I’d really wanted to make Borscht but when my local fruit and veg stall only had sachets of cooked beetroot, I change course. The result, after a whizz around my kitchen for anything that I thought might improve its flavour, was a huge hit with my family, from little Jago to his ex-River Café dad…

Moroccan tagine is one of my favourite solutions to a dinner party. It’s make ahead, easy, cooks itself and always goes down well. The classic combination is a mass of onion cooked to a slop and season with the classic Moroccan spice mix ras al hanout. It’s widely available but the best include rose petals…

This midweek treat for two might stretch to three if served with oven frites and a few crisp salad leaves under the cucumber relish. The fragile little crab cakes, made with breadcrumbs rather than mashed potato, firm up and create a gorgeous crisp shell in a hot oven. In the past I’ve made this recipe…

When I first wrote this recipe I was incredibly broke and to afford cod, which I’ve always loved, meant buying frozen. This time, my recipe uses fresh cod and I’m roasting it in the oven. One of my tips for the original recipe (pg 46 One Pot Cooking) was dusting the fish with salt and…

If you have a fig tree in your garden you may be facing, as I was, loads of tiny, little unripe green figs and wondering what to do about them. I picked all mine and cooked and soaked them in many changes of water to remove fig latex. Yes, latex. It’s the white liquid that…

When all else fails, it is hard to beat An Omelette and a Glass of Wine (great book title Elizabeth David). The combination for this one grew out of a yellow sticky that’s been on my computer from a River Café newsletter. Braised spinach with black olives and garlic became blanched spinach, black olives and…

This colourful bowlful was the consequence of not much leftover roast duck and very good stock made with the duck carcass. It could, though, be made with shredded chicken instead and a chicken stock cube; the broth is hot and interesting, thanks to fresh chilli, ginger, garlic and salty soy, fresh lime and Thai fish…

There are many versions of borscht from Russia and Ukraine but I’ve never seen one made with carrot instead of beetroot. Both are dense, sweet root vegetables that puree beautifully and suit acidic and spicy seasoning. Carrot borscht looks stunning, the colour and flavour deepened and balanced by red pepper, lemon, caraway and chilli. Good…

I love rich, dark beef stews and one of the best is boeuf Bourguignonne made with red burgundy wine. I am not convinced the dish will be radically better for being made with a very expensive, top-drawer wine but you get what you pay for and a mellow wine will give mellow results. The best…