I make this every summer – usually when we have a glut of raspberries and red currants but any mixture of red and purple fruit will do. I sometimes add blueberries or blackcurrants. Next week I have some blackberries to use. Obviously you can also make it at other times of the year using frozen fruit.

It’s really easy but takes 24 hours before it’s ready.

Start by putting the fruit into a pan with a little sugar – not too much because you want the results to be quite tangy – and a little water so that it doesn’t burn before cooking and so that you’ll have some juice. (The only bit of this stage I dislike is ‘stringing’ red currants to remove the stalks; try to have something to listen to or someone to talk to while you work.) I use a bowl of raspberries, a bowl of redcurrants, and a bowl of whatever else I have. Simmer until the berries have burst but try not to make jam. Leave to cool.

Take at least half a loaf of sliced light white bread (for UK readers I use what we call Danish) and remove the crusts. Preserve as much bread as possible because you’ll need it. (For anyone feeling concerned about waste, leave the crusts to dry and turn into breadcrumbs.)

Find a deepish bowl. I use a ‘Pyrex’ one so that I can see what’s going on. Make sure it’s one that is big enough in diameter to take a saucer, perhaps half way up. Use tongs, if you have them, and dip the bread in the juice of the fruit, one slice at a time. Only one side needs to soak up juice. Place in the bowl, juicy side out, till the bowl is coated. Now use a slotted spoon and spoon the fruit, but not the rest of the juice, into the bread coating. Top with more bread, again dipped in juice. If there isn’t much juice left you can pour it over the bread. Don’t go mad – you’re better off keeping extra juice to pour later.

Now place something on top – I use cling film – and let it overhang the top of the bowl then weight that down with a saucer. Put something really heavy on top of the saucer e.g. a large full jar or tin.

Put the bowl in a cool place. There’s nothing wrong with the fridge but you don’t need to take up fridge room if you have a cool pantry.

Roughly 24 hours later, remove the weight, saucer and cling film. Find a plate that is bigger than the bowl. Use a knife or spatula to loosen the pudding then invert the bowl over the plate. The best way to do that is to place the plate on top then invert the entire thing. The pudding should slide out so that you have a deep red/pink dome.

Serve with cream, yoghurt or ice cream (or a non-dairy equivalent). You really need that bland taste to cut through the tanginess I mentioned.

Enjoy. Leftovers (there are only two of us, so that depends on your household) will keep in the fridge for a couple of days.

So I had two things:

*I had a temporary crown on a front tooth and strict instructions not to bite

*I had a big joint of pork in the freezer that screamed crackling but said it was perfect for pulled pork

I researched pulled pork and thought it sounded interesting, especially if I couldn’t eat crackling. As usual, I read a number of recipes and grasped the basic principles. All of them said it was the perfect dish for a slow cooker. (I love my slow cooker – it makes me feel all virtuous that I’ve prepped a meal in the morning and then I have nothing to do at dinner time except switch it off.)

The steps were:

*Rub the joint with a mix of seasonings and spices

*Place on a bed of veg in the slow cooker

*Add liquid, mostly apple juice and cider vinegar but don’t cover the meat

*Leave the layer of fat on top – it will prevent the meat drying out and can be ‘crackled’ in the oven later (husband wanted this even though my tooth didn’t)

*Cook on low all day

Did all that. The result was, admittedly, very tender meat that just about fell apart and was, I suppose, capable of being ‘pulled’ if I’d wanted to bother.

However:

*It wasn’t particularly tasty and I think most of the spice rub floated off into the juice which made a small jug of gravy and a huge jug of something to put in the fridge and worry about

*The fat was too moist to crisp in the oven (and yes, I tried)

Verdict:

Wouldn’t bother again – if I wanted pulled pork I’d do it all day in the oven and uncover the fat for long enough to make crackling (and my tooth is now permanently crowned and can bite).

Lesson:

Don’t always believe the recipes you find online.

I found a picture of mixed fruit online somewhere ages ago and Photoshopped it a lot.

Easy cooking and baking using mince and fruit to provide a series of meals.

To be honest, I find this easier than using convenience foods – less time spent reading lists of ingredients and instructions. Less time, too, finding stuff in the supermarket or online. Just make sure you have the basics in pantry, fridge, etc. Then, knowing you don’t have to weigh, measure, etc. you can go ahead and create basic dishes without much need to think once you’ve done it a couple of times.

Basic mince

I usually cook a big batch of this. Some goes in the fridge for meals later in the week and some goes in the frezzer for easy meals in the future but remember to thaw it properly or you’ll have lumps of semi frozen mince in your dinner.

Quantities are flexible.

Beef mince. This is my default but the same things can be done with lamb or pork mince, or with Quorn mince for vegetarians.

Add all or most of the following:

*Chopped tomatoes. Tinned are best but if you have some fresh tomatoes at their last gasp in your kitchen just add them as well.

*Chopped onions. I recommend wearing glasses (even if you don’t need glasses) to prevent tears.

*Chopped mushrooms (fresh or tinned).

*Chopped sweet peppers – any colour.

Again, quantities are flexible.

Also add:

*Herbs, fresh and/or dried. I like any fresh herbs but also like Italian seasoning and Herbes de Provence. Choose your herbs according to your own tastes and what’s available but try to stick to just one or two or they will drown each other.

*Seasoning. I add salt, black pepper and smoked paprika. I don’t add chili etc.at this stage because I don’t want ‘heat’ for all the uses

Throw in:

Anything you happen to want to use up e.g. leftover gravy or small amounts of leftover cooked vegetables.

Start by softening the onion in oil (any) in a large pan.

Add the mince and brown, stirring to prevent burning, then add everything else.

You might need more liquid. You can add any or all of: water, wine, a splash of wine vinegar, or the liquid from e.g. a tin of chopped mushrooms. Only add enough to prevent sticking but have some more handy just in case.

Bring to the boil, stirring. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 10-15 minutes.

That’s it. Now you can divide it into smaller batches for refrigerating or freezing once it’s cool.

Use with:

*pasta of any kind (spaghetti bolognese, lasagne, canelloni, etc.). Serve with black pepper and grated cheese – I like a mixture of cheddar and parmesan.

*pancakes (UK type) – stuff them and grate cheese on top then melt the cheese. NB if you make the pancakes fresh and grill or microwave them once the cheese is on, you don’t need to reheat the mince. It will heat nicely inside the pancakes.

*stuffed vegetables e.g. sweet peppers, marrow – top with cheese or breadcrumbs (steam the veg first then stuff and bake for half an hour)

*with a suet crust

*with a topping of mashed potato/sweet pototo/swede

*with rice – top with cream

For some of the above dishes you can add extra seasonings such as chili flakes, harissa paste, and whatever extra veg you have around e.g. leftover peas/beans. You can top dishes with grated cheese, breadcrumbs or cream.

Ringing the changes gives you the possibility of a lot of different dishes all from the same original pan of mince.

There’s something very satisfying in knowing you have the basis of a lot of meals from one fairly easy and inexpensive beginning.

Basic baked fruit

For this you can use any amount of fresh apples/pears and any variety. But don’t use cooking apples because they ‘fall’ during cooking and give a totally different texture. You can mix apples and pears.

Core the fruit and chop into thinnish slices. Don’t peel but remove stems while you’re coring.

Add sultanas, sugar (brown is nice but not essential) and some spices – cinnamon and nutmeg work well but if all you’ve got is a jar of allspice, use that. Ginger is a welcome addition, too.

Add some fruit juice (I usually have fresh orange juice in the fridge but apple would also be good) and a tablespoon of cornflour and mix gently, trying not to break up the fruit slices too much. Don’t go mad with the liquid. If you have no fruit juice use a small amount of water.

Cover and bake in a hot oven for about three quarters of an hour. I use a pyrex dish with a foil lid. Remove the lid and carry on baking for another fifteen minutes. The fruit will be soft and the liquid will be thickened.

You can eat this hot or cold with cream, custard or ice cream, or you can use it to make a strudel using bought filo pastry. Once you’ve made the strudel you should brush the top with milk, sprinkle with sugar and bake for about half an hour by which time the fruit filling will have had an hour altogether and will have changed a little.

So that’s at least three desserts from one lot of prep (plus the enormous effort of wrapping the fruit in filo pastry…)

You can also bake peaches, nectarines, plums and fresh figs the same way but I don’t add sultanas and I do tend to add alcohol (Amaretto is good). I halve these fruits instead of slicing them. Those pretty red plums that seem determined to stay as hard as bullets in the fruit bowl do very well with this treatment. Again, a choice of cream, custard or ice cream rings the changes and you can eat them hot or chilled. If you feel lazy you can refrain from stoning the fruit and let people take the stones out once they are served.

Enjoy! And use the time and mental energy you save to do something rewarding!

I’ll start with a cartoon book because I’ve used the cartoon I talk about as a header image.

Rattling the Cage****

This is a book of cartoons by Bob Starrett and includes the cartoonist’s explanation of how he came to produce them and the significance of the various cartoons. I’ve had the book since I was working on some anti-racist educational materials and had to ask Bob’s permission to include one of his cartoons. He gave it gladly and it’s still the one that stands out for me. A comedian is shown on a stage saying, “And there was this thick Paddy,” whilst the walls behind him are papered with posters advertising the works of Yeats, Joyce, Wilde, Shaw, etc. I had forgotten, or had perhaps never read (?) the accompanying text – life was very busy at the time – and it was interesting. However, most of the cartoons in the collection were very dated as they related to British politics pre-1990. He is currently drawing cartoons related to the pandemic which are worth researching.

Short stories

The excellent

Ring in the new by Charlie Cochrane. *****

A bittersweet story of a hopeful new year – 1914 – for the Cambridge Fellows, Jonty and Orlando. I enjoyed it, but having read the books that deal with the aftermath of the war, I wanted to cry. Recommended but you’d need to know the series to appreciate it.

The Holiday Collection by Beth Laycock****

Two very pleasant and well written holiday themed novellas: Miracle on Three Kings’ Day, where Lev and Alex meet in Spain (which celebrates Epiphany more than Christmas) and Thrown by Love in which Charlie goes to pottery classes to make a secret santa gift and meets tutor Josh. I read them, appropriately for the first, round about January 6th, and for the second was immediately reminded of The Great Pottery Throwdown which we are watching.

 The poor

Criminal Shorts**

This is the UK Crime Book Club’s anthology in aid of Red Kite, a special school charity. I’m a member of the FB group/club and in any case, did not grudge the price because it all went to charity. However, I didn’t enjoy the book. The standard was mixed, as is the case in most anthologies, but almost all the stories were told from the point of view of the criminal. It’s not something that appeals to me, however good the writing is. I wouldn’t even recommend the collection to anyone who does like that angle – the writing, while mostly competent, was nothing special and none of the stories was memorable apart from one (actually told from a police viewpoint) set in rural Ireland, and that wasn’t sufficient to justify a recommendation.

And other things

Two recipe books which I was given for Christmas.

I expected to be more interested in the Persian one, having been to Persian restaurants, but in fact preferred the Palestinian book.

Palestine on a Plate by Joudie Kalla****

A fascinating account of Palestinian family cooking. I found myself bookmarking a lot of recipes and will be trying some of them this year. There were interesting snippets of information on how things that are popular throughout the Middle East either originated in Palestine or have been subtly altered there.

From a Persian Kitchen by Atoosa Sepehr***

A very beautiful book with gorgeous photographs of ordinary life in modern Iran, taken by the author. The recipes were not as inspiring though I want to try a couple that make liberal use of pomegranates. Too many began: ‘this is not traditional’ or ‘this is how I do it in London’ or ‘my English friends like this’. There were references to Iran but some of those recipes were basically just instructions on how to cook e.g. steak and add a few herbs or spices. There is a recipe for rice that sounds incredible but I won’t be experimenting. It ends up with a crust at the base but doesn’t say how many saucepans you wreck before you achieve perfection.

Comfort stew with dumplings. Very easy but takes all day.

I usually make this for two of us but you can make it for a bigger family or even for guests, which works well because the last stage is happily cooking while you meet and greet.

I use diced beef (a supermarket pack or maybe whatever you would normally ask for at the butcher’s – I tend to ask for ‘enough for two’ and my butcher reads my mind) but you could substitute lamb, pork, chicken, etc. or just add extra root veg or pulses. I don’t think Quorn pieces (meat free stuff available in UK) would work because it needs much shorter cooking time. You can add sausage such as chorizo, sliced.

I normally use my slow cooker. Before the wonders of modern technology reached my kitchen I used a heavy lidded casserole dish, or sometimes a heavy metal roasting pan with a domed lid. The latter is better because the dimpled dome encourages all the liquid that’s trying to escape as steam to fall back into the pan. A tagine would do the same. Those, obviously, need oven space and can be left to cook on a lowish heat for hours.

Start with a large onion (colour is irrelevant). Chop it fairly finely. If onions make you cry, copy my daughter and buy frozen ready-chopped ones, or copy me and wear glasses. You can brown the onion and whatever meat you’re using in a frying pan for a few minutes and it helps caramelise things, but if you’re in a hurry it isn’t essential. Add garlic at this stage if you like garlic. (I do.). Add more onion for a large family.

Once the onion and meat are in the pan/dish add some peeled and chopped root veg. Carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, ordinary potatoes – they’re all good. You can also add things like butter beans or tinned kidney beans. Green veg are not a good idea because they cook too quickly but a little hardish cabbage is probably OK. Tinned new potatoes are a good addition too. I also add mushrooms – chop big ones or add button ones whole.

Now add liquid. You need to have your pan or dish about a third full and it’s preferable to cover the meat completely though veg don’t mind as much. If you’ve added tinned beans, add the liquid too as part of that third. If you’ve used water, fine, but add a spoonful of marmite/vegemite (or whatever you have in your country) and a splash of wine vinegar. I have been known to use a can of Guinness. Anything will do to reach the level, and the flavours can be varied but bear in mind that too much seasoning too early in slow cooking is not a good idea so add salt and pepper to taste later at the dumpling stage..

I set the slow cooker at high, but the oven, if that’s what I’m using, fairly low. You know your own oven but I wouldn’t recommend going over 160C. Once upon a time I had an oven with a slow cooker setting. Maybe start at about 160C and turn it down later. Now go away and leave it all for at least six hours. The kitchen will, by the way, smell inviting and people will ask when it will be ready.

After six-eight hours (depends what else distracts you) put your stew in an ovenproof dish, or if that’s what you’ve already used, take the lid off. Turn the heat up to 200C. Add seasoning at this stage – maybe some herbs or whatever spices you fancy. I tend to put Italian or Provence herb mix in everything – or mixed fresh herbs in summer – plus perhaps some smoked paprika. Possibly salt but maybe not if you’ve added marmite. Stir very gently.

Add dumplings. You will already have made these at some point during the cooking time. (They keep OK uncooked and covered in the fridge so you can make them while you feel fresh and raring to go in the morning.)

You can use either ordinary or vegetarian suet plus self raising flour (the kind you need for cakes) and some seasoning like salt and herbs. The quantities are roughly twice as much flour as suet so it depends what you’ve got and how hungry you are. Mix with a fork then add cold water a splash at a time and keep mixing till you have a stiff dough. You can mess about and put that on a floured board and divide it up and make beautiful little balls or, like me, you can just divide it in your mixing bowl, using your fork like a knife. (Make an even quantity or risk dumpling wars.) Whichever, place the dumplings gently on top of the stew (you want the tops to stay dry) and return everything to the oven for about 30 minutes or less. Check after 20 minutes because you don’t want the dumplings to burn, you just want them crusty. Use a skewer and if it comes out clean they’re cooked and you’re just trying to achieve a crust.

This is a one pot dish that provides its own gravy. One of the joys of it is that you get glimpses and scents all day but you can go and do other things like reading, writing and social media. If there’s anything left over (depends how hungry people are), transfer it to a clean dish because you need to soak the cooking dish straight away to make it easy to wash either by hand or in a dishwasher. Then you either have tomorrow’s dinner sorted (maybe with more veg) or you can freeze it. (Don’t forget to label it if you freeze it.)

If you absolutely must have green veg, make a salad to have separately but personally I’d rather have fresh fruit for dessert.

Pear and ginger tarte tatin. Quite easy. Takes about an hour altogether.

This is also a comfort dish but I don’t recommend having it the same day as the stew because it’s quite filling. Have it after something lighter, e.g. fish.

Any pears will do, though Conference are especially excellent. You can use fresh ginger (peel it if you feel you must, using a teaspoon and scraping gently, then grate it) or bought ginger paste or whatever you have. I use bought puff pastry but other pastry works too. I only ever go to the bother of making my own shortcrust and could do that for this dish if I had to. Most chefs on TV or in books tell you to buy puff or filo pastry rather than making it. Quantities are basically what you have…

Quarter the pears (at least three but more are good) and remove the core. You can leave the skin on. In fact, you probably should because peeling pears is messy and loses a lot of juice. Now slice them and put the slices in a pan (non stick if you have one) and cover with e.g. apple juice. Don’t go mad – you don’t want too much extra liquid. Add ginger and sugar. Any sugar will do. Simmer till the pears are soft then remove them with a slotted spoon and put them straight into a pan that can go in the oven (I have an old German cast iron casserole pan that is perfect but whatever you’ve got…metal is better than glass/pyrex/pot). Now add more sugar – at least two tablespoons – and boil the sugary gingery liquid hard till it starts to reduce in quantity. Also put the oven on and heat it to about 180C. Meanwhile, you can mess about and make a pattern with the pear slices or you can just read a recipe book. (Guess what I do.) Pour the reduced liquid which is now a kind of liquid ginger caramel, over the pears.

Put a circle of pastry, about half a centimetre thick, on top of the pears and sauce. Put the pan in the oven and check it in 30 minutes. As with the dumplings in my comfort stew, if a skewer comes out clean all is well.

Take the tarte out of the oven and let it cool a little. You want to eat this lukewarm and anyway, it’s easier to turn out when it isn’t too hot.

Run a knife round the tarte just in case any pastry is sticking – if your pan is non-stick like mine, it shouldn’t, but you never know. Find a plate slightly bigger than your pan. Put it over the pan like a lid and turn pan and plate upside down. Shake gently. Remove the pan and you should now have a circle of pastry on the plate with pears and ginger caramel on top. Eat with Greek yoghurt, or cream, or anything else you fancy e.g. ice cream. It will keep a day or two, but the caramel might go like toffee – I like this, but I’m just warning you. For the same reason, you should soak the pan you cooked it in straight away.