“I’ve brought you a monster from the deep,” grinned Spencer as he arrived at my door with the biggest crab I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating. Honestly, it was the size of my head and we all know how big that is. Continue reading
Tiny tarts that taste like summer. A couple of mouthfuls and they’re gone, but they’re light to eat, simple to make and go down a treat with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of crème fraîche. Continue reading
I’m very partial to this little pie, it’s the perfect recipe for a chilly spring day when the sun is out, the wind is cold and you want something summery but haven’t quite relinquished comfort food and woolly jumpers. Continue reading
I had planned to share a completely different recipe with you today, but it needs further testing, so this is by way of a bonus post. It makes a healthy springtime meal, but not one where you feel you should be wearing a hair shirt under your pinny. Continue reading
Well, this is embarrassing. You know how hard it’s been to keep track of the days of the week during lockdown? So, yes, I managed to mislay Easter. Continue reading
If you have kids – and even if you don’t – Easter tends to be a time of unbridled chocolate eating, sugar rushes and sticky fingers. So you may as well go the whole hog and make this indulgent tiffin. Continue reading
Beef burgers, meh, I can take them or leave them. Mostly I like them for the trimmings. A fried fish sandwich, though, is something else. A juicy mackerel fillet, cooked until the skin is crisp, slapped in a bun and anointed with tartare sauce with an unorthodox hit of horseradish … well, now I’m salivating. Continue reading
It’s an odd time of the year here, nearly-but-not-quite-spring. The daffs are opening in the garden and the sun has been making some cautious appearances, but it’s still a bit chilly and misty out there.
I’m not ready to fully embrace salads, even ones with hot bacon, but I want lighter, fresher food. This recipe was inspired by my sister-in-law Sarah, who was reminiscing about an Iranian dish she once ate, sharp with sour grapes and fragrant with herbs. Continue reading
I blame Hollywood. The popular image of medieval and Tudor food is all fat, gouty nobles with meat grease dripping off their chins, waving haunches of venison which of course would be stiff with spices because they didn’t have fridges and the meat was off. In between gargantuan flesh fests they would oppress peasants and maybe ravish a maiden or two before getting their comeuppance from a hero of gentle birth who lived in a treehouse. Continue reading
Seafood, to my mind, is the original fast food. It cooks in minutes and given the number of species fished off our coast, there’s something for all tastes: delicate and flaky, dense and meaty, rich and oily. One of my favourites is red mullet, a fish I normally associate with warmer climes but which can be caught off our southern coast.
It’s a white fish but it will stand up to punchy flavours. I’ve cooked it here with rosemary, chorizo and clams and the resulting brothy sauce was so good we slurped it from our bowls. With spoons, we’re not heathens. Continue reading