Changing Food… One Meal At A Time!
Jan Fullwood Food Consultant
(aka JamJarJan)
NOTES FROM A CHAOTIC KITCHEN
Welcome to daily life in a chaotic, well-used kitchen…..
A constantly busy, always evolving space: full of cooking, eating and creating (dinner, treats, mess), for work and for play, for family and friends.
Let me introduce myself and my family:
- A Food and Recipe Consultant who is ‘never knowingly under-catered’, I’ll whip up a five-minute muffin mix at a moment’s notice. I’m constantly creating, evaluating and tasting, always cooking, eating and learning something new
- Long-suffering Hub, who just wants a clutter-free kitchen and peace and quiet. Happiest in the garden. He grows, I cook and preserve
- Eldest Cheffy Son and his Pastry-chef girlfriend, who cook catering quantities of restaurant quality food at every opportunity
- Protein & carb-obsessed younger Student Son, currently at uni. Loves food, but cooking not his forte - student survival skills ongoing
We all eat to live. Let me help you live to eat.
Share my learning and experiences to make the most of your meals too.
What's in Jan's Pan?
DECEMBER 2025
2025 has been quite a year, with some fabulous food experiences along the way, and here is the final month in all its Christmassy glory.
Chocolate seems to have featured heavily this year and I am officially now a chocolate snob, with craft chocolate top of the chocs. OK, so I still wouldn’t refuse some of the mass produced bars for old times sake, but the sugar heavy mainstream stuff certainly doesn’t hit the spot in the same way as it used to. Read about my trip to Pump Street chocolate at the beginning of December.
We have had some cracking meals over Christmas, though the difference between the way chefs and home economists cook was highlighted yet again. Everything takes twice as long (poor Student Son didn’t get his last supper before his 8pm train because Cheffy son was being, well, cheffy.)
Also the amount of oil and butter used when pan-frying and butter-basting and finishing-in-the-oven leaves us with the worst kind of greasy pots and pans. But, of course, everything tastes exceptional, and is always well worth the extra washing up (chefs may do a lot of cleaning as part of the job, but they do generally have some poor minion to do the worst of it), so potwasher was a small price to pay for our Michelin starred meals.
But I didn't have to cook a thing all Christmas, which was a pleasant change from generally taking on the role of chief cook and bottle-washer.
We double turkeyed with full Christmas dinners on both Xmas and Boxing Day. Having driven Cheffy son into London on Christmas morning we went on for dinner at our lovely Pastry Chef's parents for Christmas dinner, so we saw the sunrise and Oxford Street lights before the celebrations even began. As Cheffy Son missed out, it was rinse and repeat on Boxing Day as yet again he spent his day off on a busman’s holiday and we were treated to turkey, and beef, and all the trimmings for the five of us together.
The only entertaining I did was a post Xmas curry night: massaman beef in the slow cooker, and a butternut squash chickpea and spinach curry with the spicing based on a Sri Lankan recipe from my Hoppers cookbook - all pre-prepped, the best kind of entertaining, so the cooks can enjoy the evening too. Good company and relaxed eating leads to great conversation, and the evening didn’t disappoint.
Christmas Food gifting is big In our family of foodies, and this year I found a great recipe for panforte, so read on to find out more. It’s been a year full of Great Taste - both judging and finding exciting new products and suppliers, read back for recommendations of some fabulous products from mainly small producers, including some local heroes. There will, no doubt, be more recommendations to come in 2026.
And it’s not Xmas without Brussels Sprouts and chestnuts in my view (and clementines in the end of a Xmas stocking for tradition‘s sake ) so read on for recipe ideas and airfryer tips.
Another year of looking after the Guild of Food Awards means it’s a wonderful way to see all the latest food books. My top book of the year has to be Nicola Lamb’s ‘Sift’ which wiped the board at all the food awards, and rightly so. I’ve made many of the recipes and they all work, and her deep dive into techniques satisfies my inner nerd. If you want to raise your baking to another level, this book is definitely one to invest in.
And talking of books and recipes that always work. of course this year was Dame Mary’s 90th, and she’s never been busier. I’ve always said that a creative cooking career ensures longevity (think Delia, Marguerite Patten - even Hub’s gran only lost the will to live once she stopped cooking at the age of 102!). If I have half her energy when I’m her age I’ll be more than happy.
It was also the year that saw the sad demise of delicious. Magazine, which has featured in my life in one way or another over the last 20 years, and many other food publications bit the dust. But food writing is very much still alive and kicking, and much as I prefer print to online, that is the way of the world as we know it. So I hope that you have enjoyed my small contribution over the last year and will join me on many more food adventures in 2026.
A YEAR OF CHOCOLATE
2025 has certainly been the year of the chocolate bean.
Starting with the Great Taste workshop in February (see archives), held by Spencer Hyman of Cocoa Runners, with a visit to their chocolate fair in October, it ended with a visit to Pump Street chocolate in Suffolk. The chance to be immersed in chocolate (now there’s a thought) was too much to resist, so I signed up and set off to Suffolk to satisfy my curiosity and cravings.
Pump Street Bakery was set up by father and daughter Chris and Jo Brennan 15 years ago in the small but perfectly formed village of Orford in Suffolk. This tiny village is a food-lover’s haven, and boasts not only this fabulous bakery (and the castle on the hill made famous by Ed Sheeran’s song), but also the Butley Orford Oysterage, Pinney’s smokehouse for amazing smoked fish and cheeses, and the Crown and Castle hotel, which was put on the map by Guild Chairman Ruth Watson when she owned it back in the day.
And now, across the road from the pretty pink Pump House bakery is the Pump House chocolate shop. This seemed the natural progression for these creative bakers seeking a new challenge: the marriage of two passions, using bakery additions such as sourdough crumbs and cinnamon buns in the quality craft chocolate they sourced from single origin farms. It’s this that gives them their USP.
Once we’d perused the shop and purchased our wares we wended our way to Woodbridge. This is the site of the chocolate factory and as soon as the doors were opened we were welcomed by a warm waft of roasting beans and conched chocolate - what greater welcome could you wish for?
Now, you may not realise, but chocolate beans are fermented, which means of course that chocolate very much comes under the banner of ‘good for you food’ ( you see, I bring good news). This process starts on the farm, all of which are hand picked to ensure their provenance, from Jamaica to the Solomon Islands via Ecuador, and many of whom are in fact so tiny they know all the producers by name.
Once the dried and fermented beans arrive at the factory they are hand sorted and roasted to bring out the best qualities of the beans. They are still using an old patisserie oven but it seems to do the trick, for now.
The next step is breaking and winnowing the beans to separate the nibs from the shells, before they move to the grinding and conching room, where the beans spend 3-4 days in a Cocotown conching machine, to release and develop the flavours. This is all down to friction, not heat, so they bump and grind down in Cocotown until silky smooth. But there’s a good 30 days to wait before the chocolate is ready to eat (aren’t all the best things worth the wait?) and before that the chocolate must be tempered (yes, all good chocolate is good tempered, as will you be once you taste it). Tempering is a process where you heat and cool the chocolate to very specific temperatures to allow the chocolate crystals to stabilise to give that crisp snap and shiny finish, which is, of course, what makes it stand out from any old bog standard commercial chocolate (I’m naming no names).
Once the inclusions are added and the bars are formed they are wrapped in the distinctive pink packaging at a rate of 1000 bars/hour by 3 ladies, and it is clear that at every stage of the process a little bit of love and care is added, as every member of staff is clearly invested in producing the best product possible. They say that chocolate releases endorphins, and I believe that even the smell of it may set you off, as I‘m not sure I’ve ever seen such a happy work force, and we certainly all left with a smile on our faces.
But the fun didn’t end there, as we headed to the bake house and workshop, where David Wright aka @thebreaducator leads bakery and chocolate workshops. He’d made a huge pillowy focaccia made from sustainable YQ (yield and quantity) wheat which we fell on (and bounced off) to soak up his homemade soup served with all kinds of sprinkles (additions are clearly their forte), before he let us loose in the workshop to make our own chocolate bars….
We all felt we’d got the golden ticket as we channeled our inner Charlie Bucket and chose our own inclusions to make the bar of our dreams, with perfectly tempered fruity flavoured chocolate from Haiti.
Needless to say, my bar hardly lasted the journey home, but I savoured every mouthful and I’m definitely a craft chocolate convert. I urge you to visit if you’re in that neck of the woods, and you too can be an Oompa Loompa for a day.
Pump Street Bakery and Chocolate
Chocolate is never far from my thoughts, and this month means advent calendars are top of the shopping list. On top of the usual Maltesers and Lindt were the joys of a Harrod‘s advent calendar (bottom middle) full of fruity nutty mendiants and chocolate wafers, and a box of Chef Adam Handling’s beautifully glazed and silky smooth chocolate truffles all to myself, courtesy of Cheffy son. He knows me too well.
Food gifts are the way forward
As a food obssessed family we have got to the stage where we no longer need any more clutter round the house, but can always welcome a new taste sensation. As a result we all made up hampers of local delicacies for each other. We had cheese from the Goodwood estate from my sister in West Sussex, we had Devon delights from the Sidmouth branch of the family, and we supported their local delis too, by sending this hamper plus cheeses to them from Prime and Preserved Deli
We're sill waiting for feedback on the Brussel Sprout pickled eggs, or perhaps they haven't been brave enough to try them yet!
Nothing quite beats homemade gifts either, and during my Christmas reading both Mark Hix and Claire Thomson of @5oclockapron fame suggested homemade Panforte. With so much dried fruit and nuts in the house, plus honey and chocolate I was able to whip this up nougaty, chocolatey delight for a last minute gift, along with some white chocolate shards sprinkled with rose petals and pistachios. Ok, so not everyone has these so easily to hand (I have a particularly well stocked larder thanks to all my food projects) but both were so very much cheaper to make than buy, and easy to elevate by putting into a cellophane bag, wrapping with ribbon and labelling with a suitable gift tag (I take no chances and put all allergens on there too).
Mincemeat shortbread squares were on the menu too, which made a great alternative to mince pies, again stacked into cellophane bags with a gift ribbon. And all those plums I froze in the summer came in useful for plum chutney to go with the Christmas cheeseboard.
A home made gift is a win win all round, a little bit of love in a gift bag.
What's in Jan's Airfyer?
Chestnuts shout Christmas to me, and sadly it seems to be the only time that the supermarkets stock them. But if you find yourself with a supply then the air fryer is a great way to roast them.
Make a small cross in the shell on either side of the nut - take care as they can be slippery beasts and shoot out of your grip. Roast on 200C for 10-15minutes, shaking as you go. Peel the skins and savour the creamy roasty toasty nut inside. Not quite 'chestnuts roasting on an open fire' but not a bad alternative.
I made use of the dehydrator setting again overnight to create orange slices for a pre Xmas cocktails party. They make pretty additions to G&T or Aperol Spritz, but I definitely need to invest in some racks to maximise the space when the oven is on so long, or revert to the dehydrator setting on my oven instead.
What's in Jan's Veg Box
Love 'em or hate 'em, Christmas is the time to bring out the sprouts. And long gone are the days of soggy sulphuric beige mini cabbages, now you can steam 'em, fry 'em, shred 'emtil the green glows in all its glory, and and if you thought you didn't like them try one of these suggestions. And there’s no need to cut a cross in the stem as we were taught back in the day - they need minimum cooking, so treat them with the respect they deserve.
My favourite Christmas treatment for Brussels sprouts is fried with bacon and chestnuts (it's chestnuts all the way for me when it gets to the festive season).
Halve larger Brussels and lightly steam or blanch.
Fry some bacon or lardons to release the fat and soften some shallot slices.
Add in the Brussels and cook until lightly charred. Add some ready peeled chestnuts (vacuum packed are the best here) with a splash of madeira wine over a high heat, to bring it all together. Serve alongside your meat of choice for the Christmas celebrations. Veggies can omit the bacon of course.
I had the most delicious meal at Ember restaurant in Hertford, which serves platters of steak cooked on a charcoal grill to share. The group was divided on the side orders but we ordered one of each vegetable dish accompaniment. The Brussel sprouts and whiskey cream were enough to make even the abstainers convert. I would steam whole sprouts then fry until charred, add whiskey and reduce for a couple of minutes, then stir in cream and bubble through until it clings to the sprouts.
For our Christmas dinner we had finely shredded Brussels fried with bacon then slow cooked caramelised onions were stirred in which were sweet and unctuous. All courtesy of the Chefs, who took over on Boxing Day.
Try one of these and you’ll change your mind for good.
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