James Martins Foodie files

TV chef James Martin shares his culinary secrets with Weekend

SPOOKY SOUP If you have pumpkins left over from Halloween, they make a great soup, which freezes well. Deseed, cut into chunks, and roast in their skins for 40 minutes at 200°C/fan 180°C/gas 6, then take the skins off and blitz with 150ml double cream, 700ml vegetable stock and plenty of seasoning. Toasted almonds or crumbled amaretti biscuits sprinkled on the top work well, while a squeeze of lime juice adds flavour. Sage is also good but it’s strong, so use sparingly.

GO NUTS Crack open the shells of cobnuts and eat them just as they are, or use them to add a nice crunch to salads and other dishes. They go well with game, and roast pork with cobnut and apple sauce is delicious. You can also try using them chopped up and sprinkled on top of couscous, taboulleh or risottos to add some nice texture.

CRUNCH TIME Honeycomb, or cinder toffee as I call it – basically the inside of a Crunchie bar – is a classic treat to make for Guy Fawkes Night. Boil 200g sugar and 100g clear honey together, and as it starts to caramelise in the pan add 1tbsp bicarbonate of soda. Pour into a greased square tin and leave to cool, then cover in melted chocolate. MICHELIN MAGIC I ate at Bibendum in the old Michelin building in west

London when I was 18, when genius Simon Hopkinson was in charge. I’ve just been back for dinner cooked by Claude Bosi, which was close to perfect. He does a great chocolate soufflé topped with a waferthin piece of chocolate and an image of the Michelin man.