I took part in the Observer Conversation again this month. Goodness knows why they invited me back. Anyway the format is much improved this time, with a group of us sat around having a chat. A lot less intimidating than the first time around; I even managed to remember what I think about a few things. The video has paused itself in rather an unfortunate place for Lizzie, who looks like she’s having a moment in the still below, but is in fact completely normal. The other bloggers in the vid are Tom and Dan.

There is a piece in this month’s OFM about the Brown’s vegetable patch at No. 10.  But are they genuinely interested in food? Does anyone care? Should politicians be trying to influence the way we eat?

The Observer Food Monthly re-launches this weekend and promises to be even better and stronger than it was before. As part of the fun, The Observer invited me, Chris and Euwen along for a natter with Jay Rayner on the topic of British Food. Watching yourself on video is no easy task I can tell you that for nothing. Two bits of advice if you ever have to do it: 1 – make sure you spend more than five minutes styling your hair and 2 – be prepared to forget every opinion you ever had, along with the majority of words that were in your vocabulary.

Anyway, here it is. The idea of the vid is to stimulate a bit of discussion about British Food, of course, so do please share your thoughts below. I’d love to know what your favourite dishes are and your opinions on whether or not we even have a national cuisine.

If I had to choose a ‘favourite meal’, steak with salsa verde would most definitely be up there – top 3. A well-hung and carefully sourced piece of meat – dark, flavourful, flesh well marbled with fat – cooked just how I like it, soft, meltingly tender and rare. The meat is sliced, laid out with a minimal amount of fussiness and then drizzled with the piquant green sauce.

I remember the first time I tasted salsa verde. A perfect summers day and one of my mum’s perfect summer meals. Roast chicken, slathered with herbs and butter – crispy skin and succulent flesh within. Broad beans with bacon and herby vinaigrette (this one) and new potatoes, glistening and flecked green with the salsa. I still make that meal to this day and I know without doubt it was important in cementing my obsession with food. I still like to eat in the same way, long and lingering meals, picking at the scraps as we sip wine and chatter. Well, that’s what I do anyway, Chris wolfs it down like someone’s going to take it off him…

As much as I adore the salsa as a coating for hot potatoes (sometimes with salami), I also love the way it cuts right through the richness of the steak here and boy, what a hunk o steak it was. Yesterday was a special day for us, an anniversary (one of two on consecutive days) and so we decided to mark the occasion thus. Luckily, steak with salsa verde is not only one of my favourite meals, it is also now a hit with my favourite person. And so yesterday was a day of favourites, a celebration of time spent together, a fair portion of that time spent eating/talking about eating/planning what or where to eat.

Just before I go, a couple more things. Firstly, I didn’t let Halloween pass by without marking it with a recipe, it’s just that the recipe didn’t turn out quite right on the first attempt. Second time around though, it was delish and so I will endeavour to blog it over the weekend. And while we’re on the topic of Halloween, I received a little ‘Trick or Treat’ bag in the post last week. It was from a Twitter friend, Jess aka @lovelychaos, who promised to send some home grown chillies to the winner of The Tipped Chilli Cook Off, and we all know who that was don’t we?

Aren’t they pretty? I was very touched by the gesture and so I’ve actually planted the seeds from one of the smaller ones in an attempt to continue speading the chilli love. Thank you, Jess. I will let you all know what happened to the rest of them when I post that Halloween recipe.

Finally, if you want to see me and lots of other bloggers cooking up a storm in The Kitchen at Parson’s Green, watch this video. I can’t believe I revealed my gluttonous nature in such a blatant outburst around the middle of the film!

Salsa Verde

Small handful each capers and cornichons
1-2 cloves garlic
5-6 anchovy fillets (brown, salty kind)
Large handful flatleaf parsley, leaves picked
Slightly smaller handful each basil and mint
1 level tablespoon mustard (I used wholegrain but dijon is better)
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
8 tablespoons olive oil
Pepper

- The key is to chop everything really finely, then put in a bowl before adding the mustard, pepper and vinegar. Then stir in the oil. If you find it too tangy or have a less than great red wine vinegar, try adding a little sugar.