I’ve started working away from London during the week, which is limiting the amount of time I can spend cooking, but despite this i’m still finding plenty of opportunities at the weekends to experiment – here are a few of the things i’ve rustled up recently.

Beef Wellington

I’ve been playing around with a Beef Wellington for ages – this is my latest version. I love the combination of beef, pastry, mushrooms and bacon. I cook each element separately to ensure that they’re all perfect, no soggy bottoms here!

Pork Belly and Puy Lentils

This is another Tom Kerridge dish – unfortunately there’s a typo in the recipe which makes the brine far too strong, even so – the dish was very, very good. I love the combination of rich, fatty pork and delicate, earthy lentils. The sharp, tangy cabbage salsa adds much needed freshness and a little citrus zing.

Grouse, Fondant Potato, Game Chips and Bread Sauce

I’ve never tried grouse before but when I saw it on offer in my favourite butchers, The Ginger Pig, I had to pick up a brace. They’re a medium sized game bird with an intense, fragrant flavour. I simply pan fried it, before finishing in a hot oven. The fondant potato was another first and worked beautifully – buttery and delicious. The bread sauce is the perfect foil to the strongly flavoured meat and ands a nice creaminess. The game chips bring texture and hey – who doesn’t like chips!?

Chocolate and Ale Cake

This is another Tom Kerridge – a rich chocolate cake with dark beer in the mix and a rich gooey icing, served with a beery whipped cream. I really liked it, but I got a mixed response from my tasting panel. Some found the combination of beer and chocolate a little strange, others loved it!

It seemed to go down pretty well with Tom too…