6 carrots, peeled and quartered longways
6 parsnips, ditto
3 potatoes, not peeled, quartered
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp cumin, ground
10 cloves garlic

Mix well; roast on a tray at 200C for about an hour, well spread apart so they crisp and don’t trap the steam to make them soggy. Eat at once. Note: Hunks of pumpkin can also be added to this or even choko.

Chicken with cider

A one-pot wonder; and also because it is winter and this will make a closed-up house smell divine.

1 whole chicken, internal fat removed
1 bottle cider
3 carrots, chopped and peeled
8 cloves garlic, peeled, chopped
1 cup risoni pasta
200ml cream
1 carton chicken stock
|3 onions, peeled and chopped
8 tbsp parsley, very finely chopped
1 tbsp brown sugar
Juice of 1 lime or lemon

Place all but the pasta and lemon or lime juice in a large pot. Do not put the lid on. Simmer on the lowest possible heat for two hours – do not boil or the chicken will get ragged. The liquid should be reduced by about a half. Add the parsley, lemon or lime juice and risoni and simmer until it is soft. Don’t add the lemon or lime juice earlier or the onions will turn into plastic.  (This is a metaphor. I don’t mean literally). Hoik out your favourite chicken joints then scoop out pasta and vegie-laden gravy. Good (if a bit gluggy) reheated.

Carrot and potato soup

You may think you are throwing out the most delicious ingredients. You aren’t – you are concentrating their flavours as a background to the carrots and potatoes. The better the carrots, the better the soup, but even supermarket carrots give you a superb, deceptively simple soup. But do add salt, or it will be insipid. I rarely add salt these days, but do with this one.

2kg chicken wings or carcasses
6 red onions, halved but not peeled
2 bulbs garlic, halved but not peeled
1 bunch fresh thyme
4 litres water
6 large potatoes peeled
6 large carrots peeled
salt
fresh pepper

Place water, chicken, onions, thyme and garlic in a pot. Simmer until the liquid is about 10cm deep and beginning to turn a caramel colour. Strain out all solids. You can leave to cool and scrape off the fat if you like, but do leave a little to add richness to the potato.

Now add the potatoes, carrots and as much water as needed to cover them. Simmer till only just soft, then puree. Add salt to taste – it will certainly need salt. Add ground pepper only on serving, as it can make the soup slightly bitter.