something for the weekend? chicken roasted with middle eastern spices

chicken roasted with middle eastern spices

When it's cold outside I drift along in my own little Arabian Nights fantasy. And since this is my fantasy, I am fortunately not draped in diaphanous gauze and chiffon, trying to woo a king with gossamer tales to save my life. I am not averse to a little bit of chiffon, but this fantasy is less I Dream of Jeanie and more This Little Piggy Goes to Market.

I daydream about spice markets, piled high with fragrant and vibrantly coloured treasures. I enjoy the flight of fancy because it gives me yet another opportunity to decide what we’re having for dinner. It's a beautiful reverie!

on a frosty january morning: nigel slater's almond, marzipan and berry cakes

Nigel Slater's almond, marzipan and berry cakes

I awoke to a frosty morning. Looking through my kitchen window, I could see that my garden had a light coating of snow, dusting the few trees and bushes in my back garden. The stone paths and wooden furniture had a patina of sparkling frost that shimmered in the early light. "It'll be mud by noon."; I thought to myself prosaically and turned my mind to the more pressing of the day's engagements. "What should I bake today?"

The gentle frost and muted colours of my garden made me think of a beautiful photograph by Jonathan Lovekin in Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries II, for almond, marzipan and berry cakes. The recipe is on page 44 and the photograph on the facing page of Kitchen Diaries II.

claudia roden's daoud basha (lamb meatballs with pine nuts in tomato sauce)

lamb meatballs with pine nuts in tomato sauce (daoud basha)

I don't know if the Daoud Basha was a good governor of Mount Lebanon in the 1860s and the last decades of the Ottoman Empire, but he did have this delicious but simple lamb meatball dish named after him. So I'm guessing he either got something right or was just well-known for his love of good food.

vermicelli rice (roz bil shaghrieh)

vermicelli rice
(roz bil shaghrieh)

I am always interested in new ways of cooking the everyday basics. Adding crushed vermicelli pasta to rice while it is cooking is traditional in the middle east, particularly Egypt and Lebanon. I discovered that it also adds a lovely nutty taste to the rice and a rather interesting soft texture.

This is Claudia Roden's recipe from one of my favourite cookbooks, Arabesque: A taste of Morocco, Turkey + Lebanon.

I have added red lentils, largely because I like the texture of them with rice, something I learned from eating the Indian dish, khichṛi. I lobbed in an onion and a clove of garlic too for good measure!

fashionably green: an english parsley, walnut and stilton pesto

an English pesto:
parsley, walnut and Stilton

When it comes to fashion, you know you're getting older when the fashions of your youth come around again and frankly you just don't care. These days if I am occasionally fashionable then it is usually by accident.

So it was with some amusement that I discovered that Pantone, the Colour Matching people, had announced that in 2013, the Colour of the Year is Emerald Green - a harmonious colour, reflected all around us in nature. Blimey, I thought to myself. Fashionable, that's me all right, as I looked anew at my recently made parsley pesto with walnuts and stilton. Not only is it delicious, but with its vibrant green hue it could be a bit of a style icon too!

chicken and chorizo jambalaya

chicken and chorizo jambalaya

If I were to say that in 2013 I shall continue to practice thrift, frugality and economy in the kitchen, preparing well-planned and organised meals, you may well think "well that's very practical and worthy, Kelly, but oh god, how dreary and by the way, didn't you say that last year, and the year before?" . . . and you would be right.

So how about this - in 2013 I will try to delight with delicious suppers and fabulous lunches, convincing everyone of my magical kitchen powers. That sounds more like a real new year's resolution and hopefully I am getting in-touch with my inner-kitchen witch as much as my inner-child.

what's in season: january

winter parsnips
(photo by Adrian van Leen)

Ring the bells that still can ring,
Forget your perfect offering,
There's a crack in everything,
That's how the light gets in.
Anthem - Leonard Cohen

Not such a bleak mid-winter this year although we've had our fair share of rain and yet more rain. In fact, that ark I built last summer is coming in very useful; if nothing else then as an exit strategy from London! But despite the mild weather, I still love comforting winter food and of course there are still fresh seasonal foods that are good to eat.

a formula for happiness: everything-bar-the-kitchen-sink potato cakes

potato and vegetable cakes

Another fabulous way to love your leftovers is by making hearty fried potato and vegetable cakes. I have to confess that if you fry them, then they are not for the calorie-conscious but I'm guessing you're starting that healthy eating regime in 2013.

By combining an equal amount of leftover cooked potato with vegetables, you have a great base for a breakfast with bacon and eggs or a perfect lunch with smoked salmon.

We recently had some with our Balinese-style duck curry, with a little extra curry spicing in the potato mix. But my absolute all-time favourite addition to potato cakes is a healthy dollop of leftover cauliflower cheese.

a chance to love those christmas leftovers! balinese-style curry (with roast duck)

Balinese-style curry with roast duck

It makes sense to me that when London skies are leaden, when we are morosely peering through a damp grey mist and remembering fondly, through our rose-tinted glasses, last year's White Christmas, that what I really want to eat is food laden with south east Asian spices. Perfect warm-you-up and kick-you-into-action spicy sense.

Most people I know find the thought of leftovers, especially Christmas leftovers, profoundly depressing. I don't know whether there is something wrong with me, or just because I am constantly worrying about where my next meal is coming from, but I love the challenge. And to be honest, finding a good use for roasted meat isn't really much of predicament.

tri-fle: (noun) a small thing of little value or importance

Black Forest Trifle
with leftover Christmas pud!

Is it too early to be thinking about Christmas leftovers? (It is never too early for me.) So I just wanted to give you a heads up on an easy but delicious way to use up any leftover Christmas pudding or cake. Personally I think it might actually be nicer than the main event!

This is a very flexible recipe – I used kirsch to moisten the pudding because that’s what I had – but you could use any booze or liqueur. Cointreau of Calvados would work a treat too.

I also had some black cherries preserved in brandy, these topped the pudding, together with cream, clementine zest and some grated chocolate. (If I had had some frozen autumn fruit berries, they would have been rather nice instead.)

pigs in blankets - not just for christmas

Pigs in Blankets with Christmas spices

Pigs in Blankets are one of the traditional accompaniments to the British Christmas roast turkey. Since I am not a fan of turkey, at Christmas or any other time of the year, the pigs in blankets are often the best thing about Christmas dinner. Harsh but true.

Intensely savoury and moreish, I find Pigs in Blankets irresistible.

nigel slater's mincemeat cheesecake

Nigel Slater's mincemeat cheesecake

I am looking for a fitting use for my very last jar of 2011's homemade mincemeat. Whether I am looking for inspiration, rescue or just a good read, I turn to Nigel Slater. His latest book, Kitchen Diaries II contains a recipe for mincemeat cheesecake (and the recipe can be found here on The Guardian newspaper website).

It looked rather nice, but I have a teensy problem with baked cheesecakes. I have just never made one successfully. Everything is alright until the cheesecake goes in the oven. At which point the damned thing makes a bid for a freedom and oozes out from the bottom of the tin leaving me with a mess of soggy biscuit and an oven to clean. I am grumpy, frustrated and hungry.