

In praise of bland
“You can't smell a hug. You can't hear a cuddle. But if you could, I reckon it would smell and sound of warm bread-and-butter pudding.” Nigel Slater This week I have had a couple of bouts of a stomach upset. No big deal - we all have these from time to time, and this time at least there was no vomiting. But it occurred on a couple of separate days, so I took myself to the doctor just in case - who confirmed what I thought - just a mild viral infection that would go away.
6 days ago


Thickening with eggs
"Stir an egg yolk into any dish that begs for an element of thickness or creaminess. That's it." Daniel Skurnik, pastry chef/Food and Wine You may remember that I was going to have a series on how to thicken things. And I started with bread , but then the idea sort of disappeared. Well today I remembered that and decided to do eggs. It's a vast subject, so I decided to ignore some of the obvious things like custard, and everything you can make from custard like icecream an
Nov 19


A ramble beginning with oxtail soup
"Rambling talk with an image of air." William Butler Yeats This particular ramble began today, with a question, to which I haven't really found an answer. Well maybe. Although really it began a few days ago with a vague idea for a blog. It wasn't going to be a ramble down highways and byways. It was just going to be a fairly simple exploration of oxtail soup - my ultimately chosen English soup in my very occasional world soup series. The usual thing - a few words about
Oct 20


From an old writer's block to a new one
At least I now have a title, for today's attempt at a post. And I also have a few ideas buzzing quietly in my head. I took that photo...
Sep 28


Sorrel - from weed to haute cuisine
"Sorrel bridges the divide rather splendidly between herb and vegetable." Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall This is one of the photographs I...
Sep 26


Defeated by a first recipe
"sometimes the wall is just a wall. There’s nothing to be done but go somewhere else." Margaret Atwood This book has been sitting on my...
Sep 18


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


A german soup begins a world tour
"Soup not only warms you and is easy to swallow and to digest, it also creates the illusion in the back of your mind that Mother is...
Jul 31


Recent eating - from the thrown together to the sublime
They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, and I guess that's what I have been trying to do for almost 60 years now. So I...
Jun 21


Granules
"granule - a small piece like a grain of something" Cambridge English Dictionary "a small particle; especially : one of numerous...
May 12


Classic Thai - a first recipe
"I would definitely classify this as one of the world's greatest soups. I have enjoyed it for some twenty years and have never had quite...
Apr 2


Loose ends
Loose ends: things that still need to be done or explained" Cambridge Dictionary At loose ends: Unfinished details, incomplete...
Mar 15


A waste not, clean-up kind of day
"the sort of cooking that allows the cook, quite justifiably to feel rather pleased with themselves." Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall It's a...
Feb 16


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


Mishmashing cauliflower cheese soup
"mishmash: a confused mixture" So today I presented my cauliflower cheese soup to my book group colleagues and they pronounced it good. ...
Oct 14, 2024


'A soup of cauliflower and cheese'
"maybe, just maybe, this might be the cauliflower cheese soup I have been searching for all my life. This might be the one that wouldn't...
Oct 11, 2024


The comfort of Heinz tomato soup
"I can still remember the taste of those Scottish rolls and butter and the warm, tangy tomato soup, a real childhood treat." Man Has a...
Sep 4, 2024


Different noodles, different dish
"What matters is balance" - Nigel Slater I began with a dish - Curry mee from Madhur Jaffrey's Far Eastern Cookery - quickly became...
Aug 27, 2024


Peanuts
"Peanuts: something so small it is not worth considering, especially an amount of money" Cambridge dictionary "an insignificant or tiny...
Jul 22, 2024


That lucky dip - lamb and Greg Malouf
"In some ways, the name of the recipe builds a level of excitement and expectation of the dish that can improve the experience of...
Jun 5, 2024

