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
In search of the perfect cucumber salad
"A plain cucumber salad with no dressing at all other than a few drops each of olive oil and tarragon vinegar is equally delicious." Elizabeth David Those words were a footnote to an Elizabeth David recipe for Cucumber and chive salad from her book Summer Food. This is not it, in the picture, but it's a very similar recipe, but the link is to the recipe on Elizabeth Peddey's website. I am using this very simple cucumber salad, as my starting point, because I have now spe
Apr 16
Celery and beans - a quest
"Celery and white beans are an Italian truth" Yotam Ottolenghi I was very taken with that quote which appeared in a recent Ottolenghi newsletter - Chickpeas, lentils and every bean in between - and I definitely thought it was a good start for a post, and yet I cannot find a single recipe from Ottolenghi that combines the two - white, green, or every other kind of bean there is. So what on earth is he talking about? And to add to that, I couldn't find a classic Italian re
Feb 24
Some party time recipes
I've spent the morning, no - most of yesterday afternoon as well, making marmalade from a gift of home-grown mandarins, from friends, and a whole lot of lemons that I had in the fridge - 12 assorted jars seen here being the result. It's very satisfying when you get to this point, although there's always the worry it won't set, although this time I think I marginally worry about the opposite - too set. Anyway it's left me feeling lazy, so I thought I would just provide a few
Nov 17, 2025
Artichokes begin with A
"The artichoke, like the oyster, is a food that makes an indelible impression on the untried tongue." Bert Greene And because they begin...
Jul 13, 2025
A tangle of roots
"sometimes we need to fill our lives with a little more whimsy than a rich, rotting mound of compost" One Green Planet This post has...
Jul 7, 2025
Despised and unloved - green peppers
"Without heat - from a grill, an oven a cast-iron pan blackened with age - there is little point to the pepper. " Nigel Slater "I hate...
Apr 11, 2025
Chaat
"anything – crisps, samosas, leftover chana masala – can be chaat" Diya Mukherjee/Vittles I have been increasingly aware of late of...
Apr 8, 2025
Punjab - five rivers, five spices
No I haven't jumped from the Caribbean to India on my world tour of food. This is a lucky dip recipe which has led me here and there,...
Mar 18, 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
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, 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
Roasting vegetables
"Clearly, roasting is really the only way to treat vegetables if one hopes to be modern." J. Bryan Lowder/Slate In 1993 Delia Smith...
Jan 12, 2025
Sundries
"various items not important enough to be mentioned individually." Oxford Languages Christmas approaches and begins to dominate, so life...
Dec 21, 2024
Tonight's dinner - me or Ottolenghi?
It's one of those fridge challenge days, and I also haven't been able to tick off my new recipe challenge this week as yet. The...
Oct 25, 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
Last night's dinner
'A mashup between a Western steak and a Chinese stir-fry" Marc Matsumoto/No Recipes In an attempt to tick off my 'new' dish for the week,...
Oct 13, 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
Celery and pasta? A tour of the blogs
"That could be anything from very good to quite terrible. It’s hard to tell.” Diane's Cookbooks The opening quote was a given for one of...
Sep 13, 2024