

Beautiful words, beautiful food - Nigel
"Early spring, Kamakura, and a small basket appears at my table and a tiny dish of salt. In it, a single whisp of new season's bracken in tempura batter, the fern caught in the process of slowly unfurling." Nigel Slater Looking for inspiration again - it's an everyday thing. I couldn't get excited about the cuisine of El Salvador or smoked fish canapés (my next first recipe - maybe tomorrow), and so I decided to have another look at Nigel Slater's beautiful book of small w
Oct 29


It starts with the plate
"I am so obsessed with my serving platters that before I decide on what to cook, I first select the platters I want to serve it on ." ...
Oct 10


Old-fashioned asparagus
"No good will come from matching asparagus with anything that might overshadow its gentle nature. Any accompaniment needs to know its...
Oct 2


Contrasts and a bit about layers
"Sweet meat must have a sour sauce" Ben Jonson (1572-1637) Opposites attract they say, although I'm not at all sure that this is true...
Sep 17


Thinking about self-publishing
I mentioned this book in passing a little while ago, It was a present from my son - a self-published book by a friend of his. As he...
Sep 9


First day of spring - time to think about salad?
"Choose one hero ingredient and let it lead the way." Ottolenghi I'm really not a salad person. There I've said it, as my son would say....
Sep 1


Thickening with bread - a ramble
"Where there is stale bread there is home." Juls' Kitchen This was going to be a blog about the different ways you can thicken things. ...
Aug 29


Un mélange
Mélange: a mixture, or a group of different things or people" Cambridge English Dictionary time for some oddments, and it's amazing how...
Aug 25


A lot of fuss - but maybe worth it
"as I'm a pastry cook at heart, I've been making all sorts of herb-laden tarts, including this lovely tomato one. It's very simple." ...
Aug 21


Nuggets
" nugget - a small piece or lump, especially of gold in its natural state" or "something small but valuable or excellent" Cambridge...
Aug 5


Poaching chicken in vinegar
I have this pile of books on my desk which I have recently purchased, or which are first recipe or lucky dip books. So on a rainy day...
Jul 10


"Light heart, light baking" - crumble
This post is probably going nowhere. It's just based on a couple of lengthy quotes from Nigel. Here's the last part of it, and I hope...
Jul 8


A tangle of roots
"sometimes we need to fill our lives with a little more whimsy than a rich, rotting mound of compost" One Green Planet This post has...
Jul 7


Unloved fusilli and its friends
"three small wings elegantly twisted on themselves, in a spiral movement." Barilla I had a feeling that fusilli, those short spiralised...
Jun 4


Upping my sandwich game
"No offence, but I find sandwich recipes pointless. Who needs a recipe for making a sandwich? It’s like looking up a manual before taking...
Jun 2


Genteel eggs
Coddled, baked, shirred, en cocotte, moulded eggs, egg-in-a-cup - not poached - but I'm confused This all began with this rather lovely...
May 27


Angel hair
“Angel hair just lands on your chin like the strands of a wet mop.” Bon Appétit "The thin strands absorb sauce like few other pastas...
May 23


Nigel's spicy sausage pasta step by step
"I couldn’t get over how lush it tastes; creamy and luxurious and comforting" A Muse Bouche You may remember that I decided to try to...
May 21


From Aberdeen to Ottolenghi
"At first glance, a rowie looks a bit like an unfortunate croissant that you find in the bottom of your bag, crushed by a bag of apples...
May 10


A template - scones - savoury ones
I love templates of all kinds. This entire blog is made from a template. Alas it is no longer in Wix's vast library of templates, so I...
May 9

