A New Season

It’s been lovely and sunny the past few days and as I type I can see the rays streaming through gaps in the blinds. Daffodils are growing in abundance and it’s getting lighter and warmer day by day. According to this article there is some debate as to whether we are actually in winter still, or spring. The Met Office says 1st March is the start of spring, but according to tradition it’s the 21st March. Well nature and my instinct are telling me spring is here and I’m going with that.

Leeks have been in season for the past few months and I’ve certainly been making the most of them; they’ve been a staple in my kitchen. Their delicate, mildly onion flavour adds a wonderful base flavour to soups and casseroles. As a side dish I love them simply sautéed in butter.

Purple sprouting broccoli is plentiful and the delicious rhubarb is available now. I’m looking forward to bringing some home for an array of delicious puddings. Rhubarb crumble is the first that springs to mind, if you’ll forgive the pun.

Cod and Lemon Cream Cheese Parcels

Mmm…I love fish, I love lemon and I love cream cheese, and they combine fabulously in this simple dish. Salmon would work well instead of the cod – in fact I think I’ll try that next time.

Mix about 100grams of cream cheese with the juice of half a lemon, season well and add some chopped parsley.

Lay a sheet of filo pastry out, brush it with melted butter and lay another sheet on top. Place the fish on the pastry and top generously with the cream cheese filling. Fold the pastry over to wrap up the fish in a parcel and brush it with a beaten egg. Bake at 180c for 20 minutes.

Sunday Cake

Isn’t Sunday a good day for baking? Particularly when it’s been raining all day and you need a little cheering. I fancied baking a cake yesterday but hadn’t prepared for this so had to raid the fridge, where I found the plums and pear I’d intended for a fruit tart. I thought I’d see if they work together in a cake – and they do!

This is a deliciously moist cake with a tang of the fruit and contrasting sweetness of the honey. It’s almost a dessert more than a cake and it would be delicious with custard or a dollop of cream.


Pear and Plum Cake

140g self-raising flour
140g softened butter
140g golden caster sugar
2 large eggs
4 plums
1 pear
1 tablespoon of clear honey

Beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy then beat in the honey. Beat the eggs together and beat them into the mixture little by little. Now fold in the flour. Stone the plums and cut them into eights then halve each piece. Slice the pear thickly then chop each slice into bite sized pieces. Fold the fruit into the mixture.

Pour the cake batter into a lined cake tin (a loaf tin would work well too) and bake at 180c for 45–50 minutes.

A Melody of Flavours

Is there any recipe more versatile and adaptable than vegetable soup? So much so that it’s hardly a recipe really. You really can use any combination of vegetables you like; whatever is sitting in your fridge, so it's a great way to use up leftover vegetables. You can add herbs if you like; or not - it really is up to you.

The basic principle is:

1. Sauté chopped vegetables in olive oil or butter for a few minutes to soften and colour them slightly
2. Add stock, seasoning and any herbs you want to use
3. Bring to the boil and simmer until the vegetables are cooked through
4. Blend to a puree if you want a smooth soup, otherwise leave the vegetables chunky
5. Taste to check the seasoning
6. Serve

For the blending I use a hand blender directly in the saucepan but if you don’t have one you could just use a liquidiser.

The quality of the stock will make a big difference to the taste of your soup. Homemade chicken or vegetable stock would be the optimum but more often than not I use vegetable bullion powder.

For another variation you can roast the vegetables first, and roasted vegetable soup really is delicious.

Vegetable soup is great to make in advance and good for freezing too, so make up a big batch to save yourself time later.