With just under 200 grams of shortcrust flan pastry leftover from making the pea, mushroom and mint flan plus a generous harvest of purple sprouting broccoli from the allotment, I decided to use both in a second flan. The pastry was just enough to line a smaller oven dish, and I used the scraps ... Read more »
I already own Eggs and Sauces, the first two titles in Michel Roux’s series of reference books on classic techniques and recipes. Pastry: Savoury and Sweet is the latest in this excellent series. There are chapters for shortcrust pastries, enriched sweet pastries, puff pastry, raised pie pastry, brioche dough, croissant dough, choux pastry, pizza dough, and ... Read more »
When challenged to create a dish with the theme of Whipped Heaven (cream/desserts) for week 2 of the Russell Hobbs Allure cookery challenge, one idea popped into my head straight away. A cross between a pavlova and a fruit tart. I named my creation the pavlotart! From the pavlova, I’m taking the meringue base, which ... Read more »
The yellow raspberries I harvested from the allotment recently were so beautiful I wanted to make something pretty enough to do them justice. Having filled a couple of tubs with blackberries too, a fruit tart seemed an ideal way of putting both to good use. I’ve peered through the windows of countless patisseries, admiring the ... Read more »
Since it was published in 2002, Unwrapped: Green & Black’s Chocolate Recipes has sold more than half a million copies. Its recipes for chocolate coffee and walnut cake, chocolate truffles, chocolate pecan pie, chocolate salted caramel tart, white chocolate cardamom mousse, chocolate flapjacks, chocolate ginger cake, chocolate brownies (is the word “chocolate becoming redundant yet?) ... Read more »
In February 2007 I chanced upon a marvellous cookbook: The Ultimate Recipe Book by Angela Nilsen. It had just been published, so I’m not sure how (or where) I came across it so soon, in the days before my compulsive food blogging. But I was instantly taken with Nilsen’s approach of selecting 50 classic dishes ... Read more »
These simply spiced beef empanadas, made from a recipe in the Leith’s Meat Bible, are easy to make and delicious enjoyed hot or cold. Best of all, you can use the recipe as a starting point, and experiment by adjusting the spice mix to suit your personal taste. Being so easily portable, they are great for ... Read more »
I adore a good cheese tart. Whether you call it a tart, quiche or flan, I’m a fan, and couldn’t to try Trine Hahnemann’s Swedish Cheese Tart recipe from her book The Scandinavian Cookbook. Read our full review of The Scandinavian Cookbook, here. Hahnemann recommends serving the tart warm with a crisp green salad and slices ... Read more »
A few months ago I reviewed John Torode’s Chicken And Other Birds. This time it’s the turn of his latest book, Beef And Other Bovine Matters. The chicken pie we made to his recipe was a thing of beauty. Would his Aunty Mary’s beef pie be as good? Whereas the chicken pie recipe called for ready-made ... Read more »
Indulgence Coffee is a book about nostalgia. Published in April, it’s part of a series by Murdoch Books which aims to celebrate vintage style and “a bygone era when dressing up, serving tea in fine china and writing personal thank you notes afterwards were regarded as simply good manners.” In that, it succeeds, full of ... 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]