The Algarve, Florence and soups

30 October 2023

Nigel Slater’s recipe for pears with figs, roquefort and honey croutons

Introduction

Welcome to new readers. This is where I review what’s been in the weekend papers cook something from them and take a simple photo on my kitchen table. It’s always going to be free as I get a lot out of writing it, so please do share and a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has.

There’s an abundance of autumnal soups and stews this week and I been fulfilling a New Year’s resolution by actually labelling anything I put in the freezer. Simple enough I know to buy a pack of sticky labels, but life changing here. Leek and celery soup, lentil soup, aubergine red pepper and cannellini bean stew are all differentiated now as well as Diana Henry’s sausage, beer and black bean chilli which I saw on her Instagram. I often think Instagram fulfils the function those daily recipes columns in the Times and the Standard used to do as I bought a double quantity of ingredients on the way home.

I also made Nigel Slater’s midweek recipe for pears with figs, roquefort and honey croutons in last week’s Observer and James Martin’s chorizo and bean soup from the Times which I made with a jar of beans. I have never made a picada paste, a Catalan style pesto before but now I want to put it into everything, including the lentil soup mentioned.

And if we are up to mentioning Christmas, and I’m not sure that I am, here are the winners of BBC Good Food’s Christmas Food Awards to help you with your planning.

James Martin’s chorozo and bean soup.

Recipes

Lots of soup this week, with recipes in the Times including Bee Wilson’s mellow vegetable soup, Ottolenghi’s prawn broth, and James Martin’s chorizo and bean soup with a picada paste and Claire Thomson’s chicken and rice soup.

I am still loving Bee Wilson’s book, ‘the Secret of Cooking’ and am going to make her mellow vegetable soup this week

And then Diana Henry in the Telegraph with soups with a continental twist, beef and barley soup with horseradish and parsley dumpling, pumpkin soup and chicken paprika soup.

Nigel Slater in the Observer with recipes for sweet potatoes and rouille and fig and hazelnut cake and orange curd cream which is ‘ a good, nubbly textured cake, not too sweet.’

The Times has four signatures dishes from London’s Maison François restaurantwith François O’Neill and Matthew Ryle as the owner and head chef of Maison François including French onion soup, where they add soy sauce to the beef stock ‘The soy sauce isn’t traditional but it adds richness and makes the caramelised flavours sing. Other reciopes are Dijon roast chicken, cabbage, anchoïade and chilli and crème caramel.

Halloween treats for the whole family by Claire Thomson in the Telegraph with black bean burgers with quick ketchup and gherkin ‘fingers’, liquorice, beetroot and chocolate cake and cherry cocktails with lychee ‘eyeball’ skewers

How to cook a six course autumn feast with no fuss by Olia Hercules and Joe Woodhouse in the FT with sourdough, green adjika, curd and fruit, roast chicken with millet stuffing, potato, cabbage and blue cheese gratin, roast squash, cavolo nero and chestnuts, fennel salad with toasted garlic breadcrumbs and sponge cake with pears and rose cream.

The Guardian have a film theme this week so look at the links for the contexts but there are recipes by Ottolenghi for mushroom carbonara, apfelstrudel and king prawns and polenta, roast celeriac with chive chilli oil by Meera Sodha and a chicken sandwich and a sauce-on-the-side salad from Honey and Co. The dressing for the salad looks excellent.

Books

Ramen Forever: Recipes For Ramen Success by Tim Anderson 

in the Independent with an interview and long and detailed recipe for miso ramen, ‘nothing special’ ramen which is shorter and simpler and Yu Xiang aubergine mixed noodles.

Brutto by Russell Norman

with an interview and recipes in the Times for tuna, white bean and shallot salad, ribbons of beef with wilted bitter leaves, Florentine T-bone steak and lemon and vodka smoothie and in the Guardian, a recipe for spaghetti with tomato sauce and meatballs.

Restaurants

In the FT, Tim Hayward found his perfect pub, the Bull Inn at Charlbury in the Cotswolds.

In the Guardian, Grace Dent was at the Llama Inn in Hoxton, London EC2 which was sharing plates but some of it wasn’t easy to share. She said ‘that at Palmito in Brighton, I witnessed an act of open rebellion from one table of four diners, who, when told that “everything was for sharing”, replied: “We don’t want to. We don’t like sharing.” 

In the Observer, Jay Rayner went to Chop Chop, in London WC2, a Chinese restaurant at the Hippodrome Casino run by the Four Seasons group, which he loved.

In the Standard, Jimi Famurewa visited Mauro Colagreco, the three star restaurant at Raffles London, OWO, and ‘ends with what may be one of the London’s most traumatising bills.’ He thinks it will delight the super rich and diners canny enough to get someone else to pay.’

In the Sunday Times, Charlotte Ivers went to Andrew Edmunds in London W1and thought it ‘technically perfect.’

In the Telegraph, William Sitwell went to Lovage in Newcastle upon Tyne and gave it the full five stars, writing it was ‘neat, delicate, exact, good and honest cooking, served with professional grace and modest enthusiasm. ‘ 

In the Times, Giles Coren was at Happy Lamb, a Chinese hot pot restaurant in Westbourne Grove, London, W2.

He says ‘it used to be called “steamboat”, where they fire up a cauldron of stock in front of you and you order a load of meat and veg and noodles to simmer in it, and away you go.’ He thought it was great value but terrible service. 

Travel

UK

27 of Britain’s cosiest pubs for autumn in the Times, whether you are eating, drinking or staying the night. Some pubs come up repeatedly in these kind of guides but the Dorset Arms in Withyham in East Sussex, the Pheasant near Lambourn in Berkshire and the Bear Inn in Shropshire were new to me. It also mentions the Bull in Charlbury, reviewed by Tim Hayward in the FT this week.

Belfast, a city guide in the Times 

Walking coast to coast on Cornwall’s new walking trail in the Independent. It wants vistors to explore inland along the border with Devon.

Europe

In conjunction with his new book about his restaurant, Brutto, (see above) Russell Norman has given his top restaurants in Florence in the Times, including one, Trattoria Sabatino, that a friend who lives in Florence part of the time, recommended to me. Don’t do what we did and try and go to Sabatini instead which is completely different.

Sometimes I feel like travel articles could be written by AI but Audrey Gillan, who wrote this expert guide to the off season, Algarve, in the Times actually lives there and it’s full of great recommendations.

Rail route of the month is along the Franz Josef railway from Prague to Vienna in the Guardian.

A wine road trip in Italy’s Piedmont region during harvest season in the Independent with the barolo wines and an annual white truffle festival.

Florence