Recipes from cookbooks we review, shared with full permission from publishers.
This rich and fragrant lamb shank curry from Karan Gokani’s Hoppers The Cookbook is a popular dish on Hoppers’ restaurant menu. In South India and Sri Lanka it’s commonly made with goat or mutton but Hoppers use good quality British lamb to create a fall-off-the-bone dish. This makes a great centre-piece for a meal for ... Read more »
This fragrant curry powder recipe is from Karan Gokani’s Hoppers The Cookbook, where it features in many of the book’s recipes including the very delicious Sri Lankan Cucumber Curry. Read my full review of Hoppers: The Cookbook by Karan Gokani. This recipe is also known as thuna paha in Sinhalese, which literally translates as 'three ... Read more »
In the UK cucumbers are predominantly eaten raw or pickled. A backbone of British salads, or dainty finger sandwiches, or combined with yoghurt in dishes such as raita, tzatziki and cacik. But they are also fabulous to cook with, as evidenced by this very quick and easy Sri Lankan cucumber curry from Karan Gokani’s Hoppers ... Read more »
Lebkuchen are one of my favourite festive biscuits; German Christmas-time cookies redolent with ginger and mixed spices. This recipe from Mark Diacono’s Spice: A Cook’s Companion is a delight, easy to follow and so good it needs to be enjoyed throughout the year! Read our full review of Spice: A Cook’s Companion by Mark Diacono and you ... Read more »
José Pizarro’s Pan-fried chicken with Pimentón de la Vera is a fabulous way to enjoy smoked paprika (named for the place it’s produced, a county in Spain’s Extremadura region). It’s a wonderfully simple recipe too. Good quality hot smoked paprika makes a difference here, as it provides the key flavour. This recipe is from Spice: ... Read more »
Having come to caraway late in life, we’re now making up for lost time by seeking out recipes that really show off this lovely spice. In his book, Spice: A Cook’s Companion Mark describes Caraway’s flavour as “a cross between cumin and thyme, with a nudge of orange peel, mint and aniseed” and we could ... Read more »
This bright and colourful Javanese lamb curry recipe is from from Norman Musa’s Bowlful cookbook. He adapted it from Tongseng, a well-known Javanese dish but his version uses pointed cabbage as the sweetest and mildest type, and also ups the amount of cabbage used, providing a healthy balance of protein to vegetables. Freshness from the tomatoes ... Read more »
This fragrant and flavoursome Indonesian chicken curry is a must for anyone who loves the flavours of a rendang but favours a wetter version. It’s quick to cook too, as the liquid ingredients don’t need to be reduced as much as they do in a traditional dry rendang. The recipe comes from Bowlful by Norman Musa. ... Read more »
Chicken Adobo is one of the most iconic dishes of the Philippines, indeed many Filipinos consider it their national dish. This recipe from Bowlful by Norman Musa creates a delicious sauce for juicy chicken thighs that features soy sauce, vinegar, and crushed black peppercorns. Read our in-depth review of Bowlful by Norman Musa. As simple ... Read more »
Salmon, seaweed and sesame seeds are a popular filling in onigiri (rice balls), especially those sold in conbini (Japanese convenience stores). Tim Anderson has created a one-pot recipe for a Smoked Salmon and Seaweed Rice bowl based on these same flavours. He adds his personal touch by using hot-smoked salmon (which isn’t traditional but works ... Read more »
The Place of Onions, in old Lille. After last night’s rainstorm the intense sticky heat has broken and today is cool, breezy, fresh… I love it! A drop of… [more]
We went to Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire at The Void this morning, an amazing VR experience where we got to be Rebel Alliance members going undercover as… [more]