The Kitchen Orchard ― Fridge Foraging and Simple Feasts

An enchanting look at the myriad ways to use the ingredients found in the "orchard" of one's own kitchen

Every modern kitchen features a fridge and a pantry. The bare essentials. But for Natalia Conroy, they are an orchard—the source of abundant meals, platefuls of fresh salads, or slow-cooked vegetables—it just requires a little imagination. Natalia's cooking draws inspiration from seasonal produce, which she combines with essential everyday ingredients—a little cream, fresh herbs, good stock, a head of garlic, leftover cheese or wine—so that nothing goes to waste. She matches dishes to occasions, time constraints, or even mood, relishing the endless possibilities on offer with a thoughtfully stocked fridge and pantry. With more than100 recipes grouped around the dairy compartment (storing eggs, milk, cream, and wine), the vegetable drawer (housing root vegetable and robust herbs), and the top drawer (garlic, onions, lemons, and fresh seasonal herbs), Natalia takes one hero ingredient and builds the dish around a core flavor. Dill lifts a salad of beetroot and mustard. Fresh rosemary flavors a soup of white bean and ham hock, and another of pumpkin and smoked pork. Plain carrots are transformed into both a carrot, mint, and lemon salad and a fluffy carrot and walnut cake Natalia's cooking celebrates simply, affordable food, cooked really well—celebrating taste, aroma, and the joy of eating and sharing. Includes metric measures.

Natalia Conroy trained as a chef at The River Cafe, under Ruth Rogers, Joseph Trivelli, and Sian Wyn Owen. The River Cafe is known for notable for training such chefs as Jamie Oliver, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Sam and Sam Clark of Moro, April Bloomfield of the Spotted Pig, and Jessica Boncutter of Bar Jules.