

An unlikely mild disappointment
"These impressive looking peppers are deceptively easy to put together" Shelf Love On the left Ottolenghi, on the right mine. It was a...
Jan 21, 2022


From the sublime to the slightly ridiculous - lamingtons
"essentially, plain cakes with frills". Felicity Cloake It seems almost insulting to turn to Lamingtons - a supremely ordinary if...
Jan 20, 2022


David's favourite soup
"The most silken winter squash soup I know is a delicate blending of curried butternut squash, combined with winter's best plum tomatoes,...
Jan 18, 2022


A recipe and Marsala
"my favourite alcohol in the kitchen ... whose warm, nutty notes marry blissfully with dairy." Nigel Slater Last night was my day to try...
Jan 16, 2022


Scrambled eggs
"Scrambled eggs are eggs at their most egalitarian: socialism in inexpensive, edible ovoid form." Tony Naylor - The Guardian Life is...
Jan 11, 2022


Indian picnics - a relic of the raj
"In India, eating is a private affair not to be witnessed by onlookers, and it is regarded as improper to eat in the open. Besides, it...
Jan 9, 2022


Tidying my desk
Still in a New Year's frame of mind I have decided today to deal with some of the little things in this stack of stuff waiting for me to...
Jan 6, 2022


Crème brulée - it's really English
"For some reason, a bowl of custard isn't seen as an appropriate dessert for a grown adult – but scorch the top and give it a French name...
Dec 27, 2021


The gravlax saga
"gravadlax is glowing pink proof that healthy eating doesn’t have to be all hairshirts and low-fat hummus." Felicity Cloake The video...
Dec 22, 2021


Jane Grigson's Chocolate pie - a lucky dip
"Chocolate pie chocolate pie! This is the best thing he’s made so far hands down. Dark chocolate, cream, booze, icing sugar, sugar,...
Dec 7, 2021


Rocky road and some detours
"The best thing about rocky road is that you can add anything you like! From white chocolate bits to glacé cherries, you can go down any...
Dec 5, 2021


My pissaladière story
"just add spring sunshine and a glass of wine" Andrew McConnell Tonight my local book group is meeting to choose our books for next year....
Dec 1, 2021


The dilemma of Christmas pudding
“It is a problem certainly, that Christmas plum pudding. There is here something that I do not understand at all.” Hercule Poirot in...
Nov 29, 2021


Turkish sweets - a lucky dip
"Let's eat sweet, talk sweet" Turkish saying My lucky dip book this time is one of Claudia Roden's, and actually one of my favourite...
Nov 26, 2021


Marylands - duck ones
"a cut of chicken including part of the spine and the whole leg, as used for chicken Maryland. [from Maryland, U.S.A.] Macquarie...
Nov 16, 2021


Elizabeth David's Carbonnade Nîmoise
is it 'authentic' or did she make it up? On Saturday we finally ate Carbonnade Nîmoise - a very old favourite recipe of Elizabeth...
Nov 15, 2021


Coronation chicken, Anglo-India, curry powder and back to Coronation chicken
"There is a vast difference between curry-powder-flavored dishes and Indian cuisine." Punita - Poppies and Persimmons This post has been...
Nov 11, 2021


Baked/jacket potatoes
"there is somehow nothing more pleasing than getting a simple thing spot-on." Nigel Slater Apologies to November 5th for not...
Nov 6, 2021


Satay sapi - a first recipe
"Inherent in the great tradition of satay is the tendency to tweak—to take a classic recipe and make it your own." James Oseland -...
Nov 5, 2021


Sauce soubise
"I think of soubise as the cashmere jumper of sauces. Nothing can compete with its soft, cosseting qualities." Nigel Slater Maybe I...
Oct 28, 2021

