Nigel Slater's recipes for bean, cabbage and coconut-milk soup, and poached quinces

"The year will start with soup. Soup has been the first meal of the year for as long as I can remember, eaten for lunch or maybe later in the day..."

"For the new year I will poach the fruit in a syrup with stars of anise and a vanilla pod and offer them warm rather than chilled, when the fruit will be at its most fragrant..."

Read at www.theguardian.com