Lunch today was at Josef's Vegetarian Cafe in Bury St Edmunds.  This cafe reminds me of the late 70's and 80's.  Days of Bagwhan and the Rajneeshees when they were resident at their commune in Herringswell.  Bright decor and the smell of patchouli with a slight hessian look going through to the Lizard Room.  The food is very good.  I ate the Felafel with spicy salsa, cucumber and yoghurt raita in a warm hummus pitta.  The salads which were not mentioned on the menu were particularly good.  But oh, the service.  So laid back man. 

The Guild of Food Writers are calling for entries to their annual cooking competition for 10 - 16 year old children. Some great prizes are on offer to the winner who comes up with a two course menu which will  impress the judges.  The deadline for entries is April 19th.  Follow the link

Shake up your wake up because this week is Farmhouse Breakfast week. This morning I made buckwheat pancakes filled with delicious locally cured bacon and a poached free range egg. It also happens to be gluten free!

A favourite Winter soup which is vegetarian.  Serves 6 - 8 people

Ingredients

• 1kg g (2 lb) Jerusalem Artichokes
• 3 celery stalks, chopped
• 450 g (1 lb) carrots ( peeled and sliced)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 75 g (3 oz) butter
• 1.5 L (3 pints) vegetable stock
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• Method

Peel and slice artichokes then put them into a bowl of cold water to prevent them from discolouring. ( add a slice of lemon)

Melt the butter in a cooking pot and soften the onion, celery, carrots and artichokes.

Put the lid on the pan and let the vegetables sweat for 5 minutes on a low heat.

Stir from time to time.

Pour in the stock, stir well, put the lid back on and simmer for a further 20 minutes or until the vegetables are soft. Liquidise the soup and season to taste.

Jerusalem Artichokes are a member of the sunflower family and originate in North America, not Jerusalem.  They are also known as Sunchokes in the USA.  They are easy to grow and are very knobbly, potato-like tubers, with the nickname "fartichoke" for a good reason!They are delicious at this time of year and make a wonderful winter soup.  Here is a recipe for Jerusalem Artichoke and Carrot Soup

More food is wasted at Christmas than at any other time of the year.  An estimated 74 million mince pies and two million turkeys will be carted off by the dustmen. If you would like some ideas for using up leftovers, meal planning and shopping accordingly take a look at the lovefoodhatewastewebsite. This is my turkey and ham pie made from this weeks'  leftovers.

Suffolk-based wine educator Neil Courtier of Grape Sense gives us his Christmas and New Year favourites for the festive table below. Neil runs wine-tasting workshops and has one coming up on Saturday morning 26th January 2013 at the Active Business Centre in Bury, called 'An Introduction to Wine Tasting'. This would be a great birthday present for me but unfortunately I am going to be in the Caribbean (says suffolkfoodie in a sad voice...) Call him on 01359 270318 or contact him here through his website.

The Wines

 Domaine Vincent Dampt  - Chablis 2011 Burgundy – France - £ 12.55 (here you will get a 10% discount if you mention Grapesense) Corney & Barrow – Newmarket – Vincent Dampt is a rising star in Burgundy, check out this classic, steely, mineral enhanced Chablis, that’s beautifully balanced, by a touch of buttery richness & pin-point acidity. Try with smoked trout, roast turkey (with a white wine gravy), or guinea fowl.

Jul. Ferd Kimich – Gewürztraminer – Spätlese 2010 Pfalz – Germany - £ 12.99 Peatling's - Bury St Edmunds - A fruit-inspired Gewürztraminer, that's beautifully focused. A degree of natural sweetness (only a tad) makes this a perfect companion with a smooth duck-based pâté.   

Jim Barry - The Lodge Hill – Shiraz 2010 Clare Valley – Australia - £ 12.49 / buy 2 bottles £ 9.99 – Majestic – Should you decide to enjoy a prime-joint of British beef this Christmas, tuck into this blackberry-soaked Shiraz, with notes of eucalyptus & liquorice. Full-bodied, yet it has ‘sweet’ tannins & total integration.

Domaine Michel Lafarge - Bourgogne – Pinot Noir 2009 Burgundy – France - £ 13.99 (again with a 10% discount for Grapesense) Corney & Barrow – Newmarket – From a great Domaine in Volnay, a cherry-scented Pinot, ripe, rounded & accessible, with food-matching potential too – a great match with pheasant, or venison casserole.

Champagne – Les Pionniers – Vintage 2004 - £ 25.99 / £ 22.99 (until 1^st January 2013 ) Co-Operative – Toasty, complex Champagne, with notes of maturity – baked lemon, a trace of honey & a nutty finish. Great vale & should accompany smoked salmon to a tee!    

Vistamar - Late Harvest - Moscatel 2012 Limari Valley – Chile - £ 6.24 / buy 2 bottles = £ 4.99 per ½ bottle – Majestic – Snap-up this peach, honey, lemon & grapey Moscatel, which has attractive acidity to underpin the sweetness. Yummy!

The Mince Pie Project is a 72 hour mince pie marathon, raising funds for Galvin’s Chance and Crisis.  You have just a day left to bid and could bag yourself a fantastic box of mince pies made by a top UK chef.

On Friday last week I so enjoyed the Thos Peatlings Christmas Wine tasting.  Over 70 wines to taste, a lighter purse and some cracking wines wending their way to the suffolkfoodie HQ for Christmas.

Two days later I was invited to an informal tasting and dinner at Pea Porridge.  Ian Steel from For the Love of Wine ( he was also at Peatlings, hidden in his favourite corner of the cellar) brought a vast selection of Italian wines to taste. Pictured is Rosso Passo 2010, Lenotti, which he also showed at Peatlings. We slurped, tasted and enjoyed a fabulous dinner.  Neil Courtier from Grapesense also joined the party.  We talked wine and food, ate too much and shared each others knowledge.  If you would like to learn more about wine then take a look at Neils website. He has some brilliant courses.