Changing Food… One Meal At A Time!
Autumn
Jan Fullwood Food Consultant
(aka JamJarJan)
NOTES FROM A CHAOTIC KITCHEN
Welcome to daily life in a chaotic, well-used kitchen…..
A constantly busy, always evolving space: full of cooking, eating and creating (dinner, treats, mess), for work and for play, for family and friends.
Let me introduce myself and my family:
- A Food and Recipe Consultant who is ‘never knowingly under-catered’, I’ll whip up a five-minute muffin mix at a moment’s notice. I’m constantly creating, evaluating and tasting, always cooking, eating and learning something new
- Long-suffering Hub, who just wants a clutter-free kitchen and peace and quiet. Happiest in the garden. He grows, I cook and preserve
- Eldest Cheffy Son and his Pastry-chef girlfriend, who cook catering quantities of restaurant quality food at every opportunity
- Protein & carb-obsessed younger Student Son, currently at uni. Loves food, but cooking not his forte - student survival skills ongoing
We all eat to live. Let me help you live to eat.
Share my learning and experiences to make the most of your meals too.
What's in Jan's Pan?
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2026
Work in progress!
August was full of family gatherings and full-on feasting, as Student son returned from his travels and Cheffy son and Personal Pastry Chef have finished work, so we've made the most of being all together again for a heady 6 weeks as summer draws to a close.
Student son is now an expert on Asian Food, particularly noodle dishes such as me goreng for breakfast, but he couldn’t wait for some of the good old English fare that he’d missed out on while he was away.
He wasn't disappointed, as Cheffy son and our private pastry chef left their jobs in preparation for travelling at the beginning of October and frankly haven’t stopped cooking since. Needless to say, we have all eaten very well.
In particular, we have been playing with our new toy the Kamodo Joe. It's a ceramic grill and charcoal oven and we've been learning how to cook pizzas now we have no pizza oven, as well as experimenting with low slow roasting and smoking. Every time we learn a little more about how to get the best out of this beast.
We enjoyed family gatherings with both branches of the family, first in a wonderful house called Chime House in Christchurch near Bournemouth (not the New Zealand town!), where we raised a final glass or too to Grandad and the Chefs came up trumps with a celebration meal.
Then we spent August bank holiday in Devon, with all its brunching, sea-swimming, otters (the Dartmoor Otter Sanctuary was a particular hightlight), fabulous farm shops seaside fish and chips and holiday ice creams. The long awaited Rockfish has finally opened at the end of the prom, along with the Salcombe Tap Bar, so we made sure we checked that out too.
There’s been been plenty to play with from the garden since we've been back, so check out the produce below including ideas for a gorgeous gem lettuce glut.
We'll soon be back to beingEmpty-nesters (second time round - you get used to it and then they return). As the eldest fly off on their Big adventure, and student son finishes his studies, we'll have to get use to an empty house, and considerably emptier stomachs with no chefs to feed us any more. I'm sure I've eaten enough to last me for the whole of their time away so perhaps we may get back to a more sensible weight and eat at sensible times once again. Good for the body but perhaps not for the soul, I'm going to miss that constant busy hubbub in the kitchen. I may even have to learn how to cook for myself again...
Kamado Joe Cooking
We've had a huge amount of fun testing the many facets of cooking styles on our new toy. We replaced our beloved pizza oven after 13 years of wood-fired fun. But its time was up as a crack in the base caused a near catastrophe when the supporting timbers caught fire and started smouldering during our long hot summer.
Since Cheffy son left work, he hasn't stopped experimenting with it, and with previous experience of using this type of ceramic grills and egg style bbq smoker, he's been honing his skills, and showing us exactly what our new outdoor oven is capable of.
Hub has built a whole new outdoor kitchen, and set the oven up in the best position to ensure there's no chance of the neighbour's fence being at risk again (after the pizza oven it has replaced nearly burnt the whole place down).
We've had pizza parties in the rain, seared and grilled steak and slow cooked joints of meat and we've dabbled with smoking too.
What's in Jan's veg patch
Luscious lettuce
flying saucer patty pan
Big peppers and small chillies
runner beans
What's in Jan's air fryer
oast patty pan with crispy sage
What's on Jan's plate
Rockfish restaurant has finally opened in Sidmouth, turning the end of the Esplanade into a proper destination and bringing the old Drill Hall back to life. Built in 1895 it was originally used by the Devon Volunteer Rifles and the building has been restored to house Mitch Tonk's eleventh restaurant. It's been sympathetically restored and includes tiles adorned with local landmarks, sich as Jacob's ladder here. I chose the megrim sole, which I'd never tried before - the fish is all MSC sustainable seafood. The waiter shows what fish is available that day, and highlights it in a distinctly fishy way, as you see bottom right above. With 'bottomless' chips, we were a happy bunch.
The Salcombe Tap Bar has opened next to it, with a view over the cliffs and east beach that draws people in to sit and drink in the views as they sup their craft beers.
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