The week started slowly, as it is likely to do when you accidentally poison yourself by eating soft cheese that has been lurking in the fridge too long (oops). Then a busy week, with guests, which means not much in the way of innovation for dinner. Time to go to the old stand-bys, the things that can come out of the freezer: leftover roast chicken made into soup and risotto. Minced beef into ragu into lasagne. Chicken and lentils cooked all day for a mild, toddler-friendly curry (even if she only ate the rice anyway). Although mornings are still frosty, the sun is warm when it appears, and the tulips are well on their way now. I have the first broad beans (though Italian) in my organic box this week, so maybe spring is on the way.

Recipes:

• Apple crumble – James Morton’s ‘How Baking Works’
• Slow cooker ragu – ‘Slow Cooked’ – Miss South
• Sake steak – Nigella’s ‘Feast’

Without a recipe:

• Roast chicken, chipolatas, roast potatoes, roast butternut squash, broccoli
• Lasagne  (using the slow cooker ragu)
• Squash soup (with leftover roast squash)
• Chicken risotto
• Slow cooker chicken curry
• Milk bread (again – trying to get the recipe right)

Reading:

• Felicity Cloake gives much needed sense to the ‘clean eating’ trend: “What all the various clean regimes have in common, however, is a hefty helping of self-denial” – something that Bee Wilson would say is likely to be counter-productive.
• An update on Richard Wrangham’s hypothesis about cooking and early humans: maybe we were slicing and pounding food before we started using fire.
• Food and Drink confessions from Helen Graves – much sympathy for these, including issues with tripe and bone marrow.
• Tips, tricks and best practices for making yoghurt. One I’ve yet to attempt at home, so maybe that’s one I should try soon.
• Claudia Fleming was once the hottest pastry chef in America. Then life happened, and she wasn’t. A great article from a previous issue of Lucky Peach.
• An intriguing article about Heston Blumenthal’s work cooking for Tim Peake aboard the International Space Station.
• I’m very behind on the Piglet (no spoilers please!) but you can catch up here