The January List

What I'm reading, cooking, baking, wearing and generally loving right now

This January, I’ve done a fair bit of hibernating: I’ve been working away on final edits for my new cookbook (more on that to come…); I’ve been treating myself to Saturday nights that look like a hot bath + a face mask + an early night in bed with a good book (see below); I’ve been spending more time at home, more time being cosy. And now, in the blink of an eye, it’s almost February…

Following on from Mary Lovell’s The Mitford Girls (which I greedily devoured over the Christmas Holidays), I’ve started reading Debo Mitford’s own autobiography. Debo was the youngest of the six Mitford sisters, married the Duke of Devonshire and lead the most extraordinary life, which she recounts so charmingly in this book. I’m halfway through at the moment and sort of don’t want to keep reading as I don’t want it to end. Do you ever get that feeling?

For years I didn’t like broccoli. And now I couldn’t love it more. Funny, how things change. I’m an especially big fan of broccoli pasta: there are lots of ways to do this, many of which involve cooking the broccoli then blitzing it into a pesto of sorts; but my go-to and is as follows: bring a large pan of salted water to the boil; add the broccoli florets in to cook with the pasta (depending on the size of the chunks you’ll want to cook them for 3-5 minutes, roughly, so adjust your cooking times accordingly); drain and toss together with half a cup of the cooking water, a generous drizzle of olive oil, and lots of grated mild cheese (I love a provolone or similar for this, but you could even try a grated mild cheddar). Lastly add a little more olive oil, a grating of black pepper and a little parmesan to serve. So simple, but so deeply comforting and nourishing to eat. You can, of course play around with the flavours, and add chilli, garlic, black olives, toasted pine nuts, toasted flaked almonds, and so on and so forth to taste…

Now, I know this sounds utterly bizarre; but bear with me and please do try it. Because it’s SO good. I first came across the idea in NYT Cooking: No Recipe Recipes, a super-handy little manual with a red cloth cover and filled with lots of ideas for what to cook for your next meal that don’t involve the intellectual challenge of engaging with an actual recipe. It’s a great book and if you don’t have it already I can’t recommend it enough. Same goes for this: hot toast (ideally sourdough or a nice slice of toast that has substance and integrity to it); smear with a generous bit of good butter (ideally salted); now slap on a thick layer of peanut butter. You want proper peanut butter: I like this one, deep roasted and crunchy, but you’ll have your own favourite peanut butter so go with that. Next, a drizzle of sriracha (how much really depends on how much heat you like) and lastly scatter over a few sour, salty, coarsely chopped pickles, which just give the whole thing a lovely crunchy bite and a more-ish oomph that will have you going back for seconds and thirds. The little red NYT cookbook that’s not a cookbook recommends a splash of soy sauce on the toast too, but I don’t think you really need it; but you might still want to give it a try…

I stumbled upon this image while scrolling mindlessly on my phone; but isn’t it a cute idea for a supper party? So simple: make a single deep cut into the veggie of your choice, and slot in a place card. Never one not to go all out with a good theme, I would then decorate the table with more fruit and veg… Think: artichokes and bunches of asparagus; bowls of papery red onions and gleaming, deep purple whole aubergines… You could even gild the lily by dabbing them with a little edible gold leaf. Food for thought.