GILL MELLER’S WINTER
RECIPES, FOOD STYLING AND STYLING GILL MELLER PHOTOGRAPHS ANDREW MONTGOMERY
”Some vegetables – I’m thinking carrots, potatoes, parsnips and cabbage – are dependable; always there when you need them. Then there’s the onion, which stands apart, like a culinary overlord. From a cook’s point of view, it’s everywhere. It’s the whisper you can barely distinguish in a complex stew, it’s the warmth you feel from a gravy-rich pie on a cold winter’s evening. It ghosts its way through myriad dishes with unmatched magic and subtlety. The onion is the foundation of the familiar, the unusual and everything in between. Without it, I’d be lost at sea, adrift in a becalmed kitchen with no direction home.
Sometimes I wonder if the harmony the onion creates behind the scenes is taken for granted. Should we celebrate this wonderful vegetable more often and make it the flesh and blood of a meal, not just its backbone? I think so, and that’s why this month’s recipes are all about this wonderful allium. And what better month to sing its praises than grey, wintry February?”
Venison, onion and red wine pie
Onion bhajis with yogurt and goat’s cheese dip GF
Onion bhajis with yogurt and goat’s cheese dip
VEGGIE RECIPE
MAKES ABOUT 18. HANDS-ON TIME 45 MIN
“Whenever I make a curry, I make a batch of these onion bhajis. They’re deliciously crunchy and fragrantly spiced. I add black onion seeds, which give the bhajis a beautiful layer of flavour that seems particularly appropriate.”
MAKE AHEAD Make the dip, cover and chill up to 2 days ahead. Bring to room temperature to serve.
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 4 medium onions, very thinly