

Stems and stalks
"It's such a nice surprise to learn stalks and stems are so delicious." Sean Moran I felt quite proud of my dinner last night - shown...
Feb 5, 2021


Crispy chilli sauce/oil
"Chile crisp is the garlicky, spicy, crunchy condiment that somehow works in everything from noodles to ice cream to peanut brittle."...
Feb 4, 2021


Carp - the most farmed fish in the world
"eat a fish, save a river" Maggie Beer If only it was that simple. Although we could certainly try harder than we do at the moment. ...
Feb 1, 2021


Coincidence, postscripts and lucky dips
"Very few cookbooks contain recipes for guinea fowl. Most chicken or pheasant recipes can be interchanged with guinea fowl". Maggie Beer...
Jan 31, 2021


Cucumber cool - so many ways
"Cucumbers have come to a special glory in recent years. Partly it is the result of being able to buy them round the 12 months. Even...
Jan 23, 2021


Flake, flakes, flaked, flaky ...
"People aren't really poor until they start using water on their corn flakes." Nancy Reagan I have been much taken of late by the use...
Jan 22, 2021


Gochujang and chillies
"Chillies great gift, for us, is their ability to somehow marry together a range of flavours - or even to wake up the palate to the...
Jan 17, 2021


A fashionable ingredient
"Really, add this spice to anything that calls for a layer of slow-building heat" Aliza Abarbanel - Bon Appétit I'm easing myself into...
Jan 14, 2021


It's hot - what to cook? A first recipe
"How one learns to dread the season for salads in England." Elizabeth David I personally dread the season for salads, meaning summer,...
Jan 11, 2021


The last of Christmas - Brussels sprouts
"The Marmite of the Christmas dinner table." Countryside Marmite is one of those umami things, so I can only assume that the writer of...
Jan 5, 2021


Marzipan and Eccles cakes
I have made a list of topics to write a post on - currently mostly with a Christmassy bent even though Christmas is now done and dusted...
Dec 29, 2020


Doro wat - lucky dip part 2
"patiently tending pots over the fire, coaxing flavour out of stone soup." Niki Kopcke - The Guardian This is the dish that I turned to...
Dec 17, 2020


The Christmas ham takeover
"always surplus to requirements given the 6kg of cold poultry sitting in the fridge" Felicity Cloake I know I've said it before but it...
Dec 14, 2020


Lucky dip - old English red cabbage
"The longer it stews, the more nutty and succulent it becomes, without losing its character: in fact it seems to taste better with...
Dec 8, 2020


Memory + imagination = dinner
“It needs to have whatever it was that you were reaching for as a kid: This is my after school memory, or this is the thing we always...
Dec 6, 2020


Garlic
"Peace and happiness, begin, geographically, where garlic is used in cooking." Marcel Boulestin I think I've probably done garlic...
Dec 5, 2020


Another plum solution - Chinese plum sauce
"the mahogany, aniseed-scented stuff you smear over soft pancakes just before you wrap your shredded duck and matchsticks of ice-cold...
Dec 2, 2020


Broad beans
"the legume with the most soul." Rick Peters - The Guardian We had broad beans at home every now and then when I was a kid. Indeed we...
Nov 28, 2020


Lilydale free range chicken and some rambling
We are having roast chicken for dinner tonight. I fancied having roast chicken and I happened to see Lilydale Free Range Organic chicken...
Nov 26, 2020


Five spice powder
"its presence in foods becomes positively haunting, and it elevates fatty, meaty dishes to mysterious heights. It warms and cools the...
Nov 22, 2020

