Sharing a love of good food - recipes from my kitchen - eating out - great producers & suppliers
Recipes for the enthusiastic home cook
Smoky Bacon, Leek & Potato Soup is a welcome change from the usual creamy leek and potato version. Made in around 45 minutes, this golden coloured soup has bags of flavour, including smokiness from bacon or pancetta. Say ‘leek & potato soup’ and what …Read more
Chicken Chilli is a lighter alternative to many traditional chillies, whether meat or veggie. Instead of a tomato base this is a ‘white’ chilli with sweetcorn and white beans as well as chunks of chicken. The spicy mix, with as much chilli as you like, is …Read more
In this post I share some of my food and drink highlights from last month, bringing together the best of the blog and my social media during October 2019. Includes a recommended read on the history of cooking and eating, reports from one of Staffordshire’s …Read more
Chicken Croquettes, creamy on the inside with a hint of Parmesan, crunchy on the outside, are a great way of turning leftover roast chicken into irresistible fried morsels. Serve with potatoes and salad or vegetables, or with similar little dishes in an Italian style fritto …Read more
Bean, Bacon & Cabbage Soup is nourishing and flavour-packed. Using tinned cannellini beans speeds up the process and each bowlful will give you three to four portions of vegetables. Perfect comfort food for Autumn and Winter. As if the fact that Autumn is …Read more
In this post I share some of my food and drink highlights from last month, bringing together the best of the blog and my social media during September 2019. Read about Love Lamb Week, dog friendly eating and drinking in Staffordshire, two great value restaurants, …Read more
Basic Biscuit Dough is a great recipe to have in your repertoire. From this base, you can flavour the dough with all sorts of add-ins to make a range of tempting biscuits. In this post I share with you my basic dough for crisp, buttery …Read more
Green Bean, Tomato & Coconut Curry is full of spicy flavour. The creamy coconut milk in the sauce is balanced by tomatoes and a final squeeze of lime. Use fresh or frozen green beans of any kind in this easy, completely plant-based curry. This curry …Read more
Savoury Tear & Share Star Bread looks impressive, but it’s actually not difficult to create. Filled with layers of sun-dried tomatoes, cheese, basil, salami, roasted onions and garlic plus fennel seeds, you won’t be able to resist pulling off a piece and eating it warm …Read more
Tahini Miso Vegetable Slaw with Crispy Chickpeas is a big, satisfying bowlful. Crunchy shredded vegetables with a dressing based on creamy tahini, full flavoured miso paste and as much chilli heat as you like are joined by chickpeas roasted until crispy and moreish. A hearty, …Read more
In this post I share some of my food and drink highlights from last month, bringing together the best of the blog and my social media during August 2019. Includes quality but affordable dining in Lichfield, Thai lunchtime bargains, tapas at my local village pub, …Read more
Marrow or Courgette Jam sounds odd if you’ve never heard of it before. But don’t worry, this golden coloured preserve doesn’t taste of vegetables! Marrow or oversized courgette, along with apple, is simply a base for the zingy lemon and ginger flavour of this jam. …Read more
Roasted Tomato Sauce has a rich flavour whether you make it with homegrown tomatoes or ripe, shop-bought ones. Roasting the tomatoes with onions, garlic and herbs not only intensifies the flavour but makes it an easy, largely hands-off recipe. As the caramelized veg is whizzed …Read more
Overnight Oats are a nutritious, easy breakfast. This creamy and tart, beautifully pink version with raspberries, yogurt, coconut and optional chia seeds will have you springing out of bed to enjoy it. Perfect whether you need a quick, healthy breakfast at home or a grab-and-go …Read more
Roast Beef Salad is undoubtedly a sensible way to use up leftovers from the Sunday roast. But, made with quality beef sirloin, I think it’s so good it’s worth roasting a joint specially to make this satisfying plate. With little salads of roasted carrots, garlicky …Read more
Homemade Yogurt is incredibly easy using an Instant Pot electric pressure cooker. In this post I give you step by step instructions that will produce fresh yogurt with surprisingly little effort. Eat it just as it is, or strain to make thick and creamy Greek-style …Read more
Genoa Cake, full of currants, sultanas, mixed peel, cherries and flavoured with almond and lemon, is a real treat. Based on an Italian yeasted Christmas bake, the British version is a wonderful cake to enjoy at any time of year. Even for novice bakers, it …Read more
In this post I share some of my food and drink highlights from last month, bringing together the best of the blog and my social media during July 2019. Includes holiday eating on Anglesey, homegrown veg, food writing tips and my first taste of Tibetan …Read more
Grain Free Granola is great for breakfast sprinkled over yogurt or porridge and fruit or even smoothies. Suitable for gluten-free diets, it’s packed with coconut, seeds and nuts, but without the added sugar of commercial varieties. Made in less than 30 minutes, it keeps in …Read more
Aubergine & Chickpea Curry, full of rich, spicy flavour, is so simple to make. Apart from the aubergine, most of the ingredients, including tinned chickpeas and tinned tomatoes, are fridge and kitchen cupboard staples. Which makes this tasty, nutritious curry perfect for a weeknight dinner. …Read more
My round-up of food and drink highlights for June 2019 is a little different from previous months. That’s because towards the end of June I went off on my holidays to Anglesey. I’m posting from there right now and I’ll write about it later in …Read more
Broad Bean Paté with Goats’ Cheese & Mint is a wonderful dish for Spring and Summer. With a combination of earthy broad beans, tangy goats’ cheese, refreshing mint and a hint of lemon, it’s light but satisfying. It’s fabulous spread thickly on toasted bread or …Read more
Pea Shoots are really easy to grow at home. All you need is a windowsill. So forget those bags of limp supermarket ones, cut days ago and trucked around the country. Grow your own and you’ll have super-fresh pea shoots whenever you want. If you’ve …Read more
In this post I share some of the food and drink highlights from last month, bringing together the best of the blog and from my social media during May 2019. MICROGREENS There’s something really special about growing your own food and always a feeling …Read more
Aubergine Fritters are one of those foods that are really simple but so satisfying: golden chickpea batter on the outside, soft and creamy inside. I think these could even convert those who don’t usually like aubergine, but the recipe works with courgette too. Paired with …Read more