The Comfort Menu
17, yes 17 autumn recipes!
Let me start by saying - I don’t believe preparing special food requires a special occasion, but if you are planning to host guests anytime soon, this Sunday’s newsletter includes a creatively adaptable menu that caters for: lunches, dinners, desserts and a very delicious hot beverage. Oh my!
I’ve focussed on zero waste and utilizing ingredient/component prep so that you can select options that not only satisfy your cravings, but also save you precious time during your busy week.
Oh, and this is a rather long post, so feel free to view via the website or app if the email cuts out.
These recipes are family favorites, tested over the years and jotted down on sauce-stained scraps of paper, hidden behind spice jars. I’m excited about the thought of sharing them with you and hope that they become your trusted kitchen companions—the ones you turn to instinctively, tweaking and making them your own over time. Every autumn, I imagine you returning to them, not just for their flavor, but for the comfort they bring. Sure, they taste great, but what really makes them special are the moments they create—the laughter, the conversations, the quiet reflections shared around the table. Whether you’re a novice or a seasoned cook, cooking for yourself or a full house, I hope these dishes find a lasting place in your life.
Now, a few housekeeping notes - I mentioned lunches, dinners and desserts. Well, somehow (and this is no bad thing) I’ve developed 17 recipes—yes, 17! You will discover that all are adaptable whether that be concerning preferred ingredients, quantities or servings, so let’s get cooking.
Ingredient and component prep
As a full-time cook, the kitchen is my office. On those long 10-hour shifts of recipe testing and filming, I’m sometimes guilty of living on scraps and teaspoons of various sauces, jus and stews. Unsurprisingly, this isn't great for my soul or stomach. I know I’m not alone; amid the busyness of daily life, figuring out lunch and dinner can easily slip our minds. For me, now that cooking is my full-time job, I don’t want to lose the joy associated with preparing food — the pleasure, the connection, the chance to gather with family or friends, or even just to sit by myself in a quiet moment of contemplation. I want to hold onto that.
To combat this, I’ve adopted a Sunday afternoon tradition: when my schedule allows, I dedicate a few hours to prep ingredients and components for the most gnarly part of the week - Monday to Wednesday.
This isn’t meal-prep, per se, more ingredient and component prep which, with a little inspiration, happens to magically become - chicken harissa filo pie followed by hazelnut tiramisu.
This concept is not new; it's employed in restaurants where efficient planning and attention to detail is recognized as the foundation for consistent quality. Understandably, when service begins, it's totally impractical to prepare everything from scratch, so that ingredient and component preparation are essential to the timely execution and delivery of orders during a hectic service schedule.
Unusually, perhaps, I didn't learn this system in a professional environment, but rather, at home. From the age of five, I would assist my mother in preparing for endless dinner parties and suppers for neighbors, friends and anyone who might happen to drop by. Despite not having gone through the rigmarole of attending culinary school or working in a restaurant, Mum instinctively organized her kitchen and systematized her methods of preparation very much as a professional might. She had to, given the quantity of food she cooked and the diminutive size of her kitchen.
Before each dinner party, everything was meticulously organized—each element labelled and dated, menus and prep lists printed and components prepared. Her skill in wrapping containers and bowls tightly in cling wrap is one I have yet to master!
And so we arrive at The Comfort Menu — a thoughtfully planned weekly selection to help you through the week. These creative, elevated dishes are designed to be easy to prepare. Some are full recipes, others focus on components, and some are just prepped ingredients for added convenience. Here’s the menu:
1 whole chicken (organic if possible)
A bag of large carrots
A bunch of celery
Onions & shallots
2 large butternut squash
Brussels sprouts
6 potatoes (russets if possible)
Cheese (cheddar, low moisture mozzarella, gruyere, Red Leicester)
Filo pastry
Pears
A loaf of brioche (store bought or homemade)
Heavy cream
Mascarpone
Tahini
Fresh herbs (parsley, chives, mint, rosemary, sage, thyme etc)
Basic Ingredients you may already have
Butter
Eggs
Sugar (light brown or granulated)
All-purpose flour
Bread (sourdough or a country loaf)
Hazelnuts
Vanilla pod or paste
This list may contain affiliate links at no extra cost you!
On Sunday afternoon (or Monday, depending when your weekend is - here’s looking at you hospitality folk!) prep as many elements as you can. Start by putting on some jazz and leaning into your inner homebody. Not only is this a cozy autumn ritual, but it’s also a wonderful chance to involve whomever is around. Home cooking doesn’t have to be stressful, especially when you have a plan and a glass of good wine in hand.
For each main meal, I usually include an easy-to-cook vegetable, such as tender stem broccoli or a lovely seasonal salad with a simple vinaigrette.
You don’t need to follow my plan exactly. In fact, I encourage you to adapt it to fit your schedule and preferences. This plan gives you a great foundation to get creative throughout the week without all the tiresome decision-making and faff.
If it feels like too much, just select a few recipes or elements that excite you. But if you make only one thing, let it be the poached chicken — this is a wonderful foundational recipe to make a whole heap of other delicious meals such as soups, sandwiches and pies.
Sunday afternoon prep
Poach the chicken (makes for a large batch of stock as well!).
Roast and fill 4 (of the 6) jacket potatoes. The other 2 will go into the soup later in the week. Don’t panic, all recipes with guidance are below!
Use one butternut squash to make a puree and cut the other into small cubes.
Poach the pears (this will fill the house with wonderful autumnal aromas).
Make the cake (easier than it sounds - my recipe is a bit of a one bowl wonder and really very simple).
Whip the mascarpone and cream for the cake and tiramisu.
Make the frangipane (again, far easier than it sounds - keep scrolling for the simple recipe).
Extras to prep
If you have downtime or helpers you could:
prep ingredients e.g. grate the cheese and finely chop the Brussels sprouts.
make the 5 Min herby tahini sauce (I could slather this on just about everything - it’s magic)
prep the brown butter pumpkin crumb (heavenly)
Sunday
As Sunday afternoon is dedicated to prep, you deserve a treat for all that hard work.
For this reason, I’ve included an easy tried and tested recipe for thick French hot chocolate - just what you need. Do double the recipe if you’re cooking for a group and save half.
The joy of this recipe is that once refrigerated, the chocolate thickens beautifully and becomes a mousse, which in turn, provides the perfect creamy element for the petite hazelnut tiramisus for another day.
Monday
Lunch - Twice-baked potatoes
Dinner - Spiced everything-but-the-kitchen-sink chicken filo pie (using butternut squash cubes and Brussels sprouts) great with tahini sauce on the side.
Dessert - Hazelnut and coffee cake with coffee mascarpone cream. This is good all by itself, but save some cake and cream, as remember, the leftovers will be used for the petite tiramisu base.
Tuesday
Lunch - Butternut squash grilled cheese with a side of shredded Brussels sprouts with a herby tahini sauce.
Dinner - Harissa baked potato chicken soup (using up the two leftover baked potatoes and chicken).
Dessert - Petite hazelnut tiramisu (made from the coffee cake scraps, leftover cold hot chocolate and coffee mascarpone cream). This is really very special.
Wednesday
Lunch - Shredded Brussels sprouts with tahini sauce and a pumpkin crumb.
Dinner - Baked butternut squash mac and cheese (using leftover butternut squash puree).
Dessert - Saffron poached pears on spiced frangipane brioche (there's that frangipane coming into use). This would also make a very indulgent breakfast. More on how to use and store frangipane later.
All these recipes (available each in downloadable pdfs- hurrah!) wisely incorporate ingredient prep, component assembly and even leftovers. However, each one stands on its own, so if something catches your eye, don’t hesitate to whip it up!
First up is the ultimate poached chicken, the most valuable and versatile recipe of them all. This single chicken can yield 2-3 meals and produce two generous batches of stock: the first, a collagen-rich, jelly-like broth from the chicken itself, and the second, a deeply flavorful and aromatic stock made from the cooked bones, perfect for freezing.
Right, let’s get cooking.
Food safety note: leftovers are best kept in the refrigerator for 3-4 days or frozen for up to 3-4 months. As food safety is super important, if you need a guide, click here for the USDA guidelines.
Poached chicken
As mentioned above, this recipe yields enough chicken and stock to make several meals. The stock itself is very rich in collagen (great for healthy skin and hair), turning into a jelly-like consistency when chilled. Any leftovers can be frozen for up to 2-3 months—just thaw them in the refrigerator when you're ready to use.
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