hunk of bread (we had sourdough) warming, filling quick and simple

Oh joy of joys, the Leon cookbook I mentioned a few posts ago is now on my kitchen shelves.

What a book.

Far from disappointing my (really rather high) expectations, they have far exceeded them. This isn’t just a cookbook it is a book of love, filled with tons of stories and useful information as well as a wealth of healthy, delicious foodie recipes - recipes you really will want to eat again and again.

The physical book itself is a delight with a pull out cheese map, fold-outs here and cut-outs there. Each page is crafted with great love, every photograph obviously chosen in company over a glass of wine and a reminisce of old times. The book is so much more than the sum of its parts, you can dip in to find a recipe or read a few pages and see the Leon family story emerge from the accumulated moments they capture.

Practical, useful and utterly charming.

5/5 - Buy it at Amazon (£12.95+p&p) or from a Leon near you (£16, some signed)

I haven’t brought you a cocktail for a while and this is a drink with a lineage.

Long, long ago a friend brought the recipe back from a bar in the US that specialised in ‘desert’ cocktails, it became an immediate hit with my lot. We spread the secret around all our favourite haunts (the old Full Moon in Brighton, The Embassy Islington in the early days) and it has garnished birthdays and Christmases ever since.

And as it was two of my favourite people’s birthdays recently I felt the time had come for it to rise again…

The idea is that you down the shot and suck on the sugary lemon and it tastes like chocolate cake - a novelty drink to amaze first yourself and then endless rounds of friends. A great party starter. There is something so joyous about the oral trickery you can’t help but laugh.

Ingredients

1/2 shot Frangelico (a hazelnut liqueur)
1/2 shot vodka
1 slice lemon
sprinkling of brown sugar

1 Mix alcohols together in a shot glass, sprinkle the sugar on the lemon
2 Repeat until everyone has one
3 Think of a glorious cheer, clink, drink and suck. Voila - chocolate cake.

I haven’t got many dishes where mushrooms are the star, they tend to get used either for mushroom gravy or to put on Saturday breakfast toast. I’m not sure why, I do love mushrooms, so I thought I’d bring them to the fore by adapting a recipe orginally meant for aduki beans. If you’ve never had them I urge you to go out and get some immediately, they are very small, very savoury, very nutty little delights.

If you don’t fancy beans though just use all mushrooms, a mix of types would be extra nice.

Ingredients

200g mushrooms (any kind)
1 tin aduki beans (about 200g or replace with 200g more mushrooms)
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
2 heaped teaspoons paprika 
1 teaspoon tomato paste
100ml red wine
1 tub creme fraiche
Olive oil, S&P
Fresh coriander (3 tablespoons chopped - optional)

Serves 3 (or 2 in my house!)

1 Chop onion and fry gently for 10 minutes in a generous pool of oil (15cm diameter) at the bottom of a big pan
2 Whilst onions are cooking drain and rinse beans, chop onions and prepare garlic for crushing
3 Add paprika, tomato paste and crush garlic into pan, stir well
4 Add mushrooms and fry for 3 minutes to brown, add aduki beans (if using) and cook for a further 3-4 mins
5 Add red wine and same amount of water, S&P and bubble quietly for 10 minutes (I put on the rice at this point)
6 Take off heat and stir in creme fraiche to your taste (I like 3 heaped tablespoons) serve over rice (brown is extra nutty and white a suitable foil) with chopped coriander sprinkled on top, a nice glass of red on the side.

As I have mentioned here before, I probably spend a bit more time and money than I should in the lovely Leon restaurants, brainchild of Allegra McEvedy, cook and charactere par extraodinaire. So imagine my excitement when they decided to bring out their own cookbook, proving again that they aren’t precious about their gift (it is even being serialised in the paper). Here is one of my favourites, gobi curry, which I am making with a rather psychedelic romanesco cauliflower that was in the box this week.

Recipe serves 4 (at least!)

Ingredients
From Allegra McEvedy’s fabulous restaurants and cookbook

1 medium onion
1 carrot
2 tbsp sunflower or peanut oil
1 to 1.5 red chili(s) (go for a bird’s-eye if you like it hot)
2 thumb-sized pieces of root ginger
5 cloves garlic
1 large tsp Madras curry powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp black onion seeds
1 medium sweet potato
4 heaped tbsp ground almonds
A good handful of sultanas
½ a small cauliflower
400ml tin of coconut milk
150g frozen peas
Juice of ½ a lemon
A really big handful of coriander
Salt
2 heaped tbsp desiccated coconut, to serve

1 chop the onion in half and into thick slices, cut the carrot into thick chunks and add to oil, salt and cook over a low heat, covered, for 15-20 mins (stir occasionally)
2 blitz the chili, ginger and garlic to a paste in a food processor and add to pan, cook for further 5 mins
3 wash and chop sweet pot into 2.5 cm chunks, add to pan with ground almonds, mix well
4 turn up heat and add 250ml water and sultanas, bring to a simmer and bubble for 10-15 mins (lid off) stirring occasionally
5 break cauliflower into florets and it and coconut milk to pan, simmer for further 10-15 mins, covered.
6 check veg is cooked and then turn off heat and add peas, more salt, lemon juice, the coriander chopped and the coconut sprinkled on top. I serve it with white rice, rotis and some lime pickle. Some sharp apple cider would be a great partner too.

Note, the veg in this recipe is quite flexible, for instance I am replacing the peas with some spinach that I had left in the fridge, and I have used a whole small romanesco head - the beauty of a dish that will actually get made is often it’s flexibility. To make it child friendly just leave out the chili and about half of the spices, see what I mean, felixible.

This is such a cinch to make but tastes fabulous (my sister demands it when she comes over for supper). You probably have all but the sausages hanging around at the back of the cupboard. Nigel Slater scores again with this simple, hearty recipe.

Ingredients
(ever so slightly adapted) from Nigel Slater in the Observer

1 medium onion
2 large cloves garlic
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
2 bay leaves
5 sausages
500g passata
2 tablespoons wholegrain mustard
2 tbsp olive oil
1 can butter beans (plus a half/small can if you can find it, no biggie if not)

Serves 2-3

1 Peel onion, cut in half, then into 6 or so thick segments
2 Warm a 10cm pool of olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan, add onions and cook for 3-4 minutes
3 Add fennel seeds, bay leaf and garlic (crush or chop) and sausages, brown lightly all over
4 Add passata and 1 tablespoon mustard, bring to boil and then put in drained and rinsed butter beans and S&P
5 Simmer for 20-25 minutes (I like to chop sausages up into 3 pieces after about 10 minutes - just to be sure they cook through)
6 Stir in last tablespoon of mustard and serve with a bit of green salad, a hunk of bread and a spicy wine.

I do love reading about food. A favourite Saturday morning relaxation is to read Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in the Guardian Weekend magazine and then browse my recipe books for tasty ideas for the week ahead. If I am feeling stressed at work, or just in need of a break/lift I surf the net for recipes to add to the collection (usually based around whatever was in the veg box this week, repetition of unusual veg can make you quite creative).

So when I had an urge for a curry the other day, the crisp weather and quick night made me hanker after a colourful and spicy dinner, I turned my recent reading into the perfect composite dinner. The curry is from Skye Gyngell in The Independent (I have slightly simplified it) and the accompanying roti’s are from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in the Guardian Weekend

Serves 3/4

Curry - Ingredients
from Skye Gyngell in The Independent

1 medium squash (onion, butternut etc)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 red onion
3 medium garlic cloves
1 green chili
10 curry leaves/ tablespoon curry powder
1 bunch of coriander
1tsp mustard seeds
1tsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp caster sugar, or to taste
2 tbsp fish sauce, or to taste
2 limes
15-20 little ripe San Marzano tomatoes (optional)
1 tin good-quality peeled plum tomatoes
250ml coconut milk (fresh or tinned)

1 Chop onion and add to heated oil in heavy bottomed pan - fry gently for 10 minutes
2 Chop chili & coriander stalks (reserve leaves for later), crush/chop garlic - add to pan with curry leaves/powder, whilst you…
3 Toast mustard and fennel seeds - crush and then add to pan, cook for a further few minutes whilst you…
4 Chop squash into thinnish 5 cm chunks (no need to peel, just remove middle fibres) - add to pan, cook for 5 minutes
5 Juice limes, mix with sugar and fish sauce - add to pan and check sour/heat/salt/sweet ratio (should be a good balance of each - amend as needed)
6 Add toms (tinned and fresh, if using) and cook for 30-35 minutes half covered
7 Add coconut milk and coriander leaves, cook for a further 5 minutes
8 To serve allow to cool and reheat gently with fluffy rice, a warm roti and some blanched chard/spinach/kale tossed in lime juice and olive oil. Oh and lime pickle - No curry is complete without it!

Roti - Ingredients
from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in the Guardian Weekend

100g strong flour
1 small pinch salt
60ml flour
knob of butter for brushing

1 Mix all ingredients - except for butter  - together on a bowl, knead on floured surface for a few minutes.
2 Separate into 6 balls, roll out into thin pancakes (15-20 cm across)
3 Heat non-stick frying pan and put in first roti, after about a minute, as bubbles appear, flip over and cook other side - spread with butter, move to a plate and cover with tea towel to keep warm whilst you do the next ones.

I’m no baker, but when a glut of pears were threatening to turn bad and be wasted there was nothing for it but to buy a pie dish and some baking beans and have a go. My mum makes this effortless and classic french tarte aux pommes which I used as my inspiration, offering delightful simple flavours that can be enjoyed for days, the ever so slight staleness makes it all the more delicious!

I took the pastry from Annie Bell’s excellent, if a little complex for everyday, Evergreen (I still haven’t got a copy of her legendary but elusive Vegetables currently £50 on Amazon Marketplace!) and then just made up the rest. Although this recipe isn’t the quickest it really is simple requiring only small amounts of input.

Ingredients

Pastry:
170g plain flour
55g caster sugar
85g unsalted butter
1 egg yolk (medium)

Filling
4-6 small pears
1 tablespoon apricot jam
2 tablespoons hot water

6 portions

1 Butter and flour 22cm tart tin (or if it really non-stick don’t bother)
2 Place flour sugar and butter and crumb in a bowl, add egg yolk and a few tablespoons water (as needed) to make a dough
3 Roll out pastry, put in tin and chill for an hour
4 Heat oven to 180 C, line pastry with baking beans and bake for 15-20 mins
5 Core and slice the pears, line nicely in tin, mix water and apricot jam and use to glaze, pop back in the oven for 20-25 minutes until peras are caramel brown on the edges.
6 Serve with a dollop of creme fraiche, and cover with a cloth for tomorrow (no need to refrigerate).