Dollops of Chutney with Soul

Rubies in the Rubble celebrates everything I love about food. Since trying a sample of Spiced Banana chutney on a oat cake at Borough Market last week I’ve been having sweet, sweet chilli dreams. It is defiantly a first class product with luxury branding and prices steering it away from similar projects that address food wastage in the UK that tend to be associated with the second rate, charity focused products. Rubies in the Rubble suggests it is quality cooking and a quality recipe that produce a quality product, not polished fruit and veg in pristine rows. After all, giraffe bananas make for the best banana bread and apples that have got into  a few punch ups in the fruit bowl are perfect for crumbles. This logic applies even more so in the instance of chutney because the process of preservation eliminates the issue of shelf life. Hats off to Jenny Dawson and her delicious chutneys.

India has arrived!

My copy of Rick Stein’s India has arrived and taken its place on the bookshelf. Nestled next to Jamie, Delia and the small minority of chefs I regularly turn to. The pages are bright and vibrant and it’s a great one to flick through just for the pictures. Although the recipes don’t scream ‘Yep, I’ve already got all those ingredients in the cupboard,’ you’ll notice a lot of the key ingredients are repeated in most the recipes. All they require is one trip to an Indian food market for bulk packs of cumin, Kashmir chilies and frozen coconut. I decided to cook a roast with a twist on Sunday. I served up spiced whole leg of lamb from Lucknow, which was tender and juicy and coated in a creamy, nutty crusty. For sides I cooked Ricks spiced roast potatoes and onions and Kachumber salad. The recipes for both sides are on my Recipe page. All your usual British roast trimmings would have equally complimented the leg of lamb!