How to be a good trougher

Tamasin Day-Lewis is on a mission. ‘Eat whatever you feel like!’ she exclaims. ‘I am so fed up of the guilt factor with food. Butter, cheese, meat, fish, vegetables… what’s wrong with simple ingredients like that? Obviously it wouldn’t be wise to eat half a pound of butter in one sitting, but the idea that you should feel guilty for making a mousseline sauce to go with some fish? Absolutely ludicrous.’

The food writer’s latest book, Food You Can’t Say No To, is a sumptuous tome filled with irresistible dishes. Golden roast belly pork, colourful vegetables, lashings of icing pouring over a rich chocolate cake… just a few of the tantalising images. ‘I’d like people to devour the book with their eyes and want to lick the page,’ she says. Tamasin maintains that the recipes may look impressive, but her dishes are easy to make. ‘It’s ingredients-led, and does not set out to intimidate. I have a simple philosophy: use the best ingredients and do the simplest things to them.’

Throughout her illustrious career, she has maintained a homely approach to food – one that fosters a love of cooking, rather than a tool to impress. ‘It’s better to
serve something easy and do it well.’ She says she is more likely to prepare excellent macaroni cheese for her friends rather than fussy ‘dinner party’ food. And – a point that she keeps coming back to: ‘Cook what you enjoy eating. If you have children who are funny about food, the best way to get them to eat something they think is revolting is to cook it with them.’

Tamasin has firm opinions on the modern diet. ‘I think we’ve all gone mad. Processed foods stuffed with corn syrup, salt and sugar have ruined the country more than any other contribution to the diet.’ That is not to say that Tamasin does not enjoy a sugary treat. Quite the opposite – a real love of food radiates from every pore of her slim frame. ‘I make cakes and puddings,’ she says, ‘but they are good-quality food. And I don’t eat them seven days a week, or I would be the size of a house.’

She believes that reinstating this ‘good, simple food’ diet is habit. ‘I make my own bread, but it’s like cleaning your teeth. Take 30 seconds to get your yeast started overnight, and the next morning it takes five minutes to add the ingredients and knead them. You can make enough for the week in one sitting – with wholewheat flour, blackstrap molasses, nuts, seeds, whatever. If you eat two slices of that, you’re not going to eat half a packet of processed white bread. It’s sustaining food.’

Tamasin’s own passion stemmed from a desire to enjoy wholesome meals while at university in Cambridge and it has infused her life ever since. Her eldest daughter Miranda helped her test the recipes for the book, and her son has cooked her ‘really nice stew’ for the first time. ‘No one gets asked back to our home if they don’t eat,’ she laughs. These ‘good troughers’, as she calls them, include her brother Daniel Day-Lewis, as well as Julia Roberts. ‘She is a friend who loves treacle tart and all good things. She doesn’t push her food around the plate.’

Along with these two and her three children, Tamasin says her ideal dinner party would include Derren Brown for entertainment, Dylan Moran for laughs, and Liam Neeson and Clint Eastwood… just because. Aside from good food (and handsome men), what else can’t Tamasin say no to? ‘I adore wild, primitive places, particularly the West of Ireland. My father used to take Dan and me there every summer. So I’m not very good on a sun lounger with a lime daiquiri on a beach full of rich people. I’d rather be in an Atlantic gale with a picnic, deciding whether or not to brave the breakers. Kindness is also irresistible,’ she continues. ‘It is the most underestimated quality in a human being, and sexier than someone who thinks they’re wonderful.’ A propensity for earthiness, kindness and love? Surely the starting point for Tamasin’s recipes. 

Food You Can’t Say No To by Tamasin Day-Lewis is published by Quadrille, priced £20.

 Yalla Yalla Chicken Livers

Serves 2 as a starter, or 4 as part of a meze spread

• 200–220g organic/free-rangechicken livers
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
• sea salt and black pepper
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
• 1 heaped tbsp chopped parsley
• 2 tsp pomegranate seeds, from a fresh pomegranate

Trim the chicken livers, removing the membranes and tubes, then cut into bite-sized pieces. Heat the olive oil in a
frying pan, add the livers and cook over a brisk heat for 3-4 minutes, turning once browned underneath. Add the garlic with a pinch each of salt and pepper, and toss. Add the lemon juice and pomegranate molasses and cook for another 2 minutes, turning until the sauce reduces and thickens a little. The livers should be browned on the outside but pink in the middle. Remove from the heat, sprinkle over the parsley and
pomegranate seeds and serve.

Roquefort and Walnut Pie with a pepper and Parmesan crust

Serves 6 to 8

For the pastry:

• 180g plain flour
• 90g chilled, unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 1 heaped tbsp freshly grated Parmesan
• 1-2 tbsp ice-cold water
• 1 heaped tsp black peppercorns, cracked in a mortar but not too finely, the dusty bits sifted out
• 1 egg yolk, beaten with 1 tsp water, to glaze

For the filling:

• 30g unsalted butter
• 1 large red onion, peeled and finely sliced
• 1 celery stalk (with leaves), de-strung and chopped
• 3 oregano sprigs, chopped
• 45g Serr or other good walnuts, broken in half
• 4 tbsp double cream
• 2 large eggs
• 150g Roquefort

To make the pastry: sift the flour into a food processor and add the butter and Parmesan. Pulse until the mix resembles crumbs, then add 1 tbsp cold water and pulse until it forms a ball, adding more water if necessary. Stop immediately and take out the dough. On a lightly floured surface, flatten the ball with the palm of your hand and scatter over the cracked peppercorns. Roll briefly to distribute the pepper, but do not overwork. Wrap the dough in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes while you make the filling.

For the filling: melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed pan, add the onion and celery (with leaves) and cook gently until soft, about 15 minutes. Stir in the oregano and walnuts, then allow to cool slightly. In a large bowl, lightly whisk the cream and eggs together, then crumble in the Roquefort. While the onion mixture is still warm, tip it into the egg and cream mixture and fold together.Do not season – the blue cheese is salty and the pepper is in the crust. Preheat the oven to 190C/ gas 5 with a baking tray inside. Lightly grease a shallow, 23cm tart dish. Divide the pastry, with one piece smaller for the lid. Roll out the larger piece and line the tart dish, leaving pastry to overhang the edge. Roll out the piece for the lid.Spoon the filling into the pastry case, brush the pastry edge with water and top with the pie lid. Crimp the edges with a fork and brush the top with the beaten egg yolk. Bake for 30 minutes, then check – it may need another 10 minutes to bronze the pastry. Stand on a wire rack for 10 minutes before cutting. Servewith a green salad.

Chocolate and Morello Cherry Fridge Cake

Serves 8 to 10

• 200g good-quality dark chocolate (about 70% cocoa solids – I use Green & Black’s)
• 1 heaped tbsp golden syrup
• 120g unsalted butter
• 1 egg, beaten
• 90g amaretti, ideally morbidi, digestives or ginger nuts
• 1 tsp kirsch, or a little more to taste
• 50g Marcona almonds, coarsely chopped
• 50g walnuts, coarsely broken
• 25g shelled pistachio nuts, coarsely chopped
• 50g morello cherries from a jar, drained of syrup, halved

Line a 900g loaf tin with foil or greaseproof paper. Melt the chocolate, golden syrup and butter gently in a heatproof
bowl over a pan of simmering water. Stir to combine, then take off the heat. Cool slightly, then stir in the beaten egg.

Break the amaretti into large chunks, place in a bowl and sprinkle over the kirsch. Throw in the chopped almonds,
walnuts, pistachios and cherries. Pour the warm chocolate mixture over, stir gently until evenly mixed and then pour into the loaf tin.

Place in the fridge for 4 hours to set, or cheat, as I did, and whack it in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Remove from the fridge and turn it out on to a board. Peel off the foil or paper and cut into thin slices. I like it with cream or crème fraîche; red berries or cherries are also good with it.