Our menu changes every single day, and from lunch to dinner. We have a few dishes that remain on the menu throughout the week, however as soon as new seasonal ingredients arrive through the back door then new dishes grace our menus. We love a change in season, and a few game items are now taking pride of place on our menus, including wild rabbits from Wickam Market and fallow deer from Tunstal. We currently get our lamb from Mr. & Mrs. Eglington, and the lamb is truly tasty and packed full of flavour. Our best discovery, though, was the herd of Hebridean sheep grazing on the Wildlife Trust land right next door to us. Suffolk is a magical place and it clearly reminds us of why we are here – the county has such an abundance of wonderful foodie ingredients to offer, enough to keep us occupied for a very long time!

English lamb is at its most tender from May to June, and as the season progresses, the flavour of the meat develops and it becomes richer. Once an English lamb is 12 months old it becomes a hogget and once it gets two permanent incisor teeth it becomes mutton. To tenderise lamb, keep the meat submerged in sunflower oil infused with garlic, rosemary and thyme and a few crushed white peppercorns for up to two days.

This dish is a combination of lots of ingredients I simply adore. Artichokes, beetroot, lamb and fennel. For this recipe I made a puree with the fennel and even used the beetroot leaves.

Artichokes are not only delicious and tasty but are also beautiful in the garden or even in a flower arrangement. They can be difficult to grow and the plants do not normally bear any fruit in the first year. Artichokes thrive in soil with a high salt content and it’s said that seaweed is the best fertilizer for them. Globe and baby artichokes (all grown on the same plant) are the fruits of thistle-like plants thought to be native to North Africa, South Asia and the Mediterranean. The cultivated artichoke is a descendant of the wild cardoon.

Preparing artichokes is a time-consuming but rewarding activity. They oxidise as soon as you cut into the flesh and therefore should be dipped in an ice-cold water solution with a high concentrate of citrus or acid such as vitamin C powder. Even lemon juice or white wine vinegar helps to prevent the discolouration. Pop a few ice cubes into the water – it keeps the artichokes crisp and makes it easier to peel them.

We stayed in the glamorous Hudson Hotel with it’s beautiful minimalistic but striking interior and super tiny rooms. You need to be a size 6 to stay in the rooms because there is no room to turn around, Philip Stark did a good job and designed a beautiful hotel but boy oh boy did he not allow any space for ones suitcase. Anyhow we did not spend that much time in the room as we were busy testing out all the foodie establishments.

The hotel is situated near the foot of Central Park near the Time Warner Building and home to Bouchon Bakery. Thomas Keller is a very creative and clever business man. We visited the bakery every morning for a coffee and a different treat every time. We loved sitting at the high tables, close to the counter to watch the chefs at work through the hatch. We found the perfect spot and sometimes found ourselves there for too long observing them. They were superb craftspersons and produced the most stunning and beautiful goods.

Mr.P became partial to a biscuit fairly similar to this salted peanut brittle biscuit. He had the ideas in his head for quite some time to recreate that indulgent buttery salty taste of those Bouchon Peanut Butter Biscuits. The recipe is entirely a development of our own and after a few attempts we finally recreated a recipe that we feel represents the taste sensation of the biscuits of New York.

Watching the world go by in New York City is wonderful and sometimes very amusing too. At Bouchon they baked Foie Grass Dog Biscuits as the early joggers with their posh pooches stopped off for a skinny de-caf, a slice of watermelon and a delectable treat for the dog. We struck up a conversation with the ladies behind the counter as they eagerly told us a tale about a chap that came in regularly to buy himself one of these doggy treats. He was constantly told that the biscuits were for his dog and not for  him but he insisted that  it was delicious and continued nibbling away. Well that story left us giggling all day, typically a tale of New York.

I found the original recipe very rich and the treacle was a bit too much for me, especially when the loaf matured after one day, it was very strong. Nevertheless it’s a superb recipe and I love Dans reference to  this recipe being the original British “energy bar”.

We particularly enjoyed it toasted for breakfast with a thin scraping of slightly salted butter and a cup of ‘builders’ tea. It’s the perfect loaf to start my busy and hectic day.

When I first read the recipe I was baffled about malt extract as I had neither heard of  nor used it, so I was slightly unnerved as I did not no where to get it  or what I could use instead. I was determined to make this recipe as it was meant to be, so after a bit of internet research I realised it’s a normal regularly used ingredient. I found that the Julian Graves stores stock malt extract so I trotted off to our tiny town centre and to my sheer delight  I found a jar.

Dan’s recipe says that you can use raisins or prunes, I decided on prunes as I’m not a great fan of raisins. I also chose to use St Peters golden ale and Woodbridge Mills whole meal flour that I had bought from the Snape farmers market last month. I could nearly call this loaf a Suffolk Power loaf, I wonder if Dan would approve ?

I liked the tip of lining the loaf tin with oats, I thought it gave my loaf the perfect professional touch. It looked well rounded off and also added to the final taste.

I feel less guilty about indulging in this loaf as it’s got all the makings of a healthy product, shall we just turn a blind eye to the butter and golden syrup!?

As I found this loaf keeps well and after a day or two it’s even more delicious. I have frozen a few leftover slices and it comes in very handy to be toasted for breakfast.

This malted prune loaf will be lovely in a picnic basket at the seaside as it gives everyone extra energy to enjoy a swim in the sea.

Following the success of the British Larder website, we have decided to take the next step and give the concept a spiritual and physical home. As Mr P puts it, “This will be a place to taste and touch what you see on the British Larder website.”

We have wonderful and far-reaching plans for the new restaurant, which will be christened the British Larder, Suffolk. In the first instance we will make the place look pretty with all the necessary British Larder paraphernalia, such as jars of cookies and baskets of bread, as well as some new furnishings to make the place look and feel more like home!

Why Suffolk? Well, it was love at first sight and, after several conversations with Polly and Tim from Food Safari, we decided it’s the place where we would like to grow old together. This captivating corner of England has so much to offer, not least fantastic local suppliers offering superb food from land and sea.

The idea is that the British Larder Suffolk will be all about being local, and we will be using local farms and producers to source our ingredients so that the fantastic food which ends up on your plate didn’t travel very far to get there!

The website will continue to develop, with more mouth-watering recipes, along with reminiscences about my career in cooking. Unfortunately, we won’t initially have a kitchen garden for the meantime, but we will be making the most of the wonderful wild produce around us.

The story of our relationship with food has a romantic flavour. We met in the kitchen and spent several years working together as professional chefs. Having subsequently worked for different companies, we had a yearning to cook together again. We make a great team, sharing a passion for high quality food, yet having different approaches and attitudes which complement each other perfectly. We’ve also collected just about every kitchen gadget known to man and are running out of space in our house!

Running our own establishment is an exciting but daunting prospect. However, we’re both totally committed and look forward to turning that commitment into success. Here’s to the future of the British Larder Suffolk!

As you know by now I’m not quite normal and find it hard to do things the standard way, there has to be a twist somewhere along the line. Perhaps I’m putting too much pressure on myself to be slightly different or perhaps it just comes naturally.

Mr.P and I enjoy eating a good chicken Caesar salad as it is satisfying and has lots of different textures and does not leave you feeling heavy and bloated.

I made this particular dish into a portion big enough for a main coarse but if you wish you can  make a smaller amount and serve  as a starter.

It’s not always about the gimmicks and twists  that make a great dish but it’s also about good quality ingredients that are to be enjoyed when in season. These baby gem lettuces are from my small kitchen garden and this year I had better success as I introduced kolhrabi, a member of the brassicas. This was planted next to the lettuces and this helped to minimise  the pest problems which allowed us to enjoy a lovely harvest of baby gems. The chicken is from a farm near Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, I go specially to the Snape farmers market to buy these chickens as they are plump and delicious.

These Sutton Hoo Chickens are very big, the average weight is 2kg. This is enough to make stock from the bones and at least two meals for the two of us from the legs and breast or alternatively its sufficient for four people. I roasted the legs, flaked the meat down and then made the small pots of chicken. It’s fun and adds that extra texture and enjoyment into eating the dish. The Caesar dressing and Parmesan cheese also found itself revamped into a mousse textured foam, I served that in a small glass jar on the plate.

It’s great fun, gets a wow at the dinner table and would also make a great dish to take along on a picnic.

We discovered Arabica Food and Spice at Borough market about two years ago and fell in love with the range of quality products that they sell. We got hooked on their spices Ras-el-Hanout and Wild Sumac, these are available elsewhere but nothing beats the quality from Arabica Food and Spice. Ever heard or used the phrase “you get what you pay for” well that is definitely so with these ingredients.

We met up with James Walters from Arabica Food and Spice and went for a “jamming session” in his kitchen. It was a fun day cooking on James’ house boat, we were perhaps slightly over ambitious attempting to do too many recipes and perhaps got a bit  drawn into the chore of cooking and  forget about the enjoyment factor. But all in all it was a fantastic day, the main aim was to use as many of Arabica Food and Spice’s ingredients and we certainly achieved that.

We used the wild sumac in the orange polenta shortbreads to compliment the citrus undertones from the orange, and  we also sprinkled some sumac over the mango and orange salad inside the pudding. We made  orange blossom air, by adding the orange blossom water to yoghurt and then dispensed it from a cream whipper which was charged with nitrous oxide. The gas injection expanded the volume of the orange blossom flavoured yoghurt and created the most delicious and fragrant mousse texture.

I wanted to use Alphonso mangoes for the pudding but unfortunately these were not available  but they will be coming in season very soon so they would be a great substitute for the normal mangoes that I used. The added floral fragrance alongside the orange blossom air, transforms this delicious pudding into something rather spectacular.

Instead  I have added a delicious creamy Oxford Blue to the mayonnaise base to add a touch of zing, difference and excitement to this old classic.

Well I never thought that I would ever hear myself saying a Waldorf salad looks sexy but this one does. This salad does not only look fantastic but also tastes wonderful. I have chosen to use Oxford Blue cheese, I like the perfect balance of the creaminess, acid and the fragrance of the blue. You could substitute the Oxford Blue for any creamy blue cheese of your choice, such as Roquefort, Gorgonzola or Suffolk Blue.

This  Waldorf  version works for me on all levels, it’s got a diverse range of textures from the crisp crunch of the granny Smith apples, celery and  the roasted walnuts to the soft texture of the crumbly Oxford Blue and finally the creaminess of the Oxford Blue dressing.

It’s not only the textures that deliver and make this salad exciting but also the flavours. The strength of the blue cheese stands up against the tang of the granny Smith apple and the pepperiness of the watercress. All the flavours and textures work well together and make this salad interesting and delicious, or shall I say memorable and exciting.

I have chosen to use Granny Smith apples as I wanted the tangy sharpness that this variety of apple brings to this dish. You can customise your Waldorf salad to suit your own tastes, choose an apple of your choice, or even change the walnuts for others such as cobnuts, pecan nuts or hazelnuts.

Well seriously we get angry with these birds especially as they raid the freshly sown fields and farmers try their utmost to keep them at bay. I have seen some incredibly funky and clever tricks that farmers use from dangling glimmering old CD’s to a scarecrow or even a fake shotgun sound randomly clapping away at all hours of the day. The truth is  nothing really works. There are too many of them and if you can’t beat it, eat it!

Woodpigoens are delicious and have been a delicacy served on many restaurant menus for generations. The saddest thing was that when I used to work as a young chef in a top London restaurant we used to receive these plump birds from France. The memory is clear as if it was yesterday, we received them with their heads, feet on and insides intact. My first job of the morning at 6:30am was to gut these birds and you could still see the food they had eaten. You might think that’s a bad memory but for me it’s beautiful memory for me to savour, but it did make me gag at the time.

Woodpigeons can be absolutely awful if they are over cooked, so the trick of the trade is to cook them lightly and serve it pink or medium rare. Resting  is just as important as the cooking, the normal rule of thumb is to rest the meat for the same length as the cooking time. This ensures that the meat absorbs all the moisture it lost during  cooking  and there is no excess “blood” like liquid on the plate, the meat relaxes and is juicy and tender.

I also recommend that you should buy woodpigeons from a reputable supplier or someone you know, you do not want to purchase a bird riddled with lead pellets.

The pickled morels, watercress emulsion and salt-baked Cheltenham beetroots compliment  the woodpigeon meat perfectly.There is not a season for Woodpigeons , they could be eaten all year round but I prefer them in the spring or autumn when it’s more temperate and they can graze on plenty of good food, the birds are plump and well fed. In the bitter cold winter months there is not much for them to eat so they are a bit on the thin side and during the summer they are active and work really hard.

I hope that the London restaurant chefs will change their opinions and start to use our own British woodpigeons and help the British farmers to make use of these tasty local annoyances.

As a matter of fact these have been  on my mind and have featured on my “to do list” ever since and that is to recreate Simon’s Orange and Polenta Biscuits.

I remember the orange fragrance and grittiness of the polenta very clearly,so it was a challenge  but I finally  made the time to create and perfect my own version of my distant memory of last summer.

I made and tweaked the recipe a few times  before I decided that I have done Simon justice and I’m happy with the result. I wanted to capture the flavours and textures. These biscuits are very short and crumble easily but the radical contrast in the texture of the polenta grains and the shortness that the cornflour brings to this recipe makes it even more exciting. In order to enhance and compliment the sharpness and acidic level of the orange flavour  I garnished each biscuits with wild sumac.The sumac has a sharp sour twang and compliments and  magnifies the orange fragrance and the best of all is it’s all natural.

What is sumac? Sumac is a deep red purple berry that grows on a small tree like shrub and is one of 250 species of flowering trees from the genus Rhus and is in the family anacardiaceae. Edible wild sumac is not to be confused with poisonious sumac which also has red berries. The two varieties are related and are also distantly related to the mango and cashew trees. The purple red berry is dried, ground and often used as a spice in Middle Eastern cuisine to add a lemony tang to salads and meats. In Arabic cuisines sumac is used to sprinkle over mezze such as hummus. In Iranian, Kurdish and Persian cuisines sumac is added to rice and kebabs. Sumac is also best known for its use in the composition of Za’atar spice mix as its the main ingredient.

We arrived at  1am and with only 1 1/2 hours sleep we were both slightly delirious, it was a bitterly cold morning and one found it rather difficult to believe it was spring. As you can see  some of my photos were slightly shaky, I’m not one hundred percent sure if that is down to me shivering due to the cold or the lack of sleep or  too much coffee, it could be  a combination of all three.

Anyhow we had fun and that was the main aim, we cooked three delicious recipes and it was a sheer joy to watch the “locals”, market stall holders and customers tucking in. It was convincing enough and our tactics worked as some customers were inspired to go and buy boxes of asparagus.

The arrival of the British asparagus season is a joyous one as it’s almost an indication that summer is on it’s way. British Asparagus is classed as the best in the world and is corroborated by our national consumption figures, which shows that we have a healthy appetite for these delicate stems. Most people still class asparagus as a delicacy and when the British season starts it features with pride on most restaurant menus. The season normally runs from May till June, but with the very cold winter and a chilly and slow start to the spring the British asparagus season has suffered slightly.

There are many classic asparagus recipes and a few ingredients that are synonymous pairing with asparagus and just to mention a few :-  egg, mayonnaise  and Parma ham. Asparagus requires care and attention when cooking, it needs to be quick to prevent over cooking, which will spoil the taste and cause discolouration.

I have recreated the asparagus soup that I cooked for the NCGM event in May. The method is straight forward as I cook the soup base with plenty of onions, sliced potatoes, white wine and stock. Once the soup base is ready I pan fry the asparagus stalks and heads quickly in olive oil and blend it all together with a dash of double cream. I use as much of the asparagus spear as possible, the only part that is not edible is the very tip of the stalk which is  woody and tough.

Visiting New Covent Garden Market  brought back plenty of lovely memories of when I was a young chef working in London. I worked for a short while at a delicatessen where we used to go to the market early in the morning to buy our ingredients. We used to do that twice a week and for busy weekends when we had functions I made the odd third trip too. As a real girl liking all pretty things in life we used to stop every now and then at the flower market next door to indulge in the array and display of colour. The fruit and vegetable market was just as impressive as I remembered it with large piles of vegetables beautifully displayed.

The menu for the NCGM event was:

Cream of Asparagus Soup

Asparagus wrapped in Parma Ham with a wasabi dip

Bruchetta with Asparagus spears and Gribiche

Ruth Holbrook compiled a leaflet with asparagus fun facts, with her consent I thought that it would be good to share these fun facts with you:

• Purple asparagus is a different variety and it is sweeter and softer than green.
• Wild or Bath asparagus(also know as spiked star of Bethlehem) is a rare plant found mainly around the City of Bath.
• White asparagus is our green favourite which has been deprived of sunlight and is very popular in Europe where it’s know as “white gold”.
• The Asparagus season is closely guarded by growers, with the first outside crops in late April (weather permitting) to the last on the Summer solstice. Every spear harvested after that depletes the flavour of the next years crop, this might explain why other countries’ asparagus isn’t so tasty.
• The aphrodisiac quality of asparagus is much touted, it was claimed by herbalist Nicholas Culpepper in the 1600’s to ’stir up lust in man and woman’, and has been used as such ever since.It is recommend to eat it for three consecutive days to maximize the libido-enhancing effect!
• Different areas of Britain have distinct asparagus-growing qualities over others – Isle of Wight asparagus gets above average light and warmth so the season comes in early. Norfolk asparagus grows slowly giving it an intense flavour.
• In wholesale markets asparagus is called “grass”. This does not refer to how it looks or is grown, but comes from the 17th century folk slang which altered the latin word ‘asparagus’ into the more Anglo-friendly ‘Sparrowgrass’ – the name has stuck.
• Asparagus is not really a vegetable, it is in fact a member of the Lilly family, along with tulips and hyacinths.