How to make a deluxe fish pie for less – well worth considering as it’s brain food.
Back in the 1990’s I discovered that I disliked poached salmon. A friend used to stay for the weekend every couple of weeks and she’d bring fresh salmon down as a treat. I made the mistake of enthusing when she produced it the first time. I should have known better – I had eaten a vile dish of curried chick peas for years with another friend. When I originally tasted the chick pea concoction my reaction was a shriek of horror which I attempted to disguise as a sob of delight. Unfortunately, she was fooled. Poached salmon also seemed...
read moreVegetarian asparagus, potato and Parmesan frittata recipe
We were given three chunky bunches of young asparagus. Washed and tied neatly with string. When I dropped them into the basket of the asparagus steamer I suddenly realised the wisdom of the string when they didn’t flop tails above the water or drop through the basket. The three bunches sat upright in the water. The bottoms simmering as the delicate tips basked in the steam. We had a bunch each, served with melted butter and lashings of pepper. Unbelievably good. Ultra fresh asparagus is angel food. Danny leant back in his chair and sighed...
read moreEasy, chic and cheap recipes: delicate cauliflower leaf and pecorino soup
For years it has hurt me to throw away the green outer leaves of the cauliflower. I have simmered them for the chickens in the past but mainly they are added to our kitchen compost bin. Having had the tip from John Coe – that all the leaves on the sprouting broccoli plant are edible – I decided to experiment with the cauli leaves this week. I chopped up the main stalk and tore the leaves away from the fibrous stems. Then I simmered them for about twenty minutes in vegetable stock. They looked really unappetising when I lifted the lid....
read moreThe slow cooker chef: Hot spring game pie
It’s the time of year when we start to clear the freezer of game given to us during the shooting season. We tend to keep our eyes peeled for cut price game. Waitrose stocks rabbit, venison, pigeon, partridge and quail. All quite expensive but often marked down to half the original price –these are brought home and secreted in the freezer until we have the perfect ingredients for this subtle game pie filling. Our favourite combination is venison, rabbit and pheasant. This pads out the pheasant and gives a tremendous range and depth of...
read moreBest budget recipes for 50% or less: Warm chicken liver salad with chicory and pears
These are a collection of recipes inspired by cut price, soon to be out of date, supermarket food. I have discovered that this sort of shopping has made my cooking a lot more inventive and it’s really satisfying to create something delicious out of ingredients that would otherwise be destined for landfill. Many years ago I was very keen on a tall dark stranger that moved up to live with his sister in the vicinity. He invited me to lunch and made a wonderful warm chicken liver salad. I was so goofy and overawed that I was shy and...
read moreCreamy Enoki and white mushroom recipe. Great, easy starter or side dish.
I had a doctor’s appointment late afternoon so I changed out of my ragged decorating garb into vaguely normal human clothes and left work early. As I was working in Newmarket, I could walk to the surgery without the stress of checking that I had the right coins for the car park or worrying about the extra time that I would need to negotiate the massive road works in the High Street. Walking along the street, I was struck by the smell of petrol, diesel and dust for the first time in years. In an instant I was back in Soho (London). Our...
read moreDazzling crispy new potatoes recipe
My father was in the army and my parents were stationed in Germany after WW2. The country was devastated and poor. “Every single piece of each garden was filled with vegetables. No flowers. No lawns. Just vegetables. I think that a lot of people were starving.” My mother always described them quietly. My parents swapped a pack of fresh coffee for their first Min Pin, Nippy. The couple didn’t want money. They longed for coffee – not available in their shops. The pup was named after the Nippies – the waitresses at Lyons...
read moreGuest Spot: Sam Raithatha’s special lemon cheesecake recipe
Debonair and charming, Sam serves organic food to the tradesmen of East Anglia. His van is parked in the car park of Ridgeons, Newmarket. A lot of people that I know visit Ridgeons just for Sam’s food. I also have driven in, ordered my food and shimmied out without even buying a one inch brush. Sam also runs the successful Queens Events company. I discovered that he has a penchant for puds when he mentioned that there’s a dearth of them on this blog. So here is his generous contribution to that slim section of our site. This is a...
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