Sharing a love of good food - recipes from my kitchen - eating out - great producers & suppliers
Blackberry Brandy is a satisfying, easy project made with seasonal, foraged fruit. The spirit is flavoured with blackberries and sweetened with sugar to make a delicious, liqueur-like drink. Swap the brandy for gin, vodka, whisky, or dark rum if you prefer. Made using fresh or …Read more
Watermelon Salad, flavoured with mint and lime, was made for hot summer days. Refreshing, quick, and incredibly good. Joining juicy cubes of fresh watermelon are crunchy diced cucumber plus a little red onion and lime zest. A simple olive oil and lime juice dressing brings …Read more
Spicy Bean Balls, inspired by Tex-Mex flavours, make an easy and tasty dinner or lunch. So quick to make using your choice of tinned beans, plenty of spices and a few other simple ingredients, the balls take just 20 minutes to bake in the oven. …Read more
Using this easy Mixed Grain Salad as a template, you can create a whole range of salads by changing which grains, vegetables, and seasonings to include. My grain mix includes brown rice, spelt, bulgur wheat, quinoa, and couscous. But almost any combination will work. I …Read more
Artichoke Spread, made using a jar of chargrilled artichokes, is an easy treat to make at home. Enjoy it bruschetta-style on toasted Italian bread or dipped into with raw veggies. With the pungent flavours of garlic, lemon, fresh mint, plus optional red pepper flakes or …Read more
Savoury biscuits and crackers, for cheese or other tasty toppings, are easy to make at home. And with so many shop-bought packets containing environmentally disastrous palm oil, being able to rustle up your own biscuits and crackers is a real boon. Perfect with a snack …Read more
Sesame Crackers, thin, crispy, with lots of earthy sesame flavour, are unbelievably easy to make at home. I love to scoop up dips like hummus and baba ganoush with them. But the crackers are just as good with cheese or peanut butter. So tasty, you …Read more
Potato Focaccia is a beautifully moist and tasty version of the classic Italian flatbread. Although you might not guess it was there, grated potato adds complexity of flavour and wonderful texture. The crust is appetizingly dark golden brown. Inside you’ll find a springy, open, and …Read more
Roasted Red Pepper Hummus is a smoky, spicier take on traditional hummus. It still has the classic ingredients of chickpeas, tahini, garlic, and lemon. But the earthy original is given a lightly sweet and smoky edge with roasted red pepper and Spanish paprika. For extra …Read more
Grapefruit Jam is an easy, tangy homemade preserve that’s perfect for your morning toast. Great for beginners, the only ingredients you need are three or four grapefruits plus jam sugar. After discarding the peel and pith from the grapefruits, the flesh and juice are quickly …Read more
Waldorf Salad is an easy classic. At its simplest, just crunchy apples and celery in a mayonnaise dressing, these days it usually includes walnuts too. In my version there’s also plump raisins (substitute halved grapes if you prefer) and a dressing that’s lightened with natural …Read more
Rye, Spelt & Sesame Crackers are crispy and crunchy, with an earthy, nutty flavour. With no yeast, no kneading, and no proofing, these easy homemade crackers are ready to eat in little more than half an hour. With rye, spelt and white flours plus sesame seeds, …Read more
Spicy Roasted Parsnip Soup is warming in both senses of the word. A steaming bowlful is just what’s needed on chilly days, plus its spice will bring a warming tingle to your taste buds! Roasting the parsnips first, with a generous amount of my special spice …Read more
Stirato is a rustic, Italian-style baguette whose name means ‘stretched’. Made with just bread flour, salt, fast-acting yeast and water, it has a crispy crust and open crumb. With this easy, no-knead recipe you’ll get great-tasting bread for very little effort. Just mix up the dough the …Read more
Quick Pickled Cucumber is an easy pickle that’s ready to eat in a few hours. You can flavour the light pickling liquor however you please. Here I’ve used fresh dill and mustard seeds for one jar and warmly spicy Aleppo pepper in the other. Without …Read more
Fig & Fennel Sourdough is lightly sweet and spicy. Made with my easy overnight, no-knead method it’s great for both beginners and experienced bakers. I love it sliced and spread with butter, toasted or not. With no added sugar, I think its semi sweet flavour …Read more
Moroccan Spiced Baked Stuffed Squash, filled with spicy tomato sauce and chickpeas, finished with a drizzle of tahini sauce, makes a sensational vegetarian or plant-based main course. A Moroccan-inspired mix of cumin, paprika, ginger, turmeric, cinnamon and chilli gives a warm, mild heat. To make …Read more
Fruit & Seed Flapjacks fit the bill whether you’re looking for a healthier sweet treat or an energising snack. The slow-release energy of oats is combined with apple and bananas, your choice of dried fruit and seeds, plus tahini or nut butter. Many flapjacks have …Read more
Nasturtium Capers, with their piquant flavour, are an easy homemade alternative to capers. In fact, they’re not related to capers at all. They’re simply the pickled seeds of a colourful and common garden plant. Look among the leaves when your nasturtium plants have flowered, and …Read more
Spinach Dal is a nutritious, economical and tasty soup or curry inspired by Indian dal palak. Based on yellow split peas, with whole and ground spices, a little tomato plus lots of fresh spinach, I think it’s a wonderfully vibrant mix. In a final flourish, cumin …Read more
Do you have a glut of homegrown tomatoes to use up? Or maybe you’re looking for recipes for those market, veg box, and shop-bought tomatoes? In this post you’ll find a dozen of my favourite ways to use tomatoes. I only have a few pots …Read more
Apple Butter is a traditional and concentrated fruity preserve which doesn’t actually contain butter. Apples, along with water, sugar and spices, are cooked into a thick puree until they become caramelised and jam-like. For a bittersweet flavour, I include cider, but you could just use water …Read more
Panzanella is a simple but delicious Italian salad of tomatoes, bread, and onions. Wonderfully refreshing, it’s dressed with extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar and basil. My version includes multicoloured tomatoes plus red onion, cucumber, celery, and a little garlic. I like the salad …Read more
Semi-Dried Tomatoes in Oil are a lovely way to preserve and enjoy either homegrown or bought tomatoes. Dried in the oven for around one and a half hours, they have the intense flavour of sun-dried tomatoes but retain much of their juiciness. Stored in the …Read more
Walnut & Pumpkin Seed Scottish Oatcakes are rustic, wholesome savoury biscuits or crackers. Perfect with cheese, pâté, nut butters, or to eat alongside soups, they’re incredibly easy to make and will keep for a month. The main ingredient is oats: make your own oatmeal by whizzing …Read more