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!

Vietnamese Lime Soda with Strawberries

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Lime Soda with Strawberries

This refreshing lime soda with strawberries is a perfect summer drink featuring fresh strawberries, lime juice, brown sugar or maple syrup, and an unexpected pinch of black pepper. It’s from food writer and photographer Uyen Luu’s latest book, Vietnamese: Simple Vietnamese Food to Cook at Home In the recipe’s introduction Luu remembers her first taste ... Read more »

Vietnamese Quick and Lazy Drenched Cold Noodles

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Quick and Lazy Drenched Cold Noodles

This quick and simple cold noodle recipe is immensely satisfying and perfect for a quick lunch or dinner when you’re short on time but craving great flavours. It’s also a handy way to use up ingredients from your fridge or store cupboard. Read our full review of Vietnamese Vegetarian by Uyen Luu. This is a ... Read more »

Vietnamese Black Bean Aubergines

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Vietnamese Black Bean Aubergines

This beautiful black bean aubergine recipe from Uyen Luu’s Vietnamese Vegetarian cookery book delivers maximum flavour for very little effort, taking only 10 minutes to prep and 20 minutes to cook. If you like, you can also make the sauce ahead of time and reheat when ready to serve Read our full review of Vietnamese ... Read more »

Vietnamese Vegetarian: Simple Vegetarian Recipes from a Vietnamese Home Kitchen by Uyen Luu

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Cover of Vietnamese Vegetarian by Uyen Luu

Vietnamese Vegetarian by Uyen Luu follows on from her two previous books Vietnamese: Simple Vietnamese Food to Cook at Home and My Vietnamese Kitchen. I looked through both of these very beautiful books when they first came out but as a vegetarian, I found that even those recipes that looked as though they might be ... Read more »

Chetna Makan’s Chicken Tikka Masala

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Chicken Tikka Masala

A British curry house favourite, chicken tikka masala is a delicious dish of marinated and grilled (or oven-baked) chicken in a rich, creamy, spicy sauce. As well as following the recipe in full to make the popular restaurant classic, you can enjoy the chicken tikka pieces on their own (great for a barbecue) or jazzed ... Read more »

Chetna Makan’s Masala Spatchcock Chicken

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Masala Spatchcock Chicken

Meat, fish and vegetables marinated in Indian spices make great barbecue dishes, the smoke from the barbecue melding beautifully with the masala flavours. This whole Masala Spatchcock Chicken recipe from Chetna’s Indian Feasts by Chetna Makan is a perfect example, and makes a great centre-piece for your barbecue table. Spatch-cocking the chicken makes it quicker ... Read more »

Chetna Makan’s Paneer Do Pyaza

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Paneer Do Pyaza

I am a huge fan of paneer, it being an ingredient I grew up with and have always loved; the fresh Indian cheese is a regular choice for vegetarian nights in our house. This Paneer Do Pyaza recipe is from Chetna’s Indian Feasts by Chetna Makan and features onions and shallots alongside the paneer. Read ... Read more »

Chetna’s Indian Feasts: Everyday meals and easy entertaining by Chetna Makan

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Chetna's Indian Feasts: Everyday meals and easy entertaining by Chetna Makan

Chetna Makan burst onto our screens in 2016, participating in and then winning series 5 of The Great British Bake Off. Since then she’s firmly established herself as a popular and successful food writer with a whopping 7 cookbooks under her belt and has amassed over 280,000 subscribers to her YouTube channel. Her seventh book, ... Read more »

Indonesian Makassar Beef Coto (Coto Makassar)

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Indonesian Makassar Beef Coto

Coto (also spelled Soto) is a category an Indonesian soups that are stew-like in nature, and usually feature meat, broth and vegetables. This Makassar Coto, hailing from Sulawesi, combines slow-cooked beef cheeks with herbs, spices and peanuts to create a rich, thick stew that is beautifully tender, delicious and filling. The recipe is from The ... Read more »

Indonesian Spiced Beef Stew (Semur Daging)

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This Indonesian Spiced Beef Stew reminds me of a classic British beef and vegetable stew but in this case there are warming spices, herbs and other additional ingredients that provide an unmistakeably South East Asian flavour profile. Taken from Petty Pandean-Elliott’s The Indonesian Table, traditionally semur daging has a thinner sauce. Pandean-Elliott has added flour ... Read more »