Phew! It’s been too hot to cook, hasn’t it? We’ve spent the heatwave guzzling gazpacho and snacking on salads. But a sudden influx of (very welcome) visitors made me revisit the fridge for something other than just sticking my head inside and wishing I could climb aboard. So – ta-dah! – please allow me to introduce you to my goat’s cheese and tomato tarts. Continue reading
More familiar in desserts, strawberries and rhubarb work remarkably well together as a savoury side dish. The combination of sweet and sour, soft and crunchy (for the rhubarb is eaten raw), makes an irresistible summer salad.
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Sweet, grassy asparagus and earthy radishes work so well together, raw or cooked. Here I’ve roasted them for a quick but delicious summer salad. It works as a standalone dish for a quick lunch or as a side or a starter. Continue reading
My recent freezer forage turned up a lot of home-grown borlotti beans. These speckled beauties are good simply cooked with aromatics and dressed with olive oil, herbs and lemon zest and juice, but they’re even better in this rich tomato sauce. I added spinach because I had a big bag in the fridge, but you can use kale or chard, too. Continue reading
Possibly the world’s crunchiest salad, this employs a technique which gives you super-crisp celery. It’s indescribably good. I’ve combined it here with beautiful blood oranges and black olives for an enlivening winter side dish. It’ll make your taste buds tap dance. Continue reading
Panzanella is one of those excellent Italian recipes where frugality transcends virtue to become something greater. It marries stale bread with sweet, juicy tomatoes to give you the perfect summer salad, one with flavour and a bit of heft. Continue reading
I really felt for Kathy Slack when I read about her tomato disaster, her lovingly nurtured seedlings run over and crushed by a Range Rover in a Cotswold lane. It wasn’t entirely the driver’s fault but anyone who grows their own will feel Kathy’s pain.
It’s one of the anecdotes in her new book, From The Veg Patch, published by Ebury Press. Full disclosure: Kathy is a friend and Guild of Food Writers colleague, but I wouldn’t be writing about the book if I didn’t rate it highly. She takes ten vegetables or fruits and gives ten recipes for each, along with bonus cooking ideas and growing tips. (Getting your seedlings run over is more of a cautionary tale.) Continue reading
This is a recipe for asparagus à la Grecque, something that’s a welcome addition to a summer dinner table. But it all started with a failed receipt from 18th century cookery writer Hannah Glasse. It was unspeakably vile. Continue reading
Anyone who has a passing acquaintance with me knows how fond I am of asparagus. My Instagram pal @stephencooksfrench (he makes good food and bad puns) even put it into verse: Linda loved asparagus/She thought it was so yummy/She slathered it with Hollandaise/And put it in her tummy.
And I cannot lie to you, I do love it served that way, but sometimes you want to ring the changes. 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