Pimping instant noodles is a huge and popular genre of cooking, and I love seeing some of the clever ideas shared on social media. Ramyun (noodles in a soupy broth with a variety of flavours and toppings) are enormously popular in Korea and the instant variety are a staple quick slurp for many. This recipe ... Read more »
Cheese & Pickle French Toast
This fabulous Cheese and Pickle French Toast recipe from Su Scott’s Pocha cookbook riffs off the already fabulous Monte Cristo sandwich (ham and cheese stuffed, battered and fried sandwich) to God Tier level via the genius addition of pickle, Branston being her pickle of choice. The sharp sweet tang of pickle provides excellent contrast to ... Read more »
Budget Supermarket Pasta
In Van Life Cookbook authors Danny Jack and Hailee Kukura share a collection of recipes designed to be cooked and enjoyed in the small kitchen spaces of campervans and caravans, or in the great outdoors. They are also budget conscious, and eat a predominantly vegetarian diet. This Budget Supermarket Pasta recipe includes anchovies and cheese, ... Read more »
Firinda Makarna (Cypriot Beef and Bechamel Pasta Bake)
Firinda Makarna is not a dish I’d heard of until reading Hasan Semay’s Big Has Home cookbook, but his description of it as being somewhat like an Italian lasagne was helpful, in that it features minced beef, pasta and a cheesy bechamel sauce. However, in this dish, the minced beef is fried with onions, parsley ... Read more »
Cheese and Green Chilli Parotha
This quick and straightforward stuffed parotha recipe is from Urvashi Roe’s Biting Biting, a book full of delicious veggie and vegan Gujerati-style snacks and quick meals. The recipe hails from a friend’s mum, who Urvashi describes as a cooking legend. The dough and filling recipes are straightforward and quick, as is filling and rolling out ... Read more »
Baked Gnocchi with Purple Sprouting Broccoli and Perl Las Blue Cheese
There’s something deeply comforting about the combination of gnocchi, cream and blue cheese with the lovely freshness of purple sprouting broccoli. Baking the dish intensifies flavours and creates a bubbling brown surface; the result is something rather special yet really simple to make. We use ready-made fresh potato gnocchi from the supermarket which makes the ... Read more »
Gluten-Free Cheese and Jalapeño Cornbread
This Cheese and Jalapeño Cornbread recipe is from How to Bake Anything Gluten Free by Becky Excell, an indispensable resource for gluten-free bakers. It’s quick and easy to make, keeps well to the next day and also freezes well in portions. Serve alongside soup or chilli, or enjoy on its own with a little butter. ... Read more »
A Taste For… Parma Ham
The inspector from the Istituto Parma Qualità moves quickly amongst a selection of legs of ham. He pierces each ham in at least five spots using a special horse bone needle and sniffs the needle after each puncture. The needle is quite specialist; horse bone is porous to just the right degree that it takes in ... Read more »
Lemon Thyme and Leek Tart
Using lemon thyme in place of regular thyme in this simple, rustic Lemon Thyme & Leek Tart is a fantastic idea that lifts it from delicious to genius level! The recipe is from Mark Diacono’s Herb: A Cook’s Companion and is a perfect example of how judicious use of the right herbs makes all the ... Read more »
Middle Eastern Courgettes Baked in a Cheese Sauce
Courgettes (zucchini) baked in a cheese sauce (kousa bi gebna) may sound like a very basic dish and yet this recipe was the surprise winner of all the food we cooked when reviewing Ghillie Başan’s The Lebanese Cookbook. Described as a typical family dish, it consists of sliced courgettes baked in cheesy egg mixture reminiscent ... Read more »