Sausage rolls with a Thai twist

Nine meat boxes down the line, and I’m starting to wonder how many ways you can make a sausage exciting. I’m not a big fan of them myself – except in two contexts: a sausage and egg sandwich (+ white bread + butter + ketchup), and SAUSAGE ROLLS. A defining sausage roll moment of my life was recently at my dear friends’ wedding on New Year’s Eve. After a long, exhaustingly brilliant night in the brutal Scottish cold, some beautiful, homemade sausage rolls magicked out of thin air to feed the hardcore partygoers. And I tell you, that was hands down my favourite moment of that wedding. Never was a sausage roll so needed and appreciated…

Black pudding scotch eggs

One of the great things about writing this blog is getting the chance to talk to the amazing people who run the farms and make them work. I’ve been speaking with the lovely David from Laverstoke Park Farm for about a month, and I was delighted when he asked me to write a guest blog post for the Laverstoke Park blog.

Laverstoke organic black pudding

Black pudding can be rank, or it can be delicious. I’ve never experienced the latter, but mind you I’ve not eaten much black pudding in the first place. It’s one of those few English ‘delicacies’ whose taste I never understood, and I’ve generally chosen to stay away from it. I think one of my latest encounters with black pudding was when I tried the Hawksmoor Breakfast for Two (which can only be described as epic). Even then, I turned down the black pudding and slurped up the bone marrow instead.

Chicken parcels with a ‘red’ puy lentil salad

Roaming Roosters has a great selection of weeknight-friendly, quick cook meats – from their Speciality Sausage to these Chicken Parcels. It’s a thigh joint, deboned and stuffed with their Old English pork or Cumberland sausage mix, then wrapped in a bit of bacon. Simple to cook, with no need for a marinade or dressing.

Quick and easy mid-week sausage casserole

One of my biggest food-related resentments is not having the energy to enjoy cooking dinner after a day at work. It’s the one meal of the day where you can take the time to focus on nourishing yourself. Manipulate raw ingredients and watch them transform in colour, smell and texture into a creation. Choose and plan exactly what you will eat and how you will eat it. With the launch of Meat in a Box comes my own lifestyle rebrand. Yes, I will invest time and energy into making every meal special. No, I won’t simply pick up a ready meal. (*NB Chris read this and told me I sound like Gwyneth Paltrow)