Apparantly today is Blog Day 2006. Being ultimately professional, I didn’t actually discover this until 23:10 on the 31st of August (as I’m writing, now), which means Blog Day has only 50 minutes remaining. Oh well, better late then never, I suppose (incidentaly thanks to Becks & Posh, where I learned this information!).

Mike Robinson is becoming well known in the UK due to his regular appearances on UKTV Food (England’s only TV food channel), where he cooks in a different style to the other ‘run of the mill’ TV chefs, specializing in wild food and game.

We are entering that time in the year when summer begins to draw to a close and the nights draw in; when food begins to get really interesting. Before we get to that time of the culinary calendar (our favourite) when mushrooms and pumpkins are in full swing, it’s time to start collecting the last of summer’s goodies, preserving and drying for the winter. Now is the ideal time to start preparing chutneys, jams, pickles and preserves ready for the winter months.

This week we were ‘reliably’ informed that due to the recent heavy rain, mushroom season had come early, and the nearby forests were full of them, ripe for the picking. My wife has been mushroom picking before in Poland (she’s Polish), however this was to be my first time, so armed with my 1980s mushroom identifying book, we headed off to the nearest forest.

This recipe appears here at the request of a colleague at work, who wondered how to make potatoes taste ‘like they do on holiday’.

The real key to the difference in taste in these simply boiled potatoes is the boiling in the skins, and peeling after, as opposed to peeling before. For extra authenticity, you could boil in seawater where available.

Despite us having a small garden at home, we pride ourselves on the large selection of herbs we have growing there. One of the most prevelant during spring and summer has to be wild rocket; it seems to grow as fast as it can be picked and eaten, and has a fantastic strong and peppery taste that bought rocket just can’t match.

Always on the lookout for something new, our local supermarket suprised us when we were out shopping by presenting us with ox heart, at a ridiculous price of 42p (English money). Never ones to pass up a bargain, we snapped it up, then went home to figure out how to cook heart; we ended up settling with the most simple method we could dream up, which turned out to be just perfect.

Kopytka is a kind of Polish unfilled dumpling, generally served with home made sauerkraut, bbq ribs, and sauce. The name translates literally as ‘little hoofs’, and they are loved by children when served with sugar and sour cream.

Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall always ranks as one of RealEpicurean.com’s favourite foodies, whether as an author, or on his television programs. His ‘back to nature’ approach is something that we’re in tune with, and all his previous books are among our top reads. In this book he takes this style one step further, by creating simple (yet exciting) ‘back to basics recipes’, which are suitable for the whole family to be involved with.

You either love or hate sauerkraut (popular in Germany and Poland – ours is a Polish recipe), which is made from fermented cabbage, and traditionally squashed by peoples feet (but not in this recipe)!. For those who love it, here’s the perfect method for how to make it at home. One word of warning though – you better hope your family like it to, because the house will smell like it for weeks!