This is the simplest of seasonal recipes but perfect for the first days of spring, whatever the weather is doing outside the kitchen window. Brilliant pink forced rhubarb, poached with blood oranges and fresh ginger, served with orange and walnut shortbread. And joy, it’s all quick to make, allowing you (me) more time to prune the roses you (I) should have done a month ago. Continue reading
This is a light, flavourful salad dressing which works particularly well with a crisp Cos lettuce. It takes minutes to make and will keep in the fridge for a couple of days. 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
This is a recipe for those days when you want comfort food without the stodge of winter. It’s a lasagne, but it’s meat-free and made light with ricotta. It’s the sort of dish where you can have a second helping without collapsing in a food coma. 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
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
These mini ham terrines are spiked with cornichons and capers and gosh, they are good. They make perfect individual portions either as a generous starter or, with some crusty bread, salad and pickles, a light lunch or supper. Continue reading
Pies and tarts and crumbles are wonderful, but rhubarb works brilliantly in savoury recipes too, so I sprang to attention with quivering whiskers when a friend told me she’d used it in a sweet and sour stir-fry. Continue reading
The spring equinox has whizzed by already and we’re officially in the Everything’s Burgeoning In The Garden phase of growing – and yet we’re still in the period known as the hunger gap, when there are few fresh fruits or veg ready to harvest locally.
One exception is rhubarb, either bright pink and forced in the growing sheds of the famous Rhubarb Triangle of west Yorkshire or like ours, already poking up in the veg patch. Continue reading
Picture by Colin Houston
Nothing says Springtime to me like lamb and a minty salsa verde. This is the sort of meal you want to come home to after a walk in a bluebell wood on a sunny day, with birds singing merrily overhead as they flit around building nests and squirrels playing hide and seek in the trees. If you lack bluebells, sunshine and obliging Disney-style wildlife, cook this, close your eyes and dream of better things to come.
I used lamb rump here but you can just as easily use chops or lamb steaks. And there are many variations on salsa verde Continue reading