When I saw the first few leaves fall onto the trampolene yesterday and notice the big critters coming inside to nestle in the warmth of our house, I realised with contempt that autumn is upon us. But long unpunctuated, miserable sentences aside, this means nuzzlely, body-warming foods are the order of the day. Now sometimes I just want to gorge on lush foods but can’t stop at one bite, i have to eat the whole thing, so the best thing to do in these situations is not eat any lunch and save yourself for that big treat later on. Bring on the Baked Camembert baby! This is a beautifully, simple, rustic French meal, totally indulgent, decadent as feck and probably not a good meal for your kids. What with no veg being present and all that. Honey, this is yours!! Feed them, bath them, story them, cuddle them, pack ‘em into bed. Get down that stair and bake up girl, bake up….this is mummy time.

Camembert

Ingredients:
A big round of Camembert
Olive oil
Garlic
Ciabatta or pannini bread
Fresh thyme or basil

Cook:
Turn up your oven to a hearty 180 and let it get toasty. In the meantime pull out your beautiful, awesomely fragrant Camembert from the fridge and unravel it taking care not to discard of it’s packaging or rip it in any way. I like my cheese and if I can, I’ll buy the best that I can afford and this means Waitrose seeing as they have have such a spectacular selection. How smelly do you like it? This is another consideration. Personally, I want my fridge to stink for one day and I want to sense the luxury that awaits my mouth to devour it. Mmmmm, cheeeese!

Jeez! Back to cooking! Yes, so there’s a few that I would opt for…Brie de Meaux, mmmm, Chaumes, or Beaufort, mmmmmm but for just a tasy regular munch, go for a standard Normandy Camembert. Take a sharp knife and make some little cuts in the top of your cheese, place in here some sprinklings of crushed garlic but not too much, gently place some thyme or basil or whichever fresh herb you’ve opted for into those cuts and then like an expert, place your thumb over the olive oil bottle and drizzle over your Camembert. Gently re-wrap your cheese loosely and leave to one side. Take your ciabatta or pannini and cut into delicate, slim slices. Take a clove of garlic and rub it over your slices, again drizzle lightly with olive oil and place pieces around your Camembert on a baking tray. Take your whole ensemble and bake up in that piping hot oven for ten minutes.
This dish is best served up on a generous plate, cheese in the middle, crispy garlic toasts surrounding it and something ace on the telly.
Finally…
Nothing goes better with creamy, indulgent cheeses than a velvety, deep-flavoured and full- bodied red, a Merlot is the perfect bedfellow.
Visit your drawer, pull out the corkscrew and pop open that baby, pour into your wine glass, breathe in, sup up and dip your very French slices into the condensed gorgeousness that is your baked Camembert. Voilà!

Lou Prew

There will probably be loads of Jamaicans and West Indians kissing their teeth while reading this and saying things like “Dat kyan right” or “dis na bloodclaat Jerk”, because Jerk is not a recipe its a state of mind, a feeling from deep within the soul, it is the epitomy of soul food and even by sticking to a recipe you are not giving the Jerk the respek’ due.
So heres some guidlines for the Jerk beginner, feel free to add or subtract depending on your mood and feelings and by all means this is not limited to Chicken or Pork, you can use fish, prawns, goat, beef, sausage or even if you are a real saddo tofu….

Ingredients:
1 scotch bonnet chilli
3 cloves of garlic
1 thumb size piece of ginger
1/2 tsp salt flakes
2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp ground all spice
1 tsp ground cloves
1/4 nutmeg, grated
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp malt vinegar
2 tbsp molasses or dark unrefined sugar
1 chicken or 1 kilo pork belly (or whatever you decide to “jerk”)
2 tbsp groundnut oil

Jerk Ingredients

Method:
In a pestle and mortar (or if your lazy like me use a spice blender) put the garlic, chilli, ginger, salt, thyme, spices and grind to a paste, then add the vinegar, oil and sugar and a few tbsp water until all combined and a smooth creamy paste.
Score the chicken (or whatever your using so as the paste penetrates deep into the meat) then put into a tupperware container or ziplock bag or a dish covered in cling film and allow to marinate – turning occasionaly for at least 4 hours – preferably overnight.

Jerk Chicken

Cook on a barbeque preferably one with a lid, and for added flavour put some all spice leaves or bay leaves or thyme or all of the above on to the charcoal to create an aromatic smoke (there are pre made smoking chips you can get)

BBQ Jerk Pork

BBQ Jerk Chicken

Tasty oven cooked chicken dish, can be used with any cut of chicken here we use thighs, but this recipe is all about the marinade / sauce.

Satay marinade/sauce

Ingredients;

Chicken (here we used 16 thighs)

Garlic
Ginger
Lemon Grass
Zest and juice of lime
3 tbsp Peanut butter
Coconut milk

Method:
Put all the ingredients (apart from the chicken) into the blender and blend into a smooth liquid about the consistency of single cream.
Score the chicken skin right to the bone place in an ovenproof dish and completely cover the chicken pieces with the sauce, place in the fridge for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight turning occasionally.
Roast in the oven until chicken is cooked through, again turning occasionally. – serve with a rice dish.

Chicken Satay

Sweet chilli and spring onion fried rice

Simple and quick tasy rice dish ideal for using up left over rice from the night before or just a way of spicing up plain old boiled rice.

Ingredients;
1 cup of plain boiled rice (cooled down)
Bunch of spring onions
Few cloves of garlic
2 tsp sweet chilli sauce
2 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp chinese 5 spice
Sesame oil
Vegetable oil

Method:
Heat a 50/50 mixture of veg oil and sesame oil in a wok and stir fry the chopped spring onion and the garlic.

Stir fry onions and garlic

Add the rice and fry until warmed through.
Mix in the soy sauce and sweet chilli sauce to taste.

Enjoy…..

Extremely tasty melt in your mouth dish from a cheap cut of meat, slow roasted so the meat just falls apart and full of flavour. – not suitable for those on a diet, especially the crispy crackling that goes with it.

Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder

Ingredients:
Shoulder of Pork (deboned preferably)
Bottle of Cider (Sweet or Medium)
Apple
Cornflour or gravy thickener
Salt + Pepper
Garlic Salt
Onion Granules

Method:
Core and skin an Apple and chop into segments place on the bottom of an ovenproof dish, place the Pork Shoulder on it skin side up,
Score the skin and rub in a mixture of salt, pepper, garlic salt & onion granules into the skin making sure to get the mixture deep into the cuts you have made, this makes for a very flavoursome crackling.
Preheat the oven to 130 and roast the joint with the lid on for half the time.
(for each kilo of meat you should roast in totsl for at least 6 hours – so in this case we have a 1 kilo joint pre-roast for 3 hours)

Remove the fat that has cooked out of the pork and replace with the cider, it is important to try and cover as much of the joint as possible with the cider but allowing the skin to remain above the water level. – this keeps the meat moist but allows the skin to start to crispen.

After the next 3 hours remove the joint from the dish and peel off the layer of skin / fat from the top – place this under the grill for around 5 minutes before serving to make it crispy (it will pop and crack while crisping)

Put the oven dish on the hob and bring to the boil then simmer adding your thickening agent to make the cider gray.

- serve with roast potatos, mash, veg, & Yorkshire Puddings

A wonderfully simple chicken pasta bake easily cooked by both amateur and professional cooks. Perfect as a main or in smaller portions as a starter, also an ideal following day lunchbox filler.

Pasta Bake

Ingredients:
Pasta (Penne or Macaroni)
Chicken (Jointed and boned)
Mushrooms (Whole)
2 Onions
1 Yellow Pepper
2 Cloves Garlic
Chopped Tomatoes
Basil
Oregano

Pasta bake ingredients

Method:
Rinse and boil the pasta and brown off the chicken.

Boil Pasta while chicken frys

Slice dice and chop onions garlic and pepper.

Chop vegetables

Pre heat oven to 180 degrees while you soften your vegetables in a lightly oiled wok.
Place the cooked pasta in an oven proof dish with the tomatoes basil and oregano and add the chicken and vegetables and heavily garnish with cheese.

Oven Ready

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes until golden brown and crispy around the edges. Then Eat.

Enjoy!

Perfect for the barbecue or simply grill and serve as a starter

Ingredients;

For the marinade
120ml (8tbsp) soy sauce
2tsp toasted sesame oil
2tbsp orange juice
3cm (1in) piece ginger, peeled and grated
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 large skinless chicken breasts
24 wooden skewers
2tsp sesame seeds
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For the dipping sauce
100ml (4fl oz) soy sauce
3cm (1in) piece ginger, peeled and grated
2 spring onions, finely chopped

Method:

1. Place all the marinade ingredients in a pan (except the chicken, skewers and sesame seeds) and bring to the boil. Remove from heat and cool.
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2. Cut each chicken breast into 6 long strips and thread onto skewers, place in a shallow non-metallic container. Pour the soy mixture over the chicken pieces and leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
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3. Make the dipping sauce by mixing the soy, ginger and one spring onion. Pour into a shallow serving bowl. Finely slice the other spring onion.
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4. Preheat grill to high and cook the meat for 3 minutes each side, basting with the marinade as you turn them over. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and spring onions, serve with the dip.

Basic simple egg fried rice recipe use as a base to make any type of fried rice recipe.

Egg Fried Rice

Egg Fried Rice

Ingredients:
cooked rice
eggs
soy sauce
sweetcorn

Method:
Beat the eggs and fry like an ommlette add a dash of soy sauce and break egg up into little chunks.
Add the cooked rice and another dash of soy sauce, once thoroughly mixed then add sweetcorn and any other pre cooked ingredients.