This week I am

like most others, in holiday mode. I've been doing lots of cooking (of course), and making old favourites, dishes I haven't made for some time, like boned stuffed chicken, which looks as big as a turkey by the time it's done. That was for Christmas Day, along with house-cured gravlax to start. Because the day was so hot, I wanted to serve cold dishes - hence the boned chicken, which was lightly weighted overnight, and then cut into thick slices for serving. It was stuffed with a mushroom, herb and chicken mixture. It was served along with a potato salad, Ottolenghi's sweet potato salad http://http://www.ottolenghi.co.uk/roasted-sweet-potato-with-pecan-and-maple-method-shop ( I cut back on the quantity of dressing, and use less maple syrup), and a ripe tomato salad with fresh basil. Other dishes, too....My tips for a good potato salad: peel the potatoes, cut into cubes, and steam them. While warm, generously sprinkle over some wine vinegar, and then, five minutes later, some extra virgin olive oil. While the potato are still warm, add a good handful of chopped herbs (chives, tarragon, parsley) and some chopped spring onions. Some sour cream is good, too. Do not refrigerate. Make an hour or so before it is to be served.The following day, friends came for lunch. Gravlax to start again, because I had cured a whole fish, this time served with creme fraiche with grated lemon zest, snipped chives, and a little grated horseradish. Then came Ottolenghi's roast chicken with fennel and clementines, from the Jerusalem book. That recipe alone is worth the book - although I have made some small modifications, using a much larger bird, and blanching the fennel quarters. It's a great recipe because it can be increased for larger numbers, and because it needs little last minute attention. I remove most of the bones as I cut up the chicken, and use those bones to make a stock so I can cook a kind of pilaf to serve with the chicken. (Nigella Lawson's latest book has a similar recipe.)Cookbooks I bought Claudia Roden's New Book of Middle Eastern Food, a larger and revised version of the paperback I have had for years and years - since 1986, which is when the particular Penguin edition appeared. She is still - always - a favourite writer, whose understanding of the cuisine is unparalleled. Her Book of Jewish Food is a masterpiece. But I have found that I cannot throw away the older book, because of an editorial decision. The orange and almond cake (which also appears in the Book of Jewish Food) is no longer in the middle-eastern book. I am sorry that it is not there, and perhaps I do not need to keep the older book for that recipe because I have made it so often that I now make it from memory.Good wishes for 2016. Peace and good health to all.