I realised when writing my previous blog that I’m “known” by friends for certain dishes…and they all like different ones. I’m certainly nothing more than an enthusiastic amateur cook, I rarely faff around and tend to cook hearty, homely stuff that doesn’t take particularly long but fills stomachs. So here are a few of my favourite people and their personal preferences that come out of my kitchen.
My childminder Larraine has been looking after Ella Pearl since she was 7 months old so we consider her an important member of our family. She was very cross this Halloween that I didn’t make my “famous pumpkin soup” for her (Larraine’s words not mine!). I simply didn’t have time this year to be scraping out a combination of butternut squash and big orange Jack O ’Lantern type pumpkins to make that creamy, spicy, comforting soup this year. She will never let me forget it so I must make it up to her next year with double portions. I didn’t have time to have the Halloween Party I usually have every year either…a fact that really didn’t bother Larraine, twas just the absence of soup that caused offence.
My friend Heather has been in my life since I was 18 and met her in the queue for the loo at a comedy gig in Newcastle. She extols the virtues of my Toad In The Hole to anyone who will listen. This dates back many years to a particularly hungover Sunday morning where I’d woken up at her house in Fenham and we were that type of starving that only comes from vast abuse of tequila the night before. So I scoured her cupboards and fridge and made Toad In The Hole with cabbage and onion gravy. A fan for life was created with that squidgy, crispy, comforting stodge that staved off a mahoosive hangover. Incidentally, my ex-husband had never had Toad In The Hole until he met me. It was his favourite of mine too.
My friend Katie is a vegetarian who tells me she dreams about my mushroom risotto. She calls it my Shroom Risotto and apparently I’ve ruined the experience of eating risotto anywhere but in my house for her as she reckons I make the best. She was particularly jealous when I showed my ex- boyfriend how to make it…she feels particularly possessive about “her” shroom risotto.
My Morroccan style chicken with couscous has a few fans to be fair, but for me the biggest victory was seeing Crazy Donna go back for second and third helpings. She is as fit as a butcher’s dog and watches what she eats, however present that diminutive gym bunny with a plate of slow cooked warm spicy chicken and couscous and she turns into a scoffing machine. It’s a joy to watch.
Did you know that impatient hands make amazing scones? My mother (as I’ve previously written), was a brilliant cook and baker however her scones were never as good as mine, according to her. She said I had “a really light touch and cool hands that were essential to getting the texture just right”. I actually know for a fact it’s really because I’m impatient and therefore rub the fat into the flour quickly so I can get on with the fun bits. She loved my cheese scones to which I always add a dollop of Dijon mustard to the mix to get a bit of bite into them. I use a combination of cheeses too, something else she thought added to the extra special-ness of my scones.
And so to my darling Ella Pearl, my daughter. At 7 she already has a love of food and cooking that matches my own and tonight when I was thinking about writing this, I asked her to name her favourite dish of mine. She couldn’t decide on one but her favourites include stew and dumplings, pancakes, chicken and couscous (Crazy D’s fave) and roast potatoes…not all at once. My kid is clearly a sucker for comfort food. I have to say she makes the BEST rice pudding around so I know she will soon be cooking and making memories with her own chosen people very soon.
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