'Bake-Off' winner Nadiya gives thumbs-up to 'farm-to-fork' supper clubs at Ranby

Nadiya Hussain, chef, author and all-round TV personality, gave the clubs the thumbs-up by inviting their organiser, Luke Boatright, on to her latest show, ‘Eat Once, Cook Twice’.

Luke, 33, hosts the Sunday Cook Clubs at his family’s smallholding, Ranby Hill Farm, with Ayala Daly, a content producer for Mob Kitchen, the cooking, recipe and wellbeing website and platform that has taken social media by storm.

Nadiya, 39, who rose to fame after winning ‘Bake-Off’ in 2015, presents wallet-friendly recipes on the BBC2 show, which is all about leaving no food to waste.

In a segment filmed at the farm, Luke and Ayala shared an inventive, cost-effective, veggie recipe to cook for a table of guests. They described it as a “spicy peanut purple sprouting broccoli dish with a flatbread”.

"We like to serve things people might not have had before,” they said. “We want our food to be exciting, something different and something to talk about.”

Luke described appearing on the show as “an exciting opportunity for us”, and added: “Lincolnshire is a much under-rated area for food. Despite growing so much, we aren’t often known for our bustling food scene.

"However, we are trying to change that by hosting ‘farm-to-fork’ supper clubs at Ranby Hill, using the produce we rear and grow in imaginative ways.

"The clubs inform people about sustainable food, giving diners an insight into ‘farm-to-fork’ and a respect for produce that is served with minimal ‘food miles’.”

Luke, who works as a writer and a TV food content producer, lives in London. But he returns to Ranby for the quarterly supper clubs, which offer many benefits for the local community, including supporting businesses because the best of Lincolnshire produce graces the menus.

“They also tackle loneliness,” he said. “Many community centres have shut in recent years, but our events offer an opportunity for local people to socialise. Supper clubs really can help rural communities.”

At the Boatrights’ secluded, five-acre smallholding, Luke’s parents, Steve and Tracey, keep sheep, pigs, chicken and ducks, and produce vegetable, meat and eggs.

Food plays a massive part in Ranby Hill’s operations and the family take pleasure in sharing their produce, all grown with organic principles.

The next supper club is on Sunday, November 24, from 7.30 pm, when Luke and Ayala will be cooking three courses of creative fare, using home-grown produce. Tickets cost £40.

Meanwhile Luke’s culinary reputation continues to grow, with some of his recipes featuring regularly in the ‘Waitrose Weekend’ magazine, which is free both in print from Waitrose stores and online.

He said: “Do give these a crack. First up is a quick and easy air-fryer chicken taquito, and then three cute ideas for in-season tomatoes: Provençal cod traybake, chilled soup with harissa and a salad of tomatoes, and Thai basil, chilli oil and burrata.

“Crack open a cold bottle of Provence’s finest and enjoy!”

Other recipes that Luke has created for ‘Waitrose Weekend’ include three shallot delights -- shallot and preserved lemon spaghetti, sumac baked shallots with strained yoghurt and sultanas, and ‘blooming’ shallot bhajis.

He added: “I adore echalion shallots and Waitrose in equal measure, so it was a dream!”