Winter is my favourite time to be in the kitchen – there are parsnips and artichokes to be roasted, fat cooking apples to stew, sweet potatoes to bake and winter greens to brighten everything up. The seasonings are soft and warm – smoked garlic, ginger, star anise, mustard seeds and cumin. The servings are generous, the cooking sure and slow, the kitchen cosy. Time to hunker down and roast, bake and stew.
Roast roots and potato and apple mash
Cold roast pork with lots of salt and chewy crackling, a tangle of pickled cabbage at its side and a plate of these roast roots and mash, and I am one exceptionally happy man.
Serves 3-4
beetroot 400g
parsnips 350g
small carrots 200g
Jerusalem artichokes 200g
butter 40g
olive oil 3 tbsp
thyme sprigs 6
juniper berries 1 tsp
sea salt flakes 1 tsp
black peppercorns ½ tsp
For the mash
floury potatoes 800g
sharp cooking apples 600g, large
Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Trim and scrub the beetroots but do not peel them, then bring to the boil in deep, lightly salted water. Turn down the heat, partially cover with a lid and leave to simmer for 20 minutes.
Scrub the parsnips, carrots and artichokes, then cut each in half. Warm the butter and oil in a roasting tin over a moderate heat then add the raw root vegetables. Drain the beetroot, then slice into quarters and add to the roasting tin. Let the vegetables colour lightly.
Pull the thyme leaves from the stems. Using a pestle and mortar, crush the thyme leaves with the juniper berries, sea salt and peppercorns. Scatter the seasonings over the root vegetables then bake for 40 minutes till tender and lightly crisp. The artichokes and parsnips should be soft inside.
While the vegetables are roasting, peel the potatoes and cook them in boiling, lightly salted water till tender. Peel the apples, core and roughly chop them, then bring them to the boil with 125ml of water. Cover with a lid, lower the heat and let them cook for 10 minutes or until soft enough to crush.
Mash the apples and the potatoes with a vegetable masher then fold the two together. Place a mound of potato-apple mash in each bowl then add the roasted root vegetables.
Sweet potato with bacon and black beans
Serves 4
sweet potatoes 2 large
onions 2 medium
olive oil 3 tbsp
smoked streaky bacon 300g
yellow mustard seeds 2 tsp
red wine vinegar 1 tbsp
black eyed beans 1 × 400g can
black beans 1 × 400g can
chicken stock 250ml
Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Place the sweet potatoes on a baking tray and bake for 50 minutes to an hour depending on their size. They are done when they will easily take a metal skewer and are very soft to the touch.
Peel and roughly chop the onions. Warm the oil in a deep casserole and add the onions. Let them cook, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes or until they are a pale, translucent gold. Remove the rind from the bacon rashers, then slice into short, postage-stamp-sized pieces. Stir the bacon into the softened onions and continue cooking for a few minutes till the fat on the bacon has started to turn gold and the onions are becoming sweeter and more deeply coloured. Stir in the mustard seeds, vinegar and a little salt.
Drain the beans, stir into the onions and bacon, then pour in the chicken stock and bring to the boil. Scrape any flavoursome juices that have adhered to the pan, letting them dissolve into the stock. Check the seasoning.
Remove the potatoes from the oven, place on four plates then split each in half with a knife. Spoon the onion and bean dressing over the potatoes.
Roast pepper hummus with purple sprouting broccoli
The hummus, bright and sweet with peppers and crunchy with cashews lifts the spirits and cheers up any winter green vegetable. I have used it with purple sprouting, but winter cabbage, cavolo nero or cauliflower will work too.
Serves 2
romano peppers 2
purple sprouting broccoli 350g
butter 40g
olive oil 2 tbsp
cumin seeds 2 tsp
dried chilli flakes 1 tsp
roasted salted cashews 150g
chickpeas 2 × 400g cans
Roast the peppers for 45 minutes at 200C/gas mark 6, until the peppers have softened and the skins are loose. Remove the peppers from the oven and peel off and discard the skins.
Bring a large, deep pan of water to the boil then add a little salt. Trim the purple sprouting.
Warm the butter and oil in a shallow pan, add the cumin seeds and chilli flakes and cook for minute then add the cashews and drained and rinsed chickpeas.
When the chickpeas are hot, remove half of them and roughly crush using a pestle and mortar or food processor. Return the crushed chickpeas to the pan along with the roasted peppers.
Boil or steam the sprouting broccoli for 3 or 4 minutes till just tender to the point of a knife, then lift from the water and drain. Place on a serving dish and spoon over the red pepper and chickpea dressing.
Pasta with chicken, roast garlic and cream
Any small pasta capable of holding a sauce will work here. I use curly serpentelli, though orecchiette would do the trick. I suggest cooking the whole head of garlic, even though you need only half of the cloves. Roasted garlic is a thoroughly useful ingredient to have in the kitchen. I often crush it to a smooth paste which I stir into salad dressings.
Serves 2
garlic 1 whole head
chicken thighs 4
olive oil 2 tbsp
thyme sprigs 8
small, tubular pasta such as serpentelli 200g
butter 30g
double cream 250ml
sprouted seeds such as sprouting amaranth or watercress a handful
Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Place the garlic head on a small dish or baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes till the skin is crisp, the flesh inside soft and pale gold.
Put the chicken pieces in a roasting tin (or on the same baking sheet as the garlic), brush with the olive oil, season with salt, pepper and most of the thyme then bake for 35-40 minutes till golden and thoroughly cooked. Pull the leaves from the reserved thyme and set aside.
Remove the garlic from the oven, break open the head into individual cloves then peel them. You will need 4-6 of them, depending on how garlicky you like your pasta. The others can be stored for a few days in a little olive oil in the fridge.
Bring a large pan of water to the boil then salt it generously. Add the pasta and cook for 8-10 minutes till al dente. Crush 4-6 of the garlic cloves to a paste. Remove the bones from the pieces of chicken then cut into thick strips. Put the garlic, chicken and cream in a shallow pan (or the roasting tin for the chicken) and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for a few minutes then drain the pasta and add to the chicken and cream, tossing the pasta gently with the sauce. Stir in the remaining thyme leaves.
Serve in shallow plates or bowls, with a few of the sweet, earthy sprouts for contrast if you wish.
Pot roast pork with star anise and ginger
One of those uncomplicated, homely dishes where very little is asked of the cook in terms of technique and effort. There is plenty of smoky, aniseed-infused broth to scoop up, so spoons are a must. If you want to serve something with it, I would suggest mashed parsnip or a pile of thick noodles.
Serves 4
olive oil 4 tbsp
pork belly slices 1 kg
onion 1 large
smoked garlic 4 cloves
ginger root 50g
five spice powder 1 tbsp
star anise 2
chicken stock 500ml
mustard greens 350g, to serve
Preheat the oven to 160C/gas mark 3. Warm the oil in a heavy casserole for which you have a lid then brown the belly pork slices on both sides. Remove the meat and set aside. Peel and roughly chop the onion, then add to the pan and leave to cook for 10-15 minutes in the meat juices. Add the garlic, peeled but left whole, the ginger, peeled and cut into slices as thick as a pound coin, the ground five spice and the star anise. Continue cooking for a further couple of minutes then return the pork to the pot.
Pour in the stock and bring to the boil. Season lightly with salt, then cover with a lid and place in the preheated oven. Bake for 1½ to 2 hours until the pork is tender.
To serve, trim the mustard greens and steam or stir fry them for a minute or two till wilted. Serve the pork in shallow bowls with the onions and plenty of cooking juices. You will need knives, forks and, crucially, spoons.
