Slow: Food Worth Taking Time Over

1 tbsp beef dripping or chicken schmaltz

500g leftover salt beef (you can use raw minced beef chuck and a little beef fat)

1 onion cooked in the chicken soup, or 1 onion cooked slowly for 15 minutes in oil or beef dripping, mixed with the salt beef

You need either a table-top mixer with a dough hook or a food processor. Blitz together the flour, eggs and fat. The dough should come together and look like lots of small pebbles of pastry. Turn it out of the bowl and knead for about 2–3 minutes until it is firm and shiny. Cover and leave to rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Cut the dough into 4, take one quarter and cover the rest with a warm damp towel. Roll out the first quarter. You shouldn’t need much (or any) flour and sometimes it’s better to roll with semolina to prevent the kreplach becoming sticky when you poach them. Use a 9cm cutter to cut rounds of dough as if you were making ravioli. Place a large teaspoon of the salt beef and onion filling into the centre of each disc of dough. Brush the edges with water or egg and fold the outside rim to close like half moons. Place the made dumplings onto a tray lined with greasproof paper and scattered with a little semolina flour if possible. Continue with the rest of the dough.

Cook this like fresh pasta: bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and cook the kreplach for 4 minutes. Drain and add to the soup.

Under the Weather All the Veg Soup (#ulink_f98c0136-cb32-57c0-bcef-3cce22f8b2d4)

In the grisly months when the weather is bringing you down both physically and emotionally, you can rest easy that at least winter provides you with some of the most important vegetables for your health. This soup is the perfect restorative – the barley is wholesome, the greens are health-giving and the broth will bring you back to life.

SERVES 6

Preparation time 20 minutes

Cooking time 30 minutes

2 tbsp olive oil

2 onions, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 leeks, halved and shredded few sprigs of thyme, leaves picked

1 bay leaf

200g pearl barley

2 litres vegetable or chicken stock

1 large courgette, quartered then thinly sliced

bunch of cavolo nero, finely shredded

2 large spring onions, finely shredded

pinch of cayenne pepper

large pinch of white pepper

juice of ½ lemon

large handful of parsley, finely chopped

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a large heavy-based saucepan, heat the oil over a medium heat and add the onions. Cook for about 15 minutes until they have softened and started to go golden, before adding the garlic. Cook for a further minute or two, then add the white part of the shredded leeks (keep the green part for later), the thyme and bay leaf. Allow the leeks to soften for about 5 minutes. Next mix in the pearl barley and cook it for a minute before pouring in the stock.

Cook at a medium simmer for about 25 minutes until the pearl barley has cooked through but still retains some bite. At this stage add the courgette, cavolo nero, the green part of the leeks and the spring onions. The vegetables will only take a few minutes to cook through. Before serving season with the cayenne pepper, white pepper, black pepper, salt, lemon juice and parsley.

Boston Beer Baked Beans (#ulink_dec450ae-ccbf-59e6-bf42-d4ef9131dac7)

Here we have haricot beans that have been slowly cooked in tomatoes, white wine, beer, vinegar, stock and spices until they become slick with this piquant sauce. You can eat these with a fry-up if you like, but they should really take centre stage. I love them stuffed into a jacket potato and topped with grated cheese, guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, jalapeños and fresh coriander.

SERVES 4

Preparation time 30 minutes

Cooking time 4 hours 30 minutes

300g dried white haricot beans

2 tbsp rapeseed oil

2 onions, finely chopped

1 garlic bulb, halved

300ml passata

250ml white wine

250ml Boston beer

500ml fresh gelatinous chicken or vegetable stock

2 tbsp soft brown sugar

2 tbsp sherry, red wine or cider vinegar

1 tsp black treacle

1 tbsp English mustard

1 tbsp cumin seeds, toasted

few sprigs of thyme

good pinch of cloves

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Soak the beans overnight in plenty of cold water. The next day, drain and rinse the beans and put them in a heavy, ovenproof casserole and add fresh water to come about 10cm above the beans. Bring to the boil and cook for 10–15 minutes, then turn the heat down to a simmer for about 1 hour until the beans are tender but not completely soft. Drain and leave to one side.