Malted Spelt Soda Bread Recipe | Tasty Bread in Half an Hour

Surely it’s impossible not to love soda bread! Not only is it soft and delicious, it’s ridiculously quick and easy to make.   When I talk about soda bread, I am using the term to cover any bread where bicarbonate of soda is the rising agent, rather than yeast. This type of bread making is ... Read more »

Mrs Beeton’s Plain Scones

A few months ago, after yet another session of making jam (with cherries from the Brogdale National Fruit Collection) that added fifteen more jars to the already-full-to-groaning jam cupboard, Pete decided some simple and tasty scones were just the ticket to make an inroad into the jam lake I cooked into existence. This recipe is ... Read more »

A Higgidy Pork and Apple Stroganoff Pie with Cheddar Crust

Already familiar with Higgidy pies and quiches, available from our local supermarkets, we decided to try founder and author of Higgidy Cookbook recipe for Pork and Apple Stroganoff Pie. It was absolutely delicious and we loved the cheddar crust. Read our review of The Higgidy Cookbook. Equipment: 1 x 1.4 litre ovenproof pie dish   If ... Read more »

Feather Light Smoked Cheese Gnudi

This Smoked Cheese Gnudi recipe is from Giancarlo & Katie Caldesi’s book Amalfi Coast, where it is titled ‘Gnocchi Ripieni’. Although these aren’t actually stuffed (ripieni), the alternative name comes from the way the cheese centre melts in the mouth, giving the impression of gnocchi stuffed with cheese. We love this recipe and have made ... Read more »

Cookie Dough Crumble

When we headed up to Islay for a week’s holiday recently, I took along a jar of my home-made apple pie filling, canned a few months ago using apples from our allotment trees. The plan was to make a pie for dessert one evening. A fruitless supermarket search for ready-made short crust pastry (and a ... Read more »

Kavey’s Chicken Tarragon Pasta Bake

Do you ever envisage a new dish in your head, hoping it will be as delicious as you imagine? And when you make it, it’s even better? I can’t pretend it’s something that happens all the time – more often there are tweaks to be made… or rarely, the idea is quietly binned and never ... Read more »

The Billingsgate Market Fish (& Egg) Pie

The Billingsgate Market Cookbook

A nice, fresh but rather small fillet of fresh Norwegian skrei cod we were sent recently necessitated a recipe that could stretch it into a filling meal for two. Pete remembered The Billingsgate Market Cookbook we bought after our day at The Billingsgate Seafood Training School and sure enough, their fish pie, bulked out with ... Read more »

Gastrogeek’s Amazing Roasted Aubergine Macaroni Cheese

In this recipe from Rejina Sabur-Cross’ book, Gastrogeek, macaroni cheese is given a facelift with the unexpectedly delicious addition of smoky roasted aubergine, smoked cheddar and smoked paprika. To say we liked the recipe is an understatement! Not only did the textures and flavours of the dish come together to create a whole that was ... Read more »

Making Glazed Vanilla Bean Doughnuts + A Review of Pure Vanilla

When you think of foods that benefit from deep frying, what springs to mind? For me, the list was long… fried chicken, battered fish, proper chips, pakoras, tempura, tortilla chips, sesame prawn toasts, whitebait, crisps – not just potato but courgette, parsnip and beetroot, fried tofu, onion rings, samosas, calamari, gulab jamon, even deep fried ... Read more »