All hail mother nature! Today, for the second day running, London has seen it's first glimpse of proper spring. I can hear birds chirping, the faint buzz from lawns being mowed and I bet that fruit bearing trees are beginning to bud. Yes people, spring is on it's way! It's not all jubilation, there still a while for the great British fruit season to come into season.

There is one saviour of this winter into spring time lull in fruit desserts, namely the citrus desserts. I've fallen in love with this citrus steamed pudding. I've given it a rather generic title of citrus because there is not a citrus fruit that does not shine in this dessert. I've tried it with lemons, I've tried it with limes, sampled it with satsumas and even took a stab at them with blood oranges. Each member of the citrus family performed to gold medal standards in this dessert.

These little puds have a lovely spring like texture that quivers when you come at it with a spoon. My favourite part of the the puds is the little layer of curd that magically appears during the steaming process. If you serve these to friends let them think that you painstakingly layered the curd in. Keep the culinary mystery alive!

Most people remember their ‘Firsts’....Their first crush, Their first kiss, Their first broken heart and the first time that they did It!!

Well I can honestly say I cannot remember my first kiss. Nor do I have any recollection of my first crush. I do have some fuzzy memories of my first broken heart. And you guessed it, the first time i did it is rather hazy.

Before you judge me, I've not had so many encounters that I've lost count in a Michael Jordan sort of way, its just that I tend to skip over the less than memorable events in my life. So apologies if by some bizarre cosmic twist of fate you were one of those forgotten participants who just happen to be reading this.

I do know what the very first recipe I learned to cook was! To prove that I’m not loosing my mind in my rapidly gaining old age, it proceeded all of the above mentioned firsts! My gelatin loving grandmother chose the humble Macaroni & Cheese as the first dish she would teach me.

My grandmother was a very strict but loving figure at the time. She was an accomplish cook in her own right. After some badgering I convinced her to teach me how to cook something... anything! Finally she relented and tought me macaroni and cheese. Once at the stove I held the wooden handle of the avocado enamelled saucepan in trembling fear while I stirred the flour into the melted margarine with a wooden spoon to make a roux.

Why do trend makers feel the need to reach into my childhood for ideas and trend for the forthcoming culinary year? Cupcakes - Check! Mexican Food - Check! Well that's two that have made it big in recent years so I may be exaggerating it a little but...

Reading through the Guardian's Hot List for 2010 I had a enlightening flashback when I read that a childhood treat of yore was going to trump the cupcake as the ultimate must have baked good of 2010. And sure enough with my recent visit to the Soho outpost of the Hummingbird Bakery, there they were at £3 a piece! Yes thats right! £3 a piece!

Yes the humble whoopie pie. First of all a whoopie pie is not a pie at all, more of a miniature sandwiched cake. It's the lovechild of a cake and a cookie which has suffered the same identity crisis as the beloved Jaffa Cake. You can trace the roots of the whoopie pie back to the Pennsylvania Dutch of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

The basics of a traditional whoopie pie are two moist palm sized chocolate cakes with a gooey marshmallow filling sandwiched between. Knowing that my Uncle was a huge fan of Pennsylvanian Dutch cooking, I had a look through his cookbook stash that was bequeathed to me. I found a newspaper cutout recipe with some notations on it and thought that it would be a great starting point.

As part of the Fiona Beckett's Ultimate Macaroni and Cheese challenge, I’ve worked my way though countless cheeses to find the best artisanal cheese (In my opinion) to make the best straight up Mac and Cheese.

The guys at Neil’s Yard dairy must think that I’m a right cheese nutter! I have been going in day after day, trying all sorts of wonderful cheese's (after all I was looking for the femme fatal of cheese to star in my Oscar quality macaroni and cheese) and then proceeding to buy copious amounts of the stuff. Had I of tried any more of the stuff I would of been pretty cheesed off - excuse the pun!

I experimented with a Macaroni and Stilton, which blew my head off it was that strong!  A Mac and cheese from Gruyere Coolea was gritty and made for a weird texture. I Tried to coax a smooth sauce out of a red Caerphilly but failed! I then tried a tangy goat cheese which was good, but not a real Mac and Cheese. but I always came back to cheddar. A Montgomery Cheddar to be exact.

Meh- winter! It's dark, cold, and the snow is here. Christmas is rapidly becoming a distant memory with summer nowhere in sight. But there a saviour of winter; namely hearty rib-sticking slow cooked meals. Meals that simmer, blurp and plop for hours on end filling your home with the olfactic stimulation of coziness and warmth while making you salivate with anticipation. Peposo is just that.

Peposo is an Italian stew hailing from Impruneta, a town near Florence. Typically peposo is made with beef, but the preparation works really well with pork. Peposo Pork is a perfect meal for when you need to warm your toes with a belly full of heat. It's a zesty peppery meal that can easily match any chili con carne out there.

I've garnished the Peposo Pork with a Gremolata, which brings a little bit of sunshine and freshness to the dish with it's citrus and grassy green notes.

Serve the Peposo with anything starchy from a soft polenta to mashed potatoes to soak up the sauce.

Every holiday feast I get the same request form the bear. Can we have potatoes two ways? I lovingly glare back and say- You want me to make both mashed and roasted potatoes along with everything else? Then I politely decline the request. One can not be making variations of potatoes all day long now can we?

After a bit of experimentation you can get the best of both worlds in one potato. Creamy potatoes encased in a crunchy coating. It's down to two requirements, potato variety and technique. The classic potato variety for roasting potatoes is the trusty red blistered King Edward. Don't get me wrong they make great roasted potatoes, but for roast potatoes 'two ways' you need a potato that has a creamier texture when cooked.

Enter the Vivaldi variety of potato. When cooked the flesh has a creamy and buttery taste. I like to par boil the potatoes with vegetable bouillon which gives the potatoes the perfect seasoning and a glorious golden hue. I've taken inspiration from Nigella Lawson by coating the potatoes with fine polenta (cornmeal) to add an extra crunch.

Don't you hate it when you read something and think, now why did I not think of that?! Well that happened when I was reading through the November issue of Martha Stewart Living.

For years I've been on a Homer-esque quest to cook the most flavourful, moist and non-fussy turkey. 

I've conquered the flavour and moistness challenges by buying a fantastic free range bird and brining it in an aromatic bath. But the process of roasting was fussy and takes up allot of oven space when cooking a huge holiday feast. If like me and you do not have the luxury of a huge sized oven, then this will be a great technique to get a quicker even-cooking turkey out of the most Bijou ovens. 



What's the trick you say? It was elementary my Dear Watson. You simply spatchcock your turkey. The spatchcocking saves oven space when cooking and also speeds up the cooking process avoiding the overcooking and drying out of the breast meat.

MMMM doughnuts. I would like to proclaim my belief that there would be allot less conflict in this world if everyone would take a step back, relax and have a doughnut break. I swear it would work! I believe Homer Simpson would agree!

Every country on the planet has their own distinctive take on the humble fried bit of pastry. The french have the beignet. The Chinese have their Youtiao. In Turkey they have Tulumba Tatlısı. In Egypt they have cheese stuffed Katayef. In The US they have about a billion different types of doughnuts with a doughnut shop on every corner!

But possibly my favourite doughnut of all has to be the humble churro from Mexico. The Churro originated in Spain. They are also popular in Latin America, France, Portugal, the United States, and Spanish-speaking Caribbean islands. The snack gets its name from its shape, which resembles the horns of the Churro breed of sheep reared in the Spanish grasslands of Castile.

In my take on the churro, I've made it a really egg rich and vanilla seed studded indulgent treat. The dough itself is a variation on the French Choux Pastry.

I've adapted Heston Blumenthol and Thomas Kellers approach to poultry brining.  It's simple basic brine that will make you bird ultra tasty and moist. The aromatics used are completely up to you. Experiment with chili, lemon grass, star anise and coriander seeds for an Asian style brine.

15g of table salt per kg of Bird
3 tablespoons honey
5 bay leaves
1 head of garlic, smashed but not peeled
1 tablespoons black peppercorns
2 star anise
3 large rosemary sprigs
1 small bunch of thyme
1 small bunch of parsley
2 lemons halved

Weigh the bird and calculate the about of salt you will need.  In a sauce pot, combine 3 pints of water and the salt, the honey, bay leaves, garlic, peppercorns, rosemary, thyme, star anise, parsley and lemons zest. Bring to a simmer over moderate heat, stirring until the salt is dissolved. Let cool completely.  Add the chicken to a pan that will comfortable hold them. Add the brine base, then top up with fresh cold water until the chicken is submerged. Brine for at least 12 hours for chicken.

Remove from brine, rinse and remove any aromatics that may stick to the bird. Pat dry and roast as usual.

Variation for Turkey:
Double the quantity of all the aromatics. Use oranges instead of lemons. Add a couple of cinnamon sticks and few table spoons of fennel seeds.

With turkey you can brine for up to 24 hours.

 

I simply adore the ruby red tang of cranberries. No holiday dinner would be complete without variation of cranberry sauce.

Through out my childhood there were several incarnations of this glorious fruit on our Thanksgiving table. From the simplest and rather cheats version of opening a can of Ocean Spray Cranberry Jelly and plopping it on the crystal serving dish to a jiggly cranberry, carrot & orange jelly mold, to a slick of port infused cranberry sauce to more of a take on the classic Waldorf Salad of chopped cranberries, apples, celery and oranges folded into whipped cream..

This recipe is a fresher tasting cranberry relish. One that has the bracing tartness of cranberry and orange zest pared with the sweetness of orange juice and a fresh burst of mint. This is equally good with turkey dinner as it is with as a topping for yogurt and ice cream.