Pork Cheeks in Brittany Cidre

A rich delicious pork and apple casserole that could just as easily be made for a supper party as for an indulgent T.Vdinner (depending on whether you dollop your mash on to the plate or use a nice circular mould for it.)

This dish is inspired by our recent trip to Brittany, where apples are truly the life sustenance of the area.
For me apples and pig meat have always been a marriage made in heaven and so when I was in our local Waitrose, sussing out the reduced meat on the meat counter (something I confess to getting an excited hunter-gather thrill about LOL) and saw that the that pig cheeks were reduced, I had to get me a bag of those.

At just over £3.00 for the bag (about 12 pieces) it was a joyful result. They didn't even make the freezer for storage but were excitedly opened and prepared within an hour of being home.

CHEF'S ALBUM CHOICE: Whilst in Brittany I was cajoled by my five year old into purchasing the album of a travelling folk group that was playing at one of the bistros we visited, this album choice is a little alternative but never the less it works and I am sure that with enough scouting around on iTunes, you to will be able to find something as uniquely folky as this.


SETTING & PROPS: This is a really lovely dish to serve outside on one of those late summer early evenings, when the last vestiges of golden summer sun are hanging on and their is a slight chill riding on top of the warm air. Be sure to have your fleece jacket hanging over the back of the chair for when the sun goes down.


FOR THIS YOU WILL NEED: (To feed 4)

12 Pig Cheeks (cheaper cut that some butchers and supermarkets are now stocking - your butcher will get them for you if you put in an order)

Onions (2 large brown onions and a handful of small shallots)

2 Cooking Apples

1 Bottle of good cider

1 chicken stock cube gel.

Handful of fresh sage

Three cloves of garlic

Handful of fresh Thyme

Generous spoonful of wholegrain mustard.

METHOD

1. Sautee off the pigs cheeks in butter and a dash of olive oil. Place them into the slow cooker. 
2. Slice the large brown onions finely, peel the shallots and cook down in a frying pan until soft and starting to go golden. Add the sage and thyme and give a good stir around.  Place them over the pig cheeks in the slow cooker. 
3. Peel and core the cooking apples, slice into 8 - sling them in to the slow cooker too. 
4. Pour in the individual bottle of cider / cidre until the ingredients are covered. 
5. Add your genrous spoonful of mustard. 
6. Add the gel stock cube and stir. 
7. Put the lid on the slow cooker. Set to high and ignore for about 3 to 4 hours, turning it down for another 1to 2 hours until the stock has reduced and the meat is tender. 

SERVE WITH

Mustard and cheddar cheese mash. (Simple as adding grated mature cheddar and a dollop of mustard as you mix it) I always use a ricer for my mash as I think it gives a much smoother result. 

Thinly sliced and buttered spring / winter greens. 

TO DRINK

Very chilled light cider (Served either in tea cups or champagne flutes a la the Breton style.)

or

A nice bordeaux rose wine, that is full and deep. 

COOKING NOTES

If you are finding that your gravy is still too runny after the cooking time, the thicken it with a spoonful of arrowroot paste (arrowroot powder mixed with a little cold water)

Mini-post: Trout and Crab bake

This is just  a mini-post, so I'm afraid you'll have to invent your own album choice and props for this one. Next time I cook it I will add some photos; there will definitely be a next time because this dish was delicious.

TROUT & CRAB BAKE with SAMPHIRE and NEW POTATOS
10 min prep + 25 min cooking. (Easy as Easy pie peasy!)

Trout fillets have become increasingly affordable, and they freeze really well. Last night I got our pack of 2 fillets out of the freezer (it had been part of a 2 packs for £4 M&S deal, which they often have.) I had a reduced dressed whole crab from Waitrose for £2.49. As long as you eat it on the very same day, buying reduced fish from the counter is a great way of being frugal.

NOTE ON THE CRAB MEAT: It is the brown meat that is most crucial for flavour so prioritise the purchase of this (It's also the much cheaper meat of the crab) You can always buy the white meat in a tin quite cheaply. Crab pate, which can be found in the refridgeration aisle of most supermarkets would be a good substitute for the brown meat.

YOU WILL NEED:
2x trout fillets
Crab meat, (see notes above)
1/4 fresh red chilli
1 slice of bread
a small bunch of soft herbs (avoid thyme or rosemary)

METHOD:

1. Blitz together the bread, herbs and chilli in a blender to make course breadcrumb mix
2. Using a pastry brush, brush olive oil over the bottom of a metal roasting dish or oven proof dish. 
3. Place the trout fillets in (check for bones)
4. Spoon the crab mixture on top of the trout fillets. 
5. Sprinkle the fish / crab with the breadcrumbs and drizzle over some olive oil. 
6. place into a pre-heated 180c oven for about 25 minutes until the breadcrumbs have gone golden. 

SERVE WITH: 

Samphire which can now be brought in packets from the supermarket, usually on the fish counter. Boil or sauté in butter for a tiny amount of time, a couple of minutes. Treat it like really skinny asparagus. 

+

New potatoes. Boiled and slathered in butter. 

Fragrant Vegetable & Prune Tagine & Kuku Sabzi

Tonight's meal of 'Fragrant Vegetable & Prune Tagine served with Kuku Sabzi' has come out of the monthly vegetable drawer cull. At this time of year it is really easy to become overstocked with root vegetables and these dishes are a perfect way of using them up.

We've gone a little Middle Eastern / North African food mad in our house recently. It's the combination of the freezing spring weather; the need to have something warm and satisfying but lighter than the deep and rich autumnal stews.

This simple tagine fills the house with a delicate perfume as it cooks. It's quite sweet so it needs to be served with a salad of bitter leaves or the KuKu Sabzi is perfect; and it's a really good way of clearing out a load of greens from the veg drawer too.

Kuku Sabzi is a festival dish often used to celebrate New Year in Iran. It's essentially a baked egg and herb dish (like an omlet cake baked in the oven). There is no set recipe as the local and seasonal greens are utilised to make this tasty dish. It's traditionally served with yogurt and warmed pitta bread, which is exactly as we will be serving it tonight.


Chef's album Choice: Sacred Spirit


 A bit of a strange choice but one which I promise you works. Somehow the earthiness of all those vegetables and the simplicity of the cooking evokes a more simpler, self-sustainable time and this (now famous thanks to various advertisements and BBC T.V series) album ties into that chilled out, satisfying vibe. It's a great album to have playing in the background as you cook and eat this dish as it immediately chills you right out in order to relax. The tearing and sharing style of this meal makes this album a perfect accompaniment . 


Setting & Props: 
The sweet, rich style of this food makes it perfect for a couples meal and the sharing and tearing aspect makes it all the more 'friendly'. 

This meal needs to take place at a table (or any low flat surface - If you really want to go all relaxed and alternative, throw the cushions down on the floor around the coffee table, light some tea lights and serve your meal 'student' style.)

Search out local charity shops and car-boot sales for props that make the meal all that bit more special; little moroccan glasses which flicker gorgeously, can be picked up easily and cheaply. Invest in a nice sharing / serving spoon that doesn't have too long a handle (otherwise they continually fall out of your dish and leave stains all over your linen)

For this you will need:

FRAGRANT VEGETABLE & PRUNE TAGINE

A whole selection of tired root veg such as swede, parsnip, carrot, celeriac, turnip, potato (peeled and cut into mouth size pieces)
Pumpkin or Sweet potato (peeled and cut into mouth size pieces)
Onions (Roughly chopped into chunks)
A handful of pitted prunes (roughly chopped) 
Olive oil
1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon 
1 tsp of ground ginger
2 tsp of runny honey
1 pint of vegetable or chicken stock. 

KUKU SABZI
4 eggs beaten
Two large handfuls of greens; spring cabbage or kale (finely chopped)
1 leek or several spring onions (finely chopped)
A large handful of finely chopped mint and coriander
large clove of garlic (finely chopped)

METHOD: Tagine

1. In a heavy based casserole dish or Tagine pot, sauté off the chunky onions in a mixture of olive oil and butter until softening.
2. Add the prepared vegetables to the pan and continue to fry off until the veg it beginning to take on a little bit of colour. 
3. Add the chopped prunes, the ginger and the cinnamon to the pot and give a good stir. The prunes act a little like a deglazed, loosening up the caramelised vegetable juices. 
4. Sprinkle over half of the chopped coriander and mint and stir.  
5. Add the pint of chicken stock. 
6. Cover and place in a 180c oven for around 40-50 minutes until the veg has softened and the sauce thickened. 
7. Sprinkle with the remaining herbs and a handful of toasted almonds (optional)

METHOD: Kuku Sabz

1. Soak your saffron strands in a tbsp of boiling water until the colour and spice has been well extracted. 
2. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl. 
3. Add your chopped greens to the eggs. 
4. Add the saffron, the chopped garlic
5. pour into an oiled oven dish
6. Place in a 180c oven for around 30-40 minutes until the egg has set and the top has browned. 

WINE: This is  robust, earthy dish and yet strangely delicate and fragrant. A very chilled white Chablis goes very well or a lighter red such as chateau neuf de pape.

Total Cost: approx. £2.50 a head (although it's more of a saving waste dish) 

Chicken & Jerusalem Artichoke Tray Bake.

This is an adaptation (to the point of being a mere semblance) of a recipe I originally read in the Good Food magazine but which I found to be very fiddly. As a result I forgot a couple of the ingredients, had to swap a few and added a few. I ended up with this, which is one of the nicest chicken dishes I've cooked in a long time.

This dish makes a great economical Sunday Lunch dish for a large crowd.

For this you will need:

8 skin on chicken thighs

Jerusalem Artichokes (Peeled and chopped length ways into wedges)
Either, a celeriac, kohlrabi or turnip (Peeled and chopped into chunks)
Small butternut squash (peeled and chopped into chunks)
I globe of Garlic (peeled and left in whole cloves)
half a fresh red chilli (finely chopped)
2 small Lemons
Pink peppercorns
Dried or fresh thyme
Olive oil for splashing over it. 

Chef's album Choice:

Chilled out Sundays are made of this dish. It's all a little peel, chop and slap into a metal baking tray, so you can go for something a little more up tempo. I've gone for an old school classic, Macy Gray's 'On how to live'. It's a great retro trip down memory lane and sums up those happy Sundays of student life before the children, the work uniform wash and all the other Sunday responsibilities that clock up. I defy you not to be using your wooden spoon as a microphone. 

Houzz.com  3 for $80.00 although
similar can be found at good car
boot sale & e-bay for a fraction
of the cost. 

Setting & Props: This is a great Sunday lunch dish for family and friends, so it deserves a bit of Sunday love. Keep the look informal but cared for. A printed indian throw would make a nice table cloth, wine glasses and a caraf as well as a lovely chunky earthern ware bowl to serve the main event in would all add to that sense of relaxed occasion. It definitely deserves a small bunch of spring flowers and proper cotton napkins. 




METHOD: 

1. Marinate the chicken thighs in a combination of lemon juice, lemon rind, garlic, thyme. Preferably for 2+hrs but if you're reading this as you go along with your guests arriving in the next hour, then just make sure you massage your chicken well with all the ingredients for a good couple of minutes. 
2. Place the artichokes into boiling water, blanch for 5 minutes, drain, squirt lemon juice over them (they are prone to discolouring) and let them cool. 
3. Place your marinated chicken thighs SKIN SIDE DOWN onto a large metal baking tray. Surround them with the cubed butternut squash, the Jerusalem artichokes, and the white veg (either the turnip, celeriac or kohlrabi) and the garlic cloves. Give it a poke about. 
4. Generously glug over the olive oil and a sprinkling of crushed pink pepper corns. 
5. Cook on a 180 oven for around 40 minutes. If the chicken is looking a little pale, turn it over, whack up the heat to 250 for 5 minutes but be careful not to scorch your pointy little artichokes. 
6. Poor the whole mixture into a warmed earthenware serving platter and take to the table. 

SIDES: Quarters of pointed cabbage or a bowl of cabbage both slathered in butter and a sprinkling of white pepper and boiled potatoes with a sprinkling of fresh parsley. 

WINE: This is  robust, earthy dish and yet strangely delicate and fragrant. A very chilled white Chablis goes very well. 

Total Cost: approx. £2.60 a head + wine 

Post Horse-burger-gate.

I'm writing this blog post, post Horse-Burger-Gate, which as you are all aware from the incredible amount of press coverage, quickly spread past the original TESCO shame and into a general pervasive infiltration of our food sources.

It was generally agreed that it wasn't so much the fact that many thousands of people had unwittingly eaten horse meat, (after all it is a very viable source of protein) but that we had lied to. We had been fooled into thinking we were eating one thing and yet our food was full of something else - and what if it wasn't just beef mince? What if it extended to all of our processed foods?

Initially, I sat quite smugly thinking I would be unaffected by the scandal but then I opened my fridge and looked at the Chirizo sitting there innocently - How could I be sure that it didn't contain horse, donkey, dog or any other animal of cheap choice? Or what about my fresh carton of mince meat - yes it looked like beef but then it could be any pink meat, couldn't it? And so it went on until I was rendered a  hesitating, nervous mess of a fridge raider and I ended up holding onto an organic carrot like it was a life raft on a sinking ship.

You see, as a nation we have largely abdicated responsibility for what goes into ours and our childrens' bellies. I am as guilty as the rest; there is no point hiding the Waitrose and Tesco finest lasagne's that have been in my freezer for those odd occasions when we've been travelling or working late. We have wanted to have our big chunky burger and eat it, and now we are paying the price.

The consumer has forced the price of food down and down until the supermarkets have been forced to seek lower and lower grade meat in order to make a profit. (Not that I'm blaming the consumer individually) It has become a cultural norm to eat 'meat' everyday - we are still a classic meat and two veg nation whether that is in the guise of a crispy beef pancake, chips and baked beans or pork chop, carrots and mash - regardless, that three part meal habit refuses to die.

So what have we learned (or more to the point, what cynical suspicions we had all along have been confirmed?)

• Large supermarkets cannot be trusted: they may pretend to offer us a lifestyle choice, support our family way of life and promote the nourishment of our bodies but they're all about profit - and the bigger they get, the more they crave. They'd sell your granny if they thought they'd make a quick buck. 
• If you WANT TO REALLY KNOW what is in your food, then MAKE IT YOURSELF. 
• If you want to afford quality meat, then eat more vegetables - not every meal needs to have meat as it's main attraction. (Eating vegetarian meals WILL NOT KILL a CARNIVORE)
• If it's made in a factory then it's likely to be factory food - which means it's been fiddled with, conveyer belted, machine processed and possibly had all kinds of things added.

Only this week, The Daily Mail have run an article on the disgusting practice of Prawn Farming in Asia, something that food campaigners tried to raise as a concern several years ago, along with farmed salmon and sea-bass. 

None of this is new to any of us, we're probably all sick to death of hearing it from the likes of Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fernley-Wittingstal but as annoying as they may at times be (bless 'em) they've been proved right. 

After a short delay...

There has been a little delay in my writing of Frugal Snob posts because quite honestly, life has overtaken me a little bit. I am currently in the middle of writing  the first book of a seven book series, arranging a Christening, spring cleaning and getting ready to go back to work after maternity leave. It doesn't mean that I haven't done lots of cooking in the last few weeks, in fact I've been on a bit of a cooking roll - the only thing is that I haven't taken lots of lovely photos. As a result I'm going to stick some of the recipes up in bulk, mainly as a record for me but also for you guys to perhaps have a go at. (Please accept the lack of visuals as a momentary blip LOL. Next time I cook the dish, I'll update the recipe.)

BARGAIN OF THE WEEK: 1/2 PRICE COD LOIN

This week's bargain find is Cod Loin from Tesco at half price. (£11 a Kg) I went a little crazy and brought four packets; one for dinner tonight (See recipe Cod on Red) and three for the freezer to pull out when lacking inspiration for anything else. Cod is the fish equivalent of meat's chicken. Its firm flesh allows it to be cooked in a variety of ways and take a whole range of flavours, from Mediterranean to Indian.

This pack of two large cod-loins cost me £2.98. The total cost of this dish is around £4.00 for 2 people.


COD ON RED: A Delicious, Healthy, Weekday Supper. 


You will need: 

1 large red pepper
Half a red chilli
1 clove of garlic
2 tomatoes quartered
2 Cod loins
2 slices of bacon > preferably smoked but it's not crucial (parma / Serrano ham is also fine)
Drizzle of olive oil.

Method: 

Roughly chop the pepper and place into the bottom of a ceramic roasting dish.
Slice the bottom half of the chilli into small rings and scatter across the peppers.
Peel the garlic, thinly slice and sprinkle across the pepper / chilli mix.

Add the quartered tomatoes.
Sprinkle a light coating of smoked paprika over the veg medley. (careful not to use to much and over power your dish - a tablespoon's worth is ample.)

Wrap a slice of bacon or cured ham around the cod loin and place the wrapped cod loin on top of the vegetables.
Stick into the oven for about 20-30 mins (depending on thickness of loins)

Serve with: sparkling water and a slice of lime or an ice-cold Corona.

NOTES: I'm adding a side dish of fresh greens; asparagus and tender stem broccoli. Having watched the Hairy Bikers weight challenge, I'm going to ditch the carbs in this dish and season my green veg with lime zest rather than my usual method, which would be to slather it in butter.

CELERIAC SOUP WITH CRUMBLED STILTON & TRUFFLE OIL DRIZZLE

Having got two celeriacs in the veg box before Christmas and having to store them in the larder rather than the fridge due to stuffed-fridge syndrome, they were looking a bit tired and were one step away from the compost bin.


This is the stage I like to call 'Soup Stage'. Soup is like the elixir of youth for vegetables; rejuvenating them into something once again beautiful and appetising as well as completely fulfilling.

Having had a little look around for a celeriac soup recipe and not coming up with much success, I played around with this recipe today, which even though I say so myself, is one of the loveliest, indulgent and decadent soups I have ever made; so, I thought I would share it with you.

Of course, you don't have to use a tired old celeriac or use up skanky pieces of left over Christmas stilton to make yours, although there is something incredibly wonderful about taking some mouldy old cheese and a wrinkly old vegetable and turning it into the equivalent of French silk lingerie.

For this you will need:

One whole celeriac (Peeled and chopped into chunks)
Two medium onions (peeled and quartered)
Two fat cloves of garlic
three cloves
1 Bay leaf
Couple of sprigs of Thyme, stripped.
A splash of dry sherry (optional)
A pint and a half of chicken stock

Crumbled stilton for topping
Truffle oil to drizzle.

Chef's album Choice:

Trust me, this isn't a one album kind of dish. What's needed is a little bit of elegant, laid back, lazy afternoon modern blues / jazz will set the tone for this lovely lunch dish. Make it as Romantic as you can. Follow up with a little Madeline Peyroux.




Setting & Props:

This soup is a bit of a dinner party in a bowl. It would be too rich to serve as a first course and it is a little more sophisticated than a gardener's break, eaten whilst wearing wellies and a muddy jumper. As such I would make an occasion of this soup. Dress a table with a nice white linen table cloth, an ice-bucket containing a very chilled bottle of white. Set the music to lounge setting and chat away a romantic afternoon, tearing bread, and passing away the afternoon with chit-chat. It's fulfilling and rich enough to feel like a substantial meal whilst not being too heavy if you wish to engage in any afternoon physical exertion.


Total Cost: Under £3.00 for a large saucepan full (serve 4 amply for lunch)

ADDITIONAL NOTE: TRUFFLE OIL. 
Truffle oil would be my desert island culinary must have. It always seems very expensive (around £6.00 for a tiny bottle) but I use it at least a couple of times a week and a bottle lasts me 3+ months. Truffle oil is potent stuff. A couple of drops (treat it like an essential oil) will elevate any soup to a different level.
Try stirring it into buttery mash potato and you will truly think that you have placed one of heaven's clouds in your mouth, or spot it over garlicky, butter-fried mushrooms on toast. It's an investment that you will wonder how you ever lived without and helps add luxury to frugality.
I can't stress enough how little you should use, as too much on a first attempt may put you off for life.
WAITROSE sell a basic chef's truffle oil for just £4.39 but it can cost as much as £50.00 a bottle.

METHOD: 

1. Heat a splash of olive oil in a heavy based saucepan. Place on a low-mid heat.
2. Add the quartered onions, the cloves of garlic and the thyme and stir around until softened and about to turn a very light brown 
3. Add the bay leaf and the three cloves and the splash of sherry. Cook off the alcohol for a minute or two, until it is bubbled down and a nice golden liquor colour. 
4. Pour in the chicken stock. 
5. Place in the chunks of celeriac and cook down on a low heat until the celeriac is soft to the knife-pint. (It will have discoloured slightly, don't worry about this.)
6. Whilst this is cooking, prepare your stilton (older the better as it goes crumbly) by crumble-cutting your stilton. 
7. REMOVE YOUR CLOVES!!! (DO NOT FORGET)
8. Using a hand blender, blitz the soup until as smooth as it will go. (Some chef's insist on sieving soups at this stage, but quite frankly, I believe that life is far too short for those kind of shenanigans)
9. Spoon into deep soup bowls. Pile high with a handful of crumbled stilton and drizzle over the truffle oil. (Be careful, it's very potent stuff - treat it almost like a perfume)

Eat with warm homemade bread (if you've had the time and foresight) or part-baked rolls straight from the oven. 

SERVE WITH a very crisp glass of dry white wine such as Pinot Grigio - this will cut through the unctuousness of the soup. 

Veg Box: With regret...

It is with regret that I have made the decision to give up on the Veg Box scheme with Abel & Cole. As those that follow the blog are aware, I have been investigating its value for money and how it works for us as a family.


The weekly comparisons demonstrated that the box certainly wasn't the most economical way of purchasing organic, seasonal veg, although some weeks it proved to be much better value than others.

The joy of it being is a surprise once a week has been sadly replaced with a slight impending sense of disappointment. I think the straw that broke the camels back was the box before Christmas, (when the South of England was suffering extreme cold and wet weather) which contained a large proportion of salad items. Now to me that isn't doing what the preacher preaches. How can tomatoes, lettuce and spring onions be classed as December seasonals?

Surely, one of the main points of the box scheme is the sense of working in harmony with the seasons. Yes, I know that people do eat salad all the year round and I imagine that 'market forces' would be the business decision behind this - but quite frankly, for a cook, 4/10 items being salad is like a rainy birthday. I expect the winter boxes to be stacked full of squashes, brasicas, leeks etc.

The other reason is  my sense that the box is being bulked. By this I mean that lower cost produce is being used to bulk out the 'look' of the box. This was especially the case with the great big floppy lettuce, which has been an almost weekly addition since JULY and the celery that has also featured at a greater frequency - as it's not in season, it has proven to be stringy and tough and invariably ended up in the compost heap.

One of the other recurring bug-bears has been the addition of produce that just is not big enough to stretch to feeding four people. We get the £19.00 Large Family box, which in my mind should mean that if there is a cauliflower, or aubergines, or sweet potatoes, or peppers then it should be in enough quantity to make a serving for four. Too many times one of our veg has been just enough to feed two people. How can you serve four people on one red pepper?  Even the cauliflowers have been so small that they barely make a Sunday lunch spoonful - not alone a staple veg dish like cauliflower cheese for a family.

Then in two of the last four weeks, we have had produce that is either off or has such a short shelf life that it has looked unappetisingly tired. (We had broccli that had a mould patch growing on it and A bag of kale that went yellow within two days of being in the fridge.)

There are still positives about the scheme. It is undeniably convenient. Ethically, the idea rocks! It is comparable with other retailers, and certainly consistently cheaper than Waitrose. The element of surprise (when it is a more imaginative box) is certainly fantastic for a cook. Every now and then there is a little surprise in the box - such as a lovely globe of garlic this week and a mini mince pie the week before Christmas and a calendar (which we seem to have received twice)

So in short here are the following reasons why we are sadly giving it up

1. Not particularly good value for money.
2. Not seasonal.
3. Not varied enough.
4. Quality of produce. 
5. Quantity of produce. 

So our next exploration is going to be the Farmer's market in Twickenham. I'm planning on taking exactly £19.00 in cash and seeing what I get for my money. Stay posted for the results. 

Obviously, this is just the experience of our family and I am sure that there are many families and their cooks who find the veg box scheme works for them really well. I'd love you to post your comments and to open up a discussion on the merits and fall backs. 

Bargain of the Week: Cast Iron Casserole Pot JUST £25.00

Two weeks before Christmas, a terrible tragedy took place in our kitchen. I was cooking a beautiful kleftico lamb shoulder joint in my lovely blue le Creuset casserole dish - on what I thought was a very low heat. Somehow amongst the chaos the cooker knob found its way to over 200c. The result, when we returned home from the park, was a very sad looking piece of lamb and a burned out le Cruset dish.

I literally wept. At over £120.00 a throw, my le Creuset casserole is - was - a beloved item. It was used at least three to four meals a week and waved a magic wand over casseroles and slow roasts. There was no way with Christmas approaching that I could justify spending out on a cooking pot. (Despite them being 25% off in the Bentals department store.)

So after a very Le Creuset bereft Christmas, imagine my delight at finding this little baby in Sainsbury's. It's currently half price at £25.00 which is a snip. It weighs, feels and looks like a Le Creuset, and so far the early signs are that it is going to cook just like a Le Creuset. It's got a great weight to it and is sturdy and solid. 

The offer runs until 29th January 2013.