

Words in a recipe lead here and there
"Dice a little onion, carrot and celery to the size of Dolly Mixtures." Nigel Slater A typically wry kind of simile from Nigel and the...
Mar 20, 2025


Nigel's leeks
"The leek is the onion's refined sister, brought here by the Romans, for the times you want the latter's silken texture but less of its...
Mar 4, 2025


February - beginnings and endings
"the reason God made February short a few days was because he knew that by the time people came to the end of it they would die if they...
Feb 11, 2025


Sprue
"the thinnest, early cultivated asparagus that used to be sold off cheap, but now gets a cute-factor price hike." Sophie Grigson Earlier...
Feb 7, 2025


That other problem
"Of course, you could wait to eat until after the sun goes down, if you have the backbone." Zoe Williams/The Guardian This is a problem...
Jan 30, 2025


What happened to smoked mackerel?
An ode to Nigel Back in my dinner party hosting days I discovered that a smoked mackerel, served much like this, but with little slices...
Jan 25, 2025


A disagreement with Nigel
"Don't put peas in a quiche. They may go nicely with a ham or crab filling, but they make the custard fall apart. Not to mention the...
Jan 15, 2025


Green beans in a salad
There are few ingredients that can do anything for a french bean ... but a little chopped shallot, melted butter or a crushed clove of...
Jan 4, 2025


Pickled fruit
"Pickled fruits go far beyond the role of accompaniment. They can be part and parcel of a recipe, too." Nigel Slater If you remember I...
Dec 30, 2024


Gravy soup? Why didn't I think of that?
"This is the fridge's finest hour" Nigel Slater I've given up for now ignoring NIgel and Yotam - it's just too hard at this time of the...
Dec 27, 2024


Nigel's essential marinades
"little kitchen lifesavers" Nigel Slater This is the last of my Nigel's A Cook's Book Essentials - a group of first recipes, and these...
Nov 16, 2024


Nigel and Jonathan's onions
"There is no point in hurrying an onion – other than those you dip into batter and dunk into bubbling oil. They need time." Nigel Slater...
Nov 10, 2024


Party time in the wilds of Nillumbik
Nillumbik is our local council area. It calls itself 'The Green Wedge Shire' - because over 90% of it's 431.94 square kilometres of land...
Oct 21, 2024


Cooked cucumber - why?
"There is little point in taking the trouble to grow our own vegetables unless we can find an adequate technique to get to the heart of...
Oct 18, 2024


Nigel's asparagus
"Asparagus is still a huge treat. ... No good will come from matching asparagus with anything that might overshadow its gentle nature....
Oct 15, 2024


You've got to eat a peck of dirt before you die
"there isn’t enough hand sanitiser in the world to keep a small child clean" Homa Khaleeli/The Guardian I continue to be uninspired so...
Sep 27, 2024


Cool as a cucumber
"Pert as a pear-monger I'd be, If Molly were but kind; Cool as a cucumber could see The rest of womankind" John Gay 1732 I was going to...
Sep 26, 2024


'Eat' - marmalade chicken
"I refer to this book so often, it rarely makes it to a shelf and is usually found laying on a table peppered with random pieces...
Sep 21, 2024


Burnt lemons
"The juice will enhance almost anything you can squeeze it over." Nigel Slater Scorched, burnt, charred, grilled, fried, roasted - take...
Sep 14, 2024


"A warm pumpkin scone for a winter's afternoon"
"Sono una merenda scalda cuore" (a heart-warming snack) Profumi e Colori I'm going simple today because time is running out, but I am...
Sep 11, 2024

