Try Next Year
What was in Jan's Pan?
January
January can feel a bit bleak once the Christmas decorations are down and the holidays are over. But with Janus at the helm, looking back at the old year and forwards to the future, it signals the opportunity to clear out the old and welcome the new. Christmas was a non-stop social whirl full of the usual excess and overindulgence (and its fair share of Winter lurgy), and whilst I enjoyed every minute, it’s a relief to finally get back to some sort of routine and reset.
I’m not one for resolutions but New Year is a blank page waiting to review and renew. I love a brand new diary with its empty pages full of promise, but January is never a dull month here. It’s birthday season for both friends and family, and my crisp clear calendar is rapidly filling with new adventures, projects and opportunities.
I’ve already booked myself in onto a workshop for the Guild of Fine Food Great Taste Awards in readiness for my role as coordinator at this year's tasting sessions. This year there are talks from chocolate and coffee specialists, so perhaps I’ll get to appreciate the finer details of the Christmas gifts we received that consisted mainly of tea, coffee and hot chocolate. Anyone would think we like a beverage or two in this house.... (our families know us only too well it would seem).
Now January is underway, I’ve eased back to some sensible eating and exercise with some lighter, brighter meals (too many chestnuts and chipolatas take their toll eventually) and plenty of bracing tennis in minus temperatures (the best way to bust any January blues – including blue fingers and toes). There’s an awful amount of chocolate in the house though, which won’t eat itself but I certainly won’t be denying myself during cold January - everyone needs chocolate in their life, especially in the darker, colder months. We won’t be short of an antioxidant or two to counterbalance the caffeine.
To answer the query from Helen below, apparently the Yorkshire recipe was scaled down from the 6 litres of batter he would normally make which uses around 30 eggs. So we're none the wiser really - Chefs think in bulk and are on a totally different plane to us home cooks!!
Late to the party, I know, but I’ve finally joined the air fryer revolution. You can’t turn the telly on, or look at a bookshelf without seeing a new air fryer recipe book. Air-fryer owners seem to be an elite in-crowd. Even the Chefs survived with an air fryer as their only oven in their first broom cupboard of a flat so I succumbed and treated myself to check out the hype and find what all the fuss is about. For purely professional reasons of course - every Home Economist worth her salt should know how to use one, surely? So I felt I needed to demistify this ‘wonder gadget’.
I really didn’t want to fill the kitchen with yet another worktop appliance (sorry hub), but I’ve managed to sneak it into a corner and we’ve all been experimenting. After all, there is no mystery to it, it’s just a mini oven with the benefits of a more energy efficient and potentially healthier means of cooking quick and easy meals. Would it ever take over from my oven? I doubt it, but it certainly has its place in the kitchen, for those lighter dishes I crave, especially when we’re cooking for two, and also for student son’s Scooby snacks while he’s here.
He raided the cupboards and whipped up a ‘naanizza’ , which satisfied him for a short while (he’s a little and often kind of muncher). There’s one at uni that he can use which satisfies the need for instant meal gratification. If only they’d remember to clean it out between uses (ah, student hygiene hasn’t changed one iota). But I’ve realised that the key to student cooking is plenty of spice to pep up the very basic recipes required for survival, so I’ve sent him back with plenty as his secret weapon.
Meanwhile, we had a lot of sticky sausages cooked in the air fryer whilst entertaining over the festive period (a Good Housekeeping staple at every commercial event back in the day, and still as irresistible as ever), plus a deliciously quick panettone pudding to use up the last bits of my Pandoro . The reheat and dehydration functions are also good – I’ve been told that the dehydrate function gives great results for slow cooked meats too so that’s one to try. Any time saving equipment that helps people to eat from scratch is a winner in my eyes. I’ll certainly be experimenting with my new toy, and will pass on any great finds for those yet to use it to its full potential.
This was just the quick fix we both needed after our circuits class after being put through our paces - just a couple of tins and some spices and we had ourselves a low carb, high protein dinner, full of immune-boosting spices.
I fried some sliced onion with 1/2tsp each of cumin, coriander and turmeric, and grated in lots of fresh ginger and a large clove of garlic until softened and aromatic.
Then I tipped in one 400g tin chopped tomatoes and a 400g tin of lentils with their water and added a tablespoon of red pepper (or tomato puree would do here), seasoned well and left to simmer until thickened.
Meanwhile I popped cubes of paneer into the air fryer at 240C for 5mins which crisped it on every side (no standing and turning). Note: I cooked this on the hob, but I'm sure it could be done in the air fryer if you wanted to, but really the crisp paneer is the star here, and that's what an air fryer does best.)
I should have added the shredded Brussels to soften for a couple of minutes towards the end of cooking the paneer, but I took the paneer out first.... and the picture in the next box shows what happened - a perfectly crisped liner too....
Finished with nigella seeds and crispy fried onions this hit the spot.
This sort of speedy shortcut meal may not be an authentic dahl, but it has its place. Everyone needs to know a good basic recipe, cooked from scratch which can either be simplified or dressed up. I've realised that Student Son needs a super simple recipe, and this would suit him well (probably topped with chicken or chorizo though, knowing him). He's found that spices are the key to student survival to liven up mince, chicken or sauces so I sent him packing with a good stash from my overflowing store. His repetoire is expanding though (with a few nudges and suggestions from me), so we'll make a chef of him yet.
Air fryer silicone liner complete with perfect ring burn marks
Note to self - ensure any silicone air fryer liner is suitably weighed down with food or it will fly into the element, doh!
We’ve made it through dry January (or wet, in Cheffy Son’s view - he’s still clearing his supply of Clarkson’s Hawkstone lager). Many find the first month of the year dull - the weather takes a turn for the worse, resolutions are made and quickly broken, and things settle back to routine after the excesses of December. But here it’s the beginning of birthday season, with at least two on New Year’s Day to kick things off, followed by a few more of note, then Hub’s, so there’s always an excuse to carry on celebrating to lighten the potential dreariness.
Student son has gone back to uni and is already missing having a different meal every day. His latest hack is to cook a whole cut-price chicken which lasts him most of the week, paired with mash or potato wedges mainly, or perhaps in a curry if he’s feeling adventurous. Then he might move on to bargain mince for his next week of eat and repeat. He had a couple of masterclasses from Cheffy Son though, so he’s been putting his knife skills to good use. He’s been busy working on a deadline whilst making last minute preparations before he jets off to New Zealand to continue his studies at Massey University for the second half of the year - the opportunity of a lifetime. Needless to say I’m already planning a visit, so watch this space, there’s lots to look towards in 2026.
January is generally quieter in hospitality so The Chefs’ days off continue to involve plenty of creativity in the kitchen, birthday cakes are being made as I write. Cheffy Son is often trying to recreate a dish he’s made at work but finds things hard to replicate on domestic equipment, where flames aren’t quite so fierce and quantities (in theory) are smaller. Meal of the month has to be a chicken lasagne layered with tomato sauce and pesto - quite delicious and gloriously calorific.
I tuned in to a fascinating conversation on Substack Live between Mark Diacono and Guardian food writer, Felicity Cloake, discussing the writing process. I admire both of these charismatic food writers, and with the news that Nigella is to replace Prue on Bake Off it struck me how some of the best writers are self taught, with a journalistic curiosity about how recipes work rather than specific culinary qualifications. Interesting, as I always wished I’d completed a professional chef’s qualification post degree when I had the chance. But curiosity and experimentation is just as valuable, and my Jack of all trades Home Ec degree has stood me in good stead for a varied career. On discussing the benefits of revisiting the desire to train, Cheffy Son’s view was ‘you just need to work in a restaurant to learn’, and he’s right, a hands on approach is key. There’s no doubt that there are benefits to learning the classic techniques to bend the rules and create your own twists, but there is a lot to be said for research and learning on the job. Recipe testing projects have been my personal learning tool, with Middle Eastern, Japanese, Spanish & American cookbooks, to name but a few, serving as my education into each cuisine from the experts. You can’t beat short courses too, it’s great to learn from someone with a different perspective, and that’s what I love about food - there’s always some new twist or technique to take on board.
Talking about Nigella, it’s certainly quite a coup for GBBO - she will give the format a much needed boost, as it starts to stale quicker than Paul’s own homemade baps, and I’m sure she’ll keep the Silver Fox in line.
So scroll on for this month’s culinary creations in the chaos that is my own kitchen. A birthday worthy jazzed up tea loaf, airfryer skewers, and a tableful of treats at Tewinbury farm. A good start to what is going to be a great year.
Birthday Tea Bread
Hub loves a tea cake and this is his mum's recipe with my tweaks. Easily measured with a cup (a standard cup size being 250ml).
1 cup dark muscovado sugar
1 cup dried fruit (I went rogue and used sour cherries, diced apricots, sultanas and 1 tbsp crystallised stem ginger but feel free to adapt to your liking)
1 cup of infused tea (I used a Christmas gift rooibos orange and cardamom teabag)
25g butter
Put these into a medium saucepan and bring to the boil then allow to cool. Once cooled stir in
1 egg
2 cups of self raising flour
1/2tsp ground ginger
1/2tsp cinnamon
Spoon into a greased and lined 900g loaf tin and cook at 180C/160Cfan/Gas 4 for 45mins.
Leave to cool before turning out.
I decorated with icing sugar mixed to a drizzling consistency with a little more of the tea, then I sprinkled on some more of the crystallised ginger. A slice goes perfectly with a cuppa slathered with a slick of butter. Candles optional.
We celebrate our silver wedding anniversary this year - 25 years since we were married at Tewinbury Farm Hotel. So we snapped up the Black Friday deal they were offering for dinner, breakfast and evening meal with wine to celebrate Christmas, birthdays and anniversary all in one.
Hub always compains that his birthday gets forgotten before mine takes over 10 days later, so we booked the meal for his actual birthday.
We booked in and found that our room was in the Farmhouse, where we'd been based on our wedding night. Not the bridal suite this time, but a small but perfectly formed room looking out over the Stable where we took our vows, and the lawn where we had our photographs all those years again.
Tewinbury is one of those rare businesses that has gone from strength to strength over the years, evolving and improving, particularly during Covid, when they had to be creative to survive. What was the carpark outside our wedding room is now a covered outside seating area, complete with fire pits, pool table and pizza oven. Considerably more appealing than parked cars hindering the photos. The Stable is rarely used for weddings now (there are plenty of other options for nuptials) but instead it is full of cosy sofas - a cocktail bar and sitting room for guests in the evening, and a work hub for members during the day (very on trend).
We started with an awesome basil martini with rosemary syrup and a negroni (bottom right) and complimentary olives, before moving on to the Cowshed restaurant where we enjoyed an excellent 4 course meal.
For Hub, marinated stone bass with horseradish cream and beetroot (main pic)
For me, Burrata with crispy kale and pesto (bottom left). Great textures, but would have been even better with some fresh chopped tomatoes for colour, contrast and moisture.
Hub enjoyed pork tenderloin, braised peas, lettuce, bacon, lemon, mint whilst I had a light but flavourful dish of cod, parmentier potatoes, fennel, bouillabaisse sauce (too busy eating to photograph)
We finished with winter pear parfait (top right)
dark chocolate sauce, sauternes gel, candied walnuts and pumpkin cinnamon latte tart with milk ice cream and were presented with happy birthday and happy anniversary macarons to go with our coffee.
That was it, a macaron too far, so nothing to do but to collapse back on the cosy sofas in the Stable and reminisce on the day it was buzzing full of friends and family as we tied the knot.
Back in the room they had thought of everything - pillow spray included, so that was me out for the count, and woken to the option of tea leaves and a teapot or fresh ground coffee and a cafetiere in the room - now that's what I call quality and attention to detail.
Finally I’ve bought a wire rack for my airfryer. It came complete with metal skewers, so I decided to test them out with these marinaded chicken skewers served with spiced vegetables.
I marinaded 300g chicken breast chunks in a couple of tablespoons of yoghurt with 1/2tsp turmeric and 1tsp garam masala for a couple of hours in the fridge.
These were threaded onto the four skewers and cooked at 200C for 10-15mins, turning once, until cooked through with a golden caramelised exterior. Quick and easy, and the meat is cooked evenly all round without too much mess or faff. So overall, a useful addition, especially as it provides a potential extra shelf.
I served them on a bed of sliced peppers, onions and chard stalks, fried until softened with 1tsp cumin and 1tsp coriander, 1/2tsp turmeric and lots of shredded fresh ginger. I added in around 250ml double cream and 50ml water, brought to a simmer and added in the shredded chard leaves to steam with the lid on.
Inspired by restauranteur and food writer Romy Gill's recipe featured on Saturday kitchen this January, it went down a storm.