The cosiest meal I made after a cold

Finally making decent matcha at home

We had our first family cold last month, which went on for weeks! There were small and much needed joys like salted butter and honey on toast, finally making a half decent matcha (an electric whisk and this matcha powder did the trick!) and watching The Comeback starring Lisa Kudrow.

Today I’m sharing the Korean tea that saved my sore throat and the meal I made as soon as I was well again. But before we dive in, I’m introducing paid subscriptions and hope you’ll consider upgrading.

I’ve been working on a bunch of fun things, including an archive of every recipe I’ve recommended over the past five years (there are hundreds!), categorised by ingredient and cook-time to help you find dinner ideas more easily. Building it has radically improved my ability to plan and make dinner and I’m excited to share it in a few weeks! Paying subscribers will get full access to every monthly recipe recap, plus additional newsletters based on delicious themes.

OK, onto the food!

A cosy chicken stew

I bookmarked Elizabeth Hewson’s ‘it’s going to be OK’ chicken stew for the moment I felt better. It was truly one of the most comforting meals I’ve had in awhile and genuinely easy to make (the garlic doesn’t even need to be peeled!). There’s leek, lemon, cream, potatoes and white wine and we ate it one night with toast and rice the next. I love the flexibility of the recipe too. The second time I made it we were a few potatoes short, so I subbed in some carrots and it came out great.

Apple crumble for two

The chicken stew had me dreaming of serving a hot apple crumble with ice cream for dessert. Because it’s just the two of us eating dessert (for now!) and the thought of peeling eight apples seemed overwhelming, I halved this Donna Hay recipe and made a mini one.

Beef bulgogi

I’ve never been organised enough to have meat in the freezer until I remembered this recipe from Cafe Maddy that has motivated me to keep some shabu shabu meat on hand.

I like how sweet bulgogi is, partly from the onions and also from the honey in the marinade. It does need some time to marinate but the cook time is 10 minutes (just enough time to steam some veg) and her recipe feeds two generously.

Maybe this is incredibly obvious but I’ve started freezing marinated meat, inspired by Kristina Cho’s epic postpartum meal prep. So far it’s this bulgogi and teriyaki chicken, which bakes in the oven.