I’ve been desperate to cook some of the delectably tempting recipes in Cuisinier Gascon by Pascal Aussignac since I got my mitts on it just before leaving for the Falklands. It’s a really, really beautiful book, full of mouth-watering recipes and beautiful images, not just of some of the dishes but also of life in ... Read more »
Eggs! One of the most versatile ingredients available to us and one of my personal favourites and yet, I’ve shown such a lack of imagination in using them. Yes, I enjoy them boiled, fried, scrambled and as omelettes. Yes, I have made eggy quiches and flans. And yes, I use them plentifully in baking. But I’ve really ... Read more »
Lately, every time we’ve had a roast chicken dinner, we’ve made stock from the carcass, skin and giblets (except the liver, which I’ve fried as a snack). And the next evening we’ve enjoyed a tasty risotto made with some of the stock and leftover roast chicken. But last time we had roast chicken, we’d had ... Read more »
As I posted a couple of days ago , we cooked the whole chicken (sent to me for review by Abel & Cole). The cooking liquid turned into a fabulous stock, which was frozen in two generous portions. The meat was divided into four portions, with two of those frozen as well. The carcass and ... Read more »
Eating our first home-grown sugarsnap pea seconds after picking it was quite a thrill. That was two weeks ago and we harvested about 12 pods and munched our way through them as we picked. A week later, just before leaving for France, we picked another 15 or so. They never made it into the house ... Read more »
Unusually for someone who didn’t grow up eating them (so I’m told) I love the big black tapioca pearls often served at the bottom of ice cold drinks in Chinese cafes. (Yes, I like grass jelly too!) In China Town for dim sum last week, but arriving earlier than my friend, I stopped for a ... Read more »
One one of our numerous trips to France Pete & I enjoyed some wonderful meals at a cheese and wine restaurant in Bordeaux. One getting home, Pete attempted to recreate one simple dish we ate there and this is his rather tasty result! It’s a dish we both love so we have it once every ... Read more »
The weekend before last, while Pete went to the Reading Beer Festival with friends, my sister and I had lunner (lunch-dinner) in China Town before sitting open-jawed infront of the spectacle of Oliver, on stage. The next day my sister and I made chocolate chip cookies for her boyfriend. My sister was particularly keen to ... Read more »
Pete first cooked the quick and easy Beef Stroganov from Nigel Slater’s Real Fast Food several months ago. I liked it so much I wanted him to cook it the very next night but he’s kept me hanging till tonight. It was just as delicious as I remembered. Yes, I know it’s odd to serve ... Read more »
We’d only made hot cross buns once before and, to be honest, they were disappointing. The texture of the bread just wasn’t right let alone the spicing and balance of fruit. This time, I decided to find a tried and tested recipe from one of the knowledgable posters on the BBC Food Chat board. When ... 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]