Changing Food… One Meal At A Time!
Summer
Jan Fullwood Food Consultant
(aka JamJarJan)
NOTES FROM A CHAOTIC KITCHEN
Welcome to day to day life in a chaotic well used kitchen…..
A constantly evolving kitchen: always busy, full of cooking 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 eating, always cooking and learning something new.
- Long-suffering Hub who just wants a clutter-free kitchen (and longs for a bit of peace and quiet). Happiest in the garden.
- Eldest cheffie son and his patisserie chef girlfriend who cook catering quantities of delicious food at every opportunity for us to sample (hard job, but someone’s got to do it)
- Protein & carb obsessed younger son set for uni (cooking not his forte - self survival skills urgently required)
We all eat to live. Let me help you live to eat.
What's in Jan's Pan?
July 2025
No musical signature tune comes to mind this month, but there's definitely a sports theme this July. It started with the hottest first day of Wimbledon ever (apparently) and ended with the Lionesses holding on to their Euro title, putting the public through penalty perjury along the way but emerging triumphant.
Wimbledon is always high on my agenda, not only for the comforting pit pat of balls as the soundtrack for my day (or perhaps thwack thwack - there were some impressive but aggressive rallies this year) but also for the excuse to eat strawberries and drink Pimms (with ginger beer or tonic rather than sickly sweet lemonade). Apparently 34.8 tonnes of a variety of strawberry called ‘Malling Centenary’ are eaten at the tournament each year, all grown by one family-run local business.
I don't have quite that quantity of fruit in my garden (the alpines certainly wouldn't meet demand), but it is a constant round of picking and preserving. The plums have peaked, along with the blackcurrants and even the brambles are bearing very ripe blackberries. The redcurrants are all gone, as are the gooseberries - I blinked and missed those, the birds clearly guage exactly when they are ready. The aronia berries (also known as choke berries) are the same - a less well known fruit but the birds are well aware of their superfruit status so it's a race to pick them first.
It's courgette glut season too, I was gifted 5kg (alongside those in my veg box and own garden patch) which set me off on a courgette challenge, one I'm happy to embrace. Courgettes have to be one of the most versatile of veg and can be cooked every which way, each method changing their nature completely. From slow cooked and unctuous to crispy courgette fries, I defy anyone not to like them in one form or another. Read on for my suggestions to make that pile gradually disappear.
The July weather has been conducive to much Riverside dining. From the local River Lee to the Thames, along the Stour and up to the Trent, there were some fabulous new discoveries alongside regular favourites. A trip to the Ware Food festival in the Priory Gardens alongside the River Lea revealed some local foodie finds, and the Guild of Fine Foods announced the results of this year's Great Taste Awards and the identity was revealed for some of the products I tasted blind earlier this year. Everywhere I look there are examples of these awards, and the food festival was no exception. It's such a boost to small businesses, these prestigious awards really do help to identify quality products worth trying.
Almost on cue, the weather changed as soon as the school holidays began, but I'm no longer beholden to those restrictions so I can revel in my release. For once I welcomed the cooling rain and was glad to be relieved of my garden watering duties and set to preserving all my garden pickings instead. Things are gearing up for the women’s rugby next so it’s time to settle down with my Great Taste tasters, some good cheese and my favourite plum chutney. Come on ladies, let’s do this!
What's in Jan's Pan
Welcome to July's courgette challenge!
The humble courgette is the master of disguises. See how one vegetable can reinvent itself in many different forms:
Top right
Griddled courgettes with burrata salad with slow roast tomatoes (see what's in Jan's airfryer) and the last of the homegrown lettuce. (Crisp up any limp lettuce with a stint in some icy cold water then shake and dry in a tea towel. This can be kept in a bag lined with kitchen paper in the fridge for a couple of days).
Drizzle with Great Taste 3 star Mazzetti L’Originale balsamic vinegar of Modena, a beautifully well balanced and good value quality vinegar (£9.95 for 250g in Sainsbury’s). Sprinkle with toasted pine nuts and you’re sorted.
Middle right
Jammy courgettes, recipe courtesy of Emily Gussin. Find her recipe on her Instagram and on Substack. Super versatile, the courgettes are sliced and cooked down until they soften and collapse. Her suggestions are to stir through pasta, or use as a topping for bruschetta or hummus. Best of all, the mix can be frozen to whip out once the fresh courgettes are long gone. I’ll be using them in risottos and frittatas too. Next time I’m going to add some butter for frying to add more flavour (keep the oil so it doesn’t burn), and will add some fresh herbs too. Courgettes happily welcome thyme, mint, chives and marjoram or oregano, even lemon balm as partners, they’re such easy going chaps. Besides, buttery fried courgettes are my favourite way to eat them, after all.
Bottom right
Crispy courgette fries
I first fell in love with the Zucchini fries at Polpo in Soho so I wanted to recreate these crisp matchsticks.
I used spirallised or very fine matchsticks and soaked them in milk then dusted them with seasoned flour. These are usually deep fried but to save the faff of hot oil I experimented with these in the airfryer. 5mins at 200C gives a variable result but I also found that a spritz of oil and dusting of flour worked quite well if you don't mind them being very crispy and slightly charred. Not to Polpo's standard, but crunchy and moreish nevertheless. I still need to work on this one...
Bottom middle
Courgette and chickpea fritters
Mix 1 grated and squeezed courgette (use a clean tea towel to squeeze out the moisture) with 100g drained chickpeas, 50g gram (chickpea) flour and 1 egg. Add seasoning and flavourings of your choice. Sliced fresh chilli and chopped mint work well. Add some grated hard cheese if you fancy (a hard goat's cheese adds tang - I found another 1 star product to test, Woldsway from St Helen’s Farm.) Add a little of the aquafaba (chickpea liquid) to loosen and bind if necessary to give a spoonable consistency. Shallow fry spoonfuls for 2-3 minutes each side until crisp and browned. Delicious as a base for a fried or poached egg.
Bottom Left
Courgetti Spaghetti
Use a spiraliser to make long strips and use as an alternative to spaghetti if you're going carb free, or bulk out cooked wholewheat spaghetti by stirring in just before draining. Save some of the pasta water and stir in a couple of tablespoons of tapenade and sundried tomato paste to make a simple sauce. Add halved cherry tomatoes and top with some feta, goat's cheese or mozzarella balls with basil. Top with some of the crispy fries for extra crunch.
Plenty more options left to try now, as every food writer worth their salt touts their favourite recipes at this time of year. Courgette cakes, fritatta, our favourite ratatouille (see June archive for my speedy air fryer version) to name but a few. Fellow food writer, Claire Ruston, claims to be a wiz at making courgettes disappear - she does a great round up from her produce garden in Bulgaria every year, search for her pen name Auntie Bulgaria and you'll find them.
Only another few kilos to go (before the next batch appear on the plant....).
Keep an eye on my Instagram for more ideas as I work my way through the pile.
Ware's annual food festival
The Ware Food Festival is small, but perfectly formed, and provided the perfect Sunday afternoon pastime, spent sampling and chatting to stallholders, many of whom were local producers and small businesses. Great Taste awards were evident all around, and with results of this years awards just announced it was interesting to see the system in action and hear of the producers’ experiences.
French and Day delicatessan had a stall offering a lunctime snack box. Their shop in the high street is a Guild of Fine Food Retailer, and they champion many of the local rarely stock anything without the Guild of Fine Food's Great Taste endorsement. This is the place to choose cheese or charcuterie, or peruse the shop for something a bit special, whilst drinking a cup of coffee with a home made cake or pastel de nata. Community minded and champions of local and British producers, long may their campaign to bring good food to Ware high street continue.
The Hertford Sauce Company (bottom left) has one star for its tomato sauce - a very fresh tasting tomato sauce that bears no resemblance to Heinz (if that's what you insist on), but this is made from tomatoes grown in St Albans and is light and pulpy which allows the tomatoes to sing. Gary told us his story of taking professional product development advice and setting up the business in Lockdown. His production is still fairly small scale, he produces a batch of around 500 bottles of sauce in a small production unit, and sells it in local delis and markets. This small scale operation means the £70 entry fee for a Great Taste Award is a gamble, and the fact he's been operating for a couple of years means he is no longer eligible to enter one product for free. But he agreed that the feedback gained is invaluable, so may consider entering his Brown sauce next year.
He also collaborates with local businesses such as the Hertford Honey Company whose honey is included in the honey barbecue sauce, and he produces limited edition specials such as Cranberry ketchup at Christmas, and Double Cherry. Follow Hertford Sauce Co on Instagram and Facebook to find stockists.
Over on the Stort Valley Gifting stall I rediscovered the Riverside Distillery range where flavoured vodka, gin and whiskey products are presented in beautiful gift-worthy bottles. The cost of producing these means they will soon be discontinued so I snapped up the passionfruit vodka and chocolate whisky (that’s one July birthday gift sorted). I discovered that they have premises in Harlow, where they put together gifting hampers of local food and drink, and invited me to go for a tasting session of the local products they stock, including local Harlow pasta. Definitely one to be tested.
We bought some samosas home (top right) which crisped up beautifully on the reheat setting on the air fryer (definitely seeing the benefit of my air fryer purchase) and tasted all manner of flavoured cheese (bottom middles). We didn't buy any as we're self-confessed food snobs and cheese purists (there, I’ve said it) but the wholegrain mustard cheese was reminiscent of Welsh cheese Y fenni (which I do love) but Prosecco flavoured was just a step too far.....
We finished off with a slab of 'chocolate school cake' hand made by Mollie of Ted Treats bakery stall, to butter up our headmistress friend whose drive we'd highjacked for some convenient parking close-by. It couldn't have fitted the bill more perfectly.
What's on Jan's plate
Messing About on the River
bottom right
Ravishingly roasted Mediterranean vegetables on sourdough or a saucy sausage sandwich with Baron Bigod and Branston pickle gravy at the The Magpie Hotel in Sunbury Village, the perfect location to sup a beverage or two and watch the fancy river craft cruise by.
The Sunbury Embroidery Gallery Cafe in the walled garden is our usual favourite for homemade soup, freshly made sandwiches and an array of wonderful homemade cakes. A stroll round the garden, past the Lendy Lion war memorial and over to our favourite bench by the river.
Main pic and middle right and middle bottom
The Anchor Inn in Nayland on the River Stour near Colchester was our welcome destination following a walk from the idyllic Rushbanks Farm campsite (again, out of peak season - such a treat).
A tempting blackboard of spritz specials ( I had the aperol with grapefruit soda), delicious well cooked food and a mini Basque cheesecake and coffee to follow (bottom left).
Top right and bottom left
And finally, find of the year, Roux at Skindles on the riverbank by Maidenhead bridge on the Taplow side. A fantastic value 3 course table d’hote menu for £35 eaten on the decking overlooking the Thames on a perfect July day. The menu showcased the skills of the Roux dynasty, as you would hope, with Alain Roux at the helm (we had to clarify the family tree with the waiter, but Alain is Michel Roux senior's son, so Michael of Gavroche fame is his cousin).
My choice was courgette & spinach soup (before I'd hit the glut), or melon and proscuitto, with homemade breads accompanied with a bellini or kir, followed by sea bream with soy and ginger pak choi, edamame beans and crispy onion, and finished with a vanilla pannacotta, mango compote and passion fruit coulis. Simply Delicious.
A £2 donation for the swan rescue charity was added to the bill. Not a problem, but a first hand, and frankly terrifying, encounter with a protective male swan at eye level whilst kayaking on the Stour rather put me off rescuing anyone but myself at the time. An unforgettable brush with nature though, so any means of preserving it is always worthwhile.
Back home, our favourite riverside pub is The Woolpack (considering the number of rivers converging on Hertford, there are surprisingly few). With its sunny spot by the side of the River Lee, we've been known to sneak out for a crafty lunchtime snack and a draught of something cold from the local McMullen's brewery.
Whatever, as they say, floats your boat.
Cheers!
What's in Jan's Air Fryer
Slow roast tomatoes
Halve and toss in oil and cook 180C for 20- 30 mins. This really intensifies and concentrates the flavours.
Perfect for salads and for poking into a focaccia dough before baking.
Sourdough croutons
Toss cubes of bread in enough oil to coat them evenly.
Cook on Max Crisp 240C for 5-10 mins.
A great way to use up sad sourdough past its best (and those that know me well know I hate to waste anything, especially anything homemade). Also the perfect solution to suitably dispose of the flavourful oil from jars such as sun-dried tomatoes or roasted peppers
Toss into your favourite salad for added crunch.
Now, to perfect those courgette fries….
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