Better than it ought to be… I saw two Diana Henry recipes on Instagram last week: Tomato risotto with mozzarella; Chicken, basil, parmesan and spinach meatballs baked with orzo. They each sounded delicious, but somehow I got them mixed up when I was buying ingredients. …
Crumbly pastry, sweet nutty filling, tart glazed apricots – lovely contrasting flavours and textures. A riff on a Smitten Kitchen recipe for Apricot Pistachio Bars, which sounded lovely, but didn’t quite work for me. This is even easier to make and I had a load …
I thought I’d never include a chicken breast recipe – my least-favourite part of the bird – but here goes… This ersatz Indian marinade adds plenty of flavour and should prevent the meat drying out, solving my usual qualms. 4 plump chicken breasts 5 cm …
Another easy one for the BBQ, if you can be faffed using a food processor. I confess to overcooking these a little, but they were still pretty juicy and spicy. Lovely with cooling yogurt & mint and a quick pickle or tomato salad. Serves 8, …
My favourite parts of a roast chicken are the wings – succulent meat and plenty of crispy skin to nibble off the bone. Luckily, most people prefer breast or leg meat, so the wings are often cheap offcuts at the butcher’s. Here they’re marinated in …
Asparagus and Nettle soup really, but I didn’t let on about the nettles, until the kids were already enjoying it. The last weeks of the asparagus season coincide with the final opportunity to pick nettles before they turn woody. Enough for eight. knob of butter …
If you ever bore of basil, this is a worthy alternative. We had this at a café in Jerez a few years ago; on a scorching holiday, after a dusty tour round Tio Pepe. Pictured with ‘Quickle’ on the right (previous recipe). 1/2 teaspoon salt …
Apologies to Nigel Slater. I took a lovely dish of his, entitled ‘Little cakes of leeks and potatoes’, which he described as “too spartan a recipe to be true”; and added cheese and parsley. Jolly good, even if the extra ingredients – to misquote Shakespeare …
I’ve almost certainly read a recipe like this before, but put this together on a whim, when I remembered I’d taken some fish out of the freezer and really should eat it. In a jiffy, it was wrapped in dried ham; nestled snuggly with tomatoes; …
Delighted to get hold of some tahini, to make a creamy, citrusy salad dressing. The salad I made mid-week didn’t really hit the mark, but a little fiddling paid off in the end. This salad is worthy of the dressing, and a blog entry. 1 …
A long list of ingredients, so make a big batch. This recipe has evolved with many happy experiments over a couple of decades. Chilli should not just be hot; but rich and complex. Sounds pretentious, I know, but I’m chuffed with this and get more …
First “sparrow grass” of the year – a real treat. I get bored of asparagus pretty quickly, but the first British spears are really special, worth savouring in a risotto that you take your time over. For two people, or one greedy blog writer. A …
More goodies, less sugar. This recipe changes every time I make it, depending on what needs using up and what I’ve run out of. This version would be the one I’d make for a convalescing, but discerning, Granny. 250g large rolled oats 75g hazelnuts, chopped …
Pep up a BBQ. Rather proud of this. I rescued a ripe pineapple before it went over the hill, transforming it with a few ingredients lurking in the fridge, into a sunny relish to serve with barbecued meat, or a chunk of cheese. Take liberties …
No need for beef stock Easy-peasy comfort food. Simple ingredients transformed by slow cooking. Enough for 6 1.5kg onions, peeled and sliced – even more would be better Knob of butter – technical term for about a tablespoon Salt and pepper 2.5 litres boiling water …
Just three ingredients – if you count different flours as one. A long recipe for my first blog post, but not as complicated as it looks. You’ll end up with a tasty, chewy loaf, with a burnished crust; almost unrelated to supermarket-sliced, with a fraction …
