

An AI suggestion
"The unexpected joy of combining pomegranates with traditional pasta" Wix AI Wix has taken to generously providing me with three AI...
Dec 21, 2024


Guilt leads to pistachios - and pasta
It's a long time since I've done a lucky dip. I had one sitting on my desk - Charmaine Solomon's Encyclopedia of Asian Food was the...
Dec 7, 2024


Radicchio - from weed to luxury item
"That doesn't look like a salad to me! Where's the arugula? Where's the radicchio?" Will and Grace I'm talking about radicchio because...
Nov 8, 2024


An Italian day out in the city
It's Italian Film festival time and my friend Clare proposed going to see something with a lunch beforehand. I, of course, agreed and so...
Oct 1, 2024


The frustrations of lucky dips
“I tell my students there is such a thing as ‘writer’s block,’ and they should respect it. It’s blocked because it ought to be blocked,...
Sep 24, 2024


Not quite Pasta alla Norma
"Eggplant is slowly fried until burnished and rich with olive oil, then served with pasta in a garlicky tomato sauce and garnished with...
Aug 10, 2024


The joy of meatballs
"I don’t have the evidence to back this up, but I am convinced that meatballs are the greatest food on the planet." Stuart Heritage/The...
Aug 5, 2024


Ambience over food
"I don't go to restaurants, I go to tables." Langdon Winner It was that time of year when the females of the extended family get...
Jul 29, 2024


Self-doubt and a recipe
"So much of the very best food is like this, which is to say a huge bloody mess. It lies on the plate or in the bowl, looking like...
Jul 24, 2024


Rambling around osso buco
“the meat soft as the leg of an angel who has lived a purely airborne existence.” Billy Collins This post is all down to a first recipe...
Jul 21, 2024


Spaghetti pie, cake, slice ...
"simple, luxurious, yet slightly trashy" Jamie Oliver I didn't get to finish this post yesterday because I spent too much time in the...
Jul 18, 2024


Napoleon cake - layers of meaning
"as each family makes it their own way, you’d be pressed to find two recipes that agree on what makes a perfect one." Deb...
Jul 14, 2024


A decor book
"It's not just what's inside them that counts – books are also the underrated heroes of home décor." Bed Threads This is my next Lucky...
Jul 3, 2024


Pumpkin gnocchi
"As for the gnocchi family, their merits as inexpensive, attractive, and original little dishes will be quickly perceived" Elizabeth...
Jun 22, 2024


Polenta pizza
"It’s not a pizza, ... It really is a happy-looking pie, with its yellows and reds and wonderfully golden edges." Ottolenghi Last year,...
Jun 21, 2024


Calzone
"Calzone are pointless. They're just pizza that's harder to eat. No-one likes them." Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope in Parks and...
May 21, 2024


Feeling lazy? Puttanesca to the rescue
"Puttanesca - Although you will often see its Italian name explained as meaning “whore’s pasta” in English, the general consensus seems...
May 11, 2024


Trying to make a lucky dip interesting
"Writer's block is having too much time on your hands." Jodi Picoult "Read a lot. Write a lot. Have fun." Daniel Pinkwater My lucky dip...
Apr 21, 2024


Zabaglione, Sabayon, Delia ...
"a fragile whip of cream contained in a little glass, concealing within its innocent white froth a powerful alcoholic punch." Elizabeth...
Apr 19, 2024


So ordinary
This is a dish found in the last Coles Magazine. It's called One-pan prosciutto chicken with tomatoes and honestly there is nothing...
Mar 10, 2024

