Tonight's dinner? - some kind of pumpkin tart
It's Friday, which is generally quiche night, but David has been loyally eating the remains of last week's quiche for his dinner when I was fasting, and so my thoughts turned to a galette - and specifically a pumpkin galette because I have some pumpkin that needs using. My thoughts immediately turned to Ottolenghi's (maybe Ixta Belfrage's too since the recipe is from their book Flavour) Butternut and sage galette with orange caramel which I have made a couple of times before
Jul 17
I don't like turnips
"They are often considered to be rather a boring low-class vegetable - at the very least one that can taste strong and coarse" Beverley Sutherland Smith We never really had turnips on their own when we were children but they did appear in stews. I was not a fan - not the extreme of hatred, but I would avoid them if I could. Interestingly I hated their close cousin swedes much more. Today I still don't go for turnips - considering them somewhat tasteless and not worth the
Jun 24
Nigel's fry ups
"The fry-up has always appealed to me, in particular the bits that stay put at the bottom of the pan, the crusty scrapings that brown rather too much." Nigel Slater Uninspired as usual of late, I did my own kind of lucky dip by just picking a page from Nigel Slater's Tender volume 1 - and came up with A fry-up of pumpkin and apple to accompany a meaty supper - well why not I thought. Another enticing recipe title that sets a scene. I thought he might have some more fry-up
Jun 22
Cauliflower cheese soup
"It has something of the Welsh rarebit about it." Nigel Slater Often I have a vague idea of what to do for dinner, and then I either go with what is to hand, or search around my cookbooks and the net to find the answer. Today I thought I should probably use the last bit of cauliflower that I have in my fridge before it goes off completely - small brown spots are already appearing. And when vegetables are getting to that stage, then soup is the answer. There is some leftov
Jun 16
A surprise mushroom bourguignon
"I always argued that most of the things people thought they liked about meat they actually liked about the sauces and braises and spices they were cooked in" Deb Perelman/Smitten Kitchen Last night we were invited to dinner at my son's house - for a French mushroom dish - his wife told me - when the invite was issued. A lovely surprise in itself but the meal was also a delicious surprise. I should say here, that although my younger son does indeed cook quite a lot, he most
Jun 15
Really look
"The silent chat between the cook and the cooked." Thom Eagle This quote from Rachel Roddy was my starting point today: “I have been reminded of the second-most important advice in cooking (and life): just look, really look.” I chose this painting, because this lady is not really looking is she? Now I'm sure she knows what she is doing and the flames are completely under control - indeed required - but nevertheless it highlights the dangers of not looking at what you are doi
May 28
Supper and how to write a recipe
"Supper is simply the comforting end point to which the whole day has been leading." Bee Wilson A subtitle to this post might also be "why I love Nigel's recipes" What's the connection with supper? Well I'm down to my last few bookmarked pages in Nigel Slater's Tender volume 2 so today I decided to deal with one of them which is a recipe entitled "A supper of courgettes, tomatoes and basil" - to which I shall return - but it's also one of the reasons I love his recipes - t
May 26
Friday pastry fun
"There is never enough crust." Nigel Slater Somehow or other it is now almost a tradition that Friday is for pastry - usually a quiche. It is also true that by Friday I am using up leftovers, or even leftovers of leftovers. Like today. Pastry and leftovers offer an infinity of possibilities, and a fun challenge. Behold today's challenge. What absolutely has to be used is the tiny bit of leftover vegetable toad-in-the-hole in the front. Actually the vegetables only cons
May 22
I changed my mind
"When in doubt, choose." Lily Leung I'm a bit late for this post because it's about a dinner at home with friends on Saturday. Not so much about what we actually ate, in terms of what it was like - besides I, of course, took no photographs, but more about the selection process. And I know I have written this kind of thing before, but never mind. At least it's a way of introducing a few dishes you might like to try. So - steps one and two which were simultaneous. Two of m
May 13
A detour to broad beans and Nigel
"Grey food tends not to win a child over." Nigel Slater This was going to be a blog called 'You don't need a recipe' which partly came from thoughts gained from the Guardian Feast newsletter, from the next website on my list, and also a look at the next yellow sticker pointing out of Nigel's book Tender Volume 1. All three very tempting in themselves and also as a kind of amalgamation of ideas about recipes. However, I soon realised that that was too big a task and decided
May 2
Does disappointment trump joy?
"I see no point in putting pen to paper to preserve anything negative, sad or painful." Nigel Slater Well so says Nigel. To be fair he did go on to say that there was more than enough misery around, and probably in his life too. I doubt there is anyone happy all the time. He was simply saying he did not want to write about the bad things. The things that go wrong. However, I want to consider this in writing after my Sunday birthday party which was overall a joyous experi
Mar 24
Why am I doing this?
"These diminutive pleasures are there if we care to look for them, little joys illuminating an increasingly darkening world. They feed the soul and nourish the spirit. Or at least they do mine." Nigel Slater Every now and then, I go through a phase of wondering why I keep writing this blog, particularly at the times when I am somewhat uninspired - like now, and so I was interested to read an article highlighted by Smitten Kitchen's Deb Perelman, in The New Yorker. The wr
Mar 20
The last day of summer
“Summer is a state of mind." Unknown As I sat down to write this post after a somewhat dismal day, I realised that it is indeed the last day of summer. Technically that is. Of course it isn't actually. And in fact we shan't know when it is. There is not even an astronomical date for the end of summer - maybe the autumnal equinox? But then a large part of the world, doesn't even have a season that could be called summer. On the equator you could say it's summer all the ti
Feb 28
Nigel's fruit
"And then there was fruit" Nigel Slater And flowers and nuts too. On the cover of this book - a Christmas present that I requested and received from my son and his ex?partner - is - I think - a blurry fig. Inside the cover is a rather beautiful red flower - also in soft romantic focus, but then all of the photographs in this companion volume to Nigel's book on the vegetables in his garden Tender Volume 1 , are taken by his friend and favourite food photographer of the Brit
Jan 8
Fruit fools
"Savlon for the tongue" Nigel Slater That's a somewhat weird, maybe even repulsive or at least unattractive way of describing, what to me and many other English people is the most sublime of desserts - particularly the gooseberry version. ‘Soft, pale, creamy, untroubled, the English fruit fool is the most frail and insubstantial of English summer dishes’ says Elizabeth David and even Claudia Roden - doyenne of Middle-Eastern food describes them as "one of the delights of s
Jan 3
Capsicum stuffed with tomatoes
"an Italian idea that has been put into words well by Elizabeth David, Simon Hopkinson and Nigel Slater among many others. And no wonder – it is such a good idea" Rachel Roddy I spent another happy almost hour with Nigel today, checking out his book Tender volume 1 for my lunch party on Sunday. If you remember I had forgotten to check this volume out. And of course there were heaps of other possibilities in addition to what I wrote about the other day, but I think I will
Dec 12, 2025
Letters to Nigel Slater - a blog
"If you accept what IS, then you can simply relax and appreciate it for its specialness" Hilary Chambers I haven't written about other bloggers for a while now, so it's time, and the next one is one I have been sort of looking forward to for a while - Letters to Nigel Slater . I mean how could I resist? Having now read a few posts it leaves me a little sad and with lots of questions. It's a very plain and unfancy looking website which began back in November 2011 and eded w
Nov 19, 2025
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, 2025
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, 2025
Another Nigel fan
ALL OF 'REAL FAST FOOD': Cooking (Maybe) Every Recipe from the Nigel Slater Classic “Maybe I should work my way through the whole book”,...
Sep 13, 2025