Preserves
Hedgerow Jelly
Hedgerow Jelly Prep Time: 10 Minutes Total Time: 1 Hour Cook Time: 30 Minutes To make a purple coloured one, use a
February 9, 2026
Poultry
Poulet au Pot
Poulet au Pot Prep Time: 20 Minutes Total Time: 3 Hours Cook Time: 2 Hours Meeting “My Learned friend” Neil at Gatwick
February 9, 2026
Desserts
Panna Cotta
Panna Cotta Prep Time: 1 Minute Total Time: 3 Hours Cook Time: 10 Minutes This is a quick and easy, classic
February 9, 2026
Pork
Cassoulet
Cassoulet Prep Time: 5 Minutes Cook Time: 2 Hours It is said that this dish comes from Languedoc, taking its
February 9, 2026
Vegetables
Green Beans
Green Beans Prep Time: 5 Minutes Cook Time: 10 Minutes I got this recipe whilst working in Hammersmith as ‘Acting Head Chef’,
February 9, 2026
Salads
Tzatziki
Tzatziki Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cooking Time: N/A Nothing beats the home-made version. I strain Greek yogurt in a cheese
February 9, 2026
Pork
Pork Souvlaki
Pork Souvlaki Prep Time: 10 Minutes (Overnight for more flavour) Cooking Time: 12/16 Minutes In my late teens / early
February 9, 2026
Vegetarian & Vegan
Aubergine Trofie
Aubergine Trofie Prep Time: 5 Minutes Cook Time: 30 Minutes This works well with either fresh or dried pasta. If
February 9, 2026
Grains
Perfect Jasmine Rice
Perfect Jasmine Rice Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 45 Minutes The answer to making fluffy rice is to reduce
February 9, 2026
Poultry
Thai Red Chicken Curry
Thai Red Chicken Curry Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cooking Time: 20 Minutes This is a milder version of the green
February 9, 2026
Potatoes
Perfect Mash
Perfect Mash Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 25 Minutes Ingredients Serves: 4 1 kg King Edwards or Maris Piper
February 9, 2026
Beef
Beef Bourguignon
Beef Bourguignon Prep Time: 40 Minutes + overnight Cooking Time: 2 hours 15 minutes This is French country cooking at
February 9, 2026
Preserves
For a purple jelly, use damsons, bullaces, blackberries and sloes, either combined or individually. For a pink jelly, use hawthorn berries and/or rosehips. You don’t need to peel the apples; simply remove the stalks. Crab apples or cooking apples work well because they are high in pectin.
Poultry
I met my learned friend Neil at Gatwick Airport before flying to Lyon for a Sideways-style wine tour of Burgundy and the southern Rhône. We went during Semaine du Goût, the annual week-long festival that promotes culinary appreciation and education.
That year, the dish commemorated Henry IV’s wish that every French person should be able to eat chicken on a Sunday. We drove to Bresse, home of the black-feathered chicken, and bought probably the most expensive chicken I have ever purchased.
You can enrich the dish with cooked mushrooms. Stir a tablespoon of flour into a small tub of crème fraîche, then whisk it into the cooking liquor.
Desserts
This is a quick, easy and light classic Italian dessert. Serve it with seasonal fruit; in summer, I use local strawberries.
Pork
This dish is said to come from Languedoc and to take its name from the glazed earthenware pot known as a cassole: narrow at the bottom and wide-mouthed at the top. It became special to me when I walked across the Pyrenees from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. After a hard day’s trekking, finding a refuge serving cassoulet with a glass of wine was the perfect end to the day. This is my version.
Vegetables
I picked up this recipe while working in Hammersmith as acting head chef at Chez Kristof, alongside a very moody sous chef. Later, in Dubai, local meat suppliers would bring us whole grade 4 or 5 Wagyu beef sirloins as samples. I served them with gratin dauphinois and these green beans. My business partner, Paul Gidley, wanted the recipe — so here you go, ‘The Paul’, ahead of the book that may follow.
Salads
In my late teens and early twenties, I went Interrailing around Europe, taking ferries, sleeping on rooftops and camping on beaches. I had very little money, but a two-mile walk into town was rewarded with pork souvlaki in pitta, washed down with a cold beer from the local shop. Serve this with tzatziki, chilli sauce, parsley salad and pitta bread. To save time, you can buy the pitta and tzatziki. See my other recipes for accompaniments that complement this simple dish.
Vegetarian & Vegan
This works well with either fresh or dried pasta. If you can’t find cooked aubergines, prick them with a fork, rub them with olive oil and roast them whole at 200°C for 45–50 minutes. I found ours in a market in Catania, Sicily, roasted in a wood-fired oven, which gave them a smoky flavour. You can also cook them on the barbecue. Pasta alla Norma is named after Bellini’s opera Norma; it is normally served with a tubular pasta.
Grains
The key to fluffy jasmine rice is using less water, then leaving the cooked rice covered for 10 minutes. Jasmine rice is softer than many other varieties, so too much water can make it gummy rather than fluffy.
This is a milder curry than the green version. You can spice it up with fresh red chilli and extra red curry paste. Serve with Thai jasmine rice. It is an easy midweek dish for two, with plenty of leftovers. For a vegan version, omit the chicken and use vegetable stock, then add extra vegetables such as courgette, aubergine and bean sprouts; check that your curry paste is vegan.
Potatoes
One of my favourite comfort foods. Pair it with whatever suits your mood.
Beef
This is French country cooking at its finest: a real autumn or winter dish, served with mash and glazed carrots or greens. Whichever good-quality wine you use to marinate the beef overnight, serve the same wine with the dish the next day. I make this with beef shin; alternatively, use chuck steak and allow an extra 45 minutes’ cooking time.