So, starting the year as we mean to go on, then, my next recipe is a little belter.  Brisket is a firm favourite in our house.  I love it because it’s a ‘bung it in and forget about it’ type of recipe, and the brevren and Hubby like the meltingly tender meat and rich sauce.  We have it with mashed potato usually (not really your diet option, so substitute with mashed sweet potato or maybe puréed parsnip, if you’re watching the poundage) and it always does at least two meals.  Our lovely local butcher does a great brisket joint (I’ve not weighed it, unfortunately – I’ll remember next time) quite reasonably and it does two meals for the four of us easily.

The anatomy lesson

First, then, the cut.  Don’t let the look of it put you off: it’s kind of a rolled up bit of meat with a covering of fat.  And yes, it’s possibly one of the cheaper cuts, but slow-roasted, well, braised, technically, it’s delicious.  If you imagine a cow (come on, join in), imagine where its breast would be, kind of between its front legs, and that’s where the brisket is (thanks as always to Jimmy’s Farm for my rather dodgy butchery knowledge – ‘first, take your cow…’), so it does a bit of work and therefore has its fair share of connective tissue.  A long, slow cook is what’s needed here, then, and you’ll be rewarded by a luscious, tender result.

Recipe

It’s a bit of a laugh to even CALL this a recipe, frankly.  All you’ll need is onions and stock.  If, like me, you occasionally snaffle leftover bits and bobs of soup and gravy and bag them in the freezer, this is the time to get them all out.  A little leftover tomato sauce (as I’ve used here) and a little leftover beef gravy will all go towards making this sauce even more delicious.  Still, if all you have is a couple of stock cubes that’s fine too.

It’s difficult to give an exact estimate because you’ll need enough liquid to cover the beef and this will depend on the size of your casserole, but you might need a couple of litres, give or take.

You’ll also need a good, sturdy ovenproof casserole with a lid.

Method

Preheat the oven to gas 4/180.

Heat up a tablespoon of oil in your heavy pot and chuck in one or two sliced onions.  Heat gently until they’re translucent, then reserve them while you crank up the heat and pop in your brisket.  Give it a good browning on all sides (this all adds to the flavour), then add back the onions.  Pour in the stock (adding in any leftover bits of sauces or gravies you’ve previously frozen), making sure it’s well covered.  Don’t season it at this stage, as stock (and leftover gravy) can be a bit salty, plus you’re going to concentrate it.

Pop on the lid and put it into the oven for a couple of hours.  You can just leave it the full four hours, but I like to give it a little twiddle after two:

Carefully lift out the meat onto a board, snip the strings holding the meat in a roll and discard them.  This will ‘uncurl’ your brisket and allow you to cut it up into two or three manageable chunks. Once you’ve done this, you can see where the extra fat is and trim it all off (this obviously makes it a lot more healthy too).  Pop it back into the stock, topping up if it’s looking a bit low, and sprinkle over a tablespoon of plain flour.  This will give the finished sauce a bit of ‘oomph’ – again, not compulsory.  Put the lid back on and leave it for another couple of hours.

The finished result will be melty, soft meat and a rich, gorgeous sauce.  Taste to check the seasoning, then serve, as above, with mashed sweet potato, or even rice an plenty of veggies.

The leftover meat can be sliced and used in sandwiches or whatever, but I like to take two forks and shred it into the sauce.  I either freeze it, or use it the next day, maybe with a little extra squirt of tomato purée, spooned over pasta.

Twiddles

As you know, I love a twiddle, and this is MADE for twiddling.  I’ve made a spicy version for friends, with lots of spices added and fried off with the onions at the beginning, and some of the stock replaced with tomato passata, and I’ve also done a vegetable-enhanced one with chopped leek, carrots and potatoes popped in when the meat has about an hour to go.  Delicious.

Buying online

The success of this dish will be dictated by the quality of the meat used.  If  you don’t have a local butcher, or yours isn’t able to supply you with the cut or breed you need, you can order from new online butchers, Farmison.

So, after promising you a couple of healthy recipes, I then buggered off and promptly forgot all about them.  Sorry.

Anyhoo, here I am, back live and a week into my alcohol free month.  It’s going well.  It’s going really well.  I feel fab – and after the amazing facial, my skin’s feeling fab too.  I’m drinking much more water (Katy told me that your body often mistakes thirst for hunger) and one of the biggest changes for me has been lunch.  I’ve switched from a sandwich and a packet of crisps, to a bowl of soup, and it’s made an amazing difference.

Why switch to soup?

Well, firstly, if you make it yourself, you know exactly what’s in it.  You can pack it full of veggies (great for that half a butternut squash left in the fridge, or a half packet of green beans that got forgotten) and it’s really low fat.  If you’ve got leftover chicken or beef in the fridge, you can add that in too.  Do what I do and make a great big vat of the stuff and store it in the fridge so it’s easy to grab and stops that lunchtime dithering thing that can see you reaching for a lump of cheese and a box of crackers (or is that just me?).  And remember, lentils are your friend.

Why lentils?

Lentils are, and I don’t use this word lightly, a real superfood.  They’re full of fibre and loads of other fab stuff like iron and B vitamins and are great for providing that protein kick you need at lunchtime to see you through the day. They also have the advantage of being a great thickener, so if you’re trying to eat healthily they’re an excellent addition to soups and stews.  They absorb flavours really well and have a mild, almost nutty taste themselves.

Get colourful

A good rule of thumb when making soup is to make sure you have lots of different colours going in there.  Different coloured veg generally provide different vitamins and minerals, so bung in some carrots or butternut squash, then choose something green (freeze a bag of spinach so you can grab a handful) and maybe, say, a red onion too.  Here’s a quick recipe, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll be making a different variety every time and you’ll never get bored.

Vary your seasoning

Think past salt and pepper.  Sweeter vegetables like parsnips and carrots go really well with a bit of earthy spice… tomatoes go well with chilli… have an experiment.

Lentil and vegetable soup

There are no hard and fast rules here.. add what you like and leave out what you don’t.

1 tablespoon rapeseed oil

1 onion, peeled and chopped

Variety of veg, peeled and chopped (three or four double handfuls should do it).  I used:

3 large carrots

1 large parsnip

1/2 butternut squash

1/2 bag watercress and rocket salad

Thick slice of savoy cabbage, chopped

2 litres chicken stock (or veg stock – cube is fine)

About 150 – 200g red lentils

So heat up the oil in a very large saucepan.  Add in the onion and fry until translucent.   If you’re adding spice, add it now – stir it around with the onions and oil until you can really smell it (I know that sounds weird, but it works).  Now, add in all your prepared veg, then pour over the stock.  Add in the lentils (use less if you prefer your soup thinner).  Simmer for about 20 minutes or until tender, then blitz with a stick blender.

Probably a bit late with this one, but as I was making my stuffing this morning I made a few tweaks to my last recipe and thought you might like it – apologies if yours is already shopped for and made!  We like a lot of stuffing and this quantity will fill a decent-sized terrine with a little left over, which I roll into little balls and bake separately, but feel free to halve it if there’s only a few of you.

You will need:

1 -2 tbsp butter

2 red onions, finely chopped

2 dessert apples, grated (don’t bother to peel)

2 x 375g packs pork sausage meat

100g fresh white breadcrumbs

100g vac packed chestnuts, crumbled (we’re a family divided over chestnuts – if you love them, add the whole pack)

2 tbsp parsley, chopped

2 tbsp thyme, chopped

2 tbsp sage, chopped

Squeeze of lemon juice

Seasoning to taste

So heat the butter in the frying pan and add in the onion.  Fry very gently until softened.  Add in the apple and cook that just until it’s a bit darker in colour and softened.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool. I make the stuffing in the KitchenAid but if you’re doing it without one I suggest you just get your hands in there – it’s the easiest way to combine everything.

So now just bung it all together: the cooled onion and apple mixture, the sausage meat, breadcrumbs, crumbled chestnuts, herbs and lemon juice, and give it a good old mix.

Season well (you can fry a teaspoon of mixture if you want to check the seasoning). Transfer to your buttered terrine and store, covered with cling film, in the fridge until the big day.  It’ll take about half an hour in the oven at about 190/gas 5 (180 if you’ve got a fan oven). Obviously it looks a bit more appetising when it’s cooked, but I’m not cooking it until tomorrow.

This also makes a very nice stuffing for ravioli if you happen to get a pasta machine for Christmas!

To skip all the waffle and just get to the recipe, feel free to scroll down.

It will be no surprise to you when you hear me say that I love Christmas. LOVELOVELOVE Christmas! But often I find that Christmas recipes involve huge amounts of food. There’s generally only the four of us for Christmas lunch, plus maybe my Mum, so to turn to Nigella’s Christmas book and find her recipe for Christmas ham starts with a 6.5kg  joint is a bit of a shocker – and frankly my maths isn’t fantastic, so downsizing a recipe generally involves taking off my shoes and socks and borrowing the kids’ fingers and toes too.  Far too much like hard work.

This recipe, therefore – and I’ve tested it – my family have been eating christmas glazed ham since September – works with ANY sized joint.  Multiply it up and down as you see fit and as suits you.

I think ham makes a wonderful Boxing Day (or St Stephen’s Day if you’re across the Irish Sea) feast.  It’s wonderful hot with creamy mashed potatoes, or cold with chutneys and cheeses and a hunk of crusty bread.

Choosing your ham (or gammon, to be precise)

What’s the difference? Well essentially, gammon is what ham is before it’s cooked – it’s generally wet cured in brine, however dry curing is thought to give a better result. Again, it’s up to you.

When choosing a Christmas gammon joint I’d recommend going to a good butcher. I know supermarkets have them in, but butchers get really good quality meat, and you know how I feel about poor intensively farmed piggies. Be vocal. Ask where the meat has come from. This is not the time of year to have every bite sticking in your throat with guilt. Choose a pig that lived a happy life and had a humane ending. You’ll feel better for it.  If you’re choosing in a supermarket, though, look out for the Red Tractor logo – a sure sign of decent quality meat.

I prefer smoked gammon, which has a more intense flavour, but go with what you fancy.

Spicing and poaching

Spicing your gammon as you simmer it infuses wonderful flavour into the meat.  It also makes the kitchen (and the whole house) smell fantastic – a big part of Christmas cooking as far as I’m concerned.

You can also poach your gammon in all sorts of different liquids.  Cider works really well, and Coca Cola imbues a really gorgeous depth and sweetness.

For this recipe, I’ve used plain old water.

With the spices, just think Christmas.  Again, this bit is personal preference.  Leave things out if you don’t have them, or add something a bit different if you like.

Glazing and roasting

Glazing adds a gorgeous, sticky finish and an incredible amount of flavour.  Again, the glaze can be as simple or as complicated as you like.  Personally, I think you need the following elements:

1. Sticky: Marmalade works really well, as does honey,  Hoi Sin sauce (thanks, Erica, for that one) or even golden syrup or mango chutney.

2. Boozy: I’ve used Pedro Ximenez sherry (it’s got a scrummy, raisiny flavour which is basically Christmas in a bottle), but dark rum will do the trick – if you don’t want to use alcohol, try Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce. Or add both.

3. Sweet: dark brown sugar is perfect here

4. Spicy: 1 or 2 tsp of mustard will do, but you could add chilli sauce, or grated fresh ginger

Something fresh is nice too – maybe some orange juice or a squeeze of lime.

Keep the basic quantities the same and you’ll have roughly the right amount.

But frankly, you could just spoon over a couple of tablespoons of honey and it would still be lush.

The final roasting allows the meat to suck up all those gorgeous flavours.  If you stick a pan with some water in the bottom of the oven, it shouldn’t dry out too much.  Whatever sized joint, it should only need about 3o mins – after all, it’s already cooked.

Anyhoo, here’s my version:

Christmas glazed ham

1 smoked gammon joint – anywhere from 800g to 8kg

1 large onion

1 cinnamon stick, snapped

1 tsp Szechuan peppercorns (or black peppercorns if you don’t have them)

2 or 3 star anise

1 tsp cumin seeds

3 or 4 cardamom pods

4 or 5 cloves

Small piece of dried ginger (or fresh)

2 bay leaves

For the glaze:

4 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp Pedro Ximenez sherry (or dark rum, or whatever you’ve got)

1 tbsp dark brown sugar

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Squeeze of lime

Pop the gammon joint into a nice, big saucepan (make sure you have a lid to fit), add in enough cold water to cover and pop in all the spices, plus a large onion, and maybe some carrots or celery too.

Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently  (JUST bubbling) for 30 minutes per 500g.  This one here is quite small, only 800g, so I did it for just under an hour – you don’t have to be too precise.

When the time’s up, allow to cool (you need to handle it and frankly, we could all do without third degree burns at Christmas), then remove the rind.  Leave on the fat.  If you want to, you can do the traditional diamond shaped scoring, dotting each intersection with a clove.

Preheat the oven to 180/gas 4.

Place all your glaze ingredients in a saucepan and stir until just combined.  Place the joint on a baking tray and pour over about a third of the glaze.  Spread it around with a pastry brush.  If you don’t want to mess about with a glaze, just spoon over a couple of tablespoons of runny honey.

Bake for about ten minutes, then remove and glaze again.

Bake for another ten minutes, then remove and cover with the rest of the glaze.  Give it ten more minutes and you’re done.

This ham will keep for up to a week wrapped well in the fridge, but I doubt it will last that long!

So as you know I’m involved with the Fish is the Dish project, a fabulous endeavour from Seafish.org encouraging families to eat more fish.  Basically I get challenged every couple of weeks to cook with a different fish ( love it when my delivery man appears at the door clutching my parcel – it’s like a fish version of Christmas).  This week it was beautiful fillets of undyed smoked haddock from Delish Fish.  The fillets were firm and meaty, and not at all yellow (remembering the smoked haddock of my youth here).

I fiddled with this recipe quite a bit, but I have to tell you, the end result was fabulous, and was woofed down by every member of the family – even the curry-hating Death Wish Dude.  English Dad isn’t sure he could eat it for breakfast (I certainly could), but it’s an easy and nutritious supper and would make a fab brunch if you have guests or over Christmas:

 Kedgeree

450g smoked haddock

Milk

2 bay leaves

1 onion

25g butter

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp turmeric

1 pinch crushed chilli

350g basmati  rice

4 hard boiled eggs

Chopped coriander

Firstly, boil the kettle (the man from British Gas told me never to heat water on the stove – apparently it’s much more energy efficient to use kettle-heated water!)

So lay the haddock fillets in a nice heavy frying pan and pour over enough milk to just cover them.  Add in the bay leaves and quartered onion.  Poach for about 8 minutes or until the fish is beginning to flake.

In the mean time, pour boiling water over 4 eggs in a saucepan and place on the heat. They’ll take 8 minutes too.

Once cooked, remove the fish, cover and keep warm in a low oven.  Reserve the cooking milk in a jug, topping up to 600ml with stock.

Chuck out the bay leaves, but keep the onions and chop them as finely as your burning fingers will allow.  Fry them in the butter for a few minutes until softened, then add in the spices.

Pop in the rice, stir around until coated and then add the milky/stock liquid.  Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Then stir in the flaked haddock (and add frozen peas if you’re using them) and cook for about another 5 minutes or until the rice is just cooked.  Keep an eye on the liquid. You might need to add a bit more stock.

To serve, top with the boiled eggs.  And I think a nice sprinkling of coriander would be perfect.

Enjoy!

For more information on the Fish is the Dish campaign, go to their website, check out their Facebook page, or find them on Twitter @fishisthedish.

I’m REALLY enjoying this Fish is the Dish project.  They send a ‘fish parcel’ every couple of weeks and I get to cook with all sorts of really beautiful fresh fish.

This week, it was some gorgeous fresh trout from a company called Dawnfresh.  The colours were absolutely amazing.  We all gathered round oohing and ahhing at the beautiful skin (and then had a big family argument about how to cook it).

I won (obviously) when I found this gorgeous recipe over at BritishTrout.co.uk - it’s basically fillets of trout with a lime and caper butter sauce.  It was so easy and quick, and absolutely delicious.  I changed it about as we didn’t have any fresh herbs, which I think would enhance it even more, but do give it a try anyway, it was yum scrum:

Trout with a lime and caper butter sauce

6 trout fillets, seasoned

125g butter

2 tbsp capers, rinsed

2 tbsp lime juice

So basically just use a knob of the butter to gently fry the trout, skin side down.  It cooks really fast, so you only need to give it about 3 or 4 minutes before you flip it over and cook on the other side for about a minute.

Then just remove the fillets and keep them warm.  Pop the rest of the butter into the pan, and add in the capers  and the lime juice.  Once the sauce is all lovely and foamy, pour it over the fish and serve.

Simples!

My twist: we ate our trout with some lovely baby roasted potatoes sprinkled with rosemary salt, and also some roasted parsnips – the sweetness went really well with the vinegary capers.

For more information on the Fish is the Dish campaign, go to their website, check out their Facebook page, or find them on twitter @fishisthedish.

I’ve already told you about the lovely chaps at Seafish – they work really hard promoting great quality, sustainable seafood, and their campaign, Fish is the Dish, is all about encouraging us all to eat more fish and the website is a fabulous resource for recipes, cooking tips and advice about choosing and cooking fish.

They’d noticed the Sea Bass debacle, and invited me up to Billingsgate Seafood School at the famous fish market, to teach me some fishy skillz.  The course was a special one as we were being taught by none other than Allan Pickett, Head Chef of the beautiful Plateau Restaurant in Canada Place, in the very heart of the Docklands.

Allan was a brilliant teacher.  We warmed to him straight away as he abandoned the teaching ‘stage’ at the front of the kitchen to come and work next to us at the workstations.  First of all we were presented with a whole Sea Bass and a scary scraper-contraption and had a good old go at descaling.  This was hilarious as scales were flying everywhere.  I found several scales down my cleavage that night, alarmingly…

Next, Allan took us through filleting the Sea Bass.  It really is all about technique (as the actress said to the bishop), pressing down firmly on the flesh ‘opens up’ the fillet as you gently cut the flesh away from the bones.  It’s a bit gruesome when you have to break the heads off after you’ve cut round them, yes, but it’s also fascinating, and there’s a real sense of satisfaction when you’re left with two neat fillets at the end of the process.

After we’d finished the Sea Bass, we moved onto the Plaice.  These ugly mothers have two larger fillets on the top side, and two smaller on the underside.  I found this a bit more tricky, as the fillets are thin anyway – a bit too much enthusiasm while you’re cutting and you can find that there’s hardly anything left!

After the filleting, we got down to the cooking.  Here are the very simple, and very delicious, recipes we used:

Shallow fried Plaice fillets with French beans and almonds, with nut brown butter sauce

1 Plaice (per person)

Flour, for dusting

Salt and pepper

80g butter

60g French beans, blanched in boiling salted water

10g almonds (toasted then chopped)

Fillet the Plaice (or ask your fishmonger to do it), then skin as well.  Season the flour well then dust each fillet, tapping away the excess.

Heat a little vegetable oil in a pan, then shallow fry the Plaice fillets (we were taught to fry them on the presentation side until golden and NOT to mess with them).  Flip over briefly to make sure the other side is just cooked through.

Put the fillets on a warm plate then add in the butter to the pan, swirling around until it’s bubbling and beginning to brown.  Pop in the beans and almonds, just to warm them through, then spoon the whole lot over the cooked Plaice fillets.

Roast fillet of Sea Bass with a sauce vierge

1 whole Sea Bass, well scaled and filleted

300g new potatoes, cooked then peeled

1 punnet red or yellow cherry tomatoes

1/2 lemon, juiced

1/2 bunch chives

1/2 bunch chervil or parsley

125ml good quality olive oil

30g pitted black olives, sliced lengthways

Salt and pepper

Heat a pan then add a little vegetable oil.  Once hot, add in the Sea Bass fillets carefully and cook slowly on the skin side until crisp and nearly cooked through.

Meanwhile, slice the cooked potatoes and sauté in butter in another pan until brown.

Cut the tomatoes in half and grill until just warmed through and starting to soften.

Spoon the potatoes onto the middle of a warmed plate.  Quickly flip the fish over in the pan just to make sure the other side is cooked through, then put the hot fish on top of the potatoes, and arrange the cherry tomatoes around the plate.

Mix the olive oil with a little lemon juice, pour into the hot pan.  Add in the chopped herbs and olives.  Warm through and pour over the dish.

And that’s it!  The evening went so quickly I was actually really disappointed when it ended.  We had a chance to sit and chat while we ate our dishes with a glass of wine, which was really nice.

The dishes were both delicious and I really feel ready to buy a whole fish and have a go myself at home.  Remember, though, your fishmonger will always fillet any fish for you, so don’t feel you can’t ask.

Massive thanks to Jo at Seafish for arranging my fab day out, and to the lovely staff at Billingsgate, and the ever-patient Chef Allan Pickett,

I’m not completely sure where I first saw this recipe.  Rest assured it wasn’t my idea – I’m thinking maybe Martha Stewart or somewhere like that?

Anyhoo, if you’re entertaining on bonfire night, these little beauties are a great talking point.  If you don’t fancy chicken, just fill them with your usual minced beef recipe, or even just squeeze sausagemeat out of the casing to fill them.

The teenagers, you’ll  be delighted to know, took me to task over my original ‘scary’ description in the title, and said that it should be ‘grumpy’ or maybe ‘ugly’, so ugly it is, but if you want to make smiley ones go for it – they’re your pies, after all.

You will need:

3 chicken breasts, cut into small chunks

1 onion, finely chopped

Ham, cut into small chunks

1 tbsp flour

Chicken stock (about 200ml)

Seasoning

Making the filling:

So sauté the onions in a couple of tablespoons of rapeseed oil.  Add in the chicken and fry until it’s lightly browned.  Bung in the ham, then add in a tablespoon of flour, salt and pepper, and about 200ml chicken stock.  Stir well and cook gently for a while, just until the ‘rawness’ of the flour disappears and the sauce looks creamy.  Add in some thyme here if you like. It’s my favourite flavour with chicken.

The pastry:

If you want to make your own pastry, rub 200g of cold butter into 400g of plain flour, then add in 3 or 4 tablespoons of cold water until it just comes together.  If you’d rather buy it, that’s fine too.

Preheat your oven to gas 4/180 degrees.  Roll out your pastry and line a 6 hole yorkshire pudding tin (or individual little pie dishes) with pastry.

Baking blind:

You don’t have to blind bake these, but the bottoms will be crisper and they’ll hold together better.  Up to you.  Scrunch up some squares of greaseproof paper, then smooth out and pop on top of each pastry base – pour in baking beans (I use some old dried haricot beans that I keep especially for blind baking) and bake for about ten minutes.  Then remove the beans and give them another 5 minutes.

Making the pies:

Now roll out the rest of the pastry and cut out your scary faces (I cut round a saucer, then used a piping nozzle for the holes).  Fill generously with the chicken mixture then top with the pies.  A quick pass through the eggy wash department and your ugly faces are ready for the oven.

Bake for about 15/20 minutes until golden.  Pair with mini baked potatoes and maybe some roasted butternut squash soup and you’re good to go.  Have a great bonfire night.  Oh and be careful out there!

You know when you write up a whole recipe, then the internet gremlins get to work over the weekend and delete it all? Yes, that.

Ah well, I’ve blown my nose, wiped my tears, and here’s my second attempt at telling you all about our spooky Halloween fishy supper. I was sent a lovely, fresh box of coley and haddock from the lovely chaps at Seafish over the weekend, and challenged to make them as spooky as possible. Not easy, especially when you’re somewhat challenged in the creativity department, but here’s how it went:

You will need:

500g firm, white fish

250g breadcrumbs (this was a bit much actually, 200g would be fine)

80g finely grated Parmesan cheese

300g fresh parsley

Salt and pepper

200g plain flour

1 large egg

Splash of milk

So whizz up a couple of slices of bread in the food processor, then add in the Parmesan and parsley (I whizzed it all together and it was fine).  Season generously.

Now, you need to assemble your eggy wash department.  Grab three bowls, and in the first one put the flour, in the next the egg and splash of milk and in the third, the breadcrumbs.

Get your production line rolling by slicing the fish into nice fat fingers, then placing them into the flour, then the eggy wash, and finally the breadcrumbs.  Arrange them on a buttered (or non stick) baking tray, and bake at 180/gas 4 for around 10 to 15 minutes (you don’t want to overcook the fish – it needs to stay lovely and moist).

For suitable Halloween spookiness, I served my ‘severed fingers’ with olive tapenade (I let it down with a little olive oil) but I’ll be honest, it didn’t go down well.  It would be much better with a quick homemade tartare sauce made with mayo, a squeeze of lemon and some chopped capers.

And the verdict? Gorgeous.  Everyone loved the fish fingers and they were quick and easy to make, with soft, delicate fish and a lovely savoury crust.  Yum!

Happy Halloween!

For more information on Fish is the dish, click here!

So first of all, I have to be honest, I’ve said no to coming on this show A LOT.  Luckily for me, I think Nick could see through my thin veneer of nonchalance to the terrified wobbling jelly within and just kept on asking until I said yes.

Originally I was going to do the Christmas show, but then it was all change and suddenly it was this Saturday.  I was overcome with a mixture of excitement, nerves and a bustling, Womble-like determination to get everything perfect.  It didn’t help when Nick mentioned that I was going to be the main guest on the show (oh, no pressure then…) and needed to devise a three course menu to bring into the studio for us all to eat.  We chatted around different themes… three courses for under a tenner?  Versatile family dishes?  But then got lost in a conversation about how the sauce for one of the dishes I’d planned to do (a spicy lamb meatball dish) could be used for lamb shanks, bolognese, soup… and the theme was there before us: frugal food.  Luckily, I would be joined by fellow food enthusiast Christian Carden-Maund, who would be bringing a main course and a dessert, and the amazingly clever Charles Bennett from Hanslope wines in Buckinghamshire who would be matching wines to our dishes.

I cooked everything on the Friday (dishes are warmed up in the kitchen at the studio so it was fine to bring everything cold) and arrived, stupidly early at the BBC Three Counties studio in Luton on Saturday morning.

Nick was, as ever, cool as a cucumber (I’ve known him for ages through his food blog/vlog, My Daddy Cooks) and very reassuring, as was the lovely producer, Emma.  When Christian and Charles arrived I felt even better as they were lovely – really friendly and chatty, and before I knew it, we were live!

Although I think my first couple of sentences were a bit nervous-sounding, actually I soon forgot I was in the studio as the wine flowed and we tasted and chatted about the various dishes.  Weirdly, all that kept popping up in my head was that my Mum was listening and that I mustn’t let her down by burping or swearing or anything.  It’s fascinating to see behind the scenes, and actually was quite hilarious during the news or a song to have to sprint up the stairs to the kitchen Benny Hill stylee to warm up the dishes, plate them up and bring them back to the studio, then settle into your chair and joining in the chat again as though you’d never left!.

Christian was a brilliant choice to talk about leftovers as he’s something of a leftover guru.  The dish he bought was a fabulous chicken in a sherry cream sauce with mushrooms, which was accompanied by a gorgeous caramelised onion mash – made with potato skins!:

Christian’s dessert was just fabulous – and his own creation – I’m going to ask him to guest blog about the dessert for us because it really is a perfect centrepiece for Christmas: a zesty, light creamy citrus take on a classic tiramisu.  Check out the fabulous caramel basket:

Charles’ wine matches were clever and perfect.  He chose a beautiful organic Argentinian Torrontés wine called Cuma (Michel Torino) to go with my spiced butternut squash soup (inspired by my homie Laura’s gorgeous butternut squash soup).  The generous amount of chilli that I’d added had initially worried me, but matched with the sweetness of the squash and this amazingly rounded white wine, the whole thing was perfect.

For the spicy lamb meatballs, Charles chose this lovely Carmenere (I love Carmenere anyway – Tesco Finest do a great one):

and to match my fudgy chocolate brownie, he went with an amazing dessert wine, which, incidentally he would recommend as a perfect accompaniment to Christmas pudding:

We were also joined by my fellow foodie blogger and online friend, Ren Behan, who does a segment on the show every week. It was lovely to finally meet her in person (plus her apple cake was to die for – I snaffled a couple of slices).

For all the recipes from the show, you can download the factsheet here

Nick Coffer’s Weekend Kitchen is live every Saturday on BBC Three Counties Radio. Thanks so much to Nick for inviting me and to Emma for being so lovely xx

If you want to listen to the show on BBC iPlayer, here’s the link