Category Recipes
Ratatouille Provencale
There’s something about the current UK heatwave that’s making me dig out the French Provencale recipes I ate as a child when we used to spend scorching summer holidays in Marseilles with my family. When I rub the leaves of the basil plant outside and it smells so strong it could almost be skunk, I […]
Pea, Lemon & Caper dip
This recipe was a happy accident. I was running around the house like a nutjob trying to get everything done before friends rocked up for dinner – clear bombsite, wash felt tip beard/moustache off my daughter (she did it to herself, not I), chisel porridge and spaghetti sauce off wall etc. Then I thought, oh […]
Smoky Bacon Quiche ‘au Tupperware’
When it’s hot and you feel lazy, who can be bothered to make pastry for a quiche? Not me. Here’s a great recipe for a pastry-less one – it hails from the South of France, from my Aunt Jeanine. It absolutely bloody rocks. A bit of context first, because I do like a chat. The […]
Elderflower champagne
Weirdly, I’ve never made my own homebrew before. Until now, the only encounter I had with homemade booze was when I was a student sharing a house with five mucky blokes, one of whom regularly bought wine and beer kits from Boots in an attempt to save money. The ‘wine’ he produced would invariably be […]
Upper crust baked ‘Big beans’
This week I allowed myself a really self-pitying moment: I realised that it has been at least six months since I’ve allowed myself to sit in a cafe with my daughter. She isn’t even two yet, and taking her anywhere that requires her to sit still for longer than a whole minute is literally right […]
Barbecued tandoori trout
You never know what you might have to wear at a British barbecue. It could be T shirt weather, or you might find yourself pulling on a pair of woollen tights and a full length Gabardine coat. Having enjoyed great weather all week, we fired up the barbecue on Sunday, but everyone was shivering so […]
Black Coffee Granita
Minx-like Italian dessert alert! Black coffee granita is a really easy and elegant pudding that’s perfect for serving at the end of a summery meal as it’s very light and won’t have you busting out of your clothes. It’s like a mega-easy version of a sorbet, or a posh slush puppy in a glass, […]
Slow Cooker Beef Chilli
You know when middle aged-ness has crept up? It has happened to us, sure enough – we own a driveway (paved!) and also spent last weekend pressure washing the patio. There’s no going back after that. And to complete this middle aged suburban hat trick? We now own a slow cooker. Oh yes, my friends, […]
Vietnamese Chicken Curry (Ca Ri Ga)
London’s lead-coloured skies are really soul-sapping today. I literally want to lie down and eat doughballs under a duvet. If you’re feeling this way, I recommend this almighty HORNBAG of a delicious Vietnamese curry, which will get some fire in your belly and a flicker of a pulse back into your veins. But first, some […]
Mike’s chocolate cupcakes
Wanted: a good looking chap who can sing professionally, act, write his own opera AND cook beautifully. Hmmm. Nobody out there with such a CV exists, do they? Oh, but wait, here’s my good friend Mike. He can lay claim to all of the above. No kidding. He’s one seriously talented hombre: So no – […]
Toast & Butter 