February 2026 Favourites list

 Hello and welcome to my February favourites list. While this is not my favourite time of year, today I can’t complain. There may be a chill in the air, but the sky is blue and the sun is trying to offer some warmth here in my corner of South East London. Given the number of days I have had the heating on this month, today is a vast improvement on the rest of February. 

I have been making a few soups recently, most likely because I found myself with lots of leftover ingredients from which to make a couple of batches of stock. I started freezing the chicken bones which would otherwise have been thrown into the food recycling when recipes require boned cuts. I have saved bits like broccoli “trunks” and celery ends for the longest time. The fridge may look like a tired collection of past it veg to you, but it looks like future soup stock to me.

I have also gone back to some Indian classics. Because sometimes my soul just craves spice. Nature or nurture? I don’t care. Just give me some more.

I hope you enjoy this month’s collection, I hope you will find something here which you love.

Travel

If you thinking of going to South Korea in the future, or planning your trip, this detailed, helpful, photo-packed blog post from Kavey is what you need. Full itinerary with lots of suggestions of places to visit. https://www.kaveyeats.com/4-week-south-korea-travel-itinerary

The best restaurants at London Bridge (The Borough). I can vouch for Kolae, and hope to visit Rambutan, Berenjak, and hope my fairy godmother will treat me to Michelin starred Oma: https://www.houseandgarden.co.uk/gallery/borough-market-restaurants

Fukuoka on the island of Kyushu is the birthplace of Hakata tonkotsu ramen and a foodie hotspot. This piece considers whether skipping the big cities of Japan and concentrating on smaller towns leads to a more pleasant travel experience: https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/skipped-japans-busy-cities-home-ramen-cheap-welcoming-4198169

Poha

 

Kitchen know how

Nothing beats a homemade soup, and having your own stock/broth to hand makes cooking much easier. Here are some tips on how to save and store excess soup and broth/stock. I am guilty of not labelling diligently, leading to strange freezer surprises. This has convinced me to change my ways. https://motherwouldknow.com/tips-for-saving-broth-or-soup/

A jacket potato makes a filling lunch or speedy supper. A jacket sweet potato gives you the comfort of a jacket potato and the nutrients, fibre, and antioxidants of sweet potato (orange and purple varieties). Here is how to cook them with a recommendation for the filling: https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/food/2128911/how-to-make-baked-sweet-potato-exclusive

Food writer Joy Saha reflects on her love-hate relationship with cardamom, and how to use it.  https://www.salon.com/2026/01/25/cardamom-the-spice-youre-missing

Camellia Punjabi, author of the classic cookbook 50 Great Curries of India (which is well worth your time if you are unfamiliar with it), and founder of the iconic Bombay Brasserie Restaurant, has written a new cookbook “Vegetables: The Indian Way”. Here are her thought on how to give your vegetables an Indian twist: https://observer.co.uk/style/food/article/how-to-give-your-vegetables-an-indian-twist

Malaysian style red snapper with rice

 

Recipes

Sneak preview of The Curry Guy Slow Cooker cookbook, with 3 classic Indian curry recipes that you can make in the slow cooker: Butter chicken, Dal makhani, Lamb pasanda: https://www.stylist.co.uk/life/recipes/curry-slow-cooker-recipes-dan-toombs/1052719

Dishoom’s slow cooked buttery black dal is deservedly iconic, but takes too long for homemade dinner. Here is the recipe, speeded up for home cooks: https://www.eater.com/24225564/dishoom-dal-adapted-recipe

A collection of recipes for Iftar, the breaking of the daily fast during Ramadan, for my Muslim friends and readers: https://www.foodandwine.com/iftar-recipes-for-ramadan-11899047

Stephen Harris of Kent restaurant The Sportsman shares his recipe for the French classic stew/casserole Coq au vin: https://www.standard.co.uk/going-out/foodanddrink/recipe-coq-au-vin-best-recipe-b1267693.html

After seeing Nigella Lawson share Thuy Diem Pham's "One Pan Vietnam" in her regular Cookbook Corner feature on her website, we made the Crispy butter chicken salad with nuoc cham and chive and ginger oil dressing. We subbed spring onion greens for chives. Simple, and scrumptious! https://www.nigella.com/recipes/guests/crispy-butter-chicken-salad

 

Crispy butter chicken salad

The green shoots are showing and the daffodils are beginning to bloom, but it is still a tad chilly while we wait for spring to come. Syrian recipes of red lentil soup with dukkah oil, Mnazaleh (a Levantine chickpea stew with aubergine and tahini) are what we need for such days: https://www.theguardian.com/food/2026/jan/07/chickpea-stew-and-lentil-soup-recipes-imad-alarnab-syrian-comfort-food

One pot Orzo dishes are a supper salvation. Here is a frugal pea, mushroom and bacon version: https://www.theguardian.com/food/2025/may/13/budget-friendly-recipe-one-pot-orzo-with-peas-mushrooms-and-bacon

Healthy eating

There are three distinct types of dietary fibre we should be trying to incorporate into our diets. I definitely could improve in this department! https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/health/a70393488/oats-arent-enoughthe-3-distinct-types-of-fibre/

Music

If you are looking to expand your musical horizons, this is a cool challenge. Get one of the 1001 best albums ever made randomly chosen for you each day (from the “1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die” book). Click the link, add your project name - save the resulting link, and get listening. https://1001albumsgenerator.com/

French style merguez black rice salad

 

TV

Blackshore

DS Fia Lucey, brilliantly played by Lisa Dwan (whose wardrobe department have her supplied with some fab leather jackets, in case you are curious) requests a move from Dublin to her hometown to investigate the case of a missing woman, who had shown Lucey kindness by giving her a job many years before. What follows is a very dark drama of decades buried secrets being uncovered, and the murky past of Lucey’s hometown, casting light on why she left.

Available on BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002q7d7/blackshore

Small Prophets

Mackenzie Crook may have got his break in The Office, which poked fun at its hapless characters, but as a writer, actor, and director he has specialised in “gentle comedy” where you laugh with, and empathise with, the characters rather than just laugh at them. He shown his skill at this comedy-with-kindness in The Detectorists. Now he brings us a fresh set of characters, in an inter-generational comedy drama involving a small amount of alchemy.

Available on BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002q765/small-prophets

Relay

Riz Ahmed is a man with a questionable job. He helps companies avoid bad publicity for unethical conduct avoid exposure by being a go-between between would be whistleblowers who have changed their minds (often because of subtle harassment and surveillance). The reluctant whistleblowers hand back the information they have on the unethical conduct, the companies hand over money and agree to leave them alone, on condition that if they break the agreement the press get the compromat, and theoretically everyone lives happily ever after. But can it ever be that simple? I can’t say more – you need to watch it for yourself.

Currently available on Amazon Prime: https://watch.amazon.co.uk/detail?gti=amzn1.dv.gti.d3f460d4-91c2-4d91-a9f9-0153d07034e1&ref_=atv_dp_share_mv&r=web

Not available on Netflix in the UK, but available there in other countries.

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.