Daffodil Soup London

Oh dear. So, having taken some considerable time out I have fallen at the blogger's very first hurdle. And I have so much to say! Life is to blame, but so is a lack of self-discipline and the realisation that a self-imposed deadline has no penalty attached. I must, and will, do better. I r eturned from Fran ce at the weekend with a rather large rabbit in my cooler box, and the casserole is now simmering away downstairs. The smells wafting up are tantalising indeed and I'm going to serve it with mashed Maris Piper potatoes and something green from the veggie drawer. Farmed rabbit, widely available, is economical, tasty and healthy, and a great alternative to chicken. Wild rabbit has a more gamey flavour, and is more of an acquired taste. I bought this one in the supermarket in Calais and it's huge - def initely enough for two meals and I'm goin g to use the other half for a terrine with wild mushrooms and fresh herbs. Slow-cooked rabbit with bacon and flageolet Fe

So I am in the wilds of the northwest of Scotland this week, which I'm afraid is still a dire destination for a foodie ... yes there is lovely smoked salmon and the occasional kipper, but on the whole what is available to visitors (outside of chef-driven exclusive luxury lodges) is deep-fried stodge. The Scots are not unjustly famed for their oats porridge but they also invented the deep-fried Mars bar. From the window of our holiday cottage I can see Loch Sunart lazily lapping at the shore in the early evening sunshine - at this time of year it never truly gets dark and last thing before going to bed I look out on the silvery ribbon of water and hope to see an otter (I have done before, not yet on this trip). So we're back to basic self-catering holiday food: one-pot chicken casserole on our first night, which always pleases me in its deep chickenness. Plus, the first time David cooked it for me I knew I wanted to live with him forever. It's slow food but takes only minute

I have so far resisted the urge to write about food and contribute recipes, knowledge and hopefully humour to the blogosphere and confined my posts to Facebook and Twitter (@daffodilsoup). But increasingly I find I have more to share and instead of just greedily "consuming" well-crafted contributions from others I am gonna do this thing! I am concerned about continuity and quality - I have felt the pain of bloggers crippled with writers block or, simply, exhaustion. I have my fingers crossed, so here goes. I am a trained chef, I cook for a living, I am self-employed and work from my home kitchen mostly, although I do undertake assignments in professional kitchens and so, hopefully, know of which I speak. I also have an Advanced wine qualification from the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET), and teach wine appreciation and offer food-and-wine tastings as part of Daffodil Soup . As a former journalist I tend to cast a very critical eye over most things, especially restaur