Seriously fresh fish - cod in parsley and caper sauce

Sorry for the radio silence over the past couple of weeks... The husband has done something fairly nasty to his back and, after a quick visit to casualty, has been convalescing at home for the past week-or-so. I've been busy making cups of tea and doing other useful wifely things.

I haven't even managed to blog anything about our fantastic holiday on the Suffolk coast a few weeks ago. We spent five days bathed in glorious Spring sunshine enjoying the delights of Aldeburgh, Thorpeness and Southwold. What a wonderful part of the country - extremely pretty with lovely little towns. Quite foodie too which is no surprise considering the coastal location and the vast swathes of agricultural land. We saw a great many pigs (and ate plenty of excellent sausages) but most of all we enjoyed some wonderfully fresh fish.

All along the beach in Aldeburgh, sit little fishermen's huts. Here they sell their daily catch and it really is as fresh as it could be.

We had rented a little cottage in Aldeburgh so cooked for ourselves most nights. We love to do this on holiday. Whilst we love eating out too, it is such fun to seek out local produce on holiday and take a little time to prepare something tasty. It also saves money of course - we spent much less on food which allowed us to splash out a little on some really super wines to enjoy with our food.

The dog ready for his holiday long before us!

When going on a self-catering holiday, I have to be prevented from taking the entire contents of my kitchen. One can never be too sure what kitchen equipment one will find in a rented holiday cottage. I also am unable to live without certain condiments (mustard, ketchup) and feel irked by the idea of having to buy new pots of herbs and spices when I have them already at home. This time, I tried to limit myself to one box of basic 'staples'. Plus a couple of tea-towels and my potato peeler (I can't be doing with a bad potato peeler). I also took my pancake pan as Shrove Tuesday fell in the middle of our holiday and we were not going to do without pancakes! As we were going to a seaside town, I also took my favourite fish cook book and a jar of capers (!) Is there anything you can't leave home without?

Holiday essentials

Anyway, back to the fish. The huts had a variety of fish and we asked for advice as to what was freshest and best. The first evening we were recommended some line-caught cod - it was new season cod, according to the fishermen, and came highly recommended. We bought a large piece at a fraction of the cost of supermarket fish and took it home wrapped up in newspaper.

We decided to cook it very simply as we didn't want to mask the flavour of the fresh fish. Having consulted my fish cook book we decided upon a simple parsley sauce studded with capers. New potatoes and a few green vegetables completed the dish along with a stunning bottle of Californian Chardonnay from Au Bon Climat, a winery we visited on our honeymoon. It was a comforting dish that reminded me of my childhood but the capers added a slightly more adult kick to the sauce. Delicious!

This simple yet super fish supper would work well with other varieties of white fish, including sustainable catches such as pollack.

The recipe is a pared down, simplified version of Mitch Tonks' 'Cod in Parsley Sauce' from his excellent 'Fish' book.

The Freshest Cod in Parsley Sauce

Serves 2 

300ml milk

1oz butter plus a small knob extra to 'finish' the sauce

1 heaped tbsp plain flour

Generous handful of parsley, chopped

1 tbsp capers, drained, rinsed and finely chopped

2 portions of cod, skin on, about 180g each

1. Pre-heat the oven to 230C.

2. Make the parsley sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low head. Stir in the flower and combine with a wooden spoon until you have a paste. Gradually add the milk, little by little, stiring well in between each addition so that you have a smooth consistency. Keep adding until you have a smooth sauce about the consistency of double cream.

3. Add the parsley and capers, season with salt and pepper and set to one side in a warm place whilst you cook the fish.

4. Heat a little oil in a frying pan (use one that can also go in the oven, if you have one). When hot, season the fish and lay flesh side down in the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes (depending on thickness) until the fish is golden. Transfer pan to the oven, or place fish in a small roasting tin, and roast for a further 5-6 minutes until cooked through.

5. To serve, add a small knob of butter to the sauce and heat through, stirring. Serve the fish with a generous pool of sauce.

Chipotle chilli beef

 Both my husband and I love a good chilli con carne. It was, I think, the first thing he ever cooked me. Those were in the early days when I thought that he could only cook items made with mince (chilli, spag bol and shepherds pie were the first three meals he made - much as I loved them, I was relieved when a beef and ale stew made an appearance).

The only problem with our love of chilli is the eternal debate as to what makes a really good chilli. We have quite different opinions on this matter. For him, chilli must be made with minced beef. Whilst I will concede that minced beef is the more traditional option, I actually prefer mine to be made with actual chunks of meat. Slow-cooked casserole-style.

We also disagree about what else should go into a chilli. My husband is keen to add whatever may be in the fridge/cupboards. This often involves sweetcorn. Much as I like sweetcorn, I do not like it in my chilli. Nor do I want carrots. Or mushrooms. Or courgettes. For me, onions, garlic, kidney beans and bell peppers are all I require.

Our final chilli dispute erupted one evening when I dared to served jacket potatoes alongside my chunky meat chilli. This was a step too far for my beloved. For him only rice will do. We do agree on the toppings though - guacamole, soured cream and a little grated cheese.

Last week, whilst taking stock of the surfeit of jars occupying 2 full shelves of my fridge, I spotted a half-used jar of chipotle chilli paste. This was last used to great success in my chipotle chicken stew. I decided to adapt my regular chilli recipe and use the paste to add a smoky richness to the dish. The result was something of a triumph - the flavour was fantastic and it was, I think, one of the best chillis I've ever made. A couple of squares of good dark chocolate added at the end also added an extra dimension as did the long, slow cooking. I couldn't help feeling that it would be rather good made with diced venison too. Another time, perhaps?

I can only apologise about the terrible photos - there must have been a smear on the camera lens...

Chipote chilli beef

Serves 4

Based on this BBC Good Food recipe

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

2 bell peppers (one red, one green)

2 heaped tbsp chipotle chilli paste

1 tsp ground cumin

500g diced stewing beef

1 400g tin tomatoes

1/2 pint beef stock

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp dried marjoram

410g tin of red kidney beans (or feel free to use other beans - black beans are good too)

2 squares good quality dark chocolate

To serve: your choice of soured cream, guacamole, fresh coriander, grated cheese, rice, tortillas etc...

1. Pre-heat oven to 170C*. Roughly chop onions and slice the peppers.

2. Heat a little oil in a casserole and then gently fry onions until they are transluscent and soft. Add the peppers and crushed or finely chopped garlic. Set to one side.

3. Add a little more oil to the pan if necessary and brown the meat on all sides. You may need to do this in batches so as not to overcrowd the pan. Set meat to one side and put vegetables back into the pan.

4. Sprinkle over the cumin and marjoram and spoon in the chipotle paste. Give a good stir to combine and cook for a minute or two before re-adding the meat and stirring to combine.

5. Pour in the tomatoes and stock. Add sugar and plenty of salt and pepper and give it all a good stir. Bring up to simmering point.

6. Place lid on casserole and pop in the oven. Cook for at least forty-five minutes, but preferably longer at a lower temperature* if you have the time. Check on it every now and again and add a little more water/stock if it is drying out. After this time, add the kidney beans and cook for a further 15-20 minutes with the lid off if the sauce needs reducing somewhat.

7. Before serving, check the seasoning and add salt and pepper as required. Stir in the dark chocolate and sprinkle with fresh coriander before serving.

*As with many beef casseroles, this is better the longer and slower it is cooked. I brought mine to the boil on the boiling plate of the Aga and then tranferred to the simmering oven for 2 1/2 hours.

Tuna and caper pâté

The husband and I are fond of a pre-dinner drink (or two). The trouble is that with that pre-dinner drink, we usually feel the urge to indulge in a pre-dinner nibble. This, I have no doubt, is one of the key reasons for our overly expansive waistlines. (This, and our fondness for cheese, proper puddings and cake). Whilst we know that eating earlier would help ease this habit, we're not actually willing to forgo this favourite part of our day. It is the time we relax post-work, talk through the day's events and generally unwind whilst one of us potters round the kitchen creating dinner.

We try to keep our snacking under control and stick to reasonably 'healthy' nibbles. Low-fat hummous with carrot sticks, olives or tomato salsa spread on melba toasts are staples in this house. We love them, but we get tired of them too. When friends are here, or at weekends, we are more adventurous and make more fancy canapes but mid-week, it is all about low effort. Whilst browsing through some of my favourite food blogs the other day, I stumbled accross a tuna and caper pâté on the Kitchen Diaries Challenge blog which rather caught my fancy. I find the salty tang of foods like capers, olives or anchovies just perfect for awakening the taste buds prior to the main event. I had most of the ingredients to hand in the cupboard and simply improvised for the rest. It took mere moments to make - a 'bung it all in and whizz it all up' recipe. The best sort for mid-week really.

Served moments later with a crisp glass of white and some melba toasts, it was a very delicious 'snackette' (as we like to refer to such things). It would make a nice starter too and, as it uses low-fat mayo, is pretty healthy too.

Do you like a pre-dinner 'snackette'? If so, what do you tend to choose?

Tuna and caper pâté

Adapted from this recipe at Kichen Diaries Challenge

Ingredients:

1 tin of tuna, drained

half a small red onion or a shallot, finely chopped

2 heaped tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise

juice half a small lemon (to taste)

2 heaped teaspoons capers, well-rinsed

1/2 tsp paprika

handful flat-leaved parsley

1. Place all ingredients except lemon juice and capers into food processor and whizz to combine.

2. Add lemon juice a little at a time, tasting after each addition until the balance seems right.

3. Add the capers and pulse briefly so they are combined but not completely broken up. You want a little texture here.

4. Scrape into a serving dish and (ideally) leave for an hour or so in the fridge for the flavours to combine. If greedy and rushed like us, serve immediately with melba toasts or crudités. Or spread on crostini, as suggested by Maggie at Kitchen Diaries Challenge.

5. Serve with a crisp glass of white wine.

Cornish Pasties

It is the New Year. I've spent the past few weeks over-indulging on a pretty serious scale. The time has come to reign it in, eshew the slab of Christmas cake for a health-giving platter of fresh fruit, abandon the crisps and dips for a carrot baton and leave the rich, hefty dishes of the festive season behind in favour of fresh and dainty salads. Sound familiar?

In theory, the idea of starting the New Year afresh with healthy options aplenty is a good one. But I've just never been much good at it. I mean, does a salad really appeal when the temperature is sub-zero?

January, for me, is perhaps the most depressing month of the year. The bright lights and glitz of Christmas have vanished without trace, everyone plods back to work and there seems to be little to look forward to. Unless you have some exciting holiday booked. Which I don't... So, I think January is a time to go easy on yourself. Save the dieting for the Spring when all seems more hopeful and cheery. The days are warmer and those lighter meals are just what the body craves. For now though, hunker down with some comfort food. Warming soups, stews and pies don't need to be swimming in fat but they deliver the satisfaction that we crave on these dreary, wintery days.

So, if you are looking for health food, I'm sorry to disappoint. Instead I bring you... The Cornish Pasty.

A few years ago, I wouldn't have imagined myself ever making such a thing. I like a Cornish Pasty as much as the next man (or woman) but it isn't really something I get particularly excited about. Enter my husband. If you asked him to describe his 'last supper', it might well include a pasty (along with roast beef, yorkshire puddings, all the trimmings, cheese galore and a syrup sponge pudding). When holidaying in Cornwall, he felt positively hard-done-by if a pasty-less day went by. He also taught me that there are pasties and pasties. Once I'd tasted a few, I bugun to take his point. There is a world of difference between a good pasty and an indifferent one. The quest for pasty perfection peaked my interest and I vowed to try and make one at home for him upon return.

Upon return from said holiday, it appeared that we'd eaten a few too many pasties and it seemed rather an indulgent treat to make at home (we were on a pre-wedding diet). I forgot all about it. Fast-forward 18 months and I was flicking through an old copy of Aga Living Magazine and came accross a very simple-sounding recipe for Cornish Pasties. The time had come to give them a whirl...

A little further research led me to another recipe in my Aga Bible book. I was then befuddled. The recipes were quite different and I was at a loss to know which to follow. One suggested skirt beef, the other rib-eye. Quite a difference, I thought. Rump would surely be more tender in the pasty but I'd always understood the pasty to be an... economical... treat for tin and copper miners. Skirt would fit better with this and certainly seems the traditional choice according to the interweb. We only discovered this after a trip to the supermarket though, so rib-eye it was!

Recipes differed on vegetable ingredients too. Potato, swede and onion are what we both feel 'should' be in a pasty so we stuck with this. Seasoning is key too - plenty of pepper in particular, and then add some more. Ours could have had more even though I felt like I'd overdone it.

As for the pastry, I went for the a simple recipe but the magazine suggested a pastry using half butter and half lard. I suspect this would have been better but was pretty pleased with mine. This recipe made vast pasties. A true feast. Next time, I'd make smaller ones. Otherwise, these were absolutely delicious. Not the best or most authentic perhaps, but pretty good for a first attempt!

Cornish Pasties

Adapted from Aga Living and Aga Bible

Makes 6 (or more smaller ones)

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

342g plain flour

226g butter, cold and cubed

1 free range egg

salt and pepper

For the filling:

250g skirt steak or rib-eye steak if you are feeling fancy (we were!)

300g potato, peeled and diced

150g swede, peeled and diced

2 medium onions, finely chopped

1-2 tbsp beef stock

salt and pepper

1 egg, beaten, to glaze

1. Make the pastry. Simply put ingredients in a food processor and pulse until it comes together in a ball. Only add a touch of water if it is very crumbly. You can also do this by hand, rubbing the butter into the flour and adding the egg to bind. Wrap in cling film and rest in the fridge for at least an hour. Bring to room temperature again before rolling out.

2. If cooking on a regular oven, pre-heat to 200C. If you are using the Aga, take a moment to revel in the lack of pre-heating required!

3. Chop meat into small cubes and brown in a little oil. Set to one side and add onions to the pan to soften for a few minutes. Add to beef. Add the stock to the pan and scrape up all the little bits - pour over the meat and onions. Add potatoes and swede and mix to combine. Season very well with plenty of salt and pepper.

4. Roll out the pastry and, using a 20cm plate, cut out 6 circles. Put some of the filling in the centre of each circle, brush the edge with beaten egg and bring the two sides of pastry together to form a semi-circle. 'Crimp' the edges of the pasty with your fingers to make a wavy edge* and transfer to a non-stick baking tray (ideally lined with Bake-o-Glide if using the Aga).

5. Brush pasties with remaining egg-wash so that the bronze nicely.

6. Bake...

Aga users: bake on floor of roasting oven for 20 minutes and then move to bottom set of runners with cold shelf on 2nd set to avoid over-browning for about 30 mins.

Conventional cooking: bake at 200C (fan) for 20 minutes and then turn down to 160C (fan) for a further 30 minutes.

*Traditionally, the crimped edge is not eaten. Miners didn't have the opportunity to wash their hands before eating their lunch and their hands were often ingrained with poisonous arsenic - the chunky edge was held during eating and then disgarded.

My favourite Christmas cake

Christmas Cake in disguise!

It is with a mixture of apprehension and excitement that I await Christmas this year. It will be my first Christmas as a married woman and the first that I will be the one hosting the festivities. It will be the first Christmas I will spend with my in-laws. It will also be the first Christmas I have spent away from my parents and family.

My mother has always played the most integral part in my Christmas. She is the sort of woman who does Christmas properly. She is the sort of woman who has five sets of Christmas placemats. The sort of woman who, over the years, has amassed a collection of 'special' dishes which come out only once a year. There is a special platter for the turkey, bowls featuring a Holly design for holding the brandy butter, a festive plate for the Christmas pudding and glasses etched with reindeer to delight her grandchildren (...and children for that matter). This may all sound rather kitsch, but I can assure you it is not - my mother's Christmas manages to be both artistic and tasteful whilst also being great fun.

My mother has been 'doing' Christmas for around fifty years so it is hardly surprising that she has perfected the art. Her tree is always beautifully decorated (red, silver and green only), there will be a lovely wreath on the door, a festive swag running up the staircase and a stunning flower arrangement in the centre of the dining table. Each year is the same and this is what I love. The familiarity of annual traditions, our Christmas Day routine (stockings, church, Champagne and smoked salmon, present opening, lunch...) and the joy of being with the people who know you the best.

The idea of a Christmas without all of this is quite alarming . Even more alarming is the fact that I want 'my' Christmas to be equally glorious yet I have none of the experience (or Christmas accessories) that my mother has accumulated over the years. Despite this level of alarm, I am actually looking forward to Christmas is my own home. I'm looking forward to staying put, not having to travel and just enjoying spending time with my husband in our new home. I'm looking forward to decorating the house 'our' way (though the red and silver theme is fairly ingrained) albeit on a very limited budget. And fortunately, my mother is willing to spare one of the sets of placemats!

I'm not entirely in the dark. I have cooked the Christmas lunch before and with some success. I have also been in charge of the Christmas pudding for the past few years - this has been made and is safely stored away maturing ahead of the big day. For my foolproof recipe, please see this link. I've also made a Christmas cake before - I followed Delia's recipe and enjoyed the results but (guess what) it didn't quite match up to my mother's cake. To be fair to Delia, I actually prefer a slightly lighter-coloured cake to the traditional very dark fruit cake. The recipe that my family swear by is actually taken from an old wedding cake book. My sister is a professional wedding cake maker and this is the cake she uses for her cakes. It really is the nicest fruit cake I know of - beautifully moist, sticky and reasonably boozy yet quite pale rather than treacley-black.

The cake is best made at least three weeks in advance and left to mature nicely until ready to ice. An important part of the maturation is the addition of a soaking mixture which is drizzled over the cake sporadically whilst it matures.

The recipe is for one quantity of cake mixture. Underneath the ingredients I have listed the number of quantities according to the size and shape of your cake tins. This is also useful if you are making several tiers of a wedding cake. I made a 9 inch square cake and used 6 quantities of mixture. Unless you have digital scales, you may find it easier to use pounds and ounces to measure the ingredients - I give both!

My favourite Christmas Cake

Ingredients for one quantity of cake mixture. See below for guide to cake sizes.

2oz/57g plain flour

2oz/57g brown sugar

2oz/57g butter

2.5oz/71g currants

2.5oz/71g sultanas

1oz/28g seedless raisins

1oz/28g glace cherries

1.5oz/42g mixed peel

3/4 oz/21g ground almonds

2 tsp brandy or rum

1 large egg

pinch nutmeg

pinch mixed spice

pinch salt

1/4 lemon zest and juice

For 8 inch round, use 4 quantities of mixture and cook for approx. 3.5-4 hours

For 8 inch square, use 5 quantities and cook for approx. 4 hours

For 9 inch round, use 5 quantities and cook for approx. 4-4.5 hours

For 9 inch square, use 6 quantities and cook for approx. 4.5 hours

Soaking Mixture:

Equal quantities of rum, sherry and glycerine (or spirits of choice!). Glycerine is available from the chemist or, in small bottles, in the baking section of larger supermarkets. Add 1 tablespoonful per 1lb of cake when cooked.

1. Pre-heat oven to 140C. Line cake tin with a double layer of buttered greaseproof paper.

2. Clean the dried fruit by tipping onto a clean tea-towel and sprinkling with flour. Roll up in towel and agitate to release any bits of stalk/grit.

3. Halve the cherries then mix all the fruit together with lemon zest. Sift flour, spices and salt and set to one side.

4. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually add eggs, beating after each addition. Stir in ground almonds and then fold in the flour and spices.

5. Add brandy or rum, fruit and lemon juice. Give everything a great big stir to combine ingredients thoroughly.

6. Transfer to prepared tin and place in center of oven. Below the cake place a roasting tin containing one pint of water. This will create sufficient humidity to keep the top of the cake moist and ensure level results in baking. Remove water after half the baking time (mind had evaporated by this stage!).

7. If the cake is browning too quickly, protect the top with a layer of foil or baking paper. Every oven differs and the timings are only a guide. My mother and sister tell me the cake usually takes much longer than the specified times in their ovens. In my oven, the timings seemed about right. Test the cake with a skewer to see if it is done.

8. When cake is ready, remove from oven and leave in the tin for 24 hours. After this time prick the top with a skewer, cocktail stick or knitting needle and sprinkle with appropriate quantity of soaking mixture (see above). Wrap cake in waxed paper for at least 3 weeks, topping up with soaking mixture if required.

As for decorating the cake... You'll just have to wait and see!

Venison casserole

Another gorgeous weekend basking in incredible autumnal weather. We had my two nephews staying and took them to the local trout farm where we tried our hand at a spot of fishing. Imagine the excitement when my five-year-old nephew caught his first fish! Once he'd met his maker courtesy of a sharp tap to the head, we took the fish home to cook for the boys tea. Anticipating some resistance and cries of 'Yuk - don't like it', I picked up some oven chips on the way home so that I could 'sell' the meal as an exciting treat of 'fish and chips'.

I needn't have worried. Those brave boys were fascinated as they watched my husband gut the fish, stuff the cavity with herbs and place it in the fish kettle to steam. Served with chips and peas they declared their catch to be 'delicious' and ate absolutely masses. A great result all round and so good for them to catch their own food. Sadly I forgot to take the camera with me but I thought you might enjoy the story!

A few weeks ago I helped organise a hen party for one of my closest friends. She loves good food and we based the evening around a special dinner cooked by all of her girl friends. Each 'hen' prepared a part of the meal whether it be a pre-dinner nibble, a vegetable side dish, starter or post-meal chocolate. I was in charge of a main course for fifteen people. I quickly decided that a one-pot dish would be easiest and hauled out my biggest casserole dish. I'd noticed that the first of the season's venison had appeared in the window of the local butcher. I adore venison and we eat quite a bit of it - it is such a lean meat and lends itself to all kinds of dishes. Often we enjoy venison steaks with redcurrant jus and bubble and squeak. We often choose venison sausages if we want a night of comfort food - just a little lower in fat than regular sausages. Venison is also great with oriental flavours and we sometimes serve strips of steak on top of stir-fried vegetables and noodles dressed with plenty of soy sauce. But my favourite way to enjoy this full-flavoured meat is braised slowly in red wine until it falls apart.

The recipe I'm sharing is a real favourite - it is a Nick Nairn recipe from BBC Good Food. I rarely tweak it although I vary the vegetables according to what I have to hand. The trick is to cook it on a low heat for a long time. The redcurrant jelly is really important here so don't leave it out although you could substitute a different fruit jelly - bramble, rowan or quince might work well. The sweetness works beautifully with the earthy, gamey flavour of the meat. The recipe is very easily doubled or halved and freezes well too. As with all casseroles, flavour improves if made a day in advance.

Apologies for the photos - it is so hard to make a stew look enticing in a photograph. I also forgot to take any photos of the 'finished' dish which was a much deeper colour with the tender meat falling apart.

Braised Venison

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

2 carrots

140g swede

2 onions

3 sticks celery

1 garlic clove

1kg cubed leg or shoulder of venison - ask your butcher for meat suitable for casseroling

5 tbsp flour seasoned with salt and pepper

2 heaped tbsp redcurrant jelly

450ml red wine

450ml beef stock

2 sprigs thyme

1 bay leaf

1. Pre-heat the oven to 160C (fan oven). Roughly chop all the vegetables in preparation.

2. Heat some oil and butter in a large casserole and add the onions, carrots, swede and celery. Fry for a few minutes until golden. Crush the garlic and add to the pan. Stir to combine and then set the vegetables to one side.

3. Sprinkle the meat with seasoned flour and mix to coat. Add a little more oil to the casserole and brown the meat in batches. Set aside with the vegetables.

4. Add the wine and jelly to the pan and bubble away, scraping up all the bits that have stuck to the bottom of the pan. Pour in the stock, thyme and bay leaf before adding the meat and vegetable back to the pan. Stir to combine and then bring to the boil. Cover and cook for minimum 2 hours (my preference would be to cook for longer at a slightly lower heat but it depends how much time I have!).

5. Remove the bayleaf and serve. Great with mashed potatoes and braised red cabbage or savoy cabbage flavoured with juniper.

Aga saga

I've had a fairly serious break from blogging. The past 18 months have seen some fairly serious changes in my life and, to be honest, I haven't much had the time (or inclination) for my blog. First there was the flower-sender. We met just 19 months ago, were engaged after four months and in May we got married...

Prior to the wedding, we took stock and decided that we both needed to lose weight. We've lost over 6 stone between us and I am feeling decidedly lighter on my feet. Our diet is certainly much healthier but, fear not, I still enjoy the occasional treat! For some reason, I didn't much feel like blogging during this period. I wish I had though as I miss having all my recipes in one place for reference.

In the midst of the wedding preparations, Sinbad arrived. Deeply naughty, very cute and completely lovable, we were totally unprepared for the chaos that comes with an eight week old puppy. We wouldn't have it any other way though and he is now a fully-fledged member of our pack.

Whilst all this was going on, we decided it would be a good idea to move house. I've lost count of the number people who told me that moving house is one of the most stressful things one can do and was I really sure that getting married, changing job and moving house all in the same year was a good idea. I suspect they may have had a point. Particularly as we were moving to a whole new area. From start to finish the process took almost a year but I'm pleased to say that we've finally sold my London flat and are now renting a house in a chocolate-box village in the Cotswolds.

In London I woke to the sound of planes coming in to land and opened my curtains to the charming view of a brick wall. Now I wake to the sound of silence and open my curtains to this...

The trees in the garden are laden with apples, pears and plums. I finally feel like I can breathe out after all the mahem of the past year. Above all, I feel reinvigorated and newly inspired. I can't wait to gather in the autumn produce from the garden, forage in the hedgerows which are laden with blackberries and sloes and install myself in the kitchen.

The kitchen. The new kitchen. It is twice the size of the London one, plus it opens out onto a large dining area. It is a proper, sociable kitchen which is flooded with light. I look out onto the garden. Installed in the 1970's, it is not the most attractive kitchen in the world but I love the feeling of space.

There is however, one rather large problem standing between me and a coruncopia of culinary delights. Let me introduce our Aga...

Many people dream of a kitchen with a range such as this. Until we moved here, I considered myself one of them. What could be nicer than a permenantly warm stove? The heart of the home. I pictured myself as domestic goddess extraordinaire gliding around the Aga with the dog at my feet, casserole in the bottom oven simmering away. Life would be good.

But then I realised that I didn't actually know how to use an Aga. It couldn't be too complicated, surely. My husband kindly gave me a book on the subject for my birthday. I read that the secret to successful Aga cooking seems to lie in never opening the top lids and investing in a whole new set of expensive pans. Not good.

I'm being unfair. This isn't really the case. I'm certainly not buying new pans just yet (especially as we were lucky enough to receive some extremely smart ones as a wedding present). But I do need to learn the Aga way of cooking. It is different. I find that I am allowed to open the lids and cook on the top after all. I just have to understand that when the lids are open, I'm losing heat from the ovens. The 80:20 rule is apparantly what I need to follow. 80% of cooking should be done in the ovens, a mere 20% on top. Follow this 'rule' and I will, so I'm told, learn to love my Aga. I don't doubt it. Anyone I've ever met who has one is completely wedded to it. I suspect I will be too in due course.

We are lucky enough that there is another oven to use as a backup and we're waiting for the temperature to drop a little before we fire up the Aga. I'm excited about the challenge and looking forward to sharing the results of my efforts here. I hope you'll enjoy reading about them!

No ordinary lasagna

This is no ordinary lasagna.

What is different about it, you may well ask. It looks fairly normal. A rich, tomatoey meat sauce on the bottom, a layer of bechamel and then some egg lasagne. Repeat and top with a decent sprinkling of Parmesan. Pop in the oven for a good half an hour and serve with a fresh salad and some garlic bread.

I've been fooling you. There is nothing extraordinary about the make-up of this lasagna. It was good. But nothing particularly unusual. What is special about this lasagna was that it was while I was creating it, the flower-sender asked me to marry him.

Some girls dream of elaborate, romantic proposals involving paths of rose petals, beautiful views or expensive meals. Not me. I could think of nothing more perfect than being asked in my favourite place: my kitchen!

Needless to say, after asking 'are you serious?', I did say 'yes'.

Excuses, excuses

I've been an exceptionally bad blogger over the past month. I can only apologise. Life seems to have got in the way. I could offer a whole ream of excuses... Too much work, too little time, a holiday, the flower-sender, illness, a broken fridge... All I will say is that I endeavour to be better in April. Spring is in the air and I'm feeling inspired and ready for action in the kitchen once more.

In case you are concerned that I've not been eating this month, I have a few culinary highlights to share. I've been lucky enough to have been cooked for several times this month. Particularly enjoyable was a visit home to the Isle of Wight and a dish of boiled mutton with caper and onion sauce.

This old-fashioned dish made its way onto the table due to my father. This is a surprise as he rarely takes much interest in the cooking - he can just about fry a rasher of bacon but that is about his limit. Fortunately, my mother more than makes up for it by being a wonderful cook. Anyway, he had heard through a friend in the pub (!) that there was good mutton available at the local farmers' market. He was reminded of a dish he used to enjoy at a golf club in Liverpool in his younger days (he is now in his eighties) and had his heart set on my mother recreating this flavour of his youth!

My poor mother. The recipe that she found was one of the most time-consuming, labour-intensive recipes imaginable. When we greedily devoured the finished dish and declared it delicious, she didn't know whether to be pleased or not. She certainly didn't want to have to make it again in a hurry.

It was the first time I'd eaten mutton and I really enjoyed it - the flavour wasn't as strong as I'd imagined and the meat was perfectly moist. The onion and caper sauce went beautifully too - well done Mum!

A couple of weeks ago, I was also treated to a deliciously good lamb curry cooked by the flower-sender. What was unusual about this curry is that it was cooked in the oven in the same way as one might cook a casserole. I've not cooked a curry this way before but it was extremely good.

Other highlights of the month included a lovely day spent at Borough Market - we bought a good-looking joint of venison which I marinated in red wine and crushed juniper berries before sealing in a hot pan and roasting briefly in the oven. Served with dauphinoise potatoes, it was very flavoursome but a little on the tough side.


Finally, I must mention the picnic I enjoyed with my niece and nephew a couple of weekends ago. It was a glorious sunny day and so I planned to pick up some goodies in M&S before taking them to Battersea Park for a feast of cheese, cold meats, dips, olives, fruit and chocolate biscuits. No cooking involved - I didn't have time. Upon their arrival, I asked my niece to name her favourite picnic food so that I could be sure to include it in our feast.

Her reply: 'chocolate-covered strawberries'!

Not quite what I had in mind. As I opened my mouth to tell her that we couldn't have her favourite item, I realised that we could make our own before heading off to the park. The children loved dipping the enormous strawberries in the melted chocolate and waiting for them to set on the greaseproof paper. The out-of-season strawberries tasted all the better for their coating of chocolate.

Here's to being a better blogger in April - lots of deliciousness heading this way soon!

An ode to Nigella: brine your turkey (...or else)

I've got to hand it to her. Nigella came up trumps.

I bought her glossy, shiny Christmas book and loved browsing through the gleaming pages. But I didn't actually think that I'd cook that many things from it. After all, I thought, it is almost more lifestyle magazine than cook book. Don't get me wrong, a huge part of me wanted to be the person who made edible Christmas presents and tied them up with perfect ribbons. I wanted to lay out a 'Welcome Table' for hoards of glamorous guests. I even considered buying a silky red negligée so that I could waft round the kitchen in a similar state of seasonal undress. But in reality, I knew that food-splattered apron and furrowed brow are more my style when catering for the masses.

In all honesty, I also wasn't sure that I liked the sound of that many of the recipes. They were all just a bit too.... Christmassy!

Whilst I'm all for festive kitsch (plastic holly on top of the brandy butter is a MUST), I'm just not sure that I want cranberries with everything. I'm not certain that I want my gravy to be flavoured with festive spices or that a rib of beef really needs Stilton gravy in order to make it more... seasonal. Just call me Scrooge.

But I'm taking it all back. I've made at least six things from this book and I've loved them all. First there were the Christmas tree biscuits. Brilliant. Next up were the mince pies. Or rather the pastry for her mince pies. Perfectly crisp and lovely. Then there were the sprouts with chestnuts and pancetta. Finally, sprouts that I was happy to eat. I even had seconds. Please note: this has never happened before! There was also the superb turkey hash that I cooked up with some of the leftover turkey. A messy medley of turkey, onions, olives, red peppers, almonds and other bits all bound together with a creamy sauce - it sounds a bit... unlikely, but it was a huge hit. We all had seconds.

However, the biggest hit by far was the turkey. I don't think that I'll ever cook turkey another way now that I've discovered brining. In her red-and-green-themed tome, Nigella does insist that this is the very best way to deal with turkey. In fact, she even goes as far to say that she will not rest until she's convinced every last one of us. Consider me one of her little messengers.

I was skeptical as I filled the huge bucket with water, salt and festive spices. I launched the turkey into its colourful sea, popped the lid on and set it outside overnight.

There is one major downside to this brining method as far as I can see and it is this: there is work to do on Christmas morning. I usually like to get the turkey oven-ready on Christmas Eve so that all that needs doing in the morning is pop it in the oven, leaving us time to open stockings, go to church, drink Champagne and open other presents before lunch. You'll note that all those handy time-plans found in food magazines at this time of year leave no time for any festivities other than cooking. In our household (especially with young children around), things simply can't work this way! So, I set the alarm a little early and snuck down to the kitchen with my mother to haul the bird out of its brine, dry it off, stuff it, cover the breast with bacon and lay it on top of a bed of chopped vegetables.

You may think that you don't want this extra hassle on Christmas morning. Now that I've tasted a brined bird, I'm certain that I don't give a hoot. The meat was wonderfully succulent and juicy. My (extremely particular) father even declared it the best he'd ever eaten. Anyone reading who happens to know my father will know what this means. 'Extremely particular'? I'm being polite.

Anyway, not only was our bird tasting good when it had just been cooked, but it was even delicious and moist when cold.

I didn't follow her cooking method post-brining, choosing instead to go with the method that worked well last year. I pushed butter under the skin of the breast and then covered with streaky bacon. I then sat the bird on a bed of chopped onions, carrots and celery and roasted at a high temperature for the first half hour. I then poured half a bottle of white wine into the roasting tray and covered to lot with a foil tent. At the end I removed the tent to brown the skin. The juices, mingled with the wine and vegetables made for an excellent base for the gravy along with giblet stock.

Alongside the bird, we had all the trimmings. Two kinds of stuffing, pigs in blankets, liver wrapped in bacon, bread sauce, cranberry sauce, sprouts with chestnuts and pancetta, roasted parsnips, roast potatoes and peas (a perversion peculiar to me). We all agreed that my mother's lovely plates are too small. It couldn't possibly be that we are just too greedy.

Would you believe that I ate all this and managed to squeeze in seconds?!

After all of this, it is amazing that I had space for Christmas pudding. But, of course, I did. I used my usual recipe and made it back at the start of November to give it time to mature.

Slight disaster this year in that it was less set than usual and didn't turn out too well - I think that some water might have got in whilst I was steaming. My brother insisted that it was all-the-better for its gooey texture. I wasn't convinced but it did taste fairly good. My brother was in charge of flaming the pudding and did a startlingly good job - something to do with making a well in the top and pouring an alarming quantity of vodka over the already very boozy pud! Needless to say, we were all fairly snoozy in the afternoon.

So there we have it. Our Christmas feast. All over for another year. A successful feast I think. And thoroughly enjoyed by us all. I hope yours was just as sumptuous!

My thanks to the Domestic Goddess herself; Nigella!

I'm still enjoying being home with family on the Isle of Wight. After a couple of days of serious excess, I finally braved the bitterly cold wind for a walk by the sea. Purely to make room for more food, you understand! As the sun started to set soon after setting out we had to turn back and warm ourselves up with cups of steaming tea. And slices of Christmas cake of course!

I hope you are enjoying the final days of 2008. I'm currently plotting and planning exciting kitchen adventures for 2009.