

Dinner on 9 June 1979
"You are going to love this : I unearthed the menu you served on 9 June 1979" Wendy Wendy is a friend from long ago, and now a faithful...
Dec 27, 2022
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Not much to say about asparagus soup
"It sort of goes against the grain to turn the most beautiful of vegetables into a soup." Simon Hopkinson My next first recipe has been...
Dec 18, 2022
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Little vinegar - vinaigrette
“it seems to me that a salad and its dressing are things we should take more or less for granted at a meal, like bread and salt; and not...
Dec 1, 2022
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Baked apples - so many ways
"All millionaires love a baked apple" Ronald Firbank This all started with a purchase of a big bag of i'Mperfect apples from Coles by...
Nov 26, 2022
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One soup or four?
"Our primary purpose in this book is to teach you how to cook, so that you will understand the fundamental techniques and gradually be...
Nov 9, 2022
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Brioche à l'ancienne
"An idea is like a chocolate brioche. You have to let it cool to see if it is really good" I take my inspiration from anywhere I can get...
Sep 6, 2022
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Coq au vin - slow food or quick and easy?
"The entire recipe for coq au vin in one popular cookbook, now in its third printing, read: 'Cut up two broilers. Brown them in butter...
Jul 25, 2022
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The Bordelaise challenge
"Classic bordelaise sauce, which can transform shoe leather into strip steak, is made with veal stock, demi-glace and time - a lot of...
Jul 20, 2022
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A new lucky dip - an old book
"This is not the cuisine for the housewife-in-a-hurry. But if time is available, how can it be better spent, how used to give greater...
Jul 20, 2022
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Ignoring writer's block tricks
"Quotes are nothing but inspiration for the uninspired" Richard Kemp I'm going through one of my uninspired patches, which is when I...
Jul 18, 2022
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The challenge of a French vegetarian meal
This weekend the family is at last celebrating the three June birthdays at my son's house. We shall all be contributing to the feast. ...
Jul 13, 2022
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"The most exciting meal of my life"
This is me, roundabout the age of fifteen I think, and so a little older than when I experienced the most exciting meal of my life. It's...
Jun 30, 2022
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Clafoutis
"This seemingly simple recipe baffled me for many years, as I endlessly ended up with a leaden duffer of a pud, so much so that I quite...
Jun 5, 2022
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La daube provençal - so very, very good
"I have executed, with loyal respect, printed formulas for daubes in the interest of analysis and comparison but, left to my own devices...
May 30, 2022
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The continental breakfast
"Nothing illustrates the British disdain for Europe like the concept of Continental Breakfast." The History Woman's Blog Inspiration for...
May 24, 2022
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Terrine de campagne
"Remember that it will taste better the next day" Jane Grigson A busy week is looming so it's possible there will not be many posts this...
Feb 14, 2022
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Crème fraïche
"For me, crème fraïche is the number one top of the pops cook's ingredient in the cream family." Delia Smith The first time I...
Feb 3, 2022
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I do like to be beside the seaside
Such is my lack of inspiration at the moment I am today combining two of my writer's block stimuli - a moment in time and a lucky dip. I...
Jan 30, 2022
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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
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Quickies - just a few
I don't have much time today so here are some quickies. Lychee granita - this is a photograph of a Donna Hay recipe for Lychee and...
Dec 2, 2021
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