At Home With… Claire Aldous

Our food editor dishes her lockdown loves and regrets, and the goodies she’s dreaming up for the next issue.

Who’s in your isolation bubble?

It’s just me and Leo, my gorgeous ginger pussycat.

 Any projects for the remaining weeks of lockdown?

It’s full steam ahead on the next issue of dish. I’m just dreaming up recipes for scrumptious winter puddings – channelling all those delicious flavours of chocolate, lemon, caramel …..then it’s back into the kitchen and recipe testing. Might have to increase the exercise programme to cope with all the tasting!!

I’ve also loved making small batches of quick raw pickles and will definitely keep on with this after the lockdown. I’m eating them with every meal as they’re so fresh and crunchy. My fave has been red cabbage, beetroot and red onion with balsamic, chilli and lots of toasted spices.

 What’s on your reading/podcast/movie list?

I’m just finishing Ruth Reichl’s My Kitchen Year. After being the editor of Gourmet magazine for 10 years, it was abruptly shut down and the book is filled with wonderful recipes and personal narrative on how she coped to fill the void.

Looking forward to watching The Leisure Seeker with Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland on Netflix.

 What’s in your larder? Do you have like 20 cans of chickpeas and 1 carrot or are you pretty sorted?

Have to admit, you’d be hard pressed to find a product that isn’t in my pantry! Joys of having the most fabulous job ever.

 What are you glad/regretting you stocked up on?

Regretting I didn’t grab a second bottle of Aperol for my late afternoon spritz – will be feeling very sad. And perhaps I overestimated how many vegetables one person could eat. I’ve never eaten this many in my whole life; possibly not a bad thing.

 Who do you wish you could have over for dinner right now?

I’d love to have both my boys and their partners for dinner. Alex and Olivia live in Sydney, and James and Hannah live in Wellington. They’ve both been gone for a few years now and I really miss not having them pop in for our Sunday night dinners.

 What’s on the list when isolation ends (apart from catching up with friends of course)?

Cut back on Skyping!! Does my head in talking to a screen.  Have more people over for dinner and feed them everything I love to cook.

Sit in the sun outside the Flour Mill, my local café, and enjoy a coffee and their cured salmon on sourdough.