White onion and bay leaf soup with Ogleshield and hazelnuts

I ordered this amazing soup at one of my favourite local Bristol restaurants Wallfish (now Wallfish & Wellbourne) and begged the recipe from the chef, Seldon Curry. It's tastes like the sweetest of oniony fondues and is soooo delicious.

Serves 6-8 (it's rich so you only need a small bowl)

125g butter

1250g white onions, peeled and finely sliced

5g salt

2 bay leaves

25g plain flour

600ml full cream milk plus extra if you need it

175g grated Ogleshield or Raclette cheese

For the garnish

3-4 tbsp rapeseed oil

75g roughly chopped roasted hazelnuts

2-3 tbsp finely chopped parsley

Melt the butter in a large pan and tip in the onions. Stir thoroughly to coat with butter then add the salt and bay leaves. Put a lid on the pan and cook over a low heat for about 45 minutes until deliciously soft and sweet.

Sprinkle over the flour, stir and cook for 5 minutes then gradually add the milk, stirring until smooth and continue to cook over a low heat for about 15 minutes. Remove the bayleaves, add the Ogleshield then take off the heat and pass in batches through a blender until smooth. (You can sieve it for extra smoothness if you want). Return to the pan, check the seasoning, adding a touch more milk if you need to thin it down.

To serve ladle the soup into warm bowls, drizzle over the rapeseed oil and sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts and parsley.

What to drink: You could either drink a crisp white wine like a chablis or an albarino or a dry cider.

Mulled cider with sweet roasted apples

It's the season to start mulling but why not make it cider rather than wine for a change this Bonfire Night

Makes 12-14 servings

1 litre good quality dry still (rather than sparkling) cider
250ml Somerset cider brandy or Calvados
1.5 litres cloudy English apple juice (e.g. Copella)
A thinly pared strip of lemon rind
2 sticks of cinnamon
8 cloves

For the roasted apples
10-12 small Cox’s apples or other small eating apples
About 75g light muscovado sugar
100ml dry cider

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas 5. Wash and core the apples and score them around the middle. Put them in a baking dish and stuff the centre of each with the sugar. (It’s easiest to do this with the handle of a spoon or fork). Splash over the cider and roast in the oven until soft and beginning to split (45-50 minutes).

Meanwhile put the cider, cider brandy or calvados, and apple juice in a large pan, together with the lemon zest, cinnamon and cloves. Heat through gently then leave over a very low heat without allowing the mixture to boil. When the apples are ready, tip them and their juices into the mulled cider. Taste, adding a little extra sugar if you think it needs it. Serve straight from the pan into heat resistant glasses or cups or transfer to a warmed bowl.

If you want a non-alcoholic version try this:

Mulled cider apple juice

Use the recipe as a basic guideline, adding more sugar or honey if you want it sweeter.

Serves 12

2 x 75cl bottles cider apple juice*
1 orange stuck with 10 cloves
2 oranges, sliced
2 lemons, sliced
6 level tablespoons granulated sugar or honey
5 cm piece cinnamon stick
2 level teaspoons finely grated fresh root ginger or ground ginger

Put all the ingredients in a saucepan and heat to simmering point, stirring until all the sugar has dissolved. Leave over a very low heat without boiling for at least 20 minutes. This can be made in advance, then re-heated just before you want to serve it.

* You should be able to buy cider apple juice in a health food shop or farm shop. If not use a dry apple juice (such as russet) or add a couple of tablespoons of cider vinegar to a good quality blended apple juice.

Overnight pulled pork

The problem about Father's Day being in high summer is that you don't necessarily want to be stuck in the kitchen making a slap-up meal. So camp out and make these delicious pulled pork rolls instead

The recipe comes from Genevieve Taylor's inspiring new book How to Eat Outside which gives year-round suggestions from summer picnics to bonfire night.

Genevieve writes: "I’ve often noticed that when I hold my hand over the campfire in the morning it’s still lovely and toasty (providing it hasn’t chucked it down!), so I wanted to find a recipe that would harness all the lovely gentle heat the fire gives off as it cools. This pulled pork is absolutely ideal as it cooks to perfection in the dying embers overnight. Stuff the tender tasty meat into soft baps for the most perfect Sunday brunch ever. After a long night around the campfire catching up with friends, this is just the ticket to revive you the morning after.

SERVES 6–8

5 tbsp tomato ketchup

2 tbsp soft brown sugar

4 tsp English or Dijon mustard

1 tbsp fennel seeds, roughly ground

2 tsp smoked paprika

2kg (prepared weight) pork shoulder, boned and rolled

3 large onions, thickly sliced

3 large carrots, roughly chopped

1 x 500ml bottle cider (doesn’t need to be special; any type will do)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

6–8 soft white baps, to serve

Assuming you have a cool box to keep the meat cold for a couple of days, the ideal low-fuss way is to marinate the meat at home and shove it in a ziplock food bag, so all you then have to do at the campsite is cook it.

In a small bowl, mix together the tomato ketchup, sugar, mustard, fennel seeds and smoked paprika. Rub this all over the pork, then seal it in a ziplock food bag before adding it to your cool box.

When you are ready to cook, line a Dutch oven with a triple layer of foil (to help make washing-up easier!) and scatter in the onions and carrots. Place the pork on top, season generously with salt and black pepper, then pour in the cider. Seal completely with a tight-fitting lid (add a layer of foil if your lid is a bit loose).

Place the Dutch oven directly on the dying embers of your fire, using a shovel to push the coals around the oven a little. Leave to cook overnight, about 12 hours is perfect (depending on the heat left in the fire). Have a peek inside the pot first thing in the morning to see how it’s doing. If it’s been a particularly cold or damp night, you may want to get the fire going again slowly to carry on the cooking process until brunch time. Like all fire cooking it’s a bit suck-it-and-see, and with this dish the cooler the embers are, the better – you don’t want the embers to be too hot and cook the pork too quickly.

To serve, tease the meat apart with two forks, pulling it off in pieces, and shove it into the baps. There may or may not be gravy to spoon on as well (depending on the heat of your fire and how much evaporation has occurred).

What to drink: since you're using cider in the dish that's what I'd drink with it too - or, if you're having it for lunch and feel that's a little early, apple juice would also be delicious.

Extracted from How to Cook Outside: fabulous al fresco food for BBQs, bonfires, camping and more by Genevieve Taylor, published by Bantam Press at £17.99. Photographs by Jason Ingram.

West country chicken casserole with cider, apple and celery

Now we're firmly into autumn why not try this homely, comforting, very English-tasting casserole from my book Meat & Two Veg? Do try and find some proper ‘dirty celery’ with some soil still clinging to the stalks, if you can. It has so much more flavour

Serves 4

2 level tbsp plain flour

4 boneless (but not skinless) chicken breasts

3 tbsp light olive oil

25g butter

1 large onion (about 175g), peeled, halved and sliced

1 large carrot (about 125g), peeled, cut lengthways and sliced

2-3 sticks of celery, washed, trimmed and sliced

1/2 tsp fresh thyme

175ml ready-made fresh chicken stock

175ml dry cider

1 large or 2 smaller Blenheim or Cox apples (about 150g) peeled and sliced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Chives to decorate

Put the flour in a shallow bowl and season with salt and pepper. Pat the chicken breasts dry with kitchen towel then coat them thoroughly in the seasoned flour, shaking off any excess.

Heat a large, deep, lidded frying pan or casserole for a couple of minutes over a moderately high heat. Add 1 tbsp of oil then, when that is hot, half the butter. Place the chicken breasts in the pan, skin side downwards and fry for 2-3 minutes until the skin is nicely browned. Turn the breasts over, turn the heat down and fry the other side for about 1 1/2 minutes. Remove the chicken breasts to a plate, discard the fat in the pan and wipe it clean.

Return the pan to a moderate heat and add the remaining oil and butter. Add the onion, carrot and celery, stir well, cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes until the vegetables are beginning to soften. Stir in the thyme and any leftover flour and stir.

Add the chicken stock and cider, bring to the boil and add the sliced apples. Turn the heat down and return the chicken pieces to the pan, spooning the vegetables over them. Replace the lid and cook at a gentle simmer for about 35-40 minutes, stirring the vegetables occasionally to stop them sticking and turning the chicken breasts over half way through. Add a little extra cider or chicken stock if needed.

Check the seasoning, adding extra salt or pepper to taste. Serve the chicken on warm plates and top with a few scissor-snipped chives. A few buttered new potatoes would be nice.

What to drink: Cider. What else?!

Image © Jason Lowe.