Shepherd’s pie

When I think about food and movies my mind goes straight to the rich chocolate cake in Matilda, or the prison pasta from Goodfellas. And although these scenes are cemented in cinema history I wanted to draw inspiration from a show that is close to my heart. Friends has been something that I have re-watched numerous times, since I was a teenager and I will still watch it to this day, especially if I am feeling a little down. Thank you Netflix! Some of my favourite episodes are about Thanksgiving and they have inspired me in the past to try pumpkin pie and Ross’ “moist maker” turkey sandwich. But I wanted to recreate Rachel’s trifle, as it is such a famous scene. Rather than trying to make the trifle I made the Shepherd’s pie. Unlike Rachel’s “traditional” recipe, Shepherd’s pie actually takes lamb and not beef. I kept the recipe very traditional and added a little twist by making a simpler version of ketchup and adding that to the sauce. It did not taste like feet! Shepherd’s pie (serves 4) 400g minced lamb (i used 20% fat) 2 shallots, finely copped 2 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked 1 tbsp flour

I have fallen in love with black grapes recently. It happened by accident, I decided to buy them after being tired of the same apples/bananas/satsumas routine we have here every weekend. They are not only a great snack for sweet-tooths like me but I have also been adding them to a lot of different foods, from crumbles to granola. So why not add them to my most detested christmas treat? Yes I hate mince pies. And it is tough being a mince pie hater here as it is a huge part of English christmas. They are literally everywhere, people are giving it to you as gifts, bringing them to work as a tea time snack…And you can get the really basic ones to the really fancy ones from high end shops, but it’s just never gone down well with me. It’s always just tasted like raisins, covered in sugar, wrapped in pastry. But this year I decided to tackle them my way. My recipe holds back on the dried fruits and sugar and, most importantly, there is no suet in sight! It takes a little patience to get the the mincemeat and the pastry ready, but you can start preparing