Recipes (my own and from reviewed recipe books), reviews of cookery books and cookery classes, food and kitchen equipment product reviews – if it’s about cooking or eating at home, it’s here!

Garlic Chive Carbonara

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Garlic Chive Carbonara

As in the UK, it’s common in Japan to incorporate ideas and ingredients from around the world into your home cooking. Masahiro Kasahara has based this simple pasta dish on niratama, a classic stir-fry of garlic chives and softly scrambled eggs. The combination of bacon and garlic chives creates a quick, simple and tasty meal. ... Read more »

White Miso, Tomato and Mushroom Penne

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White Miso, Tomato and Mushroom Penne

Tomatoes and mushrooms are naturally high in umami flavours, as is miso paste. The combination creates a deliciously savoury and simple pasta dish, perfect for quick meals. The recipe is from The Ultimate Japanese Noodles Cookbook by Masahiro Kasahara. You can switch the nameko mushrooms out for other varieties if you can’t find nameko. Tomatoes ... Read more »

The Ultimate Japanese Noodles Cookbook by Masahiro Kasahara

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The Ultimate Japanese Noodles Cookbook by Masahiro Kasahara

It’s no secret that we love Japanese food, and own an ever-growing collection of Japanese cookbooks. The latest addition to our bookshelf is “The Ultimate Japanese Noodles Cookbook: Amazing Soba, Ramen, Udon, Hotpots and Japanese Pasta Recipes!” by Masahiro Kasahara, published in English by Tuttle. Masahiro Kasahara is the chef-owner of exclusive Tokyo restaurant Sanpi-Ryoron, ... Read more »

Thai ‘Red Fire’ Greens with Yellow Soybean Sauce

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‘Red Fire’ Greens with Yellow Soybean Sauce

This umami-rich stir-fried vegetable dish of ‘red fire’ greens with yellow soybean sauce is often made with water spinach (also known as morning glory) but works very well with a wide range of seasonal green vegetables, local or Asian. Fai daeng, which literally translates as ‘red fire’, isn’t a warning about the chilli heat level ... Read more »

Phuket Town Black Pepper Pork

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Phuket Town Black Pepper Pork (mu hong) with ‘Red Fire’ Greens with Yellow Soybean Sauce (pak kheo fai daeng)

This Black Pepper Pork (mu hong) dish hails from Phuket Town in Southern Thailand, and delivers a steaming bowlful of tender pork and wibbling belly fat in a rich, caramelised sauce with warming black pepper permeating every mouthful. It’s perfect with plain rice, but is also great with a bowl of stir-fried green vegetables or ... Read more »

Thai Grilled Beef Ribeye with ‘Waterfall’ Salad

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Grilled Beef Ribeye with ‘Waterfall’ Salad (neua yang nahm tok) from Kin Thai: Modern Thai Recipes To Cook At Home by John Chantarasak

Grilled Beef Ribeye with ‘Waterfall’ Salad (neua yang nahm tok), an Isaan dish from Northeastern Thailand, is perfect for the summer weather, and will wake up your taste buds with its spicy, herbal, sour and salty flavours. It’s a great way to lift a good quality steak even higher, and is straightforward to make. The ... Read more »

BBQ Backyard-style Apricot-glazed Pork Ribs with Crushed Spices

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Backyard-style Apricot-glazed Pork Ribs with Crushed Spices

What I love about these absolutely delicious apricot-glazed barbecued pork ribs is how easy and fail-proof they are to make, and a fair bit quicker than the typical low-and-slow bbq recipes. Simmering the meat in salted water first guarantees that the ribs will be soft, tender and cooked through; the apricot glaze provides tonnes of ... Read more »

BBQ Piri Piri Chicken Thighs with Tomato and Onion Salad

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Piri Pri Chicken Thighs with Tomato and Onion Salad

In the era of Nando’s – the ubiquitous South African restaurant chain specialising in peri-peri chicken – this fiery chicken recipe has become a favourite across the UK. It’s a dish born of European colonisation and global trade. The Portuguese traded chillies and many other products from the Americas to Europe, and across their colonies ... Read more »

BBQ Charred Tomatoes with Cool Yoghurt, Pomegranate Molasses and Herbs

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Charred Tomatoes with Cool Yoghurt, Pomegranate Molasses and Herbs

There’s something very wonderful about sweet, charred tomatoes still warm from the barbeque served on cool, tangy natural yoghurt. That pairing is taken into the realm of magical with the addition of a pomegranate molasses dressing and fresh mint and basil. The recipe is the first one I marked to make once I’d raced through ... Read more »