We are midway between the autumn holidays. Halloween has been and gone; Bonfire Night in England was mostly celebrated last weekend, with the sausages and toffee apples eaten and Guys burnt. Across the water you are ordering your turkeys and coming up with new ideas for stuffing recipes. I admit I don’t have an in depth knowledge of Thanksgiving dishes, turkey and pumpkin pie aside; and your dressing is different to our stuffing, but have a browse of my Christmas section for the above plus cranberry sauce, Brussels sprouts and potatoes. I hope I'm not guilty of cultural appropriation baking a pumpkin pie?
For non-holiday meals this week I’d like to cook spicy this week, lamb koftas with harissa for example. I’ll serve it with sliced garlicky runner beans which are my recent discovery – runners are not at all as tough and stringy as I thought, as long as they aren’t overgrown. Or monkfish with chorizo and mushrooms; that’s a feast of flavours.
If you roasted a chicken on Sunday, rotisserie style is the best, use the leftovers with some cheese to bake stuffed peppers. I always say the leftovers – or dishes made with thereof – are often better than the original.
A veggie option in the pie season is fennel and taleggio pie, pretty awesome though a bit laborious. For an easy supper stir fried ginger vegetables served with plain boiled rice will be just perfect.
Cakes and biscuits: tarta de Santiago is simply magical. It takes 10 minutes to mix the batter and requires zero baking skills; it’s gluten free and it’s divinely tasty. And if you’re nut and almond-averse, make snickerdoodles.
Subscribe to the newsletter – and the time to start using the ‘C’ word is fast approaching!