BOSH! Jackfruit Mac and Cheese

 I will never understand why this recipe was removed from Bosh!'s website. 

It's nutritious & satisfying. Even my picky 9 y/o nephew was willing to try it! 

And yet. 

I presume it's to drive people to buy the books. But it isn't in any of them. 

I should know, I have them all. 

But the internet never forgets.... 

Ingredients

For the jackfruit

• 450g young green jackfruit
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 250g good quality BBQ Sauce

For the mac & cheese

• 70g dairy free butter
• 50g plain flour
• 500ml plant based milk
• 200g dairy free cheese
• 25g nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp English Mustard
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 400g macaroni

Method

1. 1.

   You will need..

   Oven preheated to 200’C | Lasagne dish | Grater | Pan
   

2. 2.

   Wash the jackfruit under a cold tap, pat dry with a clean tea towel | Warm 2 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, add the jackfruit, sprinkle over a little salt and pepper and fry for 3-4 minutes so the jackfruit begins to colour and crisp | Pour the BBQ sauce and 5 tbsp water into the pan and stir the jackfruit so the chunks are well covered | Put the lid on the pan and leave the jackfruit to simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20-25 minutes

3. 3.

   Whilst the jackfruit is cooking, melt the dairy free butter in the pan, sieve in the flour and stir it into the dairy free butter to make a thick, sticky roux | Pour the dairy free milk into the pan gradually, stirring constantly, until the sauce is smooth and creamy

4. 4.

   Grate the dairy free cheese and add the nutritional yeast, garlic powder & mustard into the pan, stirring constantly, until the dairy free cheese has melted and combined with the sauce | Add 6 tbsp of pasta water to the pan and stir it into the sauce | Taste the sauce, season with salt and pepper and turn the heat of the stove right down.

5. 5.

   Drain the cooked macaroni with a colander and pour into the cheesy sauce and mix together

6. 6.

   Pour the contents of the pan into a baking dish. Top with the pulled BBQ jackfruit and put in the oven at 200’C for 15 minutes or until bubbling. Remove the roasting dish from the oven | Serve the Loaded Jack Mac with a side salad, garnish with chives

Vegan Nanaimo

 I'd literally never heard of these until we went to a VR parkrun in Winchester, long before the pandemic. 

They're Canadian in origin, and are biscuity, chocolatey, coconutty, custardy goodness. 

I know we ALL hate it when people write reams and reams before the recipe, so I'll get straight into it. 

Ingredients

Base

200g digestive biscuits (you can use hobnobs etc, depends on what you have)

150g sunflower margarine

100g desiccated coconut

50g ground almonds

40g cocoa powder

60g caster sugar 

Custard layer

60g Flora Plant Butter at room temperature(essential if you want a sturdy custard, but you can use margarine and just reduce the milk if you're not fussed about structural integrity)

250g icing sugar

3tbsps custard powder (Birds is vegan!)

3tbsps plant based milk

Chocolate topping

200g plain chocolate

3tbsps sunflower margarine

Method

1. Start by lining a square brownie tin with cling film (this makes it easier to turn out. If you have a silicon pan, definitely use it).
2. Melt the margarine in a pan on a low heat, once melted, stir in the cocoa powder and sugar until fully combined
3. Meanwhile, crush the biscuits with a rolling pin, add to a big mixing bowl along with ground almonds and coconut. 
4. Combine all base ingredients, spoon into prepared tin and press down to make an even layer. Freeze for at least an hour.
5. While that chills you can crack on with the custard. Literally all you need to do with this is put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer. Then once the base is chilled, spread evenly over the top, and then back into the freezer for an hour.
6. Final stage! Break your chocolate into chunks, and put it in a bain-marie (bowl over a pan of boiling water to us lay-folk) along with the margarine, melt, stir and then pour onto chilled layers. Back in the freezer for at least half an hour, and then you can eat it! I'd recommend cutting it into 16, but 9 works too. Top tip - keep it in the fridge unless you want it to go squidgy.

I have tried out lots of different variations of this, but the above recipe is has turned out perfectly every time. 

Unsophisticated Baking: Tiramisu Ⓥ

When we went to Sicily last summer not only did we find an excellent vegan restaurant for a date night while we were there, but they had pistachio tiramisu. This may not be common knowledge, but tiramisu is one of the things I've missed the most since becoming vegan. I vowed to work out how to make it when we got back to Bristol, but it wasn't until Christmas that I gave it a go.
I've tried it twice more, with varying degrees of success, but have finally got round to writing up the recipe.

Excuse the state of my hob!

Sponge ingredients

• 250ml plant milk
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 50g sunflower spread
• 220g self-raising flour
• 230g caster sugar

Mascarpone ingredients

• 270g raw cashews
• 120 ml maple/golden Syrup
• 5 1/2 tbsps melted coconut oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2tsp vanilla extract
• 120ml plant milk

Vegan whipped cream ingredients

• 2 x 400ml tins coconut milk (chilled in fridge overnight. Make sure it's the kind that separates)
• 30g icing sugar

 Coffee syrup ingredients

• 100g granulated sugar (caster works fine for this too)
• 120ml water
• 2 tsps instant coffee granules (I use Nescafe Azera because I am a woman obsessed)
• 4 tbsps Kahlua

And cocoa powder for decoration!

Stage 1 - The Sponge

Preheat the oven to 180°C & line two 7 inch cake tins with baking paper. 

Put the plant milk, apple cider vinegar, vanilla extract and sunflower spread  in a small saucepan over a low heat to melt. Once melted, pour them into your mixing bowl along with the sugar and self-raising flour. Fold together and pour into your prepared tins. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean, and leave to cool.

Stage 2 - Marscapone

While your cake is in the oven, you can get cracking with the marscapone. Boil the cashews for 10 minutes then pop them in your blender along with the other marscapone ingredients. Blend and place in the fridge. 

Stage 3 - Whipped Cream

Remove your tins of coconut milk from the fridge and do not shake them. Flip them upside down, open them and pour off the coconut water to use another time. Then you should be left with the solid coconut cream. Scoop this out and whip in a bowl (you WILL need an electric mixer for this bit) until it forms peaks. Then add in the icing sugar and whip again. Grab your marscapone mixture from the fridge, fold the two together and then put it back in the fridge. 

Stage 4 - Coffee syrup and assembly

Add the sugar and water to a saucepan and heat until it starts to create a syrup. Remove from the heat and add in the Kahlua and coffee granules. Stir until combined and let it cool before you assemble your tiramisu. 

Grab your dish and place the first sponge in the bottom, face down, so that the glossy side on the bottom of the dish. If your dish is like mine then you will almost certainly have to trim off bits of cake to make it fit. Pour over half the coffee syrup so your sponge absorbs it. Then add half your marscapone mix, smooth down and freeze until reasonably set (I didn't time this, sorry!). Then repeat the process with the second sponge, top with syrup and marscapone, sprinkle on your cocoa powder and whack it in the fridge until you're ready to serve it. 

And there you have it. It's a lot easier than it looks. You could make individual ones if you fancied by baking a 'sheet cake' and cutting out your layers (next on my list once I've found dishes I like). You could even play around with the flavours and maybe make a lemon version with limoncello and top it with lemon zest. 

Enjoy!

Healing, but not by numbers

I can’t have scales in the house any more. 

Why? 

Because they are dangerous. 

This might seem like a strange statement, but I can get obsessed. There was a time in my life where

I would weigh myself every time I went into the bathroom. EVERY TIME. And I’d get on the scales 3

times, just to make sure the numbers were right. 

I would obsessively count calories and make sure I was at a deficit every day. I would spin every

single day, partly to get out of the house, and partly in an effort to burn off the calories from my

enemy: food. 

The seed was planted when I was in primary school. For some godforsaken reason we were being

weighed. The girl next in line hated my guts, and when she heard what I weighed - which was

considerably more than she did, being a slim, leggy girl, and she told everyone. I was laughed at.

It was then that I learned to be ashamed of my body.

Fast-forward to secondary school. In Year 9 I came back to school after having a vomiting bug, and

a TA said that I looked well because I’d lost weight. That’s when my brain first latched onto the idea

of bulimia - not that I knew it had a name at the time. 

In my early 20s I was finally in control of what I ate as I was at uni and began restricting and purging.

Avoiding social events for fear of having to eat in front of people. Things escalated after a breakup

and graduation,and I went from an 18-20 to a 12, and while social media was thrilled for me, my

self-esteem was rock bottom. 

I managed to quiet the demons for a while when I met someone. He came on very strong and

showered me with compliments for the first few months. So much so that I was blind to anything else.

In most relationships you gain a little weight. He liked food, and my weight crept up. It was then I

discovered Slimming World. Combine that with a tendency to obsess over a calorie deficit and a

newfound enjoyment of exercise, and things get very dangerous indeed. 

I was within 2lb of my goal weight and in a size 10. And then my life unravelled. I did a factory reset,

went back to Somerset, leaving behind a 5 year relationship and a job I had loved before the rot set

in. It was the right decision as my mental health was suffering to the point where I had finally given in

and started taking medication. 

I began to heal and started to enjoy life again, with the help of one of the weirdest humans I have

ever had the pleasure to meet. I weaned myself off the medication. We went on holiday. We made

big plans and I was the happiest I could remember being. 

Enter Sepsis. 

That was one of the hardest experiences of my life. I nearly died because of a mistake made in a

routine operation. There was a lot of vomiting. Drains in my stomach. Nil by mouth for almost a

month. My muscles wasted, and when I was finally discharged from the BRI, I was practically

skeletal, barely able to walk and with a big dose of PTSD. I had to build my strength up, but I also

needed to gain weight. 

Gaining weight to be healthy was a foreign concept to me. It felt wrong. There was a tiny corner of

me that as my weight went up to a healthy BMI once again, was longing to go back to having bony

legs and no curves, to even have a relapse so as to stay thin. It has been hugely triggering. As soon

as I was well enough to be by myself, I started obsessing and restricting again. If I bring scales into

the house, I’ll be further down that slippery slope. Even now, I need to be held accountable for what

I’ve eaten, or I won’t. I’ve gone back to avoiding social situations where I have to eat where possible,

or just coming along and having a coffee or a drink. 

Add into the mix learning to love a body that will never be the same again, and you’ve got a tough

task ahead of you. Clothes that used to fit me now sit differently because of the 9 inch scar that starts

at my waist and cuts my abdomen in two. There are days when I cry because I hate my body so

much. They are fewer than they were, but they still crop up every so often. Running has helped,

but I’m not as fast or strong as I was, which gives me more numbers to obsess over. 

I have amazing support in the form of wonderful friends, and the very best cheerleader, who has

been by my side through everything the last 20 months has thrown at us. 

I will get there.

Unsophisticated Baking: My trusty brownies, with optional salted caramel Ⓥ

I've been making variations on this recipe for the last 18 months or so and I've yet to find one I like more. Several people have asked for it, so here it is:

80g vegan margarine 

2 tbsp ground flaxseed

200g dark chocolate

½ tsp coffee granules

125g self-raising flour

70g ground almonds

50g cocoa powder

250g light brown soft sugar

1½ tsp vanilla extract

Method

Heat oven to 170C/150C fan. Grease and lie a 20cm square tin with baking paper.
Then combine your flaxseed with 6 tbsp of water to make your flax eggs, and leave to go a bit gooey.

In a saucepan, melt HALF the chocolate, coffee and margarine with 60ml water on a low heat and
allow to cool slightly.While you’re waiting, you may want to chop up the rest of the chocolate.

Once cooled, stir in the sugar until it is dissolved. Then add your flax egg and vanilla, stir in,
then add all your remaining dry ingredients, finishing with the chocolate. 

DO NOT WORRY that it’s thick. This is very normal.

Spoon into your prepped tin and then bake for around 40 minutes, until your skewer comes out
clean with a few moist crumbs. You make need to poke a few times to make sure you don’t hit a
vein of chocolate! 

You can pimp this up by adding nuts, fruit OR  the salted caramel recipe below…..

1 can coconut milk (check it’s the kind that separates)

150g light brown soft sugar

¼ tsp sea salt

The night before (or a few hours before) pop your can of coconut milk in the fridge, upside down…

Turn your coconut milk over, open and drain off the coconut water. 

Heat the sugar in a small pan for about 1.5 mins to warm it through, then add the coconut milk
and sea salt, stir in til it all dissolves and is combined. 

Bring your pan to the boil, then let it simmer for at least 20 minutes. It;s ready to come off the
heat when it can coat the back of a spoon - I tend to leave it for as long as it takes! 

If you want it slightly saltier, now is the time to add a bit more to taste.

Leave to cool. I’ve had better luck with leaving it OUT of the fridge as it’s more malleable and
less likely to crystallise again. 

Once cooled, drizzle over brownies. Allow to set slightly, cut and eat. 

Unsophisticated Bakes: Vegan Chocolate, Coconut and Passionfruit Cupcakes

I like a challenge. Particularly when it pushes me out of my baking comfort zone. Having a vegan brother-in-law does mean I have to get a lot more creative. I've made vegan brownies, mojito cupcakes - and awakened his mojito obsession (soz Hannah), and even a vegan cheesecake using soaked cashews, but this time I needed to make something suitably fancy and chocolatey for my sister's 30th, and vegan-friendly for her husband, thus the idea for chocolate, coconut and passion-fruit cupcakes was born.

As it turns out, passion-fruit are extremely hard to find in Bristol at the moment, but after much traipsing and researching, and a test bake I slightly forgot about while watching Rick and Morty, here is the recipe I used:

You will need:

200g of self-raising flour
200g of caster sugar
3-4 tbsp of cocoa powder
4 tbsp of vegetable/sunflower oil
250ml cup of cold soya/almond milk
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1 tbsp of lemon juice

1 can of coconut cream(pop this in the fridge preferably 24 hours before you need to make the icing)
200g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp honey
3-4 passion-fruit to decorate

Equipment: 

cupcake tin
cupcake cases
electric mixer (seriously, you don't want to be whipping by hand)
ice cream scoop (optional but really handy)
mini palette knife (again, optional, but v useful)

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 180°/160° fan & line your tin
2. Mix together the sugar, oil, milk, vanilla and lemon juice. Make sure the milk is cold or the mixture may curdle.
3. Sieve in the cocoa powder and flour together in 2 stages, mixing in-between additions until fully incorporated.
4. Using your ice cream scoop (or spoon), place one scoop's worth of mixture into each paper case, and bake until tops are springy and a skewer comes out clean. (I didn't time them, I went by instinct, sorry! But I'm guessing around 12-15 minutes before you first check on them?).
5. Meanwhile... turn the can of coconut cream upside down before you open it, then drain off the coconut water for another day.
6. Add icing sugar (sieved), honey and vanilla extract to coconut cream and whip it, whip it real good! Then pop it back in the fridge until you're ready to serve, then ice, leaving a dip in the centre, fill well with passion-fruit and enjoy

Stray thoughts:
I carted these cupcakes around London for about 12 hours before they got to their destination so they did look rather distressed. If making again I'd be tempted to add some white chia seeds to the icing mix to give it some extra stability.

The Walking Dead - Negan's Choice

Pretty much every person who watched The Walking Dead’s Season 6 finale is probably feeling pretty cheesed off right now.

Why?

Because Negan & Lucille have been teased all season long, we all knew that somebody from Rick’s gang was going to get Lucille’d, but we STILL don’t know who it was.

Yup, they shot it POV. Just to mess with us. Even the actors supposedly don’t know who it was that got a bat to the face, ‘cos they didn't shoot the death. Yes, people have tried to analyse the footage to work it out, but it’s not that simple. Angles and rocks, and traces of audio – it’s all speculation until we get actual on set confirmation.

I've gone down a bit of a different root.

Negan is a serial killer. We've seen polaroids of his handiwork in the Saviours’ base that Rick & co. invaded. To work out who he picked to kill, we have to try and look at things from his perspective.

If I were Negan, I would choose the person who would be the biggest threat to me. The person whose death says ‘I am not a man to be f***ed with’. Rick would not be the right choice for this. Rick is already broken. In that state, he’s more useful to Negan alive. He can parade him into Alexandria to show how hopeless rising up against him would be. If their fearless leader has already given up, then that would be far more powerful a tool to get the Alexandrians to do his bidding than the death of Rick. Similarly, the death of Carl would spur Rick into action. Plus Negan sees something in Carl, referring to him as a future serial killer. Additionally, the two develop an interesting dynamic in the comics, AND they’re both referred to from the POV shot, so he clearly doesn't choose them.

Following this theory, I submit 4 candidates that could be Negan’s victim.

1.    Michonne

She does fit the bill. She’s a total badass. However, she does have a few….qualities that might spare her from Negan’s assault.

Firstly she’s a woman. Now, you must have noticed the sheer lack of women among the Saviours in that final scene. The only women we encountered were the ones who took Carol and Maggie. That’s not a coincidence. No, I think Michonne’s gender is probably what will save her from the bat. It certainly does in the comics….

Secondly, when going down the line in the comics, Negan mentions the ‘race card’ as a reason why he can’t kill a few of our friends. Michonne, being both a woman and black should be safe.

2.    Daryl

Daryl is a wildcard, seeing as he has no counterpart in the comics. He’s taken on Glenn’s role of being Rick’s right hand, and coupling that with the damage that Daryl did to a bunch of saviours, single-handed? I would normally say he’d be the most likely candidate. However Daryl is already badly injured after Dwight shot him in the arm. Not cool Dwight. But it might have saved his life. Why would Negan choose to kill someone who is already in a bad way? No, he’d choose someone strong, defiant, like….

3.    Abraham

Good ol’ Abe is living on borrowed time these days. In the comics, he gets shot through the eye by a group of Saviours. Sound familiar? It should. That was the fate of our dear Doctor Denise on the show. Could they have given Abraham a reprieve only to set him up as Negan’s victim? My gut says yes. He & Carl were the only ones to stare Negan down. Abraham actually knelt up straighter, taller, more defiantly when Negan approached him. He was squaring up to him as much as he could from that position. The death of our favourite ginger would definitely fit the bill. Plus he had that heart to heart with Eugene, and is thinking of a future with Sasha. Sorry Abe, I think this might be the end of the line for you.

4.    Glenn

Yes, he did have that fakeout early on in Season 6, but to kill him off twice in one Season? Maybe that’s why AMC decided to wait til Season 7 for the reveal. He was Negan’s choice in the comics, but it wouldn't be the first time that they’ve subbed someone in for a death. Denise for Abraham. Hershel for T-Dog. Andrea’s storyline appears to have gone to Michonne after the character’s untimely death, orchestrated by The Governor. If Maggie is indeed miscarrying (really hope there isn't a zombie foetus in there) then maybe they've decided to save him yet again, for her sake.

My money would be on Abraham. His bravery is gonna get him killed. His death would show the Alexandrians that even the strongest cannot mess with Negan.

5 US TV Shows you should give a chance

Some shows aren't that great at selling themselves. With Netflix, Amazon & various other streaming websites flooding the market, it takes a lot to make us sit down weekly and commit to a show.

First impressions are crucial. So, if your title puts people off, your pilot isn't strong or your trailer just doesn't cut it, that's half of your viewers gone in a heartbeat.

I tend to wait 4 episodes before calling time on a tv show. It gives them a chance to show they can deliver. A pilot is rarely representative of what a show will grow to become - remember that Game of Thrones recast several major roles before HBO aired it's reworked pilot, New Girl put Coach on the bench for a few seasons while both Bones and Buffy the Vampire Slayer had a lot of set-up to do!

So here are 5 (well, technically 6) that should definitely be on your radar,


1. Crazy-Ex Girlfriend 
Currently airing on The CW
Please, I beg of you, look past its name. Yes, the title is a sexist term - something Rebecca (Rachel Bloom) even calls out in her opening titles - but it's so much more than that.
Let's face it, we've all done crazy things in the name of love..or lust..or whatever, and Rebecca is so relatable because she's just like us. She makes bad choices, has verbal diarrhea, struggles with her overbearing mother and wears spanx. This is a heroine I can get behind. Plus she won a Golden Globe!

The supporting cast too, despite mostly not having huge CVs are just phenomenal. And if you think you recognize Greg but can't place him, that would be because you last heard him in Disney's Frozen.

Give it a try if: You want dialogue that makes you laugh out loud, great songs & a beautifully flawed leading lady.

2.iZombie
Currently airing on The CW
Another offering from The CW that is held back by its name. Strong from the off,  two Once Upon a Time alumni head up a tight-knit cast that have yet to put a foot wrong.

Unlike most zombie shows, it doesn't take itself seriously. The jokes are completely in keeping with the tone, the script is SO quotable, and the characters develop in ways that you might not expect but feel completely natural.
The brains Liv eats cause her to take on the qualities and mannerisms of their previous owners and it TOTALLY works - unlike Stitched which has a similar premise, but without the zombies. Blaine is a villain you love to hate, Ravi as Liv's only ally is ever-so lovable, and neither best friend Peyton or ex-fiancee Major are the 2D characters you might expect.

Give it a try if: You like zombies, crime-solving and think Meat Cute is a great name for a Butchers.

3. Galavant
Just wrapped up Season 2 on ABC
This show is completely charming. I never actually expected it to get renewed for Season 2, mainly because it was used to fill the January void on ABC after Once Upon a Time went away for it's mid-season break. The trailer is pretty strong, but it wasn't very well advertised.

My other half doesn't particularly like musicals - sacrilege, I know - and even he enjoyed it.
The cast are hilarious and features a young actor named Luke Youngblood who is mysteriously absent from the trailer, who started out in Harry Potter and then moved on to Community viaTracy Beaker. Vinnie Jones is surprisingly capable as bodyguard Gareth to Timothy Omundson's delightful King Richard.
And then of course there's Galavant himself. But I'll let you fall in love with him yourselves.

Give it a try if: You like Alan Menken & fancy a bit of a medieval romp.

4. Selfie
Available on Hulu, originally aired on ABC, was cancelled after 8 episodes.

A controversial inclusion on this list, I gave this show a chance because I love Karen Gillan. And the idea of a modern spin on My Fair Lady/Pygmalion. John Cho, I’d come across in FOX’s reboot of Sleepy Hollow as well as playing Sulu on the Star Trek reboot (he likes the reboots). Incidentally, he is the first Asian-American romantic male lead on American TV. That title though. It’s terrible. And yes, the female lead is as narcissistic as the title implies. 

The pilot too isn’t strong, but it does do an excellent job of showing you how shallow and social-media obsessed Eliza Dooley is.Henry’s character doesn’t get much to work with for a couple of episodes, but comes into his own later down the line, and both characters learn a lot from each other along the way. It IS worth the time and effort once it gets going and showed real potential around halfway through. Sadly, its fate was already sealed by that stage in the game. It moved to Hulu to live out the rest of its short life.  I actually joined the ‘Save Selfie’ campaign (don’t judge) in an attempt to get the show another shot online. The supporting cast are wonderful – David Harewood (most recently gracing our screens in Supergirl) and his chocolatey voice make for an amazingly unconventional boss, and Allyn Rachel is delightfully catty as the neighbour – who reminds me a lot of New Girl’s Jess, without her dorky charm.

Give it a try if: You fancy something a wee bit fluffy and out of the norm to binge on.

5a & 5b Marvel’s Agents of Shield & Agent Carter

Airing on ABC

I have to admit, I am a HUGE Marvel Fangirl. I fell in love with Captain America, and then I had to watch ALL the other movies in the run up to the release of Avengers Assemble back in 2012. In fact, the main reason I agreed to go on a date with a guy that summer is because he offered to take me to see it.

I digress. If you switched off after an episode or two of Marvel’s Agents of Shield, you are definitely doing this show a disservice. Yes, it did have to tread water a little before Captain America: The Winter Soldier came out, but it was the ensemble cast that kept me coming back ‘til then. Mostly for FitzSimmons. That’s a ‘ship I can get behind.

I promise you, this show is worth sticking with. It intersects with the Marvel movie universe, has strong character story arcs – although I’m not sure what to call Skye any more – and Coulson grows into a fantastic leader for our band of misfits.

As for Agent Carter? It’s more than just a place-holder for Agents of Shield during its midseason break. It’s a love letter from all the things I adored about Captain America. Kudos to you Marvel/ABC/Disney for finally having a woman at the fore. Hayley Atwell is completely sublime. I cannot fault her. And I really don’t want to! 

I could write a LOT about how great this show is, but I’ll stick to a few key points, so as not to bore you. Dominic Cooper reprises his role as Howard Stark, and rather than use his star quality and magnetism as padding, the show uses him sparingly, and in an appropriate context every time. Special mentions should go to James D’arcy’s Jarvis (love him), Enver Gjokaj as Sousa (getting deservedly more screen time in Season 2) and Chad Michael Murray who has graduated from playing a pre-teen heartthrob to a mule-headed chauvinist and it works. Hayley Atwell’s Peggy stands out from this crowd of men, and she does it with grace & elegance – helped along by a costume department who deserve a round of applause of their own. Oh, and she’s a badass. And only gets badder in Season 2.

Give them a try if:You love all things Marvel.

If you’re looking for a new show to sink your teeth into – while we all wait (im)patiently for Game of Thrones, then maybe give one of these a shot.