James Bercovici - The Big Red Wine Company

Like almost everyone else, I am staying at home almost all the time except for daily walks (I haven't run anywhere since I left school) and weekly trips to the supermarket. I did manage to find a local baker who sells flour by the sack so, inevitably, I have been trying my hand at sourdough. Not the prettiest loaf but quite tasty. Anyway, back to work. I have been quiet recently as (a) I thought I would take the opportunity of an extended period without school runs (so more time to get things done) to re-work my website (to be unveiled soon, I hope) and (b) lots of people have been enjoying wine so I have been kept busy with that side of things. This has necessitated new purchases so, along with I Campi and Chateau Juvenal, I have just taken delivery of a consignment from Domaine Ste-Anne near the sleepy southern Rhone village of St-Gervais. The cellars at Ste-Anne are clearly very old. You have to walk through several sections before reaching an opening where wine tasti...

I would like explicitly to invite you to post comments in response to this or any other post on this blog. You must have opinions which are more relevant than mine about some of the things I come up with and I  would  really like to read them. Anyway, a vaguely Middle Eastern barbecued chicken meal was planned for a few days ago so we thought we should make a couscous to go with it. The kettle boiled and hot water stirred into the couscous before we realised we had no harissa in the house and, frankly, I wouldn't go into our local town for a tin of harissa at the best of times so that wasn't going to happen. An alternative had to be thought up and fast. The good side of the internet is the sharing of recipes and tips on cooking, DIY, fixing lawnmowers and all sorts. OK, so not all the tips are good but you quickly recognise which sites are not going to offer anything credible. We combined a couple of recipes to come up with the following harissa which was fresher and tast...