april

Lunch. Bulghar wheat with sesame-pumpkin-sunflower seeds and pine kernels, fried, a little feta, lots of mint leaves, and with lemon-chilli-garlic-sumac-dill-olive oil

The seeds are chewy, but it is delicious

Dinner. Leftover veg from last night, with chilli, olive oil, balsamic, mint and basil leaves, torn. This served on toast with oil-garlic-a little tomato.

Goose leg, butter beans, lettuce, bread

The goose was the last of the Christmas lunch, from the freezer. Butter beans, cook for 1–1.15 hours, then the last 5 mins of so, drain and cook in a little stock. Salad dressing: shallot, garlic, lemon, oil. Bread was Pain au Levain from Waitrose.

Chicken breasts stuffed with hot peppadew, sugar snaps, new potatoes

Pork burgers with tomato-chevre-basil; courgettes; spaghetti

Baklava

We made half the quantities in the Sainsbury’s Mediterranean book, using 6 sheets from a packet of the Cypressa filo. We used only 4oz sugar total, instead of 6oz, and didn't feel the lack of it.

Pork strips with ginger, chilli, oyster sauce, straw mushrooms; spinach and garlic; soba noodes.

Peaches, poached; white chocolate and lavender souffle

Skinned 2 peaches and poached them. Infused a little cream (2floz?) with lavender, added 2tsp vanilla sugar. Melted 6 squares (1/3 of 100g bar) of white chocolate, added strained cream, yolk of egg. Put peaches in 2 ramekins. Whisked egg white and folded into choc cream, decant over paches, bake gas 4–5 for 10 mins. The flavour’s a bit muted.

New Covent Garden spicy corn soup

Red pepper and celeriac millefeuille; watercress; crostini of tomatoes, basil, mozzarella

Roast and peel peppers. Boil celeriac and a little potato; mash; blend in half an egg; make into patties. Put in the fridge and go to work. Place the patties between layers of pepper and reheat in the oven

Pink grapefruit-mint-lettuce with feta-chilli-thyme

Pink grapefruit and mint leaves are gorgeous together, but they dominated everything else

Red kidney beans with a sauce of: smoked sausage, tomato puree, cocoa, onion, smoked garlic, a half-chipotle, paprika, cumin, fennel, cinnamon. Quinoa and sweetcorn.

Hot. If that wasn’t enough, we also had chilli-chocolate with coffee.

Lunch. spaghetti with spinach, garlic, bacon, cream

Dinner: John

Antipasti: roast chicory with breadcrumbs and lemon; red peppers with tomatoes and pesto; crostini with red onion, chilli marmalade, sardine piccanti

Vincisgrassi, with porcini, duck liver, parma ham, truffle oil; watercress-spinach-rocket salad

Poached dried figs and sultanas with rosemary, toasted walnuts, toasted brioche, caramel and fennel seed sauce

Mayhill green – Woolsery goat – Wild garlic Yarg

Lunch. Soba noodles, straw mushrooms with onion, garlic, ginger, chilli, plum sauce, soy sauce.

Dinner. Duck livers, duck glaze; two figs, sultanas and ginger, pickled-plum vinegar; brioche toast; coffee-chocolate oil

1 scoop of coffee, medium roast, 1/2 tsp cocoa, 1 tbs oil. This all works well.

Poached cod with fennel, olives and a dash of white wine; served with gnocchi.

Aubergine “millefeuille” : grilled aubergine slices, tomato and basil sauce, mozzarella on top

Tagliatelle with lemon, olives, cream, sausage

This was supposed to be with parma ham, but Colin left it in his pannier. Used 1/2 lemon.

Saute of celeriac, red pepper, potato, with goats cheese; rocket, ciabatta

Banana cake, cream with honey, wine, sugar sauce

Sauce: reduced white wine and sugar and honey. We whipped the cream and then whipped the sauce into it.

Salad of lettuce, potatoes, stilton, walnuts

Rhubarb, cream, brioche

Salad of Little Gem, grapes, stilton dressing

Spaghetti and pesto

Butternut squash soup, with kalonji; sage-walnut-quince pesto

5 small sage leaves, 6 walnut halves, about 1 tsp membrillo, plus enough water to make it sauce-like

Sauteed fennel with a sauce of tinned tomatoes, chipotle, smoked garlic, smoked paprika, fennel seed, balsomic, pernod. Courgettes and potatoes

Braised leeks with lemon zest and juice, olives, olive oil; purple sprouting with toasted almonds; aubergine puree with smoked garlic; ciabatta

Tried to cook aubergine over the gas ring to get it the smoky flavour but this wasn’t very effective so I used the grill.

Poached pear with blackberries and blackcurrant jam, brioche, whipped cream

Mushroom and bacon tartlets (Waitrose), lettuce

Spaghetti alla norma.

Warm salad of sweet potato, red pepper, chilli, brie, sesame seeds and rocket; served with ciabatta.

Boil the potato as largish dice (2cm across), then fry the peppers as strips, fry the potato dice, add the chilli; finally serve the fried things on rocket, add a slice of brie at room temperature, and garnish with a few toasted sesame seeds.

Baklava from the freezer.

Lunch. Spaghetti with purple sprouting, walnuts, chilli, balsamic, cream.

Dinner. Ate out.

Lunch. Spaghetti with dried sausage, tomatoes, chilli.

Fried black pudding and apple with potato purée and red wine reduction.

Rump steak with porcini, field mushrooms, cream and brandy. Fine beans (boiled, then stewed a little in butter). Gnocchi.

Hereford asparagus with Denhay bacon.

Roasted purple peppers with tomatoes, oregano, mint, chilli, sesame seeds, feta, evoo, wine vinegar. Wild rice.

Pork belly braised with juniper, rosemary, etc. Red onion with bacon and purple sprouting. Squash, parmesan and polenta mash.

Rhubarb and ginger with a sauce of white chocolate, rose masala and cream.

Melted an ounce of white chocolate, added half tbsp rose masala, 1–2 tbsp cream, 1 tbsp rose water. Whisk more cream and fold in. This is amazing.

Purple sprouting, roast beetroot, cream with lemon, thyme, garlic

Duck breast, sour chery and rhubarb sauce, carrots, mashed potatoes.

Duck : scored the skin then cooked skinside down for about 30 mins, which renders out a lot of the fat. Then on other side for 5 mins more. Sauce : some dried sour cherries, soaked and cooked, about 1" rhubarb cooked, a cube of duck glaze. Liquidise. It looks very mysterious.

Covent Garden Thai soup

Venison sausages, sauce of shallot-chilli-garlic-mushroom, port, redcurrant jelly, goose stock, cream; leeks, mashed potato