Martin - Home Comforts

Thanks to all of you reading this bit, for watching the shows and for helping my dreams come true. And for that I can never thank you enough.

Ive been doing this job for 20 years now and never have I had such an amazing response to an idea and a show as I have with Home Comforts.

I think thats because, like most of us, I work harder now than Ive ever done, with longer hours and more stress. And after all those long days, there is nothing that I like more than chilling out at home with some delicious, comforting food. I dont mean what we traditionally call comfort food, such as pie and mash or rib-sticking steamed puddings with custard (though those are here, too); to me, comforting food can just as easily be a beautifully made and cleverly dressed salad, a magnificent fish with a piquant salsa verde or a fresh raspberry and vodka jelly.

Ive been very lucky to travel the world with my job, learning more about food, but there truly is no place like home. The UK is a very special place and I only realised that when I was seeing less of it. So to do a show based at home seemed an obvious thing to do. And it made my dogs happy, not only to have me around more, but also because as they bounced around during the filming of the TV show and then afterwards in the photoshoot for this book they got to hoover up the bits and bobs of food that fell off the tables So they, like me, have really loved putting the book together!

Here are the recipes I love to cook at home. The ones I turn to when away from the restaurant and from TV studios. These are all the things Ive learned over my career, coupled with some new recipes inspired by local producers and suppliers. And what amazing people we have met along the way, from cordial brewers to pork farmers and fabulous cheese makers. We should all look and see what is on our doorstep, theres plenty of delicious stuff for us all to discover.

This is a project I should have done ages ago. Its all about the food and working with food for as long as I have makes you understand it a little more. It makes you enjoy it more, too. And most importantly of all, it makes you crave that moment when you arrive home and get into the kitchen. We could all do with more home comforts. I hope you love these recipes as much as I do.

Sometimes when I get home from work a quick light supper is all I crave. I have taken advantage of my veg garden for a few things in here, as I did on the TV show, but of course you can buy all the stuff from the supermarket. There are some great salad ideas and dressings that will bring any meal to life.

San Marzano are the best canned tomatoes I know; they are sweet and have fewer seeds. I use them for pizza sauce, too. You will find them in the supermarket if you read the label. And making your own butter is nothing new well, not to me anyway. Roasting the garlic softens it and turns this into the best garlic bread out there.

Serves 24

1 garlic bulb

500ml double cream

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

leaves from a large bunch of basil, roughly chopped, 2 sprigs reserved

75ml extra virgin olive oil

banana shallot, finely chopped

2 x 400g cans of San Marzano tomatoes

1 small baguette, halved lengthways, then halved widthways

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Wrap the whole garlic bulb in foil then place on a baking tray and roast for 4045 minutes until soft. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then cut the top off of the bulb, squeeze out all the soft garlic and finely chop it.

Pour the double cream into the bowl of a food mixer and beat for three to five minutes until the mixture turns into solid lumps with a liquid base. You have made butter!

Tip out into a muslin or cloth-lined colander over a large bowl, wrap the muslin tightly around it and squeeze out all the liquid so that you have a solid mass of butter in the muslin, then discard the liquid.

Return the butter to the bowl, add the roast garlic and a generous pinch of salt, then stir in one-third of the chopped basil and mix once more.

Heat a large saut pan until hot, add all but 2 tbsp of the extra virgin olive oil and the shallot and cook without colour for one minute. Add the canned tomatoes and the remaining basil (except the 2 reserved sprigs), then simmer for two or three minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a griddle pan until very hot and char the bread on both sides. Slather with the garlic butter and keep warm in a low oven.

Blitz the soup with a stick blender or place in a blender and blitz to a fine pure. If using a blender, make sure to fill it only one-third full. (You will probably have to blend the soup in batches.) Season with salt and pepper. Youll know your blender better than I do, but you need to make sure the centre part of the lid is slightly ajar, or it can create a vacuum which can pop the lid off and spray hot soup around the kitchen. Be careful.

Serve the soup in bowls with some of the reserved olive oil drizzled over the top and a scattering of shredded basil leaves from the reserved sprigs, with the garlic bread alongside.

Making butter really is very easy and it is a great way to use up leftover double cream. It freezes well, too.

SUMMER VEG SOUP WITH MUSSELS AND SALSA VERDE

This comes straight from my garden and into the bowl (except for the mussels!) and when the summers in full swing in the veg garden there are few better soups. Add the salsa at the end to keep all the flavour and colour or, better still, let your guests add as much as they need.

Serves 4

For the soup

50g unsalted butter

1 banana shallot, finely chopped

150g courgettes, cut into 1cm cubes

1 fennel bulb, cut into 1cm cubes, fronds reserved

150g carrots, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes

100g celery sticks, cut into 1cm cubes

8 radishes, halved lengthways

500g mussels, scrubbed, beards removed (see page )

150ml white wine

750ml vegetable stock

For the salsa verde

2 tbsp roughly chopped mint leaves