A Change of Appetite - Diana Henry

I'm so enthusiastic about Diana Henry's books that I can't imagine my kitchen without them lined up on the shelf, they tend to be the first place I look for inspiration and because her influences come from far and wide it's rare not to find something to fit mood and available ingredients. In fact I'm so enthusiastic that it's hard to remember that I only really discovered her writing a couple of years ago (shame on me) with 'Salt Sugar Smoke', and that these books aren't the oldest of friends. Anyway I got there, even if it is a case of better late than never, so when I saw 'A Change of Appetite' appear as an amazon suggestion I was suitably excited, some months later I'm even more excited now I have the book.

I've never thought of the New Year as being a particularly good time to make resolutions, especially of the dietary kind - there are to many good things hanging around post Christmas, and the weather hardly discourages self indulgence, but Spring is a different matter altogether. 'A Change of Appetite' is all about exploring where healthy meets delicious and that's just what I need. I've never been a fan of dieting; neither discipline or denial are very appealing to me and I don't want to think about the things that I can't have or god forbid calorie count (miserable way to live). Regardless of how I feel about it though I've reached a point in my life where some change is necessary, foods that don't suit me really don't suit me anymore and I want more energy. To do this I need to change bad habits for better ones and Spring is a good time to start that process.

Recipe wise the first thing you notice about this book are the colours, it's full of really vibrant fruit and vegetables which are instantly appealing and the flavours match the colour. There are all sorts of salads, lots of Asian inspired dishes and just generally lots of things that look and sound great. Everything I've tried so far has been shared with other people and without exception has been enthusiastically received (especially Persian saffron and mint chicken with spring couscous which I keep making) which in turn feeds my enthusiasm for the book. I can also recommend an orange feta and fennel salad, a really good hot steak salad, and an absolutely brilliant pomegranate and orange cake (of which I'm enjoying a slice as I write) - oh and that black bread as well...

One of the many things I like so much about Henry's recipes are how flexible they can be - part of the orange feta and fennel salad are blanched almonds toasted in olive oil and then caramelised with honey, cumin, and smoked pa

prika. They're great, and will be great with other things too, I love the bits from a cookbook like this, bits which can be picked out magpie fashion - the bits which make me feel like I've learnt something useful. One of the other things I like about Henry is how she writes, this isn't just recipes, it's research (one thing that surprised me is how clear it becomes that even now we know relatively little about the food we eat) and philosophy - and quite a bit of common sense. This book feels like a conversation with a friend, or perhaps a particularly good teacher, the sort that inspires you to go and investigate all sorts of things (in my case with this book that's going to be Japanese cooking) but never leaves you feeling like you've been lectured to.

The common sense bit is that clearly if you're eating food you've made from raw ingredients rather than out of a packet the chances are it will be far better for you, I find this to be particularly true of bread - mass produced bread is pretty grotty - it's not even good for ducks, home made or good artisan bread is much better (though possibly still not the best thing for ducks). I find the high GI indexes in the mass produced stuff gives me the most appalling sugar crash within about half an hour of eating it, with home made bread that just doesn't happen. It's also reassuring to know exactly what it is you're eating.

Finally there's just something very attractive about the idea of being accidentally healthy which I can't quite manage to put into words. There is more about this on Henry's own website (she can put it into words) here which is excellent - the piece about writing 'A Change of Appetite' is fascinating but everything I've read on there is brilliant (read her on blood oranges - I tell you, the woman's a genius) and this book is a great way to greet the Spring.

A great bookish weekend

This is more a quality than a quantity Phineas Redux' (I love reading Trollope, but it does sometimes feel like a battle to make serious progress with him), the latest 'Slightly Foxed' also turned up on Friday which is always a treat and most definitely a nice way to spend a grey and wet Sunday.
thing, but whatever saint keeps an eye on readers (the internet suggests that it's likely St Jerome) deserves my thanks for this weekend. I've got more than half way through '

Best of all though on my way home I stopped in Waterstones (because I can't help myself) they had copies of Diana Henry's 'A Change of Appetite' and now so do I. It's officially published tomorrow but I know when the boxes arrive in Waterstones so went along specifically in the hope that it might be on the shelf. Henry's books have all been brilliant, I've browsed through most of this one over the weekend and it's no exception. This one is basically about healthy eating, it makes for excellent reading without feeling in the least bit worthy or preachy. I can't wait to start cooking from it and now I'm back home I don't have to.

Last but not least I've been looking up Leicester Book Festival so this year there's a good chance I'll actually get along to some of it (expect to hear a lot more about now that I'm aware of it) most exciting from my point of view is that Meike Ziervogel will be there. This is a timely spur to read a couple of lurking Peirene books and the chance to hear what a woman who is something of a publishing/literary heroine to me has to say about what she does. Basically it's been a very good start to Spring.

Roast Figs Sugar Snow - Diana Henry (Again)

I've written about this book before back in July 2012 (it was a cold summer, certainly cold enough to make a wintery cookbook very attractive, and on a wet January evening that's not a happy thought) but to my shame I don't think I've really looked at it since. I guess for many of us with a serious cookbook habit buying them, looking at the pictures, and then routinely cooking the same old things is a common fault. In my case my eating habits are partly dictated to by my work pattern (late finishes followed by early starts encourage a love of sardines on toast and similar) and partly by living mostly alone. Cooking for one is - well everybody who does it knows exactly what it is - and sometimes it feels like to much effort. I love to cook but I far prefer to do it for a broadly appreciative audience (and that's at least half of my love of baking explained - cake is easy to share and generally enjoyed), anyway I got my audience last night. It was my mother's birthday this week and she wanted cooking for as her present which suited both of us.

Diana Henry has a new book coming out in March which not only looks great (I'm really very excited by the thought of having another cookbook top add to that collection) but is reminding me of just how much I like her food so 'Roast Figs and Sugar Snow' was an obvious place to look for inspiration. I didn't need to go any further finding a perfect recipe straight away - Danish roast pork with pickled prunes and sweet cucumber.

Unless somebody really hates it pork is my preferred meat to cook for guests, it's a particularly good tempered food in so many ways, especially when, as in this recipe, it's a cut like belly. Principally it's great because it seems all but impossible to overcook it, between the fat in the joint and the liquid it's cooked in it just gets softer and meltier in the mouth if you have to hold it back half an hour or more. I also appreciate that it behaves so well with wine, working with both red and white (depending on the seasoning and sauce of course) and I definitely don't mind that it tends to be cheaper/ better value than pretty much anything else I can think of.

This recipe sums up everything I love about this book and about Henry as a writer. I had everything to hand bar the pork and a cucumber but without this book this isn't how I would have used them. I feel like I've learnt something (always a bonus) as well as having an utterly satisfactory afternoon off in my kitchen and a lovely evening with family and friend - everything that makes cooking a pleasure to me in fact.

The pork itself is anointed in an aromatic mix of fennel and coriander seeds, salt, pepper, and oil, blasted at heat to get a good sizzle and then left to slowly get on and do it's thing at a reduced temperature whilst liberally bathed in white wine. The last time I use coriander and fennel seeds was to make a curry and I find it fascinating the way the same spices can be used to create such different results (and the fact that does fascinate me is why I'm so passionate about wine and food generally, and also fairy tales). We were perhaps all a bit doubtful about pickled prunes but they too were fantastic and are something I'll use again but the real revelation to us was the cucumber. That it was a revelation to all of us probably says a lot about my family's attitude to cucumber (we slice it into a salad and that's about it) here it us sweated with salt for a couple of hours before having a dressing of rice wine vinegar, sugar, and dill poured over it. It worked brilliantly with the sweet fatty pork and the sweet juicy prunes, and was also excellent with some smoked salmon. So basically it's good food that's perfect for sharing, not least because it doesn't demand much attention once it's under way so you can actually enjoy the people you're with.

Autumn - fruit and baking

The clocks have gone back, the Summer mugs have been packed away and the Winter ones are out, my flat still smells of fruit cake and today I got some bargain quinces. They should have been a pound each which felt like a lot because these aren't the biggest quinces I've ever seen (though quite possibly they are the smallest) but I was prepared to bite the bullet and pay out to keep my friend R supplied with quince jelly (Diana Henry has a lot to answer for Sugar Salt Smoke is still my favourite cookbook, her quince and star anise jelly is fantastic) when happily they were reduced to 19p a piece. Much better. It seems Leicestershire cooks are indifferent to quinces (Waitrose's loss is my gain) I'm slowly coming round to them but they've always been to expensive to really go crazy with so my experiments are mostly jelly based. I planted a quince this year but it refused to put out so much as a leaf so they remain as elusive as ever which is a shame because just the smell of the fruit is enough to make me want to have it around.

It's a smell that pales by comparison to fruit cakes though - all that citrus and spice is heady stuff, and I love the way the fruity and syrupy ingredients look, it's part of what makes baking such a pleasure - which is why this is basically going to be a picture post. Maybe autumn isn't so grim after all. 

Damson Thursday and a couple of links

Yesterday when I was all energetic after a half day at work and with the prospect of a whole day off today I dragged one friend out to the country after a hard day at the office to evict another friend from the place on the sofa she'd earned after a whole days teaching so that we could go and bother her father who has a damson tree in his garden... I love damsons, I love them more than enough to impose on the good will of anyone who has access to them, and I even love them enough to be sanguine about the fact that I came home with something like 10 kilos of them which turns out to be 5 kilos more than I know what to do with tonight especially know I've run out of jam jars. 

After an exhaustive search of the county revealed that jam jars are apparently more precious than gold (when did it become acceptable to charge £2 or more for an empty jar? I could buy crappy jam and throw it away for less) I was more than grateful to discover that WH Smiths have 'River Cottage Fruit Every Day' in stock (I think this is early) even better they have it quite keenly priced so I didn't feel at all guilty about not being Salt Sugar Smoke' for Damson and Gin jam, this is the perfect jam if, like me, you prefer sweet things with a tart edge and believe that gin is A Very Good Thing (in moderation).

able to come home without a copy. I love River Cottage books almost as much as I love damsons, a River Cottage book with a good selection of recipes for damsons... Well you can imagine how happy I am (there will be ice-cream, for which there is a recipe). Meanwhile it was back to Diana Henry's brilliant '

Out in the wider world Thomas at My Porch has compiled a list of his top 80 most enjoyable novels by women. It's a great list with links to other lists and is an excellent reminder of just how many great books there are out there (by both men and women). I really like that Thomas had a list of 80 books that had scored more than 8 out of 10 on his personal rating system - somehow a satisfactory sort of number. I see too that Lyn at I Prefer Reading has been reading Georgette Heyer... And not just any Heyer but 'Sylvester' which judging from the comments is everybody's favourite (mine as well). 

It's that time of year again...

The time of year when I find myself hunched over a boiling pan of jewel coloured liquid (garnet tonight) frantically trying to read a sugar thermometer through the swirling steam. Yes its finally cool enough to consider making jams,  jellies,  and marmalades again. There's not much that I really like about the autumn but preserving is one of the few things that reconcile me to the end of summer. Time to fall in love with Diana Henry and Pam Corbin all over again.

Food From Plenty - Diana Henry

This book came out in 2010 when I took a look at it and decided I didn't need another cookbook (I know, I know, I probably wasn't feeling well at the time, and certainly can't have been feeling at all myself). In defence of my poor judgement I was feeling the economic pinch at the time even more than I do know (which is a shocking thought in itself). Since then though there has been 'Salt Sugar Smoke' which turned out to be one of those magical books that felt like it had been written just for me (I know it wasn't, but still - it couldn't have been more perfect) and called for a proper evaluation of Diana Henry's books. The more I read the more I like her.

I've spent quite a lot of time looking for ideas in 'Food From Plenty' over the last few weeks and found some cracking things, but it's only tonight that I've looked at the introduction - it's all good stuff making some very valid points (all of which I agree with) especially in the first couple of paragraphs. Henry started writing this book just before the economy nose dived at which point editors and publishers started looking for pieces on cheap food but for Diana this was missing the point. She makes the case that before recession struck we were already beginning to embrace a more seasonal and local approach to food and that the amount of food being thrown away had become an issue. Cheap food isn't really the answer - a desire for cheap meat has, after all, landed us in a situation where we have to finally admit we don't have a clue what we've been eating, which is hardly reassuring.

The key to this book and the philosophy behind it is to buy wisely and to use everything. Fruit and veg in season is far cheaper, and tastes far better, than out. Good quality meat doesn't have to be prohibitively expensive, especially if it's a less popular cut, and cooking a bit extra with a view to leftovers is sensible too; it saves cooking everything from scratch later in the week which in turn saves both time and money. With this in mind the recipes for prime cuts of meat and salmon are followed by lots of ideas for things to do with the extra bits, the same is also true for pulses and grains and because the recipes come from all over the world using the same core ingredients doesn't mean eating obvious variations on the same them three days in a row.

I'm lucky in Leicester - we still have quite a good market - though I can't say it gets the love it deserves (market shopping is a skill, there is very definitely still a buyer beware element to the experience, but if you're prepared to go with what's good on the day there are terrific bargains to be had). Fruit especially can be very cheap which brings me to my favourite recipe in this book so far 'Apricot and Almond upside down cake'. I love these very moist, nutty, cakes which can be dressed up with a bit of cream or dressed down with a cup of tea and I'm always tempted to buy apricots off the market despite knowing that half will be too bruised to use and the rest will be rock hard and tasteless. The thing is you get at least 20 of the little blighters for a pound and the poor girls on the stall (it's an open market) look so cold at this time of year, this cake gives them their best chance with a really wonderful balance of sweet and tart as well as a generally sunny appearance that's very welcome in late winter.

A couple of years down the line the message in this book makes more sense than ever, as well as it just being generally excellent. One I'm so pleased I didn't miss out on!

Rhubarb

I had meant to write about Diana Henry's 'Food From Plenty' tonight - actually I've been meaning to write about it for weeks but other things keep pushing in and today is no exception which is a shame because it's excellent and doesn't deserve to be sidelined. It's moment will come soon. Meanwhile a trip out to buy milk and glare at the 'G' section in Waterstones fiction department because they still don't have those Rumer Godden books (how I spend my weekends maybe needs re-addressing) led to bargains - bunches of daffodils for 10p each (I've never had so many daffodils in the house before, and as I type I can hear them popping open; it's very disconcerting) and cheap English rhubarb. 

Rhubarb is always a favourite, forced rhubarb even more so, and what could be better than supporting a home grown industry? Absolutely nothing could be better if it involves rhubarb. Anyway I managed to come home with about 2 kilos and the question of what to do with it all. I also got a very decent litre of vodka at a knock down price so schnapps was an obvious choice. Nigella has a recipe, so does Diana Henry in Salt Sugar Smoke, and so does Mary Prior in 'Rhubarbaria'. I've gone with Diana Henry's but basically it's rhubarb, sugar, and vodka, I'm guessing quantities don't matter very much - you fill a jar with rhubarb, add sugar, let it melt and get all juicy over night, and then top up with vodka before letting it mature for a month. 

I also went with Diana Henry's rhubarb jelly recipe because it uses apples as well which meant I had enough rhubarb left to make the rhubarb muffins from Mary Prior's book. The apple rhubarb mix is draining into a bowl at the moment but it doesn't look like it's going to produce a whole lot of juice, if the jelly is as good as I hope it will be I'll try making more before the season ends.

juices beginning to macerate; very exciting!

As for the muffins - I've never had much luck with muffins in the past, they've been okay but a little bit underwhelming but these are brilliant. Fruity, not to sweet, moist - generally delicious (I've eaten 2 already)... One of the things I love about 'Rhubarbaria' is that each recipe comes with a provenance, these muffins come from Canada with a charming story attached.

Mix 150g plain flour with 1 and a 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder, 100g of sugar, 1/2 a teaspoon of vanilla extract, 120 mls of milk, 60mls of sunflower oil, and 1 egg. When just combined throw in a cup and a half of  rhubarb chopped into small squares (that's about 4 small stalks) stir in and divide into muffin cases. Sprinkle the tops with caster sugar and bake for about 30 minutes at 190 C/ gas mark 5. Very enjoyable.

I've written about 'Rhubarbaria' before, it's a terrific little book, and should be indispensable to anybody who likes rhubarb even a little bit. It's far more than a cookbook, I get lost in it every time I consult it; it's the sort of book that begs to have cuttings added to it (I have) and invites you to imagine something of the lives of all the very many people who are the source for it's recipes.    

In the Kitchen

I have good intentions regarding spring cleaning but they never actually amount to very much. Autumn is a different matter - the run up to Christmas is such a big thing in retail that over the years I've developed a real need to feel organised in good time, part of that is a desire to clear the decks of all the past years accumulated crap, another part is settling down to making things ready for Christmas. I know it's only October but now is the time for jam and jelly making - and I've made a lot of it. It's also turned into a big week for baking...

Work asked me to make a cake for the shop's second birthday on Friday - a cake - there are about 150 of us and although not everyone will be around at cake time one was never going to be enough which I maybe ought to have thought of before I said yes. In the end I made four cakes, two got sandwiched together to make a giant chocolate cake, there is a carrot cake because it's my favourite and that's what matters after a couple of hours baking, and a lemon layer cake which tried to escape from it's pan but was just about rescued... Because I was in the kitchen all day and the oven was on I also made jam, some scones for afternoon tea with the Scottish one, roasted a pheasant to share with the blond, and made some Brownies as well. She had to stop me from making short bread too - by that time I was on a roll and didn't want to stop. 

It was, by my standards, a lot to get through in one day, normally my Kitchen would look like a bomb site at this point, but happily the blond took charge and wouldn't let me leave the washing up, she also put everything away so I really do feel organised today which is wonderful (it won't last).

The jam is particularly exciting - it's the Fig and Pomegranate from 'Salt Sugar Smoke' which I've wanted to make since I first opened the book. I think I'll call it Persephone jam though, partly as an homage to Persephone books reaching their 100th title, and partly because the generally Greek and Autumnal feel of figs and pomegranates make it appropriate - mostly though it's because I struggle to spell pomegranate (I try to put in another 'm', spell check changes it to permanganate which baffles me, and the whole thing becomes very stressful) Persephone I'm fine with. 

This is a lovely jam and absolutely worth making, figs in supermarkets are fiendishly expensive but I managed to buy well over a kilo of them for £3 from my local market. It was the end of the day and they were going cheap, normal price is four for a pound which is still considerably cheaper than the supermarket rate, so it's worth shopping around as 400g is roughly nine to ten figs.

  

Tea with Diana Henry

Autumn with it's mists and mellow fruitfulness (though sadly this year it's more fruitless than otherwise) is when the lure of the kitchen really kicks back in, that there are so many tempting new cookbooks on the market is only further encouragement. My favourite new book of the season so far is Diana Henry's 'Salt Sugar Smoke' that I first wrote about last week. After that post Diana sent me an email - it was one of those rare occasions that feels like a daydream come true; she asked if I would like to come to afternoon tea at her house with about a dozen other bloggers. Would I? Yes indeed I would.

'Salt Sugar Smoke' is brilliant, Diana Henry is the sort of writer I love to read, her books are full of possibilities that go far beyond cooking; food is such a vivid way into other peoples lives and way of life. Books by chefs are all well and good but they are generally more concerned with the mechanics of cooking - I'm interested in the technical stuff, but it doesn't always feed the imagination in the same way that the likes of Claudia Roden and Jane Grigson do when they include all those bits of history, legend, and anecdote. I discovered those two at about the same time - my copies of their books are battered penguin paperbacks that I used to read on the bus. Before that it wouldn't have occurred to me that you could read recipes for fun. For me Diana Henry is very much in this tradition - I have no higher praise to bestow - she really is that good.

It could then have been terrifying to go to her house - I'm not good at meeting new people, especially ones I admire. I'm not to worried about saying anything stupid so much as being able to talk at all. Happily Diana was amazingly welcoming, I still can't quite believe she was willing to turn her kitchen over to a dozen bloggers, but she did and it was a treat. Food bloggers are a slightly different tribe to book bloggers - mostly they have better cameras and aren't afraid to use them. Everything was very well documented before it was eaten which felt mildly surreal from my point of view and makes me wonder if there's an etiquette to this kind of thing along the lines of kissing someone's cheek on greeting?  

I should probably have taken more pictures myself except that I was mesmerised not so much by the food as the books - hundreds of wonderful books, many of them in reassuring piles on chairs and the floor (just like mine) I could have spent hours browsing the titles looking to spot familiar spines. It was a wonderful collection - and apparently only the half of it - I have serious book envy.

The food was excellent, a selection of things from the book which has confirmed my desire to make the fig and pomegranate jam without delay as well as to acquire a suitable bit of salmon to turn into gravlax. Whilst in London I managed to pick up some Quinces as well - they've proved even more elusive than usual here in Leicester - so I also have the very agreeable prospect of deciding what to do with them, it's a bit of a toss up between jelly or a liquor at the moment. Altogether it was a fun and very inspiring afternoon - definitely a privilege to have taken part in, and you can probably guess what most people will be getting from me for Christmas this year.   

Salt Sugar Smoke - Diana Henry

Years ago I got a really good book about preserving called, of all things, 'Preserved' by Nick Sandler and Johnny Acton. It's a fantastic book with instructions on how to do everything I could imagine including building your own hot smoker, cold smoker, thing for slow drying stuff, and other stuff I can't even remember. It also had the best recipe for candied oranges I've ever found. However there comes a point in life when you have to admit to yourself that you'll never build a smoker (hot or cold), I reached that point at about the same time a friend started building his so I copied out the orange recipe and passed on the book.

Since then I've been on the look out for something that would take it's place and perhaps be better suited to my actual cooking habits. 'Salt Sugar Smoke' is without doubt that book. Diana Henry's 'Roast Figs Sugar Snow' was an impressive if belated introduction to my newest kitchen heroine but 'Salt Sugar Smoke' is the title that confirms that this is love - the real thing and not just a summer romance. 

As with 'Roast Figs Sugar Snow' the inspiration for recipes come from across the globe and that's always exciting; all those things available on every supermarket shelf that I'm never quite sure what to do with suddenly taking on a world of possibility - it's heady stuff. September is jam month for me, lots of foragable stuff is available in hedgerows or gardens and what I can't find for free is often obtainable at farmers markets so it's fitting that Jam is the subject of the first chapter. There have been no shortage of Jam books published over the last couple of year so I wasn't sure I'd find anything new here, I was wrong. There is a legendary French Jam maker - Christine Ferber; Greengage and Gewürztraminer, Pear and Chestnut, and Blackberry and Pinot Noir jams are all pure Ferber (her inspiration is credited) which saves me having to pay a fortune for her books in translation. I have made the Damson and Gin jam, it's excellent and it's sod's law that this is such a bad year for fruit trees because I could have made gallons of it. 

On the immanent to do list is Fig and Pomegranate jam which I think should be exotic enough to make memorable presents. There is also a Lime and Rum marmalade, and it occurs to me that if I add a bit of mint I'll basically have a Mojito I can put on toast...

After that there are various tempting things that can be preserved in vinegar and oil, and a chapter on hot smoking. Henry uses a wok and recommends stove top smokers which are apparently quite affordable, I might research this, and also how it's likely to react with my smoke detector, I like the idea but don't want the neighbours to hate me. There's also a good section on brining which I've heard about but never done, as all I really need to do with that is plan ahead it's got to be worth trying. I have other long held ambitions regarding successfully curing herring (I've already done it unsuccessfully) and making my own gravlax - there are recipes for both which look good.

After the jams though the real draw for me in this collection comes in the chapter on 'Cordials, Alcohols, Fruits and Spoon Sweets' specifically Alcohols. It's not to late to make sloes in apple brandy (liqueur de blosses) which sounds wonderful - more mellow than gin or vodka, and if it's more expensive, well it will be correspondingly special. This is also the best possible time for making Russian Plum Liqueur - both would be ready in time for Christmas but that's not nearly all... 

There are a handful of recipes that constitute the absolute last word in luxury preserving - prunes in armagnac with vanilla, prunes in a mix of rum, eau de vie and monbazillac, and perhaps best of all apricots in muscat; I can picture them now; glowing dried apricots plumped up in luscious, golden, sticky wine. They take about a month to be ready and will keep for a year. Some times food columnists talk about how handy it is to have crumble ingredients or the like prepped in the freezer for those times when unexpected guests come round and you simply must have an emergency pudding. I've never found myself with that problem but if I did I'd rather whip out some apricots in muscat and a decent pot of yoghurt than defrost something nameless from the back of the freezer. Seriously this has to be a contender for best cookbook of the year. 

    

Roast Figs Sugar Snow - Diana Henry

You know it's an unseasonably cool summer when you find yourself leafing through a cookbook with a blurb that reads "...Diana Henry's collection of cold-weather recipes from the chillier parts of Europe and North America..." for dinner time inspiration.

Diana Henry has comprehensively slipped under my radar for years. She writes in The Telegraph which I have been known to read but apparently I wasn't paying attention. She's also got a string of cookbooks to her name which apart from 'Roast Figs Sugar Snow'  I'd also never really picked up on until the latest one came out; 'Food From Plenty'. It looked intriguing enough for me to see what else Henry had written which bought me back to 'Roast Figs Sugar Snow' which I'd half thought about buying for years. I've read somewhere else about Henry not having quite the success she deserves but hopefully that's changing as her old titles have been reprinted and better yet at very reasonable prices.

So here I am in July hugging a winter cookbook for warmth. I wanted it mostly for the game recipes, between the local market, my mothers new found love of shooting things (retirement sounds wonderful), and my blonde friend's willingness to do the plucking and other gory bits, I came out of winter with a freezer full of things that used to be feathered. It's a case of waste not want not (you know things are bad in my house when it's pheasant for dinner, again) but after a six month plus sojourn on ice something exciting is called for to cover the freezer burn. 

The game section in here is good, I used the recipe for stuffed quail with marmalade and whisky for some partridges - and very nice they were too, there's another recipe for Russian partridge with beetroot and sour cream that's just waiting to be tried, but that's just the beginning. It's refreshing to see something that looks to the North for inspiration, I have nothing against Mediterranean inspired food, heaven knows I've roasted enough tomatoes in my time - not to mention a near obsession with basil, but you can have enough even of a good thing. 

By North I don't just mean the currently fashionable Scandinavia either, Diana Henry has gone to all sorts of places where the snow falls to get her inspiration and material. Recipes from Northern France and Italy along with America, Canada, Ireland, Russia and more - which is the genius of this book - there's a whole world of inspiration in here for when the temperature dips and something comforting is called for which suits my inner magpie instinct very well. Without wishing the year away I am rather looking forward to when more of the ingredients come into season, the only pity here is that I want to cook like this in the middle of 'summer'.