The good news is that sometimes a little unintended pause in the proceedings gives me a chance to think and get creative. During this hiatus I have decided to shake things up a little in the newsletter department with a couple of new additions to the regular recipes and musings.
Starting today, and at the beginning of every month for the foreseeable, alongside my regular recipe offerings I will also curate a full seasonal menu often combining new recipes and old staples. My hope is it will inspire you to make one meal a month to share with those you love (or even just like enough to invite around your table). Over time they will give me the opportunity to delve into the recipe archives, illustrate the methods and plans behind my kitchen systems and help me take some of the sting out of entertaining.
I also felt it was about time to start a new Cookbook Corner. Given my mildly obsessive and ever growing collection of books about food, I want to share the new releases I’m devouring cover to cover and the old favourites I can’t live without. This will vary month on month and will remain totally unsponsored.
So, as we resume regular newsletter proceedings and now that you know what’s in store for today, let’s start by catching up on all the cooking that’s happened in my kitchen in October with the latest recipes.
October’s Kitchen Escapades
This month I started a little series on Instagram and YouTube Shorts called Pimp My Dish, where I I take an everyday staple and elevate it to something spectacular with one (or two) extra ingredients. My first instalments included Everything Bagel Seasoning Pimped Fried Eggs, Coffee Pimped with Cardamom and Cinnamon, Pimp My Avocado Toast and my favourite Pimped Snack. Coming in November will be dressings, salts and dips. Make sure you are following along so you don’t miss out.
There are a few guarantees in life and one of them is that every Autumn I will furnish you with at least one new pumpkin and chard recipe. This October was no exception, with my most popular soup on record and a tart which might have inadvertently triggered the idea for a new recipe series. Usually I share recipes here with you first and then put them out there on social platforms, but as everything went upside down in October, I shared them with the global internet before my subscribers. Please forgive me. On the upside they received some of my best feedback ever! (So now you really have to make them.)
This Roasted Pumpkin & White Bean Soup is actually a gift in its cooking simplicity, requiring no chopping, sautéing or general prep faff. All that’s required is to halve the veg, roast them all together on a sheet tray in a hot oven, then blitz with a good jar of beans and some stock. That is it. Unctiously, thick, brightly coloured and soothingly satisfying, this is a complete meal in itself, accessoried only if desired with a slice of toasted sourdough and a green salad. It also freezes fantastically for an emergency meal on a day when you just can’t face cooking (because those days happen to the best of us).
I was a little worried that this Chard & Feta Brunch Tart might not hit right as tarts are not my usual offering on here. But I gave this old favourite recipe of mine a 2025 glow up with the addition of eggs cracked on at the end of cooking for full on brunch/lunch extravaganza. And it has since unintentionally inspired a new puff pastry series, so watch this space………
I should note that the chard, feta, sweet potato and red onion topping can also be rolled into the puff pastry, sliced and baked with an egg wash for a fantastic swirl canapé or snack as we careen swiftly towards the festive season. It’s the same process as the Miso Marmite Cheddar Swirls, also a perfect accompaniment to a cocktail. I’m just here, thinking ahead for you……..
And while we are on the subject of cocktails, sometime over the summer, I took up my favourite stool at the bar at St John and was introduced to a Bicicletta – a Campari based cocktail that had somehow passed me by. We can unpack how it was possible that I hadn’t discovered this Aperetivo sooner at another time, but safe to say it’s absolutely a staple now, especially on those occasions when a Negroni is just a little too much. I hope you love this bright sharing cocktail with all the bitter sweet notes that just seem to be a perfect punctuation of the day.
And Now for Something A little Different……A November Menu
I think it’s time we take things up a notch. We have cooked one recipe at a time for a while now on this journey, but I feel we are ready to move our relationship to the next step and start making meals together. I am so often asked what to cook alongside a recipe I share, that it inspired me to welcome you into my world of menus. Because truthfully, I love creating menus as much as I love finessing a recipe.
From now on, in the first newsletter of every month I will share a menu. It will be seasonal and varied, everything from a weeknight meal to brunch to a celebration. Like the recipes I share they will be a reflection of what’s happening not only in my kitchen but on the calendar. Hopefully these will encourage you to open your doors and invite others around your tables to connect over plates of food as you build communities one meal at a time. It also allows me to delve into the archives and remind you (and me) about those old favourites that deserve a little love.
A November Menu
Because all of us in the Northern Hemisphere are acclimating to shorter, colder days, this menu is here to provide comfort and warmth as we ease into Winter. Centred around a one pot wonder that makes fantastic leftovers (make double if you can), these dishes will remind us that there’s still joy to be found, even when sweater weather hits.
I’m starting gently here with a midweek classic I’ve made on repeat for years. As we near Thanksgiving you will get a bonus menu in a few weeks, so all menu bases are covered in November from the simple to the festive.
This is a one pot wonder, where the rice and veg cook under the chicken for a complete meal that’s packed with flavour from the harissa and goodness from the ingredients. As good for a simple weeknight dinner as it is for a celebration this is an all around crowd pleaser and the leftovers are a gift. Once you have this cooking method confidently under your belt you can then start to shake up the flavour combinations of the chicken and rice (think Miso, Honey Chicken & Rice). Welcome to my world of a variation of a theme, where you use the same cooking method on repeat, substituting different seasonings so it seems like a different dish every time.
(For a vegetarian version you can bake this without the chicken. Still remove the lid for the last few minutes of cooking to crisp up the top. It’s fantastic with a dollop of Greek yoghurt as well)
This is one of my favourite salads to accompany a heartier dish. Its fresh crunch and tangy dressing compliments the heartier harissa spiced chicken and rice, cutting through the richness for perfect balance while keeping it light on the side.
The zesty crunch of these beans and bright green makes the plate sing when served alongside the chicken and salad. The lemon zest makes all the difference not only to the beans, but the entire plate so make sure you don’t skip it. The easiest side with most impact these are a regular feature on my table.
If you are looking for a dessert, Miso Honey Apple Crumble is always a winner
This comforting dessert is so far from ordinary in its flavour. The miso gives a warm umami and a welcome surprise kick to a nostalgic bowl of feel good joy. Make the topping in advance and keep it in the freezer for any midweek dessert emergencies and so that you don’t have to make everything all at once.
(To make this topping dairy free, I use coconut oil instead of the butter and it works brillliantly)
A New Cookbook Corner
And here we are with my second new instalment in newsletter content – my Cookbook Corner. To be honest, I am still wondering what took me so long to get here. For those of you who may not have seen an image of my rear kitchen wall, it’s filled to the brim with books. What you may not know, is that my cookbook collection spills over into basically every other room of the house, with coffee table books in the living room, reference books in the den and my bedside table stacked high with current reads. So It thought it would be fun to share my favourites (and why I love them), both old and newly released, with the additional hope that it may even spark even more conversation between us……..
September and October are historically busy cookbook release months, so I had a glut of choice for my first instalment. I apologise in advance for my rather obvious selection. As I gear up to host 2 book launches in November I have had time to pour over Dobre Dobre and Baking & the Meaning of Life, now available in the UK & Stateside. Both books are close to my heart for a variety of reasons and the subjects dovetail beautifully together.
Dobre Dobre by Laurel Kratochvilla is a deep dive into Polish baking in the diaspora and features my Oma’s Apple Cake recipe accompanied by the incredible story of her escape from Europe the late ’30’s and how she found her way with her family and the recipe to the USA. Passing the stories of heritage through recipes and the memories made around the table has not only been my anchor in life but it’s really why I started cooking as a teenager. I found out who I was through the recipes that evoked memories and the cooks who inspired me through their stories. Dobre Dobre not only enlightened me about my own cultural heritage, Laurel so eloquently illustrates how Polish bakers and recipes literally sewed their seeds into everyday treats we all know and love around world.
The emotive reasons behind why we bake, how it sparks joy and why we love too share sweet treats is exactly how Helen Goh arranges her recipes through Baking & the meaning of Life and it’s why these two books dovetail so beautifully together. Helen’s background as a psychotherapist as well as a renowned pastry chef bring such enlightenment into the recipes that not only span all the emotions behind how and why we love to bake and share, but also through the lens of the three different continents she calls home.
(There are still a very few tickets left for each event. Find the details here and come join us as we talk and eat and bake and share together, while celebrating these triumphant new releases. )
And because I’m being very over zealous today, other books I loved that recently hit the shelves include Silk Roads by Anna Ansari, a flavour odyssey filled with recipes brought to life by their stories of places I only dream of visiting and whose cuisine I adore. I am also making time every day to read at least one of Diana Henry’s latest stories from Around the Table. It is just the most beautiful collection of musings that I choose to ration so that they don’t end to soon. And I couldn’t resist the latest Eric Warheim’s Steak House, not so much for the recipes but for the incredible anthology of an iconic American institution, photographed with every bit of tongue in cheek bit of kitsch that you could ever hope for.
Before I Go…….
And after this marathon update, I feel it’s finally time to sign off for this week. I will be back in a couple of weeks with more musings and seasonal recipes as we gear up for the holiday season.
In the meantime, please do let me know what you think about these latest additions to the newsletter. I love how we continuously evolve together on these culinary escapades and I value and welcome your feedback to make sure I am on the right track and keep me in line! Thank you as always for being here, reading and cooking along with me.
Until next time.
Love, Hanna xxx