Hello! Welcome to my October favourites list. I am feeling quite autumnal as we’ve progressed through the month, the leaves are slowly going brown and falling from the trees, the days are cooling rapidly. This weekend the clocks will go back, which is always a big watershed moment; it becomes inescapable that we’ve hit autumn when we lose that hour of daylight in the evening/afternoon. Unsurprisingly, my food thoughts are similarly turning to autumnal ingredients, slow cooked dishes, braises, stews and warming sources of comfort. Snuggling down with some good music, and good TV is also something I like to do in autumn/winter.
This month’s pictures are from a lunch at Cora Pearl in London’s Covent Garden. It’s a restaurant from the team behind award-winning Kitty Fisher’s in Mayfair. Both restaurants are named after famous London based courtesans from history (look them up, they're fascinating!). The concept at Cora Pearl is “elevated British comfort food”. Obviously, we had to try their infamous chips, reputed to be the best chips in the UK, which I can report are nothing short of a work of art. We had a sumptuous lunch, stimulating conversation, and perhaps a little glass of something restorative. I hope you like the photos.
Now, onto the list itself…. Here goes!
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Food advice and kitchen tips
If you are a student and find yourself needing to cook for yourself (or you know someone who is a student), the BBC has collected together all of their student recipes into collections – easy meals, cheap meals, microwave meals, batch cooking, stir fries, etc. A very helpful resource: https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/occasions/student_food
Instant noodles can be cheap and cheerful or a little more fancy. But with a few tweaks, can feel more than just a stockcupboard snack. Here are some ideas on hacking your noods: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/food/recipes/a62366090/instant-noodles-hacks/
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Restaurant reviews
Kavita of Kavey Eats blog reviews Connor Turner at The Vinetree in Langattock, Crickhowell (a short drive northwest from Abergavenny, Wales). Every dish looks delicious, from the canapes to the desserts: https://www.kaveyeats.com/connor-turner-the-vinetree
GingeyBites blog’s Alex reviews Inoshishi Izakaya, in Frome. The perfect circle of vegetable gyoza with their batter skirt is breathtaking: https://gingeybites.com/2024/10/inoshishi-izakaya-frome.html
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Recipes
Butternut squash, marinated and served with red onion and basil. A taste of Venice brought to your kitchen for either a side dish or a lunch with fresh crusty bread:
https://www.saveur.com/recipes/marinated-butternut-squash-red-onion-basil/
A lamb and artichoke stew from Fiona at London Unattached, with some thoughts on wine pairings: https://www.london-unattached.com/wine-pairing-lamb/
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Aash is a Persian herby soup/stew – here is Sabrina Ghayour’s recipe for a rice and vegetable aash with puy lentils for autumnal evenings: https://www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/entertain/rice-and-vegetable-aash-with-puy-lentils/
A Greek style lamb and orzo stew, reminiscent of Youvetsi, which can be made in advance (perhaps on a stir-up-Sunday) and frozen for later: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/food/recipes/a535692/lamb-orzo-stew/
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A Ghanaian recipe for plaintain kakro, which cooking teacher Zeenat Bashir insists is so good, you’ll be dreaming of it: https://metro.co.uk/2024/10/15/a-plantain-recipe-good-left-dreaming-21792876/
If you enjoy making Chinese main course dishes but find yourself in need of a quick vegetable side dish, this Sichuanese green beans recipe is just what you need: https://www.lovefood.com/recipes/59893/sichuanese-dryfried-green-beans-recipe
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Music
Is composer and musician Nils Frahm writing contemporary classical music or electronica or a bit of both? Whatever you want to call it, his music will evoke a deep emotional response. I discovered Nils thanks to Mary Ann Hobbs on Radio 6 Music. This whole gig by Frahm is remarkable. Beautiful music to calm the mind and rejuvenate a jaded soul.
If you found yourself falling behind on contemporary music, this varied and well compiled list from Paste Magazine will give you lots of listening inspiration.
https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/best-songs/the-100-best-songs-of-the-2020s-so-far
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TV
Ludwig
John and James Taylor are identical twins. James is shy, and socially anxious, and finds the clean logic and endeavour of setting and solving puzzles the ideal profession and pastime; be it crosswords, maths puzzles, or logic puzzles. In fact, he’s the leading expert in setting puzzles, his books, written as “Ludwig” are collected and devoured by fans. But when John, a police detective specialising in investigating murders, disappears, his distressed wife asks James to pretend to be John to get to the bottom of what happened to him. Will James or John be discovered first? David Mitchell and Anna Maxwell Martin make this an enjoyable comedy drama with their interaction as the reluctant imposter and the worried but determined Mrs Taylor.
On BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m0022wvz/ludwig
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The Cleaner Series 3
Greg Davies is back as grumpy crime scene cleaner Paul ‘Wicky’ Wickstead in the sitcom which it seems everyone who is someone in TV wants a cameo in. This new series is no exception, with Steve Pemberton, Sharon Rooney and Derek Griffiths (among others) making an appearance. Let the misunderstandings and awkwardness begin!
On BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0023j50/the-cleaner-series-3-1-the-reunion
Please note: as with every monthly Favourites List, all of these items have been selected by me simply because I love them. I do not receive any money, benefits in kind or other incentive for posting these links or recommendations.
