Moules eclade

A bitterly cold January night left a dusting of frost across the garden this morning; the darker corners clinging on icily as I arranged the mussels on the board. Wonderful, resinous smoke plumes through the shellfish as the pine needles burn - I can honestly say that this has become my favourite way of cooking mussels.

Fresh mussels
A large bag of pine needles (they need to be tinder-dry, otherwise they won't light)

1 Balance four mussels hinge side up in a cross shape in the centre of an old wooden board or large flat stone (a piece of bread in the centre is handy if they keep falling over. Build up a concentric circle of mussels around the cross, making sure that they're all hinge side up.
2 Add a three inch layer of pine needles on top of the mussels. Light the needles; once they have all burnt away, blow away the ash and eat the mussels. Great with crusty bread - oh, best not to eat any mussels that haven't opened...

French onion soup

Why has it been so long since I've made this oniony wonder? The inclination to throw everything into the soup pot at this time of year is a strong one; especially when there's a wealth of wintry root veg in season. Lest we forget that often, simplicity is best.

A small knob of butter
5 Large brown onions, thinly sliced
2 Bay leaves
A few sprigs of fresh thyme
2 Garlic cloves, finely chopped
A splash of dry sherry
500ml Beef or vegetable stock
2Tsp mustard powder
Salt and pepper
1 ciabatta loaf, sliced
Finely grated gruyere cheese

1 Melt the butter in a pan, before adding the thyme, garlic and bay. Stir gently for a few minutes, then add the onions. Soften gently on a medium heat for about 10 minutes.
2 Stir the mustard powder into the onions, add the sherry and then pour in the stock (I used vegetable stock in this instance - prefer beef though). Simmer on a relatively fast bubble for about 20 minutes.
3 Toast the ciabatta slices, then top with grated Gruyere. When ready to serve, spoon a portion of soup into a bowl, float a ciabatta on top and then grate in a bit more cheese for good measure. Pop under the grill for a few minutes, then serve.

Kale

Shot for BBC Good Food Magazine, Feb '12 issue

Prop styling: Jo Harris

Scatter

Lemons

Shot for BBC Good Food Magazine, February '12 issue

Recipes & food styling: Jo Pratt

Prop styling: Jo Harris

Plum cobbler

I've been raiding the Christmas nut bowl again, like some kind of new year squirrel. The fridge rattles with "Class of Xmas '11" alumni - sprouts, cranberries, parsnips; the challenge is using them up and not letting anything go to waste. This cobbler went down a treat as part of our New Year's Eve supper; a few chopped dried figs would be great stirred into the fruit if you have any knocking around. Happy New Year you lot!

200g Self raising flour
150g Golden caster sugar
75g Unsalted butter
125ml Whole milk
About a dozen plums, cut in half and stoned
The zest of half a clementine
A good squeeze of honey
1/2Tsp Ground cinnamon
A handful of roughly chopped mixed nuts (I used brazil, hazel, almond and walnuts)

1 Heat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Tip the plums into an ovenproof dish, then cover with with the honey, zest, cinnamon and 50g sugar. Give it all a quick stir, then pop in the oven.
2 In a large bowl, mix together the flour and the remaining 100g of the sugar. Grate in the butter, then use your fingertips to gently rub everything together into a fine, breadcrumb-like mix. Stir in the milk to form a thick, doughy batter.
3 Take the fruit out of the oven. Spoon large blobs of the cobbler mix on top, scatter with nuts and bake for 30-40 minutes (or until browned and a skewer comes out of the topping clean).

Peck