Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2016 i Delicious UK

For true food lovers, the pursuit of happiness doesn’t have to involve grand schemes and unattainable dreams. When it’s cold, grey and drizzly outside, the simplest dish, made with care, is enough to bring cheer. Rich, savoury stews and sticky puddings evoke memories of childhood and bring comfort on a grand scale. Add good company, gentle lighting and something special to sip and you’ll have everything you need to make winter wonderful. The quick, warming winter supper: sprouting broccoli and pea pesto gnocchi SERVES 4. Put 200g sprouting broccoli (green or purple) and 100g frozen peas in a large bowl, pour over a full kettle of boiling water, then leave to stand for 1 minute. Drain. Bring a large pan of water to a rolling boil. Meanwhile, in a food…

RECIPES THAT WORK Every recipe is rigorously tested by our food team, using state-of-the-art Electrolux ovens, so you can be confident they work every time. INGREDIENTS We aim to use easy-to-find seasonal ingredients. We’ll tell you where to find any unusual ingredients and/or what to substitute them with. We use higher-welfare meat for testing, supplied by The Ginger Pig (thegingerpig.co.uk). This symbol next to an ingredient means there are more ideas for using it on our Loose Ends page. HONEST COOKING TIMES Unlike many magazines, our timings include prep such as chopping. Hands-on time is when you’re chopping, stirring or frying. Oven/simmering time is when you can leave the dish in the oven or on the hob. Indicates a vegetarian recipe. Indicates a gluten-free recipe. KNOW- HOW Whenever you see…

THE 24-HOUR WINE EXPERT £4.99, Penguin (out 4 Feb) Author Jancis Robinson MW is one of the world’s most erudite wine critics and author of several doorstop-size tomes crammed with wine facts gleaned from a lifetime’s work. This book is different: a slim paperback for novices. Jancis whizzes through major grape varieties and wine regions, answers vexed questions such as ‘How much should I pay?’ and offers 10 failsafe ways to pick the right bottle. GARLIC £14.99, Ryland Peters & Small (out 11 Feb) The most loved allium in the delicious. test kitchen is well worth a book entirely dedicated to it. Author Jenny Linford does the pongy bulb proud with insight into its health benefits, folklore and modern-day festivals. Not forgetting the beautiful recipes from around the globe for…

MY GRANDMOTHER When I was three years old, I started helping my grandmother in the kitchen. She was a good, simple cook and we’d make cakes and gnocchi together. She used herbs, chickens and rabbits from her garden. My grandad would kill and skin the rabbit and she would pluck the chicken. That was her cuisine. She was the greatest inspiration. THE JOY OF EATING TOGETHER I grew up in an Alpine village and at certain times we all got together for a big communal meal. There were lots of courses: pasta, antipasti, risotto, ravioli, fish, meat, a macedonia (that’s a fruity salad) with ice cream… and sometimes music and dancing. My uncle had a restaurant in town and he’d get buses for all the people who worked with him…

GADGET SUPREMO AGGIE MACKENZIE GIVES THEM A SPIN I have an old-fashioned approach to cooking – I enjoy the rituals of chopping, stirring, smelling and tasting as I go. That said, even if I’ve got the time, I never knead bread dough by hand and always use a processor for pastry, so I was intrigued to try out these cutting-edge food processors that do more or less everything – including chopping, stirring, blending and steaming – from start to finish. KENWOOD PRICE £330 A compact piece of kit but big enough for a main course for four. Fairly simple to use, it seamlessly segues from chopping ingredients to cooking them. You can preset the stirring, cooking time and temperature or operate it manually. It’s great for one-pots (soups, casseroles, curries)…

Sourcing superior ingredients for your culinary creations is just as important as finding a good recipe. But once you get them home, it’s inevitable they’ll begin to lose their flavour and freshness. The engineers at Fisher & Paykel have set out to answer that problem with the RS90AU1 built-in fridge-freezer. It’s a stylish appliance, with real steel doors and attractive lines, and it’s also highly practical. Double doors, an ultra-slim integrated water dispenser and fully telescopic drawers make it easy to access items from anywhere, even when it’s fully stocked. It’s not just pretty and practical, either. That sleek exterior hides an intelligent microprocessor with ActiveSmart™ technology that reacts to changes in temperature each time the door opens, and adjusts to ensure a stable environment. With the ability to rapidly…

WHAT TO LOOK FOR… Closely packed leaves that are deep green on the outside, lightening to almost white at the centre. A fine cabbage should feel heavy for its size and the leaves should be firm and succulent with not even a trace of wilting. Be fussy! FIVE QUICK FIXES 1 For a side dish to a Sunday roast, wilt shredded savoy in a colander by pouring over a kettle of just-boiled water. Drain, then fry in melted butter, grate over a generous amount of nutmeg and add enough double cream to lavishly coat the cabbage. Simmer for a few minutes, squeeze over some lemon juice, then season and serve. 2 Make Monday night hash: melt butter in a pan, then fry an onion and leftover roast veg, roughly chopped,…

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MISO It’s an intensely flavourful Japanese paste made from soya beans fermented with, variously, rice, barley, wheat or rye. Salt is added and it’s then puréed. There are lots of different colours and types of miso, depending on what it’s made from and how long it’s been fermented for – usually, the darker the paste, the longer the fermentation and the stronger the flavour. In the UK the white and red varieties are the most readily available. White miso (right), known as shiro miso, has a mild, almost sweet, flavour. It contains more rice and has been fermented for less time than red, or aka , miso (below right). Once opened, miso lasts for ages in the fridge. ... AND HOW TO USE IT…

Pot-roast chicken in Thai curry sauce with citrussy jasmine rice SERVES 4-6. HANDS-ON TIME 45-50 MIN, OVEN TIME 1¼ HOURS MAKE AHEAD Make the paste up to 3 days ahead and chill in a sealed container. FOOD TEAM’S TIP This curry sauce is mild. If you’d like it spicier, leave the seeds in the chillies and add a few extra chillies to the paste. If you have leftovers, strip the meat off the carcass and stir into the sauce, then chill in an airtight container. Reheat the next day and serve with noodles and extra fresh herbs. FOR THE SPICE PASTE • Bunch fresh coriander, plus extra leaves• 1 shallot• 2 garlic cloves• 3 red bird’s eye chillies, deseeded and roughly chopped (see tip)• 1 lemongrass stalk, woody outer leaves and root removed• 40g piece fresh…

FOOD AND DRINK IN THE MOVIES 1 ”And a little bit of wine, and a little bit of sugar – that’s my trick,” says Clemenza as he teaches Michael Corleone a recipe for what in The Godfather? 2 In Cool Hand Luke , how many hard-boiled eggs does Luke (Paul Newman) eat in one hour? 3 In the first Rocky film, how many raw eggs does Sylvester Stallone break into a glass and drink in one gulp? 4 In Annie Hall , what escapes over the kitchen floor as Woody Allen and Diane Keaton attempt to cook them? 5 In The Jerk, what does Navin Johnson (Steve Martin) refuse in a restaurant and demand “the freshest you’ve got! No more of this old stuff!”?…

“A proper pudding, all warm and rich, is hard to say no to. My mum would make one of the classics each Sunday for my sister and me, and now I feel a welcome sense of warmth and nostalgia every time I sink my spoon into an old-fashioned dessert. We took an online poll to find out which sweet favourites have the same memory-lane effect on you, then created recipes to showcase them – some fairly classic, some with a twist.” LOTTIE COVELL, DEPUTY FOOD EDITOR “Bread and butter pudding: so simple yet delicious. It’s proper comfort food” Amy Chester-Sterne, via Facebook Marmalade bread and butter pudding SERVES 6-8. HANDS-ON TIME 25 MIN, OVEN TIME 1 HOUR, PLUS CHILLING MAKE AHEAD Make the pudding to the end of…

SERVES 4 AS A MAIN, 6 AS A SIDE. HANDS-ON TIME 30 MIN, OVEN TIME 40 MIN HOW WE DID IT In the traditional recipe the potatoes are cooked entirely in cream, but we’ve used a much lighter chicken velouté (thickened stock), with a splash of cream added to give body and richness. It makes a great main course with a salad, or a side dish for cold meat or roast lamb. • 700g all-rounder potatoes such as maris piper, sliced into batons• 1 tbsp olive oil• 1 onion, finely sliced• 1 garlic clove, sliced• 2 tbsp plain flour• 300ml good-quality chicken stock• 50ml double cream• 50g anchovy fillets in oil, drained and finely chopped• 50g fresh white breadcrumbs 1 Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/ gas 6. Put the potatoes in a large saucepan, pour over boiling water…

Almost every cook has a pot of all-purpose table salt in the cupboard – the finely ground kind produced using rock-salt brine from underground salt deposits. But did you know the refining process tends to remove all trace elements, so it’s pretty much pure sodium chloride? And it usually has anti-caking agents added to keep it running freely, too. Less refined, more textured salts are gaining popularity. Here’s a run-down of the most popular types: SEA SALT Evaporated from seawater, either in natural salt-pans using the heat of the sun, or by heating artificially. It usually contains both sodium chloride and tiny amounts of trace elements, such as potassium and magnesium, which vary from location to location. Fine sea salt may also contain anti-caking agents. It’s best used as table…

As you fly into Belfast, you get a glimpse of Northern Ireland’s natural beauty. The city straddles the River Lagan at the end of a wide sea lough, overlooked by rugged hills. It’s in stark contrast to Belfast’s docks, where two giant yellow gantry cranes nicknamed Samson and Goliath tower over the Harland and Wolff shipyards, emblems of an industrial heritage that once gave birth to the Titanic. The waterfront nearby has been transformed into a shiny modern district of film studios, museums and entertainment venues, and elsewhere new buildings are gradually tempering the city’s uneasy architectural mix of Victorian grandeur and gritty concrete. Beyond the city lies a soft landscape of perpetually lush fields, hills and mountains. This is dairy and livestock country, bounded on two sides by waters…

This warming issue is designed to bring cheer to your February. But it’s not just food that warms the heart’s cockles. Hearing about people who do inspiring things has exactly the same effect. As soon as I discovered how menus are put together at Café Murano restaurants, I was keen to tell the story in delicious.The whole team, from waiters to bar staff, sit down and eat new dishes, giving feedback that influences what does (and doesn’t) make it onto the menu. It’s an approach similar to how we put together delicious. I’ve never understood why some organisations create a closed-door, hierarchical working environment, when an open atmosphere proves time and again that the best ideas can come from the most junior members of a team. When we…

subject: Superfood madness from: Jo Roberts While I sympathise with Viv Groskop’s dislike of avocados and their use in everything from chips to cheesecake (January, p130), I think the real problem is not the avocado itself but the ‘superfood’ status to which it’s been elevated. Over the years, a number of foods have been given this label (quinoa, bulgur wheat and kale to name a few). As a result, food writers, bloggers and celeb chefs have exacerbated the fad by forever presenting us with ‘new and interesting’ ways to cook/eat/serve them. I, for one, have been eating these ingredients for years and to me they’re not superfoods – they’re just great things to eat. subject: Like an old friend from: Alex da Costa I want to thank you for the…

1659 The first wine from South Africa was produced from vines planted by Governor van Riebeeck, who believed the grapes could stave off scurvy. Not so, but they did lay the ground for a world-class wine region. 1815 The first commercial cheese factory was founded in Switzerland, ushering in the industrial age of mass-produced cheese. By World War II, factory cheese overshadowed the traditional stuff. 1909 Carmen Miranda was born in a Portuguese village on 9 February. She later emigrated to Brazil and went on to find fame as a samba singer and wearer of fruit headdresses. 1987 Andy Warhol died on 22 February and was buried in a bronze casket, dressed in a cashmere suit, platinum wig and sunglasses. Among his pop-art hits were screen prints of Campbell’s Soup.…

This month JAMES RAMSDEN, our intrepid London food correspondent, gives in to a childhood craving that straddles his transatlantic roots Surely up there with cottage pie and chicken soup in the comfort food stakes, mac ’n’ cheese, or macaroni cheese if you prefer (I’m half American, see), arguably surpasses both in its recent promotion to side dish du jour. Fancy an unnecessarily large steak? Great! Have a bowl of lobster macaroni cheese alongside it at Hawksmoor (six branches in London; thehawksmoor.com). Beset by a hankering for Spuntino’s (spuntino.co.uk) famous deep-fried olives and truffle egg toast? Better order a plate of the Soho favourite’s four-cheese mac ’n’ cheese while you’re at it. The offering at Rita’s (ritasbaranddining.com) in Hackney is spiked with chilli and topped with avocado; sounds weird, tastes good.…

“These pages are about us doing the hard work so you don’t have to… Joy! We’re sent anything from 20 to 100 new products a month, and we really do try them all: tasting, smelling the aromas, testing gadgets. Only if they’re useful, good-looking and value for money do they get the delicious. seal of approval.” KAREN BARNES, EDITOR HOT POT I’m loving this enamelled hob-top Turkish coffee pot – a bargain at only £9.25 from onlinekitchenware.co.uk. I use it to warm milk for coffee, rather than to make coffee itself, as it’s handsome enough to bring to the table. QUALITY in a box Curated boxes of fine food – an excuse to charge inflated prices or a chance to sample the best from abroad? Here are our…

THE COOKBOOK Deliciously Ella Every Day (£20; Yellow Kite) TESTED BY Rebecca Almond Ella Woodward (aka Deliciously Ella) knows how to turn a bad situation into a profitable one. In 2011 she was diagnosed with the rare illness postural tachycardia syndrome: a disorder that causes an abnormal increase in heart rate when the sufferer sits or stands up. As part of her recovery, she decided to overhaul her diet, cutting out meat, dairy, refined sugar, gluten and processed food and switching to plant-based and whole foods. Pretty radical for a self-confessed sugar fiend. But, five years later, she’s well – with an award-winning recipe blog, more than 670,000 Instagram followers, a London deli and two cookbooks under her belt. Not bad for a 23-year-old who, before her diagnosis, couldn’t cook.…

“I learned so much about cooking while I was training, from patisserie to prepping and cooking fish, meat and poultry. I’ve also changed as a person – I’m more responsible. If I’m working at the weekend, I’ve disciplined myself to stay at home rather than going out with my friends so I’ll be on good form for work. I love thinking about new recipes, seeing what works and what doesn’t. I actually dream of adding little touches to cakes – when I wake up, I put the ideas in my notebook. My friends who go to catering college see me getting the same qualifications as them but getting real work experience at the same time. I’m sure it helped me to get my job. And I know what I want…

He would never admit he’s doing anything special, but a browse around Anthony Legge’s North Herefordshire deli/butcher/pie shop suggests otherwise. Coming from a farming lineage and a butcher by trade, burly Anthony opened the doors of Legges of Bromyard in 2000 as an alternative to the big supermarkets. “Here you’ve got the farms, you’ve got us and there’s nothing in between,” he says proudly. “We can be honest with what we’re selling.” THE FIRST HURDLE Not long after Legges of Bromyard opened its doors, the local area was struck by foot and mouth disease. “We’re rooted in agriculture around here, so it hit us in a big way,” says Anthony. As the storm passed, consumers were more concerned than ever about where their meat came from, but the shining light…

LEILA BRANDAO Mydelishville  mydelishville.com WHY WE LOVE IT Leila’s warm personal stories frame her gluten-free recipes, drawing you in with entertaining snapshots of life with her ‘little princess’ toddler, Manuella. The recipes are appealing, smart and inspired by Leila’s Brazilian-Italian heritage. WHAT LEILA SAYS “My blog is a journal of all my gluten-free recipes, discoveries and stories. I’m obsessed with food; cooking is a way to show my family and friends how much I love them. “This recipe, which is a bit like crème caramel, is Brazil’s unofficial national dessert. It’s simple, yet smooth and elegant – the comfort food I need whenever I feel a little homesick.” Classic Brazilian flan SERVES 8-10. HANDS-ON TIME 20 MIN, SIMMERING TIME 35-40 MIN, PLUS CHILLING MAKE AHEAD Make the flan 2 days…

Pre-service briefings at Café Murano with executive head chef Sam Williams (right) and head chef Allyson McQuade (main picture, second from right) are more than a run-down of the latest menu. After going through the nuts and bolts of the day’s service ahead, the team sit down together to taste the food they’ll be serving later. “It’s important everyone at the restaurant understands the dishes, knows how they work and tastes them,” says Sam. Tasting sessions aren’t just about the staff knowing what they’re serving. They’re also about giving feedback to the chefs and being part of the recipe development process. “The palates of the staff outside the kitchen haven’t been influenced by the trials Allyson and I do when we create and perfect a dish,” says Sam. “It’s good…

“My grandparents bought an old, dilapidated fishing cottage that they never lived in but restored for family parties. It was in Benicia, near San Francisco in northern California, and it had a long wharf that stretched out into Martinez Bay. We’d place tables down the centre of it, upon which we all dined on a special fish stew called cioppino, served with garlic bread and good Napa wine. Once, we seated and served more than 60 people down the length of that wharf. Only a few fell off… This recipe was my grandfather’s and he taught me to cook it at a young age. I didn’t have a lot of choice in the matter. He’d put my dad, two uncles and me on cioppino duty every year for the big…

“My best-known pie came about when I was asked to create a dish that would represent the town of Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales. Many of the town’s businesses, especially the restaurants and cafés, have Italian names, and I discovered there’d been migration from Italy to Wales in the 19th century during the Industrial Revolution. Times were hard for the immigrants; pay was low and mouths needed to be fed. Bread, though, was readily available (albeit a day or two old) and the tougher, less desirable cuts of meat were just about affordable. My pie uses slow-cooked beef shin and is layered with bread fried in beef fat, then brushed with mustard and sprinkled in abundance with Hafod Welsh cheddar. It’s then baked until utterly unctuous. The simple ingredients reflect…

“There’s no credible evidence to support the health claims about coconut oil” Scan the newspaper headlines and you’d be forgiven for thinking coconut oil is the cure-all elixir of our time. It’s claimed to help prevent heart disease and Alzheimer’s, aid weight loss, heal wounds and boost immunity. Is there anything coconut oil can’t do? Plenty, according to scientists and registered dietitians. A BRIEF GUIDE Coconut oil is mostly saturated fat. Solid at room temperature and slow to turn rancid, it’s long been favoured by the food industry for use in products such as chocolate and ice cream because of its creamy texture. In the 1980s, when dietary fat – especially saturated fat – was cited as the major cause of obesity and heart disease, coconut oil was stamped with…

NEW MIDWEEK PROMISE Your guarantee for every recipe in this section: NO MORE THAN… • 10 ingredients• 30 min hands-on time• 650 calories per portion (but many of the recipes have fewer)• 10g sat fat per portion PLUS… • No unnecessary added sugar• Minimal washing up “Here are 10 solutions to the midweek dilemma – simple, satisfying recipes that are all about discovering new ways to make cooking easier, using new flavour combinations and innovative shortcuts. They’re designed to simplify life in the kitchen and capture the way most of us, including me, like to cook... I hope you enjoy them.” DONNA HAY VIS FOR VEGETARIAN Spinach, ricotta and squash lasagne SERVES 8-10. HANDS-ON TIME 25 MIN, OVEN TIME 1 HOUR 55 MIN • 750g spinach and ricotta ravioli (about 3 packs)• A little oil for greasing• 500g frozen…

“When we’re trying out recipes in our test kitchen, there’s no shortage of willing tasters. They’ll usually approach at a respectable speed, somewhere between a sidle and a brisk walk. When the call went out for these crumpets, people broke into an undignified run, enticed by the promise of a crisp, toasted base and a chewy centre, with orange-scented honey butter oozing into the little holes. Heaven on a plate. And now, thanks to my foolproof recipe, you can make a batch yourself with remarkably little effort…” YOU WILL NEED • 275ml milk• 225g strong white bread flour• 1 tsp fine sea salt• 7g sachet fast-action dried yeast• ½ tsp caster sugar• Melted butter for greasing YOU’LL ALSO NEED • 9cm non-stick metal crumpet or egg-poaching rings (Lakeland sells crumpet rings; £9.97 for four, lakeland.co.uk) COVER…

Harry’s Shack megrim sole with smoked bacon, fennel and cockles SERVES 2. HANDS-ON TIME 20 MIN FOOD TEAM’S TIPS If you can’t find cockles, use palourde clams or brown shrimps instead. This recipe is also good with lemon sole or plaice (the cooking time will depend on the thickness of the fish). • 250g cockles (see tips)• 50ml cold-pressed rapeseed oil• 1 fennel bulb, cut into 1cm cubes• 1 medium megrim sole (see tips), head, tail and skirt removed• 20g unsalted butter• Juice ½ lemon• 100g British free-range smoked bacon lardons• 10g capers, rinsed and drained• Small bunch fresh flatleaf parsley, roughly chopped 1 Put the cockles and a splash of water in a covered pan and heat until just opened. Set aside to cool. Once cool, discard any closed cockles, then remove the meat from the rest (discard…

Pulled pork has taken the nation by storm, but did you know how easy it is to cook at home? PULLED PORK FAMILY FEAST SERVES: 6, plus leftovers PREPARATION TIME: 25 minutes COOKING TIME: Around 6 hours INGREDIENTS 1.6kg (3lb 8oz) shoulder of pork (remove the rind if you wish) 2tsp each salt and freshly ground black pepper 2tsp each ground cinnamon and ginger 1½tbsp dark brown sugar TO SERVE 1kg (2lb 4oz) new potatoes 2tbsp olive oil, plus extra to drizzle 12 plums, halved 500g (1lb 2oz) purple sprouting broccoli A knob of butter 1. Preheat your oven to 220°C (fan 200°C), Gas Mark 7. Line a roasting tin with foil, large enough to cover the pork later. Unroll the joint and place in the tin. 2. Mix the…

19-21 FEBRUARY Wakefield Festival of Food, Drink and Rhubarb Cookery demonstrations and workshops as well as tastings and street entertainment are some of the activities taking place to highlight the area’s tradition of growing forced rhubarb. Local food and drink will be in plentiful supply, too. Entry free; wakefield.gov.uk 26-27 FEBRUARY Craft Beer Rising, Brick Lane, London The annual festival is back with a bigger venue and more beers to sip and sup. Taking place during London Beer Week, it will have 150 exhibitors. Attend talks and tastings before stopping by the street food market and listening to live music. New this year is a dedicated area for craft ciders. Tickets from £15; craftbeer  rising.co.uk 12-13 MARCH Kendal Festival of Food, Cumbria The town will play…

HOW WE TEST Our panel are taste experts. We conduct our tests without packaging, so our tasters don’t know who produced each product or how much it costs. To prevent one tester influencing another, the panel aren’t allowed to confer during the tests, so the results you read below are unbiased. WHAT WE LOOKED FOR A decadent buttery flavour and golden colour are key, but top of the list is the all-important short texture – crisp but with a pleasing crumble. SUPERMARKET WINNER Tesco Finest Shortbread Fingers, £1.29 for 165g The buttery aroma and pale gold colour are inviting and it doesn’t disappoint on taste. It has a good crumble and a balanced flavour… Everyone gave this one top marks. SUPERMARKET RUNNER-UP Marks & Spencer Scottish Homebake Style Shortbread, £2…

ALLEGRA’S OTHER LIFE Her professional cooking career spans more than 20 years, but the popular chef believes there are ways to make a difference beyond winning Michelin stars. She is a patron of the Fairtrade Foundation, and in 2008 she was awarded an MBE for promoting healthier eating and ethical food sourcing in the UK. One of the joys of being patron of the Fairtrade Foundation is getting up-close to so many of the mind-blowingly fresh and damned tasty ingredients. Peanuts straight from the ground and tea from the bush in Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world; the most wonderful bananas in the Windward Isles, where farmers are caught in the middle of a UK supermarket price war; wine grapes in South Africa, where the old system…

“Slow cooking works a certain kind of magic. Over time, bulky shoulders or tough old shins yield to the gentle heat, transforming into tender, juicy mouthfuls. Whether you’re slow-roasting, using a casserole or a slow-cooker, long, low cooking opens up so many possibilities for drawing out flavour and building complexity. On days when the world seems a grey place, gather good people around the table with a large pot of one of these dishes in the middle and it will go a long way towards making life feel better.”MONIQUE LANE, FOOD WRITER TEAM FAVOURITE Hugh Thompson, deputy chief sub editor “The Chinese chicken is so restorative – fresh ginger and spring onions, soul-warming broth and the juiciest chicken.” Lottie Covell, deputy food editor “I chose the short-rib ragù as a…

Turkish spiced beef pide SERVES 6 AS A SHARING STARTER OR 4 AS A MAIN. HANDS-ON TIME 45 MIN, OVEN TIME 10 MIN, PLUS RISING FOOD TEAM’S TIP Pide – Turkey’s boat-shaped answer to pizza – is usually served with a spiced mince or cheese and spinach topping. We’ve used beef, but you could use minced lamb if you like, or try a mix of wilted spinach, crumbled feta and grated halloumi for a veggie version. FOR THE DOUGH • 300g strong plain flour, plus extra for dusting• 1 tsp fine sea salt• 1 tsp caster sugar• 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing• 150ml whole milk• 3g fast-action dried yeast FOR THE TOPPING • Olive oil• 1 onion, finely chopped• 2 garlic cloves, crushed• 1 tsp ground cumin• 1 tsp ground coriander• 400g British beef mince• 100g spinach• 2 tsp sumac (from…

“Black pudding is the ultimate ‘waste not, want not’ food – a reminder of a time when not a scrap (nor a squeak) would be wasted. Like its cousins French boudin noir and Spanish morcilla, the British version is made from pig’s blood. In the past, black pudding was made when the pigs were slaughtered. As soon as the animal was killed it would be bled. The blood would be mixed with a thickening agent (usually a cereal) plus diced fat, seasoning and spices. The mixture would then be forced into the pig’s small intestine to form sausages, which were boiled, then hung up to dry. These days black pudding is a regional delicacy in parts of the UK (especially the Black Country and North West) and Ireland (particularly in…

THE BEST BAR SNACKS IN TOWN Crispy artichokes with hazelnut salsa verde SERVES 6 AS A NIBBLE. HANDS-ON TIME 35 MIN MAKE AHEAD Make the salsa verde up to 24 hours in advance and keep covered in the fridge. Serve at room temperature. FOOD TEAM’S TIPS This would also work with chunks of firm cooking mozzarella or white fish instead of the artichokes. To make the dish vegetarian, omit the anchovies from the salsa verde. • 350g chargrilled antipasti artichokes (from the deli counter or aisle of large supermarkets)• Plain flour to dust• 1 medium free-range egg, beaten• 100g dried breadcrumbs• Sunflower or olive oil for frying FOR THE SALSA VERDE • 1 banana shallot, finely chopped• Small bunch fresh parsley, roughly chopped• 2 tbsp capers in vinegar, rinsed and drained• 4 anchovy fillets in oil, drained and roughly…

GRAB A BARGAIN • Muriel Rioja Reserva 2010, Spain (£7.99, down to £6.99 3-23 Feb, Co-op) Grab this mellow oak-aged Spanish wine while it’s such a good deal and pair it with roast lamb for a classic spring marriage. • Morrisons Signature Barbera d’Asti 2012, Italy (£6) Loaded with morello cherry and red plum, this medium-bodied red is a fine match for steak and far classier than its price tag suggests. • Mud House Sauvignon Blanc 2014, New Zealand (£9.99, down to £6.69 until 16 Feb, Waitrose) A classic NZ sauvignon blanc, all gooseberries, passion fruit and lime, with a crisp, zippy, wake-me-up tang. FRIDAY SPECIAL • Morrisons Signature Cava Vintage Rosé 2014, Spain (£7) A cheerful pink cava, dry but with a wild strawberry tang and good froth. Match with sushi or charcuterie.…

“Cooking has always been a passion of mine. I grew up watching my mum make amazing food, and I’ve been lucky enough to inherit her love for it. I really got into baking after I had my children, and being on The Great British Bake Off gave me a chance to show off what I can do. These curry recipes are my mum’s and formed a big part of my growing up. Here I’ve tweaked them so they’re a bit healthier and also simpler to cook. After you’ve made them once or twice you can adapt them to suit your taste and vary the vegetables. You can even add meat if you’re not a dedicated vegetarian.” CHETNA MAKAN Spiced potatoes and peas SERVES 4. HANDS-ON TIME…

RECIPE MATHS EVERY COOK NEEDS TO KNOW MAKING BREAD 3 parts flour to 2 parts water (by weight) Use strong white bread flour for making bread. Based on the 3:2 ratio, if you’re using 600g strong flour, you’ll need 400g water. For this quantity of dough add 12g salt and 8g fresh yeast (or 4g dried) before mixing and kneading. This is only a rule of thumb, though, as different flours absorb varying amounts of water. Work by eye and feel. The dough should be pillowy and soft, but not overly sticky – and not tough. If you think you need to add a little more water, add it. If the dough is too wet, knead in some more flour. Bread dough is surprisingly forgiving. MAKE THE BOUNTY LAST PURPLE…

SMOKED WATER FROM CHIPS WITH SMOKED GARLIC MAYO P74 GUTSY CASSEROLE Add a teaspoon of smoked water to a rich beef or pork casserole. Taste, then add a bit more if it needs it. USA-STYLE BEANS Drizzle and stir smoked water to taste into homemade baked beans. Find a recipe at deliciousmagazine.co.uk. SMOKY MARTINI Stir a drop or two of smoked water into a dry vodka martini, then garnish with an olive. COOKING MOZZARELLA FROM DEEP-PAN AMERICAN HOT PIZZA P45 MEAT AND CHEESE PIE Dot pieces of mozzarella over a red-wine-based meat pie filling before covering with pastry. The cheese will melt as the pie cooks, then ooze out temptingly when you slice into the finished bake. NIBBLE WITH DRINKS Dip chunks of mozzarella into seasoned flour, then beaten egg,…

“The idea that women are born with (and men without) the innate urge to cook is as outdated as cheese and pineapple on sticks” Last year, the organisers of my village’s annual fete announced a newcomer in the prize roster. Among the usual rosettes for Straightest Runner Bean, Tastiest Jam and the much-coveted Best Quiche was an event titled: ‘Men Only: Swiss Roll (Recipe Provided)’. A men-only cooking category? Are you kidding me? So many things about this concept get my goat. First off, note that the recipe is supplied to the poor dears, just in case they can’t manage to locate one and decipher it on their own... It’s that old-fashioned view of men and cooking: “Silly old men. Hopeless in the kitchen. Can’t even put on an apron…