Raspberry vinegar recipe
My friend Teresa introduced me to raspberry vinegar. She had made a dressing for a hot goat’s cheese salad using olive oil, raspberry vinegar and honey. It was out of this world – sweet yet tart. A raspberry lover’s dream dressing. The dressing had me searching the shops for raspberry vinegar the next day. As far as I remember it was quite expensive. And after an extended period of over indulgence in warm soft goat’s cheese salads it fell out of favour and got lost on the shelves in the larder. Following the success of the...
read moreThe slow cooker chef: Broccoli and watercress soup recipe
“I bet we’re the first in the world to be having broccoli soup and flash fried squid for breakfast.” Danny dunked a chunk of crusty bread in his soup. With me still at home we tend to have a late brunch these days but yesterday was the first day that we’d gone wild and had soup and seafood. I’d bought the broccoli in the market. Two giant heads for a pound. As the vegetables don’t have a long shelf life we ate broccoli with the skirt of beef stew and the rest was chopped and popped into the slow cooker to make soup. I’d also...
read moreTales of a busy dehydrator: Celery
Well the Westfalia Food Dehydrator finally arrived from Germany. It took two weeks rather than the ten days stipulated on the website but it is the cheapest dehydrator on the market and I’m thrilled with it. OK it’s a very basic model with no temperature control. It’s marketed as being perfect for the beginner. More advanced dehydrator folk run machines built like tanks and called Excalibur. I hadn’t even considered home dehydrating until I read about them on various American websites. Dehydrate2Store.com has loads of web videos...
read moreThe slow cooker chef: Easy passata recipe
“Now you are going to see a piece of kitchen equipment that hasn’t been used for twelve years.” Danny was goggle eyed as I moved the Wellington boots to access the kitchen cupboard. I’d remembered that years ago Seraphina had given me a food mill for pureeing apples. It was right at the back – a bit dusty but complete with a range of three grinding disks. After a few minutes I worked out how to assemble the beast and clipped it onto a saucepan. I glanced at the handle – this was an Italian model reassuringly named...
read moreBest recipes for leftovers: Crisp potato salad with saffron, salad onions and chives recipe
Danny and I are not Salad People. I don’t know quite what Salad People are – I imagine them chomping quinoa and feeling rather smug about their bowel movements. We tried quinoa once. This summer I have been seducing D with salads and dressings that have made this meat and two veg man finally throw down his fork and rush for the salad seed section of the garden centre. This salad was an experiment that turned out to be a bit of a winner. I’ve been playing with saffron quite a lot over the past couple of months. I decided to slice some...
read moreJoanna’s food: Lemony courgette salad recipe review
I harvested our first courgette of the year this morning. We have several courgette plants growing in large pots and a few scattered at the corners of borders in the kitchen garden. I’m not very keen on courgettes per se but have discovered that they are great added to a slow cooked spaghetti sauce or the filling for a Cottage or Shepherd’s pie. So this year we are growing them in earnest. They can be blanched/cooked and frozen for use during the winter months. Courgettes are quite pricey so we’re longing for a glut. I have been planning...
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 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...
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