October | JamJarJan

What was in Jan's Pan?
October

October Harvest 2024

I have to confess, I really didn't expect to relish the change in our eating habits quite so much since we found ourselves home alone (sorry boys!). It’s been quite a revelation. The garden has been generous with its harvest this month so along with our weekly veg box contents, our 5-a-day diet has reached new heights.
Whilst weekday meals have been fresher and simpler, mainly veggie and low-carb, meat’s not completely off the menu, but I find I cook it mainly at the weekends. I sent pics and instructions of Saturday night spiced crispy skinned chicken thighs to Student Son, so he has now another dish on repeat in his repertoire. A warming Beef Guinness & Pearly barley Stew slipped into the slow cooker to quietly do its stuff made a substantial minimum effort Sunday dinner, served with some green leafy veg. The barley helps thicken the otherwise thin sauce and allows for plenty left over to freeze for lazy cook nights or where there's the need for speed.
In fact it’s a whole different game catering for two, so I’ve had to rethink my cooking habits and reduce the copious quantities that I’m used to churning out, or freeze the extras. But my creative juices have had a reboot and have started to flow again with just we two to please.

It's all rather Tom and Barbara in our house with a clear division of labour that plays to our strengths. Hub plants *Stuff* in a flurry of activity in the Spring and then (despite best intentions) generally forgets about it and leaves it for Nature to work her magic. Greenfingers not being my forte, I will reap the rewards of his initial labours, check if Nature's been kind, and start cooking and preserving like a good'un.
Let me share some of the treasures that have sprouted and the dishes that we’ve enjoyed with our October garden gifts.

Beetroot and Apples
Our homegrown beetroot looked more like magical mandrakes than baby beets (luckily no screaming as I pulled them out of the ground), but they were surprisingly tender and not in the slightest woody. Steaming them made it easier to peel the rather comical misshapen roots. Definitely lots of character this year with their lifelike appendages - see the fella in my rolling pics ;-)

Beetroot Feta and Apple salad
The beets made the perfect salad paired with the apples from the trees (always abundant), the beet leaves plus some crumbled salty feta and toasted walnuts, doused in honey and mustard dressing (3 tbsp oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tsp each of honey and whole grain mustard shaken together in a jar).
Preserving the remaining rosy red apples on the trees is an ongoing job. The leaves are starting to fall, and so now has the fruit, so I’ve been peeling and stewing as fast as I can. Apples are a staple in my fruit and veg box this time of year too of course, but as they say, an apple a day keeps the doctor away, and I have faith in that old adage, so I'm not complaining. Plenty for apple crumbles and autumn porridge, juicing and perhaps even drying if I can keep up.

Tomatoes galore

Our lycopene levels hit new heights with the glut of tomatoes this year. They were still going strong at the beginning of the month until the heavy rain and frost finally finished them off. There was the glimmer of hope that they would ripen in the autumn sun but perhaps I should have cut my losses earlier and made green chutney.. The ripe ones went to good use in roast tomato soup and plenty of pasta sauces. Raw or cooked atop toasted sourdough was the perfect late-summer lunch. But my favourite was this easy farinata (a simple chickpea flour pancake) topped with the classic combo of fresh tomato and mozzarella salad for a light low-carb supper.

Tomato & Mozzarella Farinata

For the farinata, makes 2.
100g gram flour
1/2tsp salt.
200ml water.
1tbsp olive oil
Whisk together and leave to stand for 30 mins
Preheat the grill to high. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil over a medium heat in a 23cm ovenproof pan. Pour in half the batter and cook for 2-3 mins until just set.
Transfer to the grill and cook for 3-4mins until crisp and golden brown.
Tip onto a plate, keep warm and repeat with the remaining batter and 1 tbsp oil to fry.
For the topping
Buffalo mozzarella, torn into pieces
Sliced tomatoes
Basil, roughly torn
Toasted pine nuts
Balsamic glaze to drizzle

Divide between the two farinata and serve immediately

Squashes and Spinach

We’ve had one bad boy butternut from the garden.We've had a few meals out of this one, and there’s still two or three baby brothers relishing the rain and slowly swelling on the vine.The texture is so much firmer and the flavour more concentrated than any shop bought ones, perfect for roasting or simmering in a curry or a tagine.
It's good to have the perpetual spinach on hand too (more like a chard, so quite hardy and keeps on growing, exactly as it says on the label).
Plucked fresh from the garden it's perfect for this flavoursome saag paneer, made more substantial with the last of that squash.
Butternut Squash Saag Aloo
Melt some oil or ghee, if you have it, with 1/2tsp turmeric in a large frying pan. Fry a pack of diced paneer until golden on all sides, 5-8mins. Remove and set aside.
Fry sliced red onions in more oil, butter or ghee with a generous grating of fresh ginger and garlic and some sliced chilli until sumptuously softened. Add some cooked diced squash (a few minutes in the microwave does the trick) and toss well to soak up the flavours. Stir in the washed spinach and allow to wilt.
Add the paneer back in and heat through, finishing with some garam masala and nigella seeds.
Serve with shop bought naan or flatbreads, zhuzhed up (great word that) with even more butter or ghee melted over.

Let me know if you feel suitably inspired, and please leave a comment and if it leaves you wanting more.
What have you been eating this month, I’d love to know?

October 2025

Autumn has fully taken hold, and the landscape is a blaze of red and gold. As pumpkins and squashes are the food stars of the month, the Chefs used their considerable knife skills to carve a couple of spectacular Halloween offerings for the Trick or Treaters (never too old to enjoy the fun).
But pumpkins should never be just for carving, the food waste figures are shocking, so I've suggested a couple of recipes this month which make the most of this autumnal spectacular.
And now that the Chefs are back in town, we are eating incredibly well. Not only because I am making sure they are well fed and eating properly on the return from their commute and long shifts, but because all they want to do on their days off is cook. Mad as that may seem, I understand their obsession - cooking for pleasure is very different to cooking for work with its relentless persuit for perfection. After years of recipe testing I totally understand that. And who am I to complain about the culinary delights to come out of my kitchen on a regular basis.
It means of course, that we have had to rethink our cooking schedule. For once in my life we are putting together a proper timeplan (I come from the ready steady cook style of ‘what’s in the cupboard and what needs eating in the fridge’ school of cooking) which in theory means less waste, and better use of the veg box and freezer. On their days off they take over the kitchen and create all kinds of masterpieces. There's also a steady stream of fancy leftover pastries coming through the door which are impossible to resist, so bang goes the waistline. It's worth cooking a big Sunday roast for four once again, and where Cheffy Son is involved it is just that - a BIG Sunday roast, with enormous yorkies (which he has perfected to a tee), crisp roast potatoes and not one, but four accompanying vegetables, both restaurant quality and quantity. The idea is for leftovers for the week, but the meat is piled onto the plate, with a lake of gravy to pour over, and it's hard to resist. It brings home the differences between Home Economics versus chefs’ skills. Home cooking considerations and waste management are not necessarily their focus, so we are educating each other now they are back in the fold.
So farewell empty nesting, and hello again family meals - both have their benefits, but a busy buzzing house is always my preference, and so the chaotic kitchen capers continue...

What's In Jan's Pan?
Trick or Treat?

The Chefs may have had fun demonstrating their exceptional knife skills, but sadly pumpkins grown for carving are not grown for flavour. Of the estimated 39.9 million pumpkins bought this year, 22.2 million will go to waste, according to this article from the Sustainable Food Trust, The Problems with Pumpkins, reducing food waste at Halloween .
You'll be pleased to hear that I took my own advice, roasted the smaller pumpkins and served with the classic combo of butter and crispy sage. I also made my classic Pumpkin Soup , written for the Epson Printer online cookcards in their Creative Corner section of their website (lots of interesting things to be found here, and perfect for keeping younger kids entertained). Here tomato puree, apples and sage boost the flavour of a watery-fleshed pumpkin, and chilli is always a good flavour-boost too.
My veg box is an excellent source of unusual squashes, and the grey/green skinned crown prince squash has a wonderful firm texture and deep orange flesh, perfect for a curry. I made Romy Gill's Pumpkin, Coconut and Poppy Seed Curry from the October issue of Good Food Magazine which was sensational with this royally-named squash.
I also tried Yuki Gomi’s Japanese Kabocha, Shitake and Miso Stew (find the recipe on Instagram or Substack @yukiskitchen). It's delicately flavoured with a simple shiitake mushroom dashi, and I learnt that miso is best added at the end of cooking to help to preserve the nutrients. I tested the recipes for her book ‘Sushi at Home’, so if you want to learn Japanese techniques then I couldn’t recommend her writing and hands-on classes more highly.
Finally, for a sweet treat, the scooped out flesh can a be used for dessert dishes - pumpkin muffins akin to carrot cake, or the quintissential pumpkin pie, to recognise that Americans introduced the Halloween tradition in the first place.
So get creative, after all, a pumpkin's not just for Halloween.....

Cocoarunners craft chocolate fair
A Chocoholics delight

An email from the Guild of Fine Food recently landed with an invite to the Cocoarunners Craft Chocolate Fair, brainchild of Spencer Hyman, who delivered the Great Taste workshop I featured back in February 2025, and what better way to spend a Saturday in October?
There were stalls of bean-to-bar craft chocolate from all over the world, with talks and tastings, and plenty of craft chocolate makers to talk to and sample their wares.
Crumbs seem to be the inclusion of choice, from sourdough to cookie crumb, but there were plenty of other interesting innovations, and memorable flavours:
Nearynogs chocolate from Ireland use many local ingredients : soda bread,Irish seaweed and gorse flower - hand collected, but apparently not when it's windy I was told, due to painful prinkle potential!
Choco del Sol have a fabulous range and their happy beans do what they say on the tin, it's well known that cacao releases endorphins and is good for you.
Pump Street chocolate, based in Suffolk, sell a selection of tasting bars, perfect for someone like me who can't decide and wants it all. I loved their Christmas range and beautiful packaging presentation. Watch this space for a potential visit to their factory in December for an insight into this growing and well-repsected brand.
Most notable was the first bean to bar chocolate in Norway, Fjak, who were star of the show with their innovative Nordic flavours. Norwegian brown cheese was the standout flavour. Whey is caramelised and dried to give an acidic tang from the cheese with a rich toffee note.
Juicy tasting Cloudberry brings back memories of skiing in Sweden, and Cinnamon roll and Blackcurrant Crumble bring the warmth of a Norwegian bakery. Finally traktkantarell - chanterelle mushrooms - give an earthy note and irresistible umami to the chocolate. Their
70% dark Tanzania Women’s Lot chocolate is made exclusively with cocoa from three women-headed farms in Tanzania (no, not three headed women - focus, please!)
Another favourite was Beancraft, based in Bradford-on-Avon, who have gathered lots of Great Taste stars along the way, and their Speculoos stood out for me. In one of our after dinner tastings (a regular feature of our evenings, on account of being married to a chocoholic) we detected very christmassy notes of mince pie and juicy fruit - truly complex and more to tease the tongue than you'd first expect from a simple bar of chocolate. They sell at Frome market if you're ever down Somerset way.
It's a shame that good chocolate is (rightly) so expensive, as it makes it such an occasional treat, but remember that these makers use quality ethical ingredients that ensure growers are supported and paid as they should be, and means you should savour every tiny mouthful. A world without chocolate is one not worth considering, so treat yourself, and help these makers continue their art. After all, we all deserve a little chocolate therapy.
These products are available online at www.Cocoarunners.co.uk

Go on, treat yourself.

What's on Jan's (Sevillian) Plate?

If you want a little winter sunshine, then Seville is the perfect short break. Known as the 'frying pan of Europe' as temperatures reach such a peak in the summer, so go in Spring or Autumn when we sun starved Brits need to warm our bones and boost our Vitamin D.
Another bucket list destination, enabled by the compensation for our delayed flights from our other bucket list holiday in Borneo earlier this year (see March archive). We were lucky enough to go at the beginning of October, when temperatures were still reaching 34C at the peak. It was my ideal holiday; a mix of relaxation but with plenty to explore, see and do, with the laid back late starts and late nights suiting an owl such as me down to the ground.
The main draw was, of course, the tapas, but Seville is an incredibly beautiful city with its Moorish architecture and shady gardens to explore during the day, before hitting the buzzy bars and restaurants in the evening. The food markets are also a dream - full of local produce, with bar stools and tables alongside specialist stalls to sit and sample the food. From beneath the Setas de Sevilla (mushrooms of Seville - middle top) to Feria market with its traditionally tiled stalls, and across the Puente de Isabel II to Mercado de Triana for its artisan Spanish specialities, it makes the perfect food trail.
Tinto de verano, a much lighter version of Sangria, soon became our tipple of choice, especially after the lunchtime drinking sessions of sherry and red wine in the heat started to take their toll.
We grazed our way round the City, eating a lot of cheese and meat, particularly the Iberian ham, so the plate of roasted veg featured in the middle bottom picture was a much needed antidote.
Fantastically fresh fish and seafood feature on menus too, and the Crunchy Octopus we had at Vuela, an unassuming tapas bar hidden away on a back street, was a treat not to be missed. (middle left). Go early or make sure you book.
Desserts weren't so notable, and bakeries don't seem to be a highlight of the tourist trail, but we did indulge in a traditionally cheerful pile of churros with chocolate (it would be rude not to).
From being serenaded by student singers at night around the Cathedral, finding flamenco displays in the stunning Plaza de Espana and lunching on croquettes and burrata by the Guadalquivir River (bottom left) watching the paddle boarders and kayaks float by, it was a holiday to remember, and I can't wait to return, perhaps in the spring this time to see the orange blossom on the namesake orange trees that adorn the city parks. Viva Seville!

What's in Jan's Airfryer

Crispy tofu
For our latest experiment we crisped up tofu in the airfryer, and found it gave a good all round crisp without having to stand over a pan and turn each individual cube to crisp all six sides.
We dusted it in cornflour, added a pinch of ground Szechuan pepper and some salt and sprayed lightly with oil then cooked on 200C for around 10 minutes, shaking occasionally until it reached the desired golden crispness.
We served this sprinkled over our favourite miso noodle broth to boost the roast beef (of which there wasn't much leftover, thanks to Cheffy son serving up the Sunday roast). There's a recipe for this on my Instagram @JamJarJan.
We used the Tofoo Co smoked tofu, which helps to boost the flavour of this otherwise bland foodstuff (it's all in the flavourings), but Sainsbury's So Organic Super-firm Tofu is also a great product. Always use the firm tofu for frying, silken tofu is not suitable, unless you want a sloppy mess. This is much better suited for tofu scramble or vegan dessert should you be so inclined.
Tofu may not be to everyone's taste, but as a rich source of nutrients and a source of complete protein it provides great health benefits, so it's well worth adding to your diet (we discovered it during Cheffy Son's vegetarian phase in his teens).
Another product worth trying is the Taifun Organic Smoked Tofu, which has added almonds and sesame seeds, available at Waitrose and Ocado, which gives added texture and flavour and is a good start for the uninitiated.
By experimenting with flavourings who knows, you may just come to love it too ....