Daffodil Soup London

Everyone’s cooking and baking again, and posting their stories online, which is lovely to see.  For professional chefs, this has been a stressful time, not being able to cook and feed people every day (it’s not just a day job, it’s basically a calling). With just two of us at home during lockdown, I’ve had to fight the urge to keep creating loads of dishes that we just can’t eat. The freezers are full, and there really is only so much one can eat in a day. (Trust me, we've tried.)  I’ve been making sourdough bread for decades with my starter called Elvis (and documenting the results endlessly on Insta) and once the strong flour issue was resolved I started baking bread for friends and neighbours, which has scratched the itch somewhat.     Then, seeing the lovely cheese and chilli cornbread recipe posted by Rosalind, the founder of Cookery School at Little Portland Street reminded me that I have a savoury muffin recipe which I use...

 This is one of those recipes that makes you frown at first, trying to get your head around the is-it-a-bread question that leads to the savoury scone/muffin or all-in-one-quiche debate. There is no solution except to make it and draw your own conclusion, which will be that it is delicious! After all, how can a combination of bacon, cheese and leek be wrong? This lovely loaf (or you could bake the mix in muffin tins) is a brunch crowd-pleaser, especially served toasted with a fried or poached egg on top. For lunch it's perfect served as a wedge with a fresh green salad and for a lighter evening meal you won't regret serving it with a bowl of soup or chilli.  Serve with good salted butter (and extra cheese on the side for good measure). This makes a 750g loaf or 10-12 muffins Ingredients 1 medium onion, diced 250g smoked streaky bacon, diced 1tbsp light olive oil 1 leek, finely sliced 225g self-raising flour A pinch of salt  1tsp English...

I am not going to tell you that this loaf is healthy or good for you but take a closer look: courgettes and pineapple (two of your five-a-day), and coconut. And it's CAKE so that's a win-win, right? I know what you're thinking. Step away from the vegetable drawer. But stop a second and consider the carrot cake. A vegetable. One that's quite sweet and full of goodness. And we all know what happens when you put carrots in a cake: you get dense, moist, not-too-sweet cakey loveliness. Courgettes take the results to a whole new nutty level, and the pineapple and coconut add a tropical twist. I think this cake is moist and flavourful enough not to need icing but you may not agree, in which case a cream-cheese combo a la carrot cake would work well, as would a chocolate ganache if you're trying to camouflage the cake's central theme (no one will guess, but don't ask them to try until they've had three slices). It was Nigella who started me on this road a f...