We are pretty much slap bang in the middle of Vacherin season, which runs from late September to early April. This creamy, smooth, slightly nutty and super runny cows milk cheese is an Alpine speciality traditionally sold in round wooden boxes, cinched with a piece of spruce bark.

Vacherin is great eaten at room temperature with some bread, but a killer way of serving it is baked. Particularly when it’s been snowing. It’s like a fondue without the hassle and the Abigail’s Party baggage, and is great lunch for two.

Pre-heat your over to 180 – 200c, then remove all the plastic wrapping from the cheese, but leave it in it’s box. Slice a fat clove of garlic, and then using a sharp knife, pierce the Vacherin’s rind and slide in the slices. Pour over around 50ml of white wine, and then put the cheese into the oven to bake until it’s golden brown and bubbling (15minutes or so).

Serve it with whatever you like, but I like a good mix of raw veg like raddishes and carrots, some hunks of good sourdough, a few boiled potatoes (pink fir are particularly good), a pear and a bit of salad.

Then just dunk in your vehicle of choice, and get cheesy.

Mussels are back in season, and I can think of no better way to do them justice that with the classic French Marinière.

Not only is this recipe incredibly tasty, it’s as fast as hell; from chopping board to stuffing your face in 15 minutes flat as long as your mussels are clean. As an added bonus, mussels are pretty cheap, with a kilo coming in at around 5 or 6 pounds.

Lets do this.

Ingredients

1 kilo of mussels

1 stick celery, finely chopped

1/2 large onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

200ml good white wine

Nob of butter

Olive oil

Pinch of salt and pepper

Flat leaf parsley

Method

The only slightly fiddly and time consuming bit about this recipe is cleaning the mussels. If you’re buying from a supermarket they may have been cleaned already (if so, skip the next couple of stages), but if you’ve picked them up at your local fishmonger you may have to do a bit of work yourself.

The things to watch out for are the ‘beard’ on the underside of the mussel, and and any barnacles on the shell. I find the best thing to do is dump the mussels in big bowl / sink of cold water and then get to work. Remove any beards by holding the mussel with the sharper end of the shell pointing towards you, and then pull the beard towards the round end away from you. Any barnacles can be removed by scraping off with a knife.

Whilst you’re doing this, make sure to pick out any mussels that are open. Tap these open ones on a work surface, if they don’t close they are dead and could make you sick if you eat them, so chuck them out. Now your mussels are clean, pop them into an empty bowl and into your fridge.

Next, get a large saucepan (with a lid) on the heat and melt a decent sized nob of butter in a little olive oil. Whilst this is happening, finely chop your celery, onion and garlic. Add these to the pan and gently sweat off for 6 or 7 minutes until translucent.

Now pop your mussels in the pan, discarding any liquid that has drained from them whilst in the fridge (this is water taken on by them when being cleaned – you don’t want this in your pan) and stir them around a bit. Next pour in the white wine, which should immediately start bubbling, season with salt and pepper, and then pop on the lid to steam the mussels for 3 or 4 minutes, occasionally shaking the pan.

When you open the lid, all the mussels have opened, and you’ll be hit by an amazing aroma of the sea and white wine. Scatter over a bit of chopped parsley, and then divide into two bowls, equally distributing both the musels and the fragrant broth.

Serve with a spinach, watercress, rocket and kohlrabi salad with a punchy mustard, lemon juice and olive oil dressing, and lots of crusty French bread.

Bon appétit.

Back to Christmas for a couple of posts. As I mentioned earlier, my old dear does a Herculean quantity of cooking over Christmas, so it’s become a bit of a tradition that I’ll give her the night off and cook something up for the family.

This year I opted for a stuffed loin of pork, served with rosemary and thyme roasted new potatoes and buttered cabbage. The only really fiddly bit of this recipe is tying the joint up after you’ve stuffed it. I made a bit of a mess of my string work, but there are plenty of on-line vids to watch to help you hone your skills.

A 2kg joint should serve around 8 people. Get your butcher to bone and butterfly the meat, and score the skin for you, unless you know what you’re doing with a knife.

Ingredients

2kg loin of pork (the best you can afford)

400g pork mince

1 apple, peeled, cored and diced

1 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

Handful of sage leaves, finely chopped

Handful of bread crumbs

Zest of a lemon

1/4 nutmeg, grated

Salt and pepper to taste

Another onion, sliced for roasting the joint on on

Half a glass of white wine

Method

It should be no surprise to learn that the first step is to prepare the stuffing, but before you do this set your oven to 230c, then sweat off the onion, apple and garlic in some olive oil, making sure your apple is diced nice and finely. You don’t want to colour the ingredients, just get them softened. When the onion is translucent, set aside to cool a bit.

Next, get the rest of the stuffing ingredients into a bowl. The mince, bread crumbs, lemon zest, nutmeg, sage, salt and pepper and give a good mix together. Then add the apple and onions, and using your hands, squidge everyything together until you’ve got a well mixed stuffing.

Pinch a bit of the stuffing off and make a flat patty about the width of a golf ball. Fry this off on both sides, and once cooked taste for seasoning. If you think it needs any more of anything add it to the mixture and give it another squidge.

Now grab your boned joint and lay it out skin side down. Season the exposed flesh with a little salt and pepper, and then cover with the stuffing in an even layer all over, leaving a small border around the outside to allow the mixture a little room to occupy as the joint is rolled and tied, which is what you’re going to do next. As I said above, have a look at some on-line tutorials if you don’t know how to tie meat.

Once the joint is trussed up, make sure the skin is dry by patting with kitchen towel, and then score it all over (if the butcher hasn’t done it for you) before sprinkling with salt and pepper. Drying the skin and giving it a salting should ensure a crispy skin. Now take a roasting tray big enough to accommodate the joint, place a layer of sliced onion along the centre, and pop the joint skin side up on top.

Roast the joint for 15-20 minutes at 230c to get the skin scorched and crispy, and then turn down to 180c to roast for a further hour.

After this time, take out the joint and rest it. Snip the string and remove the skin. You can return this to the oven so it remains crispy, and then cover the meat with foil for about 20 mins. This should give you time to make a totally slamming gravy.

Take the roasting tray, which will now be nice and sticky with roasting juices. Pour off about three quarters of the fat that will be resting on the surface, and sprinkle in around a tablespoon of plain white flour. Work this into the juices until their are no lumps. Put the put the tray on a heated hob and cook the mixture for around a minute. Now pour in the wine to de-glaze the tin, making sure you get as much of the sticky stuff off the bottom as you can. This is where you’re getting your flavour from.

Burn off the booze from the wine, and then taste. The gravy will probably be pretty strong, so dilute it a with a bit of the water you’re cooking your cabbage (or other veg) in. Keep adding and tasting until you’re happy. You can serve it as it is, but I like to pass it through a sieve to get out any lumpy bits and burnt onion.

Once whatever veg you’re cooking is done, you are ready to rock. Cut your joint into one and a half inch thick slices and give one to each person, and serve with vegetables, a good bit of gravy, some crackling, and a smug grin.

Nope, not the secret behind the Colonel’s spicy burger (sorry KFC lovers), but a baked chicken dish which makes a great substitute for a Sunday roast. The ingredients might seem a bit summery, but they do a great job of kicking this dark, winter weather where the sun don’t shine. It’s also pretty low maintenance, so you’ll still be able to drink wine, wrap presents, watch the Come Dine With Me omnibus, or whatever else you want to do.

Ingredients (serves 2-3)

6 organic chicken joints, legs and thighs

8 cloves of garlic

20 or so baby plum tomatoes

1 chilli, de seeded and chopped

1 lemon

150ml white wine

Handful of fresh basil leaves

Olive oil

Salt & pepper

1 teaspoon maras biberi / dried chilli flakes

Method

So, like I said this is all pretty easy. First of all, set your oven to 200 c, then put the chicken joints, tomatoes, and the chopped and de-seeded chilli in a roasting tin or oven proof dish. Now take the garlic cloves and smash them up a bit with the flat of a knife blade before adding them to the chicken. Season with a good few grinds of black pepper and a couple of pinches of salt.

Cut the lemon in half, squeeze the juice into the dish, add the lemon husks and then drizzle all over with a generous quantity of olive oil (probably around 50-75ml). Now get your hands in there and toss together, making sure everything is coated in the oil, lemon juice and seasoning.

Finally for now, sprinkle over some maras biberi or dried chilli flakes and then stick the chicken in the oven for 30-35 minutes.

After this time, take out the chicken and add the basil to the dish, tucking the leaves in and around the joints, and then add the white wine. Put the dish back in the oven, and cook for a further 10-15 minutes to burn off the booze and finish off the dish.

After that, you’re done. Serve with some cavalo nero, and hunks of bread to soak up the zingy tomato, lemon and garlic infused gravy.

There are few meals as satisfying as a roast chicken. Even if you’re having a REALLY shit day, a roastie can turn tings around. What’s more, there are always leftovers, which means there’s always another meal or two to be eeked out of the carcass.

We roasted a particularly big bird last weekend, so I decided to do the leftover chicken justice by making a few pies. It’s a pretty easy recipe, especially if you buy ready rolled puff pastry from the supermarket. The below will make 4 small pies or one biggun. Here’s how it’s done.

Ingredients

250g roast chicken – mixture of white and brown meat

1 large leek, finely chopped

1 large carrot, chopped

1 large clove garlic, chopped

2 rashers smoked bacon, chopped

70g chestnut mushrooms

300ml chicken stock

1ooml single cream

100ml white wine

1 tablespoon chopped tarragon

1 tablespoon plain flour

1 pack ready rolled puff pastry (around 350g)

1 egg, beaten

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Method

Wash the leek and then chop finely. Add olive oil to a heavy bottom pan, turn on the heat and then add the leeks. Peel the carrot, chop and add to the pan along with the chopped bacon and garlic. Fry until soft and then add the mushrooms to the pot.

Once the mushrooms have cooked down a bit, add the flour and stir in. The flour will coat the veggies, and the mixture will become a bit pasty. Now add the wine, stir in and burn off the alcohol, before adding the chicken stock and the roast chicken. Stir all together, and then season with salt and pepper to taste.

You should have the makings of a fairly decent gravy by now. Reduce the liquid by about a quarter, and then add the tarragon. Stir in and then add the cream. Have a taste. If you’re happy, turn off the head and set aside to cool. If not, adjust the seasoning until you are.

Once the mixture is room temperature-ish, turn on your oven to 200 C, and start assembling your pies. Decant the mixture into whichever pie dish or dishes you’re going to use. Next, crack and beat an egg and get your ready rolled pastry out of the fridge. Using a pastry brush, paint the lip of your pie dish with the egg wash. Now cut a piece of the pastry sheet bigger than your dish, and lay it over the top of  it.

Press the pastry down around the egged lip to seal the pie. Using a sharp knife, cut of the excess off the side, and then ‘crimp’ the edge with a fork. Finally, make a little ‘chimney’ hole in the centre of the lid with a tooth pick and brush it all over with the egg wash.

The pies are now ready to cook. If you’ve made small pies they’ll take around 15 to 20 minutes, a bigger one more like half an hour. Either way, the pastry lid should be dark golden brown and puffed up when they’re done.

Eat immediately with new potatoes, steamed broccoli or a green salad with a mustardy vinaigrette.

Pretty good, although maybe not as good as the missus’ chicken pie, but thats another story.

This is a really fast and easy mid week dinner. The dried porcini and their soaking liquid really beefs up the mushroomy flavour of the finished sauce, without them the dish can taste a bit insipid.

Ingredients (serves 2)

2 large shallots, peeled and finely sliced

1 large clove of garlic

20g dried porcini mushrooms soaked in 150ml boiling water

250g chestnut mushrooms

100ml white wine

70ml half fat crème fraîche

Chopped parsley

Grated parmesan

Salt and pepper

Linguine

Method

First up, soak the dried Porcini in boiling water and let them rehydrate. Next clean the chestnut mushrooms, chop off the ends of their stalks, cut them in half and then slice. Now fry the shallots and garlic in a little olive oil and butter until soft before adding the mushrooms. Season with a pinch of salt and some fresh ground black pepper.

As the mushrooms cook they’ll give up some liquid, when this has all but evaporated deglaze the pan with a couple of glugs of white wine.  Next add the revived Porcini. Take them out with a slotted spoon gently, and then add the soaking water. The soaking water should be brown and have loads mushroom flavour, but don’t add the last bit as the mushrooms often leave behind some grit, which you don’t want in the finished dish.

Gently reduce the slightly watery mushroom mixture, and at the same time put your pasta on. When it’s reduced by about a third, add the  crème fraîche, stir in and turn the heat right down. When the pasta is ready, drain, dress with a little olive oil and then divide into two bowls. Spoon over the mushroom mixture, sprinkle with a good quantity of grated Parmesan, and some chopped flat leaf parsley.

Eat as soon as it’s served with a glass of crisp white wine.