Creamy pesto chicken

One of my favourite food websites is BBC Good Food. Not only does it house thousands upon thousands of brilliant recipes, it also has interesting sections on seasonal and local food, healthy eating and now it even has its own blog with various guest writers. I often find myself browsing the site at around 4.50pm, looking for inspiration for the evening meal so that I can pick up the ingredients on the way back from work.

One of the 'problems' with living in London is the lack of decent-sized supermarkets. This may sound rather a strange thing to say - we actually have plenty. But for me, most are a drive away and getting the car out in London just to go to the supermarket for a few 'bits' is a frustrating a time-consuming activity. What am I moaning about, I hear you ask? We have countless wonderful food shops, smaller versions of supermarkets round every corner. Too true. I am indeed spoilt for choice at the weekend - great farmers markets and specialist shops where I can take my time and select wonderful produce. But during the week, I don't get home until seven. All these lovely shops are closed and I'm not nearly organised enough to plan ahead (things come up and I HATE wasting food). So, I'm stuck with the Sainsburys Locals and Tesco Metros of this world. Great for convenience but hopeless when it comes to food you actually want to eat. They assume that if you live on your own, you will live on a diet of ready meals. Meat is all packaged for families of four (I have occasional spurts of cooking large batches and freezing individual portions but never remember to get them out of the freezer). They also assume you want to eat only chicken, mince or salmon. As for vegetables; broccoli, courgettes and carrots. Heaven forbid you might want to pick up a bottle of wine - the choice is simply appalling. Just how many £5.99 Australian Chardonnays do you need? You want something a little more expensive? Ah, you'll be after the Tesco Finest Chablis then.


I'm ranting. I know. I should be grateful that I can at least get to a shop at that time of day. Besides, you can do no end of delicious things with chicken and courgettes, right? Whilst looking for ideas last night, I happened upon this recipe for 'Summer in Winter Chicken'. Chicken with a creamy pesto sauce studded with softened cherry tomatoes. Just the thing - comforting yet housing nice fresh flavours. Of course I was too optimistic, the local shop had no cherry tomatoes. I decided to meddle (as I am want to do) and threw in sun dried tomatoes. The ubiquitous family-sized pack of courgettes was also beckoning so I added some of those and a handful of frozen peas for good measure. The result was rather more delicious than I had expected. This will be a regular fixture on the mid-week menu, I suspect. It tastes rather creamily wicked, but I used half-fat creme fraiche and only a spoonful. Not that bad after all.

I must make a quite note about the mash that I served with this (comfort all the way, you see). I picked up a (family-sized) bag of Vivaldi potatoes and made the best mash EVER, without using any butter. Fear not, this was not intentional. When I got to the mashing moment, I discovered I had no butter. Disaster. Mash without butter? That is like Coke without caffeine or Summer without sun. Feeling pretty upset, I drizzled in a little olive oil and a splash of milk and mashed away. They really were some of the best mashed potatoes I have ever eaten. I was amazed. I then fished out the bag and read on the packaging that these potatoes are 'so creamy they can be mashed without butter'. Too true my friends, too true. So for those hoping to lighten up after the Christmas excess, may I heartily recommend that you head to your local 'Sainsbury's Local' and buy yourselves a family pack of their 'Taste the Difference Vivaldi Potatoes'. So. They are good for one thing.

Creamy Pesto Chicken with Courgettes and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Serves 2

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoon green pesto
2 tablespoons creme fraiche (can be half fat)
1 courgette, sliced into thin half moons
3 tablespoons chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1 large handful of frozen peas
1 small glass white wine
salt and pepper

1. Heat oil in a large non-stick frying pan and fry chicken breasts on one side for around 10 minutes, until nicely coloured (do not move around pan - just leave in the centre).

2. Turn over and cook on other side for 10-15 minutes until cooked through. After 5 minutes add the courgettes to the pan.

3. When chicken is nearly done, throw in the white wine and the peas. Allow to bubble down and reduce by around two thirds. Throw in the tomatoes and soften for a couple of minutes.


4. Stir the pesto into the pan and turn to a low heat. Add the creme fraiche and mix well to coat everything. Warm gently and then serve.

Notes - You could choose to grill the chicken if you prefer, though I don't think it would be quite so good as you would miss the flavour from the juices that comes from cooking everything in one pan.

New Year's Resolutions and Reflections

Happy New Year to you all!

I hope that you had a thoroughly enjoyable time over the festive period whether you were home or away, with friends or with family. In particular, I hope that you enjoyed no end of delicious goodies. I know I did. Apologies for my silence over the past week. I did by the way post the mushroom soup recipe on the 27th and not the 21st as the blog seems to think so haven't been silent for THAT long! The reason for the silence is sadly not due to a week of merriment in Scotland as planned, but rather a week hibernating with my parents nursing a rather nasty chest infection. So unfair. I was upset to miss out of the Scottish fun but it was good to be home on the Isle of Wight too. New Year's Eve was therefore a quiet affair spent with my sister and parents - quails eggs with celery salt followed by fillet steak, cooked by my wonderful mother. We all fell asleep in chairs before midnight though did re-awake just in time to toast in the New Year and watch the hundreds of fireworks displays that lined the South coast from the sitting room window which overlooks the sea.

2007 was a mixed year for me. There were some serious highs (South Africa, the birth of my youngest nephew, holidays in France, Tresco and Madeira, my father's 80th birthday party) as well as some fairly difficult lows (the less said the better), but aren't all years like this? One of the most significant events of the year though, was starting to write Food, Glorious Food! If you had asked me at the start of the year, I probably wouldn't have even known what a blog was, let alone imagined that I might start to write one or interact with fellow bloggers. I can hardly remember what made me start. But I am so glad that I did. I've been thrilled to receive your comments as time has gone by - you don't need me to tell you how wonderful it is to interact with like-minded food enthusiasts.

As I've spent the past week being spoiled by my mother and cooking not a thing (yes - I really was feeling bad), I thought I'd use this opportunity to recap on a few of this year's favourite or most memorable recipes -


This wonderful chocolate mousse cake was the first recipe that was posted on the blog. Its discovery was in some way, what inspired me to start the blog. It was so divine, I wanted to tell everyone about it. Not that anyone read that first entry. Hence I am flagging it up now. I have made it several times since, impressing guests on each occasion!


No rocket science here. But I feel that Nigella's 'recipe' for poussin with sweet potatoes was something of a eureka moment for me this year. Living on my own, I sometimes feel that I miss out on the joys of a Sunday roast unless I entertain. There are times when I don't fancy company, but do fancy a proper roast chicken. Yet roasting a whole chicken for one is just crazy (unless you want to eat leftovers for every meal for the rest of the week). A little poussin can be popped in the oven for 45 minutes on return from work and tastes as good as the 'real thing'. Brilliant for a post work dinner party too - people are always impressed at having their own bird and amazed you have produced such a thing in such a short space of time (little do they know that this is one of the simplest dishes that exists).


This wonderfully-coloured damson ice-cream was a revelation in several ways. Firstly it was the first thing that I made in my new ice-cream maker, given to me by three knowing friends for my birthday. Great pressie, girlies, thank you! Secondly, it was the first time I actually enjoyed damsons (I have since enjoyed the damson gin made with the same batch of fruit). Thirdly, I love this pudding due to its reflection of the season. It heralded the start of autumn yet was entirely appropriate for those last days of Indian summer.
There is not a great deal to say about these spanking fresh mackerel. They evoked brilliant memories of my childhood seaside holidays and tasted brilliant, cooked in the simplest way possible. A reminder, as if it was needed, that fresh is best and that when you have fresh, the simpler is almost always the better (in my book).

Another special food moment for me this year was cooking my first ever ham. It was a pretty large bit of ham too. Why was this special? I'm not sure really. Family tradition is such that we have a hot ham on Christmas Eve each year. My mother always cooks it and it fills the kitchen with a gloriously festive smell - so welcoming to come home to after a long journey. Over the years as we have all grown up, each of her children have asked for and used this same recipe for their family Christmasses. For some reason, cooking my first ham felt somehow symbollic. I experienced a sense of independence greater than when buying my first home or marvelling at my first pay packet. I think perhaps the stages of my life have always been defined through food.

Last but by no means least is this pheasant casserole. It doesn't look pretty, I'll admit. But it really is delicious. Braised slowly in cider, the second time I cooked this, I meddled a little. I cooked it for longer on a lower heat and added pan-roasted Chanteray carrots and shallots for the final half hour. It was (even if I say so myself) quite superb.

And so what of 2008? More of the same, I hope. Inspired by the seasons, by my library of cookbooks, by the skill, creativity and humour of fellow food bloggers I shall enjoy my kitchen and the experiments that take place within it. Here is to another year of eating well!

Probably the best mushroom soup in the world

I hope that everyone has had a wonderful Christmas and that you are continuing to do so. Sick of cold turkey yet? I hope not. I'll let you into a little secret - I think I actually enjoy the leftovers more that I do the 'main event'. Is that odd? I even love cold parsnips, cold stuffing... and... cold bread sauce. I'm a little upset this year though as I'm missing out on many of the leftover delights. I've left the family home down on the Isle of Wight and am stopping over in London for the night before heading north to spend Hogmanay in Scotland. It will be wonderful, but it was a little tough leaving the family at home with the remaining turkey and ham and the promise of turkey soup and Brussels Sprouts bubble and squeak. I can't complain though as my wonderful mother packed me off with an individual portion of the aforementioned soup and a slice of Christmas pudding!

As some will know, this year was my first attempt at cooking the Christmas lunch in its entirety. I think it went fairly well. Everything was ready together, on time and most components tasted pretty good. The turkey was ever-so-slightly over cooked which was disappointing considering the number of methods I studied prior to tackling the bird. First I looked at Delia whose total cooking time would have been around 5 hours for a bird of the size I had. Thank goodness I didn't follow her method as my poor turkey would have been frazzled. I followed a very similar method (a blast of heat at the start, then cover with a foil tent and lower the temperature for the remaining cooking time) but still my turkey was ready an hour before it should have been. I think my mother's oven is far hotter than it should be! It didn't matter though. The bird had an extended resting period, which no doubt did it good. What was delicious was the juice that resulted from sitting the turkey on a bed of onion, leek, carrot and celery and adding around half a bottle of white wine to the roasting tray. Yum.

My first ever attempt at Christmas lunch!

The Christmas pudding that I made back in November was (even if I say so myself) a triumph. Served with a generous dollop of brandy butter it was delicious. So much better than even the best shop-bought versions, it had a wonderful flavour without being too terribly heavy. Divine.

Before I head off to Scotland, I would like to share a quick recipe with you. This is, I think, the best mushroom soup I know. I am unable to describe how scrumptious it is but I do urge you to try it. The mustard and Worcestershire sauce are, I would suggest, vital components. Miss them out at your peril!

The Best Mushroom Soup (serves 4)

1/2 lb mushrooms, wiped, trimmed and chopped (any kind - a mixture is nice, but regular mushies are fine too)

1/2 pint white roux sauce made with 1oz butter, 1oz flour and 1/2 pint milk

1/2 pint chicken stock

1 medium onion or 3 shallots - peeled and finely chopped

clove of garlic, finely chopped

20z butter

1 tsp Dijon mustard (or other French mustard - not grainy)

Dash of Worcester sauce

Pinch of mace

1. Melt butter and saute onion and garlic till transparent, without browning

2. Add mushrooms and saute for a further 5-10 mins over a gentle heat.

3. Remove from pan and prepare the roux sauce. Mix the hot stock into the sauce before returning the mushrooms and onions to the pan.

4. Season with salt and pepper, mustard, mace and Worcester sauce. Bring to boil and simmer gently for around 15 minutes stirring occasionally to ensure mushrooms do not stick to pan.

5. Cool slightly and then blitz in liquidiser or using a stab mixer. Return to pan and taste - adjust seasoning if needed. I often add more mustard and Worcester sauce - the flavour it great with the mushrooms.

6. If wished, stir in 1\4 pint double cream, a handful of chopped parsley and a few sauteed mushrooms.

Starry Christmas Cake

Well, here we are. Christmas Eve. The stuffings are made - one chestnut with apricots and ginger that will go in the bird and one 'green' stuffing made with leeks, spring greens and lots of herbs. The turkey is sitting in the fridge awaiting its fate tomorrow. The timeplan is written - this is my first year cooking the lunch so it could be interesting (!). My niece and nephew are just getting out the mince pie for Father Christmas and a carrot for Rudolph and we are all feeling very festive.

I finally iced my Christmas cake. A very simple design seeing as this is also my first ever attempt. The pressure was on as my sister is a professional wedding cake maker and my mother is also very skilled - one wonders why I volunteered. But I'm quite pleased with the result. I was less pleased with the cake itself - I followed Delia's recipe and it was totally overcooked miles before she suggested. I've been feeding it over the past few weeks though with 'soaking mixture' - equal parts of sweet Oloroso sherry, dark rum and glycerine and it feels fairly sticky and moist now.

To decorate, I filled in any holes with marzipan before covering with marzipan (using warmed apricot jam as the 'glue'.

After the marzipan and I covered with fondant icing and topped simply with different shaped stars. First I tried all white stars...

I loved the all white look, but also wanted to experiment with some edible silver lustre I had in the cupboard. In the end I went half silver/half white. By the time I finished it was rather last, hence the rather poor quality photos...

I wish everyone very Happy Christmas! May you have a wonderful and fun-filled day and, of course, a wonderful lunch!

Mummy's very special mince pies

What you see above may look like a perfectly innocent mince pie. I'd go further. It actually looks like rather a dull mince pie - no pretty star shaped tops or fluted edges. But wait! Remember - beauty lies within. The pastry top conceals a rather scrumptious filling of mincemeat topped with a cream cheese mixture that is far more delicious than it may sound. But things get better. You see this is no ordinary pastry. This is orange pastry. It is a little tricky to work with but it really is worth it - wonderfully crumbly, very Christmassy and perfect with the filling.

My mother made these mince pies some years ago. Strictly speaking they are not 'her' mince pies, but Josceline Dimbleby's. But I always think of them as hers. In my mind they are far superior to the normal kind though I do make 'normal' ones too so that I can make pretty star-shaped tops and use them as a vehicle for brandy butter.

WARNING - the orange pastry is SO delicious that it is difficult to resist eating the lot raw, before it is cooked. Perhaps you should make a little extra to account for this!


Mince Pies de luxe
(recipe taken from Josceline Dimbleby's 'Christmas Book')
Makes 24

For orange pastry -
500g plain flour
175g icing or caster sugar
375g butter
finely grated rind and juice of one large orange

For filling -
250g full fat cream cheese (it is Christmas, after all)
50g caster sugar
500-625g mincemeat
milk, to glaze
Caster or icing sugar to decorate

1. Sift flour and sugar into a mixing bowl. Cut the butter into small cubes and rub these into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

2. Stir in the grated orange rind and finally the juice, a little at a time, until the mixture sticks together and you can form a ball.

3. Pat into a ball, wrap in cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes.

4. Mix together cream cheese and sugar. Set to one side.

5. On a floured surface, knead pastry lightly and then roll out rather more thickly than you would usually. The pastry is very crumbly and rather sticky and quite tricky to work with so go carefully and BE PATIENT (something I am not, but it is worth it).

6. Cut out rounds with a 3 inch pastry cutter and line greased mince pie tins with these disks.

7. Fill to half depth with mincemeat and then top with a teaspoonful of cream cheese mixture -


8. Roll out the remaining pastry and cut out tops with a 2-inch cutter. Moisten the edges with water and place on top of filled bases, pressing lightly to seal.

9. Brush tops with milk and bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden.

10. As the pastry is so crumbly, allow these to cool in the tin before very gently easing from the tin with a rounded knife.

11. Serve warmed in the oven and sprinkled with icing sugar.

Chocolate Chestnut Roulade

Before I share with you the deliciousness of this thoroughly festive pud, I plead with you to click here. I think that Jeanne says it all really. Today is the last day of the Menu for Hope campaign - you have a terrific chance of winning a great prize and the children of Lesotho really will benefit from your contribution. Go on. It is only £5 and will only take a moment. There is still a great chance to win a private wine tasting for 8 hosted by none other than yours truly. But there are lots of other fantastic prizes too - please take a look. Thank you.


Now then. Do you like chocolate?

I thought as much. Do you like sweetened chestnuts?


If so, this is the pudding for you. A typical French Christmas pudding the 'bûche de Noel' (or Christmas Log') is often the preferred choice for children who aren't so keen on rich fruit cake. This version is perhaps more suited to the grown ups though - it is dark, moist and really rather wicked.

The recipe is essentially one pertaining to good old Delia, but I've changed this slightly. I found the chestnut filling too runny so added a little more mascarpone. I didn't have any whole chestnuts and I used a little less cream in the middle. Click here for the original version, or take a look below for mine...

Chocolate Chestnut Roulade
(serves 8-10)


For the roulade -
2oz cocoa powder
6 eggs, separated
5oz golden caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Icing sugar to dust
For the filling -
3oz/250g tin of sweetened crème de marrons
1 tablespoon Cognac
3oz mascarpone
1oz icing sugar
5 fl oz double cream

1. Preheat oven to 190C. Line a shallow baking tin (9 by 13 inches) with greased baking paper, leaving the paper sticking around an inch above the sides of the tin. To do this, cut a sheet larger than the tray and then cut diagonal slits at each corner.

2. Beat together egg yolks, sugar and vanilla with an electric whisk until doubled in size and pale and creamy.

3. In a separate, clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks are formed. Carefully fold the whites into the yolk mixture, taking care to keep as much air in as possible. Finally, fold in the cocoa.

4. Bake for 20 minutes and then leave to cool in the tin.

5. Meanwhile mix the filling ingredients together, with the exception of the cream.

6. Cut a large sheet of baking paper and dust with icing sugar. Turn the roulade out onto the sheet of paper. Spread with the chestnut mixture, leaving a border of around 3/4 inch around the edge.

7. Whip the cream until spreadable and place on top of the chestnut cream.

8. Very carefully roll the roulade up widthways using the paper rather than your hands. It will crack, so don't worry. This adds to the rustic look of this dessert! Keeping it in the paper, place in the fridge so that it holds its shape a little better.

9. Remove from fridge around twenty minutes before you want to eat it. Unwrap the paper and sprinkle with more icing sugar, if required. Slice and enjoy!

Scrumptious Nibbles

What a busy time of year, eh? I'm not quite sure what I've been doing but I seem to have no time to myself whatsoever. Christmas shopping, festive drinks with friends, work events, wrapping presents... I've had virtually no time to blog! But I have been cooking, at least. In fact, so busy things are, I am currently multi-tasking in a big way: typing at my desk, making mushroom soup for lunch tomorrow, icing my Christmas cake, cooking my supper (bangers and mash) and watching Heston Blumenthal's Ultimate Christmas Meal on the television. Phew!

On Sunday, I hosted a Christmassy lunch for seven friends. We started with some simple yet delicious canapés - blinis with smoked trout and horseradish crème fraîche, red pepper hummous topped with roasted artichokes and red onion marmalade and goats cheese nibbles. None of these took much time - mostly an assembly job as I bought both the hummous and the artichokes. Served with a Tasmanian Sparkling Pinot Noir/Chardonnay, these really looked and tasted the part. We then moved onto the pheasant and cider casserole I made a few weeks ago. This time around I cooked the casserole for longer at a lower heat and used less liquid. I also added smoky bacon and, for the final 20 minutes, some pan-roasted shallots and baby carrots. It was superb! We finished with a divine chocolate and chestnut roulade (more on that later) and my Mother's special mince pies with orange pastry (again, recipe to follow).

I plan to make these nibbles again at Christmas - perhaps to accompany the Champagne we drink as we open our presents before lunch....

Blinis with smoked trout and horseradish crème fraîche (makes 24)

Pack of 24 cocktail blinis (or make your own!)

2 tablespoons crème fraîche

1 teaspoon good quality horseradish sauce

1 teaspoon chopped dill, plus a little extra to garnish

2 slices smoked trout

1 lemon

1. Mix the crème fraîche with the horseradish and dill.

2. Bake the blinis according the pack instructions (usually around minutes).

3. Blob a teaspoon of creamy mixture on each blini, tip with a sliver of trout, garnish with a sprig of dill.

4. Place the blinis on a serving plate and grate over a little lemon zest. Squeeze a little lemon juice over the lot and grid a little black pepper over the plate to finish them off.

Crostini with hummous and roasted artichoke hearts

1 very narrow baguette or flûte, 1 day old

Flavoured hummous of choice - roasted red pepper works well

Roasted and marinated artichoke hearts in olive oil

1. Make the crostini. Slice the bread into very thin disks (this will be much easier if your bread is a day old!). Place on a baking tray and bake at 200C for around 10 minutes, until crisp.

2. Once the crostini are cool, spoon on a dollop of hummous and top with a slice of artichoke.

Crostini with red onion marmalade and goats cheese

Crostini (make as above)

2 red onions

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1oz butter

Olive oil

Spring of thyme

Goats cheese

1. Slice the onions. Melt butter and a little oil in a non-stick pan with a heavy base. Place onions in, sprinkle over sugar and add thyme. Cook on a very low heat for around 40 minutes until sticky and soft. Keep an eye on it to prevent burning.

2. When cool, top crostini with a teaspoon of onion mixture and top with a little goats cheese. If you like, you could pop under a grill until the cheese has melted.

Looks like everyone enjoyed themselves....