Colder days mean we long for warming suppers rather than salads. Fire up the oven and wait for the delicious aromas, writes DOMINI KEMP

IT’S FUNNY HOW subtle the change is with regards to the weather and corresponding cravings, but for months I’ve been ignoring several cook books, none of them catching my eye, and wondering why I bought them in the first place. Then, suddenly, temperatures drop and I reach for everything that was abandoned during the summer. Browsing down the list of ingredients for rabbit legs braised with mustard in Anthony Demetre’s Today’s Special (recipes from his London restaurants Wild Honey and Arbutus) was a perfect example of something that can only ever appeal during chillier months.

This particular recipe sent me racing to the butcher. But, of course, they didn’t have any legs from the cast of Watership Down, so I ended up getting chicken legs instead, which worked just as well and ate beautifully. I guess it’s because rabbit isn’t one of those suppers you’d whip up mid-week. It’s something you’d psych yourself up for and plan around, and not just because your butcher may not have it in stock regularly. And sometimes friends or family members may have emotional ties to bunnies that they’ll never share with chicken.

The recipe called for just one type of mustard (I used two: Dijon and wholegrain) and interestingly it uses some smoked paprika. This was an incredibly tasty dish, and provided you have a good heavy saucepan with a lid, it can be cooked on top of the stove or in the oven, if you find that handier. The other thing is to wipe out all the fat after you’ve browned the chicken legs. I am sure that by not removing the fat, you’ll have a richer and heartier dish. But I do whatever I can to remove excess fat, unless it really is indispensable to a recipe. This recipe contains a splash of cream, so by allowing this luxury, I try to scrimp somewhere else. Draining excess fat and wiping the saucepan out is the right thing to do here, no matter who you are. We just don’t need to consume animal fats unnecessarily, especially if it’s not doing anything incredible to the dish.

The roast carrots are definitely my new favourite way of cooking this vegetable. As with lots of recipes in this book, it’s heavy on the butter, so I swapped most of it for a splash of olive oil, and the 50g of sugar for a squeeze of honey. They also only took about 10 minutes to cook. The flavour really was a magnificent sweet and sour. They also went beautifully with roast lamb. I absolutely love taking cheap vegetables, such as carrots, parsnips and turnips, and turning them into something really delicious, with just the smallest bit of effort. My default position is to always have some salad, but I have to remind myself to eat more seasonally and therefore embrace all things with roots. After making these carrots, we all decided you could happily devour a bowl of them on their own for dinner.

Chicken with mustard and smoked paprika

Use chicken legs with thighs still attached or else use about six drumsticks

Serves 4

4 chicken legs

50g butter

Salt and pepper

50ml white wine vinegar

2 tbs Dijon mustard

1 tbs wholegrain mustard

300ml chicken stock

50ml cream

2 tsp dried oregano

½ tsp smoked sweet paprika

Few sprigs rosemary

4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

2 bay leaves

Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan. Season the chicken legs well and fry them, over a high heat, until a golden brown and with an even colour on all sides. This will take a good five to 10 minutes. Transfer them to a plate and discard all the fat in the saucepan. Wipe the saucepan clean and then add the vinegar and boil it for about a minute. Add all of the remaining ingredients, whisk so that it is well mixed and then bring back up to the boil. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary and then gently place the chicken legs back into the saucepan. Put the lid on and either cook on top of the stove over a low heat for about 25 minutes or bake in the oven at 160 degrees/gas mark three for about 40 minutes. It should be bubbling away gently, but do keep an eye on it. Take it off the heat or out of the oven, allow it to cool for a bit and serve up with some bread to dunk into the sauce, or some wild rice.

Roast sweet and sour carrots

Serves 4 as a side order

Small knob of butter

Good splash olive oil

750g carrots, peeled and cut into thick slices

Good squeeze honey

150ml white wine vinegar

Good few sprigs rosemary and thyme

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

Salt and pepper

Put the butter and olive oil in a large saucepan and when the pan is good and hot, add the carrots. Toss them about so they get well coated and begin to colour. Add the honey and cook some more. then add the white-wine vinegar and cook for another minute to let the vinegar reduce. Deglaze the pan with 250ml of water. Season well and add the garlic and herbs. Put a lid on the saucepan and cook for 10 minutes. If there’s still some liquid in the pan, cook for a final few minutes until the liquid has evaporated and you are left with beautifully glazed and tender carrots.

Domini recommends

I had some sheep’s-milk yoghurt recently and even though it’s a bit ‘cheesy’, it has a wonderful thick texture. It’s tough going at breakfast – mainly because it’s so savoury – so I will give it a whirl in some cooked dishes to see how it holds up to heat. But it’s worth trying out if you can’t have cows’ milk. I tried the Woodlands Dairy variety