Spring: Spicy Green Salad with Nuts and Pecorino; Barbequed Wild Quail with Garlic Butter and Tahini Sauce winter: an elegant, fuss-free dinner of roast pumpkin, mozzarella, hazelnuts and sage, and a hearty sausage stew Professionally trained chef Julius Roberts left a busy and frantic London restaurant life to pursue his dream of living sustainably on a small farm in the English countryside. The Farm Table transports us to his farmstead, taking us through a calendar year with diary entries and images grounded in the natural world. We take joy in reading about new goats and sheep being born, learn to grow some vegetables, and forage for simple herbs and flowers, all while discovering Julius’s outstanding recipes. Which leads me nicely on to the meal which Julius cooked for the shoot crew, which was hugely appreciated, as I imagine that after a day of being told "no, don't stand like that," "smile!" "don't smile", "legs together please," you'd be inclined to put a couple of pizzas in the oven and be done with it. Of course, that was never going to happen. Food has always been a huge part of my family and how we socialise. My granny was such an incredible cook and I have such fond memories of sitting next to her on the aga, her passing me wooden spoons laden in all these different flavours for me to taste."

Julius Roberts Hearty Sausage Stew Recipe | The Farm Table Julius Roberts Hearty Sausage Stew Recipe | The Farm Table

Former Noble Rot chef turned social media and television personality, Julius Roberts' debut cookbook The Farm Table offers a valuable introduction into the world of seasonal cooking. Julius pulls into the yard in a battered old red Defender not five minutes later with co-pilots Loki and Zephyr, two grey lurchers who look as if they have been preternaturally hewn from storm clouds, wind and earth. Dressed as you would imagine someone who runs a farm dresses (trousers splattered with mud; boots that look like they've been on a chain gang; sensibly warm layers on top), Julius - much like the lurchers - sports a fabulously wild head of hair - dark blonde curls tumbling from his crown like twisted ears of corn. He has a big, friendly smile on his face (which as I discover is a near permanent feature) and a bag of crab meat in his hands which is to form dinner later that evening, once we're done shooting the new winter collection on the poor lad. I decided to make a crab risotto - it was actually a first time dish so I was very excited to cook it for everyone. I initially wanted to make a squid risotto but couldn’t find any squid in the local fishmonger so crab was a worthy replacement. The local Devon crab around here is amazing. It's a simple dish with some of the last tomatoes I harvested, along with garlic, chilli and saffron, quite a wet, unctuous and rich risotto. Finished with tons of parsley and lemon zest at the end to brighten it up and give it a bit of zing. I thought it was delicious!" We heartily concur. What’s it about: Julius’ first cookbook is a collection of 100 recipes that capture the essence of British rural life. Written over the course of a year on his smallholding in Dorset, The Farm Table offers a unique insight into farm life and features an array of thoughtful recipes that celebrate the changing seasons. Julius is a firm believer in the importance of seasonality and he showcases how to make the most of each season’s produce with simple, unfussy recipes that allow these hero ingredients to take centre stage. Think stewed plums with whipped yoghurt in autumn, poached quince with ginger cake in winter, asparagus and ricotta tart in spring and courgette frittata in the summertime. With breathtaking photography throughout, this is a cookbook that embodies the essence of home cooking at its finest.Julius Roberts reveals the reality of managing your own smallholding in A Taste Of The Country. He cooks up a storm in the kitchen, cares for his animals, learns new skills and enjoys good times on land and sea with his family and friends. Here, he talks about living his best life…

A Taste Of The Country: air date, trailer, episode guide

Broken into sections based on the season, The Farm Table encourages cooking with seasonality in mind through scrumptious recipes to inspire joy and confidence in the kitchen. Cook and food photographer Julius Roberts left a fast-paced life in London, as a chef at Noble Rot Wine Bar and Restaurant, in 2016 – to set up a smallholding in the Stour Valley with his loyal lurchers, Loki and Zephyr.

From the book: The Farm Table

The joy of cooking is invariably inherited from one's family, as any Italian will be at great pains to tell you, or in my case from one's family's inclination to butcher even the simplest of meals. It's a push-pull thing, with Julius's epicurean passion coming very much from the pull of his grandmother's esteemed culinary repertoire. Seasonal eating and cooking are concepts which humankind has lost in the last 150 years or so since the advent of industrial farming practices First-generation farmer and chef Julius Roberts shares honest tales of farming life and easy, thoughtful dishes to reconnect us to nature and the seasons. My goats! I mean I love my goats. They are so much fun. They are the most curious and charismatic animals - there’s so much intellect and individuality in them. They’re so naughty and spend a lot of time escaping. They sneak inside and eat all the flowers in the house, strip the paint off the walls, climb my car, eat my shoelaces and generally keep me very busy. I don’t know what I’d do without them."