How to Pickle Magnolia Blossoms

A jar of pickled magnolia blossoms (sliced)

Did you know that magnolia flowers are edible? Not only edible, but also delicious, with a mild ginger flavour. They can be eaten fresh and raw in a salad, but they also work well pickled. Pickled magnolia blossoms remind me of Japanese gari – the thinly sliced and pickled ginger often served with sushi. How ... Read more »

My Grandfather’s Spicy Tomato Ketchup

Long before I started this blog, I was sharing recipes online at Mamta’s Kitchen, our family cookbook on the web, named after my mum who has contributed the bulk of the recipes, with many more given by family, friends and readers. Mamta’s Kitchen has been going strong since 2001 and is a wonderful way to ... Read more »

Smoky Paprika Coleslaw | An Unusual But Winning Recipe

Given how much I enjoy coleslaw – it’s a must-have accompaniment to breaded chicken fillets, deep fried chicken and chicken burgers, not to mention perfect picnic food – it’s a little surprising to me that I rarely made my own; it’s not exactly complicated to shred some raw vegetables and toss in a home-made dressing, ... Read more »

Spicy Sungold Tomato Ketchup

I love home-made ketchup, and it’s even more satisfying making it from home-grown tomatoes. In the past, I’ve made several batches of ketchup with red tomatoes and a couple of batches with green ones but this is the first batch I’ve made with beautiful orange sungold tomatoes, a variety we’ve been growing for the last ... Read more »

Kavey’s Cackalacky Roast Rib of Beef

When I was invited to take part in the Grey Poupon cooking challenge, I immediately remembered the intriguing recipe for Cackalacky Spare Ribs that I’d read in my recently acquired book, The Whole Hog Cookbook by Libbie Summers. As Grey Poupon was originally an American-owned brand (born back in 1777) Cackalacky seemed doubly appropriate. (These ... Read more »

Valentine Warner’s Carne Con Chile

Although I like Valentine Warner’s approach to food and cooking, I have mixed feelings about his telly programmes, mostly stemming from his incessant winking and innuendos (which might be charming in person but don’t translate to TV). I actually had to switch off when he referred to mini lavender meringues as “fairy tits”, though friends would ... Read more »

Pickled Rock Samphire & Pork Rillettes + Rules For Foraging Safely & Responsibly

There’s something deeply satisfying about making a meal of ingredients foraged directly from the earth, not by some faceless stranger who’s sold his lucrative hedgerow hoard to a restaurant chef, but by your own hands. Common mallow Of course, there’s the thrifty delight in a free meal. £3 for a bundle of asparagus or marsh ... Read more »

A Rather Unusual Job Interview + Pear & Ginger Chutney Recipe

Green & Black’s Head of Taste, Micah Carr-Hill, is looking for a Taste Assistant. The winning candidate will support Micah in the development of new Green & Black’s products – sourcing ingredients from all around the world, working with marketing on the development of ideas, developing kitchen samples, scaling small trials to factory scale and ... Read more »

Guest Post: Mango, Date & Chilli Chutney by Gareth Groves

Gareth Groves is an ex-Chef turned wine merchant who is now Communications Manager at Bibendum. His best man once described him as a man who uses breakfast as an opportunity to think about lunch. Part of his job is to manage social media for Bibendum, so he spends a bit of time on twitter, where ... Read more »