10 January - soup and a winter stir-fry

I got jerusalem artichokes in Friday's vegbox, so today I made up a batch of soup for lunch. I think I added a bit too much stock, so it was a bit watery, but otherwise tasty, esp. with a dribble of truffle oil.

For dinner, I tried out a recipe from River Cottage Veg for a winter stir-fry with spring onion, carrot, parsnip, mushrooms and spinach, flavoured with chilli and garlic and a sauce of soy sauce, rice wine and five-spice. The recipe suggested 50g noodles for two, but as I drained them, I realised there was nowhere near enough, so everything was put on hold while I quickly did some more. I wasn't sure about the idea of stir-fried parsnip, but it actually came out okay. I was less convinced by the squeeze of lime juice that went on at the end - it completely overpowered all the other flavours.

1 December - jerusalem artichoke soup and a thai curry

Today the cold is in full force and food is the last thing I feel like. I bought some Jerusalem artichokes yesterday though, so I went ahead and made the soup I'd got planned for lunch. I only discovered Jerusalem artichokes quite recently and I think they've got a lovely nutty, sweet flavour. They're also incredibly simple to make into soup. I just peel and chop them and sweat them in some oil with a chopped onion, a bay leaf and some fresh thyme for about 10 mins. Then I add some chicken stock and bubble for another 10-15 mins, before removing the herbs and blending the whole thing. I stir in a bit of cream at the end and then serve with a drizzle of truffle oil. And today it was that strong truffle flavour that just managed to break through the cold.

Keeping up the theme of strong flavours, for supper I made a Thai chicken curry with plenty of chilli and ginger. Looking for some veg to go in the curry, I made the mistake of getting some green beans from Africa. I usually avoid out-of-season veg imported across the world just on eco principles, but actually taste is a much greater motivation for avoiding it. The beans were rather pale, watery and completely tasteless - absolutely no comparison to the lovely green, silky, melt-in-the-mouth beans I was growing in the summer.

27 May - the Muset

As usual, we'd left it a bit late to book a Friday evening meal out, but as I was flicking through the Eating Out West Guide, I came across a place we'd been meaning to try and was pleasantly surprised when I rang and they had a table. The Muset is a nearby restaurant that's been there for ages, but we'd never been to, partly because it's a bit tucked away and we always forgot about it. It's recently been taken over and revamped though and is now called The Muset by Ronnie. It's got a fairly ordinary interior and a simple, relaxed atmosphere, but the menu definitely pushes it into the 'fine dining' slot.

Straight away, it passed the 'bread test' with some delicious, fresh, warm fig and walnut bread. To start, I chose Jerusalem artichoke soup - it arrived as a big dish with an arrangement of pickled mushrooms and brown shrimps in the middle, then the waiter poured in the soup from a little jug. The flavour was just as impressive as the little flourish in the service!

For my main, I went for roast canon of lamb which came with pearl barley (I think), leeks, olives and anchovies. I was a bit thrown when the lamb really didn't taste like lamb at all! When I asked about it, apparently it's a cut of lamb that's particularly lean, so doesn't have the same fatiness and texture that lamb normally does. It was really interesting to have something completely different, but I'm not sure I really liked it and together with the slightly bitter flavourings of the barley and olives, it just wasn't my thing. I'm not going to let it put me off the place though, because there was really nothing wrong with it, just the wrong menu choice for me. And what with excellent service and lots more on the menu to try, I think we'll be going back.