An easy curry accompaniment, or spruce it up with a handful of frozen prawns and fresh asparagus. If you’re trying to cook on a camp fire in a gale in the Lake District – no, the teaser Instagram photo wasn’t taken by me – then …
Spring is coming when the wild garlic appears, interspersed with bluebells, daffodils and anemones. In the title picture, the wide leaves are the wild garlic; the narrow bunch are bluebells. Just saying. We all know what nettles look like, but I’m afraid the hazelnuts and …
A gently spiced soup for a cold, damp day. Not quite as nice as a hug, but it will make you feel warm inside nevertheless. The recipe – originally from MOB Kitchen – was amended by Phoebe and tweaked further by me. Roasting the vegetables …
…with a cheeky bit of lobster. I’d planned to add smoked haddock to this comforting chunky soup, but the fishmonger was “all out, so what about a lovely cooked lobster instead?” I’m glad he persuaded me, as it was a fine addition to a dish …
Freya named it, Phoebe added the exclamation marks. I think the sweet, tangy dressing would work with many different ingredients, so long as there’s a variety of colours, textures and flavours to layer with the cold noodles. 250g egg noodles 300g green beans A handful …
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. …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …