Char Siu Pork Belly

This is such a simple meal that's infinitely improved by a bit of forward planning and allowing the pork belly to marinate for as long as possible; ideally 12 hours. And, because of it's simplicity, get the best ingredients you can afford.

Roasted Peppers

Recently, I seem to be cooking with roasted peppers a lot more, particularly when I make rogan josh paste and red pesto. So, when I found a couple of peppers in the bottom draw of my fridge, that weren't looking particularly great, I thought I'd give it go myself rather than throw them away. As well as using them in curry pastes and pesto, these can be enjoyed as part of an antipasti or on top of a pizza.

Did I mention it's stupidly easy to do?

Rillettes du Porc

I don't think I've ever bought a cookbook at it's original sale price; I find it much more satisfying to buy them cheap. Some great places are car boot sales (as low as 10p), charity shops and second hand book shops. Even WH Smiths can have some good offers on. I picked up Small Adventures in Food by James Ramsden for £1.99 from a cheap shop and immediately started reading it on the train home. 

Homemade Pancetta

For a while now I've been listening to a BBC Radio 4 podcast called The Kitchen Cabinet, hosted by Jay Rayner. It's a panel show with a live audience where they travel over the UK and discuss various food topics - food science to food history to current trends. 

My favourite panellist is Tim Hayward - a food writer and broadcaster. Billy recently got me Tim's latest book, Food DIY. And it is amazing. I've never done, or even wanted to do, so many recipes from one book. He covers smoking, curing, pickling, fermenting and homemade takeaways including doner kebab. 

This book particularly makes me happy because I'm so bad at DIY around the flat, and this is something I can actually do.

Tomato & Soft Cheese Pasta

We tend to eat a lot of pasta in our house. It's quick and easy. But, it's too easy to get stuck into having the same thing over and over again. That's why it's good to have a few basic recipes that can each be adapted, depending upon what you have lying around.