A simple but sybaritic way of eating two seasonal pleasures, Cromer crab and English asparagus, this makes a luxurious two person lunch. Try it while both are plentiful and grab yourself a ciabatta for the toast at the same time. 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
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
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
Autumn is nearly upon us and it’s been so unsettled it took the farmer nearly a fortnight to harvest the wheat field at the bottom of our garden. Nonetheless I’m clinging to the end of summer and the hope of more sunshine between the downpours.
If the weather is hot and you don’t want to stand over the stove for too long, or if you’re like me and just can’t face reality, this recipe is perfect. It’s lively with sweet/sour/salt/hot flavours and requires the minimum of cooking. Continue reading
The veg patch is bursting at the seams with salad crops and we have so many courgettes and cucumbers the neighbours are beginning to sprint the other way if they see us coming. I’ll sound insufferably smug if I list everything as not everyone has room for a veg patch. Mind you, if you saw the weeding we have to do, the welly boot would be on the other foot.
Suffice to say we have a lot of salad crops. Continue reading
“First the vegetable plot – tomorrow the world.” It’s that time of year again, when only a daily inspection stops the courgettes from growing into blimps the size of the Hindenburg and using our gardens as launchpads in their bid for global domination. Continue reading