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Wine: Something for the weekend?

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Nibble nirvana: Mark Hix's bite-sized brilliance and tapas treats

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

In the bar below my new restaurant in Soho, we are developing lots of delicious small plates of nibbles and snacks. We tend to just call them "snax", but the influence has pretty much come from the Spanish tapas which most people know and love. Tapas began life as free nibbles at bars in Spain – they would usually consist of the fishermen's by-catch of small fish, which would be put on the bar-top to encourage more drinking. In small villages, men would go out on a tapeo to different bars, drinking and nibbling on tasty free morsels.

Anthony Rose: 'To compete with the Wine Societies of this world, you have to deliver good quality at a reasonable price

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Are you in the club? The wine club, that is? Until recently, there was only one major home-delivery service in it– and that was The Wine Society, the venerable Victorian, non-profit-making organisation, whose Postman Pat-like vans deliver high-quality wines to grateful households the length and breadth of the country. You have to have a share to be a member, but a £40 share is a small price to pay for handsome dividends over a lifetime. I say until recently, because for my money, the other hugely successful wine home-delivery specialist, Laithwaites, never really looked like offering the same degree of consistent value.

The ten best autumn cook books

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:32 GMT

Chosen by Jim Cook

Only 50 baking days to go: Why making your own Christmas cake and pudding is a surprisingly exact science

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

All at once I am not so sure this was a good idea. Go to Yorkshire, I'd been told, to Betty's famous tea shop in Harrogate, and they'll teach you how to make a Christmas cake and pudding. Do it now and they will be nicely matured by the festive season. They can teach anyone. Even you.

A spicy little vintage: Can wines tailor-made to suit Indian food persuade us to ditch the lager?

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

It's National Curry Week again next month, and aficionados of Indian restaurants may be startled to find themselves being coaxed to reconsider their choice of drinks by waiters newly appointed as sommeliers. For the reflex choices of old, lager and pinot grigio, are not necessarily the best accompaniments to fine food from the subcontinent. At least, that's the belief of two competing factions who say the ideal partner is a purpose-designed wine.

Cepes appeal: Skye Gyngell goes wild for the earthy delight of wild mushrooms

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

It has been a good year for mushrooms. The porcini in these photographs were found in the woods not far from our restaurant – we collected five kilos. Just a couple of weeks ago, I was in Holland for a day and was given another six kilos by a man who had a biodynamic farm near Amsterdam.

On The Agenda: We're going back in time for a dalliance with dial-up and an Aled Jones-themed Christmas

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Treacle treat: Mark Hix's Halloween feast

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:00:01 GMT

I'm not a great one for celebrating Halloween – although obviously I love the variety of pumpkins and squashes that you find in the shops and supermarkets in the weeks preceding the festivities. Halloween is of course more geared towards children, who love donning fancy dress and carving out pumpkins – but where does that leave the grown-ups? Stuck at home, usually, answering the door to trick-or-treating kids ... So that's why this week I'm providing you with some warming Halloween recipes that you could share with your neighbours – in between dishing out bags of sweets.

The ten best autumn reds

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:02 GMT

Chosen by Terry Kirby

Jamie Merrill: The day I shot a stag

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Lying outstretched on a rocky outcrop, with wet heather soaking my trousers, my elbows and knees in mud, adrenalin is coursing through my veins. I'm oblivious to the cold and discomfort, suffering from "buck fever" – the nervous excitement felt by a novice hunter at his first sight of game.

Stag party: Would you have the stomach to shoot your own supper?

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:01 GMT

French connection: Why it's emotion rather than technique that drives Hélène Darroze's cooking

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:01 GMT

It's 18 months since Hélène Darroze came over from Paris to set up her own restaurant at the venerable Connaught Hotel in the heart of London's Mayfair. A fine bloody time, everybody said, to introduce extra-super-fine dining to the bruised tycoons and trust-fund kids of the metropolis, whose investments had just plummeted by 40 per cent. Ms Darroze clearly wasn't bothered. There was something positively cheeky in the way she served up her oyster tartare with Aquitaine caviar jelly with a tiny, edible gold leaf on the top.

Jamie Oliver takes on America's fast-food culture

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:01 GMT

On his first day in Huntington, West Virginia, Jamie Oliver spent the afternoon at Hillbilly Hot Dogs, pitching in to cook its signature 15lb burger. That's 10lb of meat, 5lb of custom-made bun, American cheese, tomatoes, onions, pickles, ketchup, mustard and mayo. Then he learned how to perfect the Home Wrecker, the establishment's famous 15in, 1lb hot dog (boil first, then grill in butter). For the Home Wrecker Challenge, the dog gets 11 toppings, including chilli sauce, jalapeños, liquid nacho cheese and coleslaw. Finish it in 12 minutes or less and you get a T-shirt.

On The Agenda: Hammer time! No, not parachute pants, but a series of scary movies for Halloween...

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:00:01 GMT

If you can't stand the heat: Skye Gyngell reveals how to get a top-note of warmth out of chillies

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Chillies are fascinating – their size, their variety, depth of flavour and complexity – but here I want to focus simply on the warm base note that dried chillies are able to provide at this time of year.

Anthony Rose: According to one Californian expert, lower alcohol wines are 'the last unconquered frontier'

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:00:47 GMT

Are you concerned about rising levels of alcohol in wine or limited in your choice of lower-alcohol wines? If so, the wine trade is on your side. Was it altruism or opportunism, though, that brought the industry together in London this month to exchange views on the issue? Encouraged by the fact that low-alcohol drinks, including no-alcohol beers, wines and ciders, have grown 11 per cent over the past year to a value of £25.2m, the wine trade clearly sees an opportunity. Playing the healthy lifestyle and responsibility cards can only be win-win for |an industry under scrutiny by |the Government and vociferous health groups.

Wine: Something for the weekend?

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:00:01 GMT

The greatest wine sale ever known

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Looking for a nice bottle of wine for Christmas? For as little as €30, or as much as €3,000 (£2,760), you can do something that defeated the Nazis, and take home a few bottles from the best restaurant wine-cellar in Paris, and probably the world.

Cracking stuff: Mark Hix adds crunch to classic autumn dishes with nutritious nuts

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Nuts are a great fresh or store-cupboard standby to have around in the kitchen. As well as their obvious nutritional benefits – they are high in protein and many essential vitamins – they make a lovely crunchy addition to starters, salads and desserts. Our climate is well suited to the growing of nuts, but sadly a lot of our nut trees seemed to have disappeared and we tend to rely hugely on foreign imports. If, however, you are a bit of a forager, then try getting the kids involved – as these days most of them seem to think nuts simply come out of a packet.

The ten best toasters

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:00:36 GMT

Chosen by Daniel Bettridge

Making lunch for a legend: John Walsh meets Albert Roux

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:00:01 GMT

I'm standing in the headquarters of the Compass Group UK and Ireland, in fashionable Chertsey in Surrey, waiting to meet one of my heroes, Albert Roux. While waiting, I'm listening to statistics about who eats what, when, and for how long, in various regions of the UK. Did you know the average worker takes only 29 minutes for lunch, only three times a week? And that single people take a lot longer over lunch than the married, separated, divorced or widowed?

Core values: It's time to go scrumping

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:00:01 GMT

It is rush hour in North London. The sun is setting and the stink of underperforming catalytic converters hangs heavy in the air. I'm standing underneath a large apple tree on Hampstead Heath, waving around a trouser leg attached to large hook as a man above pelts me with apples. I'm on a guerrilla mission. Tonight, I am an "urban scrumper".

Why 2009 is the year of the Stilton

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:02:53 GMT

Around three years ago the Food Standards Agency made two fairly big demands on the British cheese industry. First, it had to markedly decrease salt usage and provide a healthier offering to consumers. Second, cheese could no longer be seen as or indeed marketed as a healthy product to children. Both edicts applied to the whole industry and so promoted as healthy or not, all British cheese was affected.

English wines: Grape expectations

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:00:01 GMT

At this time of year, mainland Europe's winemakers are busy harvesting the grapes that will go into this year's vintage. So too have their English counterparts been hard at work bringing in the grapes picked in the vineyards of Kent, Gloucestershire and other parts of the country.