Gill meller

Use the pungent leaves of wild garlic to make this pan fried pollock dish for a seasonal twist on hearty and fresh dish by River Cottage chef Gill Meller

Unless you live off-grid, without a fridge, there is little need to preserve a meat under a duvet of snowy fat these days. Although with the latest energy crisis, perhaps we'll all be looking for more thrifty ways to store our food over the coming months? So why are we so passionate about bringing back this ancient technique? It's all to do with the flavour... It's not just the common sense behind preserving meat in this way that made confit so popular for generations, it's also an…

We are all so used to seeing the immaculate, empty kitchens with bare work surfaces and huge, marble-topped islands that feature in interiors magazines, that the photos of the cluttered, crumb-strewn, lived-in spaces in Gill Meller's new book, Time: A Year and a Day in the Kitchen, are almost shocking. "I had this rule that anyone who thought that they had a beautiful kitchen couldn't be in the book," says Gill, who has for many years worked alongside Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall at River…

The sweet fruit is charred for a slightly bitter edge and combined with rich, woody honey and crème fraîche.

This butter has so much flavour and is irresistible when paired with a good roast chicken

Gill Meller's satisfying beef and red wine stew with carrots and onions is an exercise in living slowly. Get the recipe here.

Gill Meller’s brownie recipe dares to be different with rye flour, bay and almond. The savoury flavours stop this bake from being too sweet – which means you can eat even more… Prefer white chocolate? Try our sea salt and pecan blondies.

“Parsnips make the most wonderful, creamy soup,” says chef and food writer Gill Meller, who created this recipe for Parsnip Soup with Chorizo, Rosemary and Seeds. The topping of crunchy seeds and crisp, spicy chorizo makes a great textural contrast with the silky-smooth soup – for a veggie version, use a meat-free, plant-based chorizo instead.

An easy-to-make, warming vegan stew. Gill Meller's autumnal stew still has the vibrancy of freshly grown veg, gently preparing you for the shifting winter temperatures.