Pancetta, leek & gruyere risotto

Ingredients 1 cup risotto rice, 1 cup cider, 1 white onion, 1 pint ham stock, 1 leek, 100g pancetta, 100g gruyere

Serves: 2 Preparation: 30 minutes

Piggy bits, leek and some sort of cheese have been combined many times in this blog. There is a good reason for this - it's delicious comfort food for people who eat meat, and what is more comforting than a risotto?! All risottos (no matter what the ingredients) can be made in 3 simple stages. The first is called tostatura - coating the rice in fat, the second involves cooking off some alcohol and the third involves releasing the starch from the rice one ladle of stock at a time.

1) Dice the leek and sautee in a little butter until soft. Add the risotto rice and stir until the rice becomes transparent, revealing a white dot in the centre and pour in the cider.

2) Once the alcohol cooks off, add the first ladle of stock and stir through.

3) Continue adding the stock to the risotto, one ladle at a time, adding the pancetta with the second to last ladle of stock.

4) Stir through the grated gruyere and serve.

Cider & sage roast chicken soup

Ingredients Chicken, sage leaves, 1 maris piper potato, 1 can cider, chicken stock, onion

Serves: 4 Preparation: 2 hours (including chicken roasting time)

Despite being a vegetarian, I have a healthy respect for chicken soup. I've been making it all my life for people that I love, when they're sick or just deserve a treat. When we have people over and I roast a chicken for dinner, The Husband is usually more excited about the soup he knows I'll make than the luscious, juicy chicken itself. This soup, following my cider can chicken recipe is velvet textured from the potato, delicately flavoured with sweet sage and cider and stuffed chock full of melt-in-the-mouth chicken.

1) Peel and slice a white onion, and add to a stock pot along with the chicken carcass (ensure any good meat remaining is removed to add to the soup), the remaining cider from the can the chicken was sitting on and 1/2 pint of water. Simmer for 30 minutes and strain the liquid into a separate pan.

2) Set the liquid to cool in the fridge for an hour, then skim the fat from the surface. 

3) Blend the leftover slices of potato and add to a pan along with some leftover chicken meat, and the stock jelly.

4) Simmer on the hob for 30 minutes, seasoning with salt, pepper and more chopped sage to taste.

Cider can chicken

Ingredients 3 maris piper potatoes per chicken, 1 can cider per chicken, sage leaves, butter

Preparation: 2 hours

When I roast a chicken, I stuff the cavity with pierced lemons, filling the inside with fragrant steam to make the meat moist and succulent. Cider can chicken works on the same principle - flavouring the chicken with the sweetness of the cider and sage. The French method of slicing potatoes to cook in the chicken juices makes a wonderful roast meal.

1) Massage a little butter into the skin of the chicken and stick sage leaves to the skin of the chicken.

2) Pour 1/3 of the cider out of the can, add some chopped sage to the remaining cider, then spread the legs of the chicken and sit it on top of the can. Press down until the chicken is balanced.

3) Cut the potatoes into cm thick slices, then arrange around the chicken.

4) Roast in the oven, basting at intervals to crisp up the skin, then remove carefully from the can and carve. Save the cider, some of the potates, chicken and the carcass to make stock for soup.

Honey roast parsnip & cider soup

Ingredients 6 Parsnips, honey, olive oil, vegetable stock, cider, onions.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 1 hour

I love soup. I find all the chopping, stirring and pureeing very soothing, the warm smells that fill the house comforting, and I love ladling out steamy bowls of soup for people to dunk hot crispy bread into, dressing it with ever more creative croutons or swirls of cream and yoghurt. This winter I have created 10 new soups to warm you through on a cold day. This soup is thick and rich with a lovely sweetness.

1) Peel and finely dice the onion then allow to soften in a pan with a tablespoon of olive oil. Once the onion is soft add a good glug of cider and allow to simmer. I used Katy by Thatcher's Cider which is GORGEOUS.

2) Peel the parsnips and then slice into chunks, discarding the tops and tails. Add into a roasting dish with a drizzle of honey, olive oil and a sprinkling of salt, ensuring that the parsnips are all covered evenly.

3) Roast for 20 minutes at 200 degrees, stirring after 10 and then puree in a blender until completely smooth.

4) Pass the parsnips through a seive and add to the onions along with the vegetable stock and another glug of cider.

5) Allow to simmer on the hob for a further 10 minutes, seasoning to taste with freshly ground black pepper and salt and then serve.