Innholdsfortegnelse for Feb-18 i Delicious UK

The Sunshine Issue – that’s what we’ve dubbed this edition of delicious. When we did the planning, a bit before Christmas, we mulled over what we all feel in February and there was a consensus: a longing for sunshine and freshness, coupled with a desire for food that makes you feel nurtured. So that’s what we’ve tried to capture on every page – through the fresh flavours of citrus fruit (at its zingy best in winter), through hearty food with a lighter edge, through crowd-pleasing dishes to dive in and share: sticky ribs, satay and meatballs, cheesecake, giant yorkshire puddings… (all with a delicious. twist, naturally). There are thought-provoking features, too. Are you on Instagram? If not, it’s worth checking out. It’s the social media platform I like…

SUBJECT: Kitchens great and small FROM : Felicity Carn I have to agree with Kathy Slack [Dec 2017, p170] that a kitchen is one of the most important rooms in the house. This year we spent Christmas in Spain, in our caravan with just a small cooker in the corner. Most people nearby went to a local restaurant for their Christmas meal, but my husband loves his turkey, so we cooked our usual festive (albeit scaled down) lunch. I enjoy eating out, but I’d hate to see the kitchen go. I hope there are many like me who will keep on cooking – whatever the size of their kitchen. SUBJECT: Happy New Year indeed FROM : Carole Smith Boy, does January’s delicious. magazine live up to the title. Never have…

1-28 FEB Exmoor Food Festival For a fourth year restaurants across Devon and Somerset’s national park will shine a spotlight on the region’s produce by offering outstanding meals at affordable prices (from £10 per meal). Diners can vote for their favourite throughout the month, with the winners announced in March. Prices vary; exmoorfoodfest.com 23-24 FEB Gin Festival, York The ever-popular spirit is the subject of this showcase, featuring gins from around the world. Chat to distillers, enjoy gin cocktails and live music, and take home a free G&T copa (a large Spanish bowl-like glass) for sipping your new favourite gins. From £12; ginfestival.com 23-25 FEB Wakefield Festival of Food, Drink and Rhubarb One of the three points of Yorkshire’s Rhubarb Triangle, Wakefield will be celebrating the glorious pink stalks with…

“The delicious. shop was created so we can take the best items from our favourite producers and put them all in one place for you to browse and buy. As well as high-quality artisan food items you’ll find great kitchenware. Here are my top picks this month” HOP TO IT The popularity of craft beer has led to a boom in breweries (or vice versa). However, not every brewery makes a good beer; Stroud Brewery certainly knows its stuff and uses local organic barley, the best hops and Cotswold elderflowers for its Alederflower (geddit?). Brilliant refreshment. Stroud Brewery Pale Ale, £15 for a mixed 6 x 330ml can pack CUSTARD THAT CUTS THE MUSTARD The packet stuff evokes nostalgia and chefs may favour runny crème anglaise, but proper thick custard…

JUST PLANE AWFUL As a rule I try to be out of the country in February. It’s my least favourite month. Not this year, alas: I have a book deadline. But that doesn’t mean I’m not thinking about jetting off somewhere. This inevitably leads me to think about airline catering. I’ve already written about things you can do yourself to make airline food better in my book Adventures Of A Terribly Greedy Girl (shameless plug I know). But what about what the airlines can do to improve it? They could do a lot. Now, look: I know they’re running a business which involves squeezing as much out of us travellers as possible. But here are a few simple rules they could adhere to: 1 Think about what reheats well. Beef…

Classic yorkshires with onion gravy and sausages SERVES 6. HANDS-ON TIME 40 MIN, OVEN TIME 20 MIN MAKE AHEAD Mix the batter (step 4) a few hours ahead and keep covered in the fridge. Whisk before cooking. Make the gravy (steps 2 and 3) a few hours ahead and reheat with a splash of wine or water. FOOD TEAM’S TIP For a veggie dish swap pork sausages for veggie ones or cook Quorn meatballs and add to the gravy with a splash of cream at the end of step 3. • 6 streaky bacon rashers• 12 British free-range pork sausages• 4 tbsp sunflower oil (or beef dripping) plus extra oil to drizzle• 225g plain flour, sifted• Pinch baking powder• 4 large free-range eggs, beaten• 350ml whole milk• 2 tsp chopped…

Baked smoky meatballs SERVES 6-8. HANDS-ON TIME 1 HOUR, SIMMERING TIME 25 MIN, OVEN TIME 5-6 MIN “Whether they’re piled on top of spaghetti, wrapped in a sub or, like these, served with cheesy polenta, you just can’t go wrong with meatballs.” MAKE AHEAD Prepare the meatballs up to 48 hours in advance, then cover and chill. To serve, top with the cheese breadcrumbs, then bake as in the recipe. • 100ml extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to grease• 2 onions, finely chopped• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped• 2 tsp dried oregano• 2 tbsp tomato purée• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar• 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes• 1 tbsp chipotle chilli paste• 1 tsp brown sugar• 250ml beef stock• 200g prosciutto or streaky bacon, very finely chopped• 800g British beef mince•…

Lingonberry & orange cheesecake with a gingersnap crust SERVES 12. HANDS-ON TIME 30 MIN, PLUS COOLING, CHILLING AND AT LEAST 6 HOURS SETTING MAKE AHEAD Make the cheesecake up to 24 hours ahead and keep in its tin, carefully wrapped in cling film, in the fridge. Any leftovers will keep for up to 3 days in an airtight container in the fridge. FOOD TEAM’S TIPS You don’t need a pipette for the decoration – we created just as impressive a result with a steady hand, a teaspoon and a cocktail stick. If you prefer, you can spread the coulis over the whole surface of the cheesecake for a richer pop of bright colour – but wait for the cheesecake filling to set properly before you do it. • 200g pepparkakor…

“This brilliant snack, known as ‘The Unruly cheese melt’, epitomises what we’re all about at The Unruly Pig pub in Suffolk. Our approach is never to compromise. If we’re going to serve a toasted cheese sandwich, it has to be elevated to the highest level by using premium, aged cheddar, quality parmesan and roquefort, boosted by a generous amount of mustard. Our customers always comment on the depth of flavour. It’s not the quickest dish to make but it’s so worth the time it takes.” The Unruly cheese melt SERVES 4. HANDS-ON TIME 1 HOUR 15 MIN, PLUS COOLING MAKE AHEAD Make the cheese sauce up to 4 days ahead and keep in the fridge with a piece of cling film touching the surface. The onion jam ingredients make more…

When meat appears cheap we pay a high price for it in other ways. And once your eyes have been opened to the plethora of problems that stem from intensive meat production, it will be obvious: it’s better to eat no meat than to eat cheap meat. Let me explain… 1 IT’S NOT AS CHEAP AS YOU THINK Cheap meat may seem good value but scratch the surface and you’ll find we pay for it three times: firstly at the checkout, secondly in farm subsidies through taxes, and thirdly through the clean-up costs for the environment and our health. 2 INTENSIVE SYSTEMS ARE INHUMANE Seventy per cent of UK farm animals are kept in factory farms. These intensive, inhumane systems prioritise production above all else, to meet the increasing demand…

“When my daughter saw him, he was standing in the mist near the window. He was as rugged a stag as you could imagine, black-eyed, thick-maned and muscled. He stood still, she said, breathing hard but not moving, for what seemed like minutes; then he turned and disappeared into the mist, like a ghost. I thought about my daughter’s encounter recently and wondered how many of us realise what a different life wild deer live compared to farm animals that are reared for meat. Free-roaming deer enjoy a natural, wholesome diet and their meat is healthy, lean and full of flavour. Its versatility in the kitchen never fails to amaze me, and the things I’m lucky enough to make with it always impress. If you haven’t tried wild venison before,…

GRAB A BARGAIN • PG Pinot Grigio 2016, Pavia, Italy (£6, Spar) A cut above the usual cheapies, a new own-label pinot grigio with fresh but soft flavours of yellow pear and quince. Appealing light aperitif. • Marks & Spencer House Red 2016, Spain (£5) A lively young Spaniard with lots of blackcurrant and strawberry fruit: modern, unoaked and ripe. Bring out the lamb chops. • Waitrose Californian Chardonnay 2016, Lodi, USA (£6.49) West Coast white that’s ripe and rounded, with subtle spicy oak and sunny tropical fruit. One for creamy chicken curries. FRIDAY SPECIAL • De Forville Dolcetto d’Alba 2016, Italy (£11.99, down to £9.99 for a mixed six until 23 April, Majestic) Here’s a fine Italian red, plump with red cherry and raspberry fruit, perfect with duck breast or a rare steak.…

Quick paella SERVES 4. HANDS-ON TIME 15 MIN KNOWHOW To safely store leftover rice, cool as quickly as possible (spreading it out on a cool plate or baking tray helps to bring the temperature down quickly). When cool, cover and store in the fridge. Don’t keep cooked rice for any longer than 1 day. FOOD TEAM’S TIP Add a pinch of saffron and replace the water with white wine, if you like. • ½ x 200g chorizo ring, sliced• 1 onion, chopped• 150g frozen peas• ½ chicken stock cube• 1 garlic clove, crushed• 200g (drained weight) roasted red peppers, sliced• ½ tbsp sweet smoked paprika• 500g leftover cooked rice (see Know-how) or 2 x 250g cooked rice pouches• Small bunch fresh parsley, chopped, to serve• Lemon wedges to serve 1…

“Most of us would benefit from eating fewer refined carbs such as sugary drinks and snacks” For people struggling to lose weight, it’s an appealing notion: slash your carb intake to turn your body into a fat-burning machine. Yet scientific opinion about the importance of carbs is still divided. Increasingly, research suggests that cutting back might be beneficial, especially to treat type-2 diabetes and obesity. But official dietary advice, such as from the NHS Choices website, continues to state that carbs should make up one third of our total diet (which adds up to half our total calories* ). The public has good reason to be confused. A BIT OF HISTORY Low-carb diets are nothing new. In the mid-19th century, William Banting published a paper in The Lancet expounding the…

MEET OUR E XPERTS JEN BEDLOE Food editor LOTTIE COVELL Acting food lifestyle editor OLIVIA SPURRELL Cookery assistant LUCAS HOLLWEG Chef and food writer XANTHE CLAY Chef, writer, and preserves & freezing queen CHEF’S STEP BY STEP p115 Sifu Fei Wang of London’s Hutong restaurant shows how to make dim sum for Chinese New Year delicious. KITCHEN p110 Cookery tips and tricks, including how to rescue curdled custard MOLLUSC MAGIC p112 Oysters are at their best in the colder months, so now’s a good time to learn to shuck like a pro…

1 OYSTERS A must for Valentine’s Day. There are two main species: native and rock (aka Pacific). Natives, which have a flat, round shell and sweet, firm meat, are widely considered the gourmet choice. They’re only in season when there’s an R in the month and are double the price of rocks. Rock oysters have deeper, longer shells that contain creamy flesh. They’re not indigenous to our waters but are farmed all around the UK and Europe. How to serve them Cooking natives is a travesty – serve them raw with lemon juice and Tabasco (see overleaf for how to shuck them). Rock oysters can be served raw or cooked, as in oysters Rockefeller – grilled with spinach, butter and breadcrumbs – or deep fried as oyster po’boys. 2 DOVER…

• Thomasina Miers and her mum cook the best family lunch • Mary Berry’s hotpot • Best Easter bakes – including the mile-high cheesecake carrot cake • The fish pie to end all fish pies • Raymond Blanc’s special lamb roast SPECIAL SECTION TO PULL OUT & KEEP 16 EXTRA PAGES OF RECIPES & KNOW-HOW: HOW TO MAKE THE PERFECT BRUNCH Salt beef eggs benedict, pistachio-stuffed croissants, ultimate veggie fry-up and more……

“It’s enough to suck the sunshine from my supper. Shouldn’t food be more fun?” All I wanted to do was buy some chorizo at the deli. What I got was a patronising nod, a suppressed titter and these most maddening of words, “It’s pronounced chor-ee- tho , not chor-ee- zo .” I gritted my teeth into a fake smile, feigning gratitude, while planning never to return (I could have pointed out that, in Spain, only effete Madrileños use ‘th’ instead of ‘s’, but by the time I thought of that one I was already halfway home). “Well at least you didn’t say chor- itso , I suppose!” he chirped, practically frothing with eagerness to show off. Nothing gets my goat quite so efficiently as a smug correction, especially one that…

1 Eat and drink… …your fill on a Sunday at Ember Yard restaurant in London’s Soho, which has recently thrown its hat into the brunch ring. Head along to enjoy a Free Flowing Sunday Feast where, for £35pp, you’ll get four courses along with bottomless wine and prosecco over 2½ hours. The setting is just right for a good value brunch – laid-back and relaxed, and if you time it right, there’ll be no need to eat before or after… saltyardgroup.co.uk/ember-yard 2 Feed… …mind and soul by reading A Really Big Lunch (£17.99; Grove Press) – musings on food, wine and life in general by the late Jim Harrison. He’s one of the USA’s best-loved writers (he wrote Legends of the Fall) and was once described as ‘the poet laureate…

Restaurateur and trend assessor James Ramsden dons his sombrero to find the capital’s hottest Mexican joints. Few things hit the spot better than hot, salty, spicy food and cold beer. Happy days, then, that Mexican food is enjoying quite the jag in town currently. Wahaca (wahaca.co.uk) got the ball rolling a decade ago with its still-decent tacos and tostadas, while giving tequila the nudge it deserved to graduate from student moonshine to respectable, civilised beverage. Tequila’s smoky sibling mezcal underpins the food offering at El Pastor (tacoselpastor.co.uk) in Borough Market, whose tacos have earned a reputation as the best in the city, perhaps influenced by the 250ml carafes of mezcal on offer. I’ve covered tacos on these pages already, so after a respectful nod at Breddos and Del 74, let’s…

“These pages are about us doing the hard work so you don’t have to. We’re sent anything from 40 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 .” IT’S LOVE These beautiful chocolate bars, described as ‘chocolate from the forest’, are handmade in Latvia by local women using freeze-dried forest fruit and Belgian chocolate. The sharp pops of berry are the perfect counterpoint to the smooth chocolate. Nelleulla bars, £6-£8, John Lewis You’re all heart This Valentine’s Day it’s all about the hearts at The White Company – tasteful ones, obv. Layer up a rustic heart place setting and wrap a heart-print…

THE COOKERY SCHOOL WHERE Cookery School at Little Portland Street, London ( cookeryschool.co.uk ) THE COURSE The Ultimate Fish and Shellfish (one day), £195, including breakfast, coffee and lunch with wine and dessert TESTED BY Isabella Bradford WHAT IT’S LIKE Cookery School at Little Portland Street is a spatula’s throw from London’s Oxford Circus, split over two floors of a narrow building. The kitchens are sleek, professional-looking and minimalist, but with all the KitchenAid appliances you could dream of. The classes of 10-12 students take place at individual prep stations on steel workbenches. I’ve always wondered what it must be like to be a chef, so when I arrived I was excited to see the restaurant-style working environment – everything stainless-steel and shiny clean. I put on my…

READING… I FEEL BAD ABOUT MY NECK by the late Nora Ephron (£8.99; Black Swan). Whenever I feel the February gloom descending I grab one of her books off the shelf and life seems a bit brighter. DRINKING… TEA. No book ever got written without lashings and lashings of tea. Unless it was written by Hemingway or Faulkner… There was not enough bourbon in Kentucky for those two. EATING… CRUMPETS. With unsalted butter and The Gentleman’s Relish. I can’t get enough. The relish can be swapped for Marmite, at a pinch. The husband does not sanction the sullying of the butter/crumpet nexus.…

Back in 2010 a new mobile platform launched. Within two years it was bought by Facebook for $1 billion. The name? Instagram. Today the platform has some 500 million monthly users and more than 95 million photos and videos are uploaded every day. Of that vast wealth of content, food is a big part of the business. The hashtag ‘#food’ has over 252 million posts, ‘#foodporn’ 147 million and ‘#yummy’ 108 million. Food lovers in the UK have fully embraced the Instagram trend, posting more than 130,000 pictures of food every day. The 2016 Waitrose Food Report stated that one in five British supermarket shoppers had posted a picture of their food on social media (or sent a snap to a friend) in the month leading up to the survey,…

“These recipes are from the last book by food writer and food stylist Valli Little. For anyone who doesn’t know the name, Valli was the legend behind the recipes in our sister magazine delicious. Australia, and she had many bestselling books to her name. Tragically, two years ago, she fell ill with cancer. We all thought she was on the road to recovery because she’d been to visit and seemed so much better. She was fiercely private about her battles with ill health. So it was a shock when we received the news of her death, in the latter half of 2017, after a short and sudden recurrence of the illness. Valli was originally from south London and, only a few months before, I’d been talking to her about coming…

How to spice up your kedgeree • Add a little freshly grated ginger, crushed garlic and finely chopped red or green chilli to the sauté pan in step 1 (as with the coulibiac, p50). Fresh or dried curry leaves would make a good addition, too. Vary the herbs: swap parsley for coriander or chives. • Use different spices or make one more dominant than the others. Toasted cumin seeds, black mustard seeds and nigella seeds (also known as kalonji or black onion seeds) all make great additions, and a little sprinkling of garam masala at the end wouldn’t go amiss. • Ring the changes with the smoked fish: freshly poached smoked salmon or smoked cod, hot-smoked salmon, flaked smoked mackerel or trout, cooked and flaked kippers… Or add cooked peeled…

Only a few years ago, Sparrow co-owner Yohini was a lawyer with zero food experience, but that wasn’t going to stop her fulfilling her dream of opening a restaurant. She made endless fruitless requests for work experience in restaurants before Terry, then head pastry chef at London’s St John, offered her a stage in his kitchen. The professional relationship became personal too – the pair are now married – but the rest wasn’t quite history. “I’d been telling Terry for ages about my plans to open a restaurant,” says Yohini. “After we’d been dating for a year he said, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if we did something together?’ and I thought, ‘No way – this is my dream.’ It didn’t quite work out that way.” Yohini gave Terry, who’d worked…

Forced rhubarb is a highlight of the February larder. The vibrant pink stalks add colour to our plates, just when we need something bright and cheerful to trick us into thinking we’re over the worst of winter. My twice-baked soufflé is a comforting, warming dessert that’s smart enough for a dinner party, and the chutney packs a sharpness that makes it a fine addition to your winter cheeseboard. The season for this great British ingredient is short, so let’s celebrate it while we can. Rhubarb and ginger twice-baked soufflés SERVES 8. HANDS-ON TIME 50 MIN, OVEN TIME 45-48 MIN MAKE AHEAD Make the compote up to 3 days ahead (don’t strain), then cover and chill. Turn out the soufflés at the end of step 4, cool, then wrap in cling…

THANE PRINCE Food writer in residence No 5 “February, though often associated with grey skies and gloom, has much to recommend it: it’s the shortest month of the year, already the days are getting noticeably longer, the evenings are perceptibly lighter and there is, however foolish, a feeling that the worst is over. The ground may still be frozen solid but the promise of the year stretches ahead of you and there are gardens to plan, holidays to book and the feeling that spring might just be around the corner. But even the most optimistic soul knows it’s too early to switch to lighter food, and the kitchen is still a place of warmth and solace. Seasonal eating in February can be tricky. The main vegetables available now are roots…

These are a smart champagne alternative for a special occasion (did I mention Valentine’s Day?). ‘Crémant’ on a label should indicate quality French bubbly, made in the champagne style but outside the region itself. Expect dry, sophisticated fizz at about half the price of most champagne, but still French – so très romantique. Exquisite Collection Crémant du Jura 2014 (£7.99, Aldi) has sherbetty lemon aromas and a light, toasty edge. Good value. Cave de Lugny Sparkling Burgundy Blanc de Blancs NV, France (£13.99, Waitrose) is crisp with green apple and citrus zest. Chill for canapés. For a change, the delicate, romantic pink Château Martinolles Crémant de Limoux Rosé NV, France (£14.95, laytons.co.uk) is fragrant, with strawberries-and-cream flavour from pinot noir grapes. Try it with prawns.…

5-minute chocolate banana split SERVES 2. HANDS-ON TIME 5 MIN Halve 1 ripe banana lengthways, then cut in half widthways. Divide between 2 bowls and add a scoop of low-fat chocolate frozen yogurt (we used Waitrose Love Life) to each bowl. Drizzle over 2 tsp almond butter, scatter over a handful of low-sugar granola and top with a grating of 80% dark chocolate. PER SERVING 220kcals, 8g fat (2.4g saturated), 5.8g protein, 29.6g carbs (21.5g sugars), 0.1g salt, 2.8g fibre 5-minute cheesecake pots SERVES 2. HANDS-ON TIME 10 MIN Lay 2 rich tea biscuits flat in the base of 2 x 200ml ramekins (1 biscuit in each ramekin). In a mixing bowl, mix the juice and zest of ½ lime, 150g Greek yogurt and 1½ tbsp agave nectar (from large…

“I challenge you to find a northerner who doesn’t love their comfort food. But for those of us whose homes (and hearts) are nestled along the Pennine backbone of the UK and beyond, we need our comfort food to warm us through after all that rain and wind. It’s more than just fuel for our hardworking bodies; it makes us feel good from the inside out. These comforting vegan recipes satisfy the soul and the appetite. As the sign above my street kitchen used to say: ‘Inspired by World Food. Made in Manchester.” JACKIE KEARNEY Vegan ricotta MAKES ABOUT 500G. HANDS-ON TIME 15 MIN, PLUS OVERNIGHT SOAKING AND CHILLING “This vegan substitute for ricotta cheese will keep in the fridge for five days. You need to start the recipe two…

1 Scrub the oysters under cold water to remove any grit, then keep cool. Examine their shells: one will be slightly rounded and the other flatter, and they’ll taper towards one end – the hinge. 2 Fill a serving platter with a bed of crushed ice or seaweed. This will keep the oysters upright once shucked. 3 Fold a clean tea towel until it’s just large enough to fold over an oyster. Put it in your non-knife-holding hand and put an oyster on it, rounded-shell down, with the hinge pointed towards your knife hand. As you grasp the oyster, the tea towel should protect your fingers from the sharp edges of the shell. 4 Put the point of the oyster knife into the hinge of the oyster (b). You’ll need…

“Dim sum is a traditional Chinese cuisine that originated in southern China, but each region now has its own distinct variety of dishes. Traditionally eaten in the morning or at lunchtime, dim sum has been hailed as the original brunch and is an important part of the menu at Hutong restaurant, where I’m head chef. These delicate buns are first steamed, then fried to create the contrast between crisp and soft, with an aromatic and flavourful beef filling – I urge you to try them at home for Chinese New Year on Friday 16 February.” A BIT ABOUT FEI In Chinese culture, the term ‘sifu’ (master) is given to those who’ve earned a wealth of experience in a skilled trade. Fei’s cuisine draws inspiration from across China. He began cooking…

1852 The first public lavatory opened in London on 2 February. Space has since become such a premium in the capital that they’re now being turned into restaurants and bars, such as WC (Clapham) and The Attendant (Fitzrovia). 1937 Richard McDonald was born on 6 February. Aged 28, he set up a hot dog stand with Maurice, his brother – and 47 years later he ceremonially grilled McDonald’s 50 billionth burger. 1977 A record-breaking lobster was caught off Nova Scotia, Canada, on 11 February. It weighed over 20kg – as much as an average five-year-old child. 2012 Australian chef Brad Jolly set the world record for the most tosses of a pancake in one minute on 21 February – 140 flips in 60 seconds.…

HONG KONG FOOD CITY Author Tony Tan is a journalist, cookery teacher and authority on Chinese cuisine. His culinary portrait of this dynamic food city includes recipes for street food, dim sum and posh nosh, liberally sauced with nuggets of history. Try one of his recipes on p122. £20; Murdoch Books (out 8 February) EAT HAPPY: 30-MINUTE FEELGOOD FOOD Melissa Hemsley, one half of the famed Hemsley sisters duo, has branched out on her own with these nutritious, veg-centric recipes that promise to be on the table in half an hour with minimal washing up… That’s a trend we can get on board with. £20; Ebury Press POSH PANCAKES Sue Quinn’s (see p102) paean to flat and griddled treats covers it all, from American buttermilk pancakes to Sri Lankan egg…

1 TREND INGREDIENT Expect to hear a lot about baobab in the coming months because it’s high in vitamin C and essential nutrients such as potassium and zinc. The fruit of the African ‘tree of life’, it’s sharply zesty, which works well with the vanilla in Yeo Valley’s new Baobab & Vanilla blend. £1.60 for 450g from major retailers. 2 NEW PIE ON THE BLOCK The delicious. team gave a big thumbs-up to the new Saag Pie-Neer pie from Pieminster. It’s comforting, looks homemade and is nicely spicy-savoury with chunky, crisp pastry. Oh, and it happens to be vegan, too. £3.80 for 270g from Ocado and selected Waitrose. 3 DINNER FOR TWO If you fancy a steak like the one on our cover (p44), Sainsbury’s now sells an on-trend, top…

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. And to prevent one tester influencing another, the panel aren’t allowed to confer during the tests, so the results you read (right) are unbiased. WHAT WE LOOKED FOR This soothing standby should be creamy and smooth, whether prepared with water or milk, and the drink should have a natural, malty flavour. Any graininess or excess sugar was a no-no. Drinks were prepared with water or milk, according to the label. INSTANT POWDER, MADE WITH WATER JOINT WINNER Morrisons Instant Malted Drink, £1.75 for 400g Pleasing frothy top, golden colour and forthright malty flavour with a just-right hint of saltiness. INSTANT POWDER, MADE…

“There are few issues of social justice greater than the need to give a fair deal to farmers and producers in developing countries” Not so long ago, Fairtrade meant bitter, expensive coffee bought by earnest idealists at hippy-run health shops for reasons of solidarity, not taste. Today, anyone who has bought a banana from Sainsbury’s, the Co-op or Waitrose has bought Fairtrade, as has anyone who has picked up a coffee from Starbucks, Greggs or AMT Coffee. Products carrying the recognisable blue, green and black logo are now good quality, affordable and mainstream. With the exception of a wobble in 2014 and 2015, sales have grown year-on-year since the scheme launched in the UK 25 years ago. However, this year’s Fairtrade Fortnight, which starts on 26 February, will not be…

“Pasta is the food I most love to cook and eat. There are so many varieties and each one represents a different part of Italy. There’s a pasta shape for every sauce and a sauce for every pasta shape – it’s a food for all seasons. Wintry ingredients such as chard, squash, walnuts, cavolo nero and chestnuts work beautifully with pasta, especially when complemented by parmesan, winter herbs and some hearty Italian sausage or mildly gamey pigeon. Buon appetito!” Basic pasta dough SERVES 4-6. HANDS-ON TIME 30 MIN, PLUS CHILLING MAKE AHEAD Make up to 24 hours ahead, wrap in cling film and chill. Or freeze for up to 1 month in a freezer bag. FOOD TEAM’S TIPS We used Burford Brown eggs from Clarence Court. The yolks are deep…

“This month my inspiration comes from warmer climes – Latin America, the Caribbean and Thailand – where the local produce soaks up the plentiful sun to deliver welcome bursts of colour and flavour to the British dinner table. I’ve used hot red chillies that balance perfectly with earthy spices, and zesty citrus to marry with the sweet fragrance of tropical fruit and aromatic herbs… These are ingredients to wake up the palate and warm the soul.” Zesty yogurt bundt cake with mojito drizzle SERVES 10-12. HANDS-ON TIME 30 MIN, OVEN TIME 50-55 MIN, PLUS COOLING MAKE AHEAD The cake will keep for a few days, stored somewhere cool in an airtight container. • 175g butter, softened, plus extra to grease• 2 tbsp fine polenta for dusting• 350g golden caster sugar•…

When you come in from the cold, there’s nothing like a bowl of hearty, tasty soup to give you a warm glow. Whether you want it on the table in minutes or are happy to let it do its thing while you put your feet up, make sure you add new OXO Ready To Use Stock. It’s the simple way to ensure your soup is bursting with flavour – and with a choice of Succulent Free-Range Chicken, Rich Farm-Bred Beef or Tasty Vegetable, it’s perfect for whatever you want to cook up. Slow cook Tuscan beef and bean soup SERVES 6. HANDS-ON TIME 35 MIN, SIMMERING TIME 2 HOURS • 1 tbsp vegetable oil• 500g lean stewing steak, trimmed and cut into large chunks• 2 onions, finely chopped• 2 carrots,…

“I grew up in the 1980s in a food-loving family in north London, where regrouping around the kitchen table each Friday night for roast chicken with bread stuffing was the order of play. Mum grew up in the 1950s in a vegetarian household so it was Dad who taught her the basics of meat cookery, referred to as the ‘roast chicken training years’. Despite his best intentions, she managed to roast a chicken with its bag of giblets inside on one of their first dates. Sadly, Dad died suddenly and unexpectedly over Christmas 2015. Although I’m through the darkest days, the feeling of loss never diminishes. Ironically, two of the things that used to frustrate me most about him on a Friday night are now the ones I miss the…

All-in-one potato, spinach & caper fish pie SERVES 6. HANDS-ON TIME 25 MIN, OVEN TIME 20-30 MIN MAKE AHEAD Make the unbaked fish pie up to 24 hours in advance and keep in the fridge. Alternatively, freeze it in its pie dish for up to 1 month. Cook from frozen, adding an extra 15-20 minutes to the cooking time. NEXT TIME Try mixing salmon and prawns and using kale instead of spinach. HOW WE DID IT This all-in-one fish pie uses lighter puff pastry and a white sauce made using semi-skimmed milk and wine, rather than cream. • 500g potatoes, cut into large chunks• 4 medium free-range eggs, plus an extra egg, beaten, to glaze• 200g baby leaf spinach• 600ml semi-skimmed milk• 600g skinless sustainable white fish (hake, cod, coley…

The master recipe Leek and potato soup MAKES 8 SERVINGS, ENOUGH FOR 2 MEALS FOR 4 PEOPLE. HANDS-ON TIME 15 MIN, SIMMERING TIME 30-35 MIN MAKE AHEAD Make up to 3 days in advance and keep in a sealed container in the fridge (see How to Freeze, right). FOOD TEAM’S TIP This soup is great served chilled too – one for when the weather warms up. • 40g butter• 500g leeks, finely chopped• 2 onions, finely chopped• 600g floury potatoes such as maris piper or king edward, finely diced• 2 garlic cloves, crushed• 1 litre vegetable stock• 1 tsp dijon mustard• Small bunch fresh chives, finely chopped• Crusty bread to serve 1 Melt the butter in a large lidded pan/casserole set over a medium heat. When the butter foams, add…

You can’t get blood out of a turnip, say the Americans, which isn’t the best advertisement for them, but tiny turnips are one of the best spring veg, peppery and juicy and needing no more than a few minutes in a hot frying pan with salty butter. Winter’s larger ones are good to eat, too, and you can preserve them like this… FREEZE Peel the turnips and cut into 1.5cm dice. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and add the turnips. Bring back to the boil, then cook for a minute. Drain, cool and spread on trays, then freeze them. Pack into freezer bags and use within 12 months. Cook the cubes straight from frozen, sizzling in butter until caramelised. Great with roast beef. PICKLE Make vivid…

Richard’s latest book Prime: The Beef Cookbook , is published by Mitchell Beazley 1 Look for quality British grass-fed meat that’s been hung for around five weeks. The meat shouldn’t be wet, sticky, soft or mushy and, when freshly cut, should be bright red with a delicate marbling of pale yellow fat. 2 Fillet steak is tender, but lean and often bland. Fattier cuts, such as rib steak (p44), deliver more flavour. Buy as thick a steak as you can. The aim in cooking is to get a good char on the outside of the meat while keeping the inside juicy, and this is impossible with a thin piece of meat. Ideally, a good steak should be 4-5cm thick. 3 Let the steak sit for 30…

There’s something high-octane and addictive about life in Hong Kong. It’s one of the world’s most dynamic, pulsating cities – perhaps the most. I spent two of the most exciting years of my life living there and when I return I’m immediately buoyed by the energy. The skyline – and there are more skyscrapers than in any other city on earth – is forever changing. Buildings go up, land is reclaimed, old is replaced with new. The streets are noisy and thronged with people. Walk through the lively district of Central (or take the outdoor escalator that snakes up steep hills to the arty district of SoHo) to experience the thrill of the city’s bustle and the sounds and smells of frying dumplings. The city’s outward appearance may be in…