I cannot remember a day there wasn’t a bunch of beetroot picked from the vegetable patch this summer. I know I should feel happy and grateful for them, versatile as they are in salads, hummus and grated into a chocolate cake. Not forgetting the deep green leaves, with their magenta veins, they make possibly the…
Lunch
Vegetarian Mushroom Stuffed Peppers
Today I’ve got a bright, colourful and versatile meal for your next lunch or light dinnertime, brimming with flavour, but which is completely customisable to suit what you’ve got in your fridge or larder. This Vegetarian Mushroom Stuffed Pepper recipe came about a few months back, when the country was in total lockdown. Only wanting…
Healthy New Potato Salad with Fresh Peas
We have just returned from the most relaxing week in Cornwall. Eating out, walking with our dogs, exploring some of our old favourite haunts and dealing with the odd unexpected heavy downpour of rain. You can always rely on very varied weather in the west country. On the days where we stayed at home, we…
Smörgåstårta (Swedish Sandwich Cake)
Swedish Midsummer’s Eve falls on 25th June this year. Midsommar is the purest celebration of the summer solstice, involving flowers in your hair, dancing around a maypole and a never-ending supply of pickled herring, crispbread, beer and aquavit (snaps). As it’s not possible to spend it in Stockholm this summer, we’ll be celebrating in style…
Wild Garlic 7 Nettle Tart
Wild Garlic and Nettle Tart – a wholegrain pastry base, with a creamy, savoury custard filling and foraged greens. As regular readers may have noticed, I go through obsessive periods with either certain dishes or ingredients. So, you’ll be unsurprised to see that you’ve had two different wild garlic recipes from me recently. However, unlike…
Stuffed Aubergine with Olive Tapenade
While in the summer there are a whole load of fresh, light and bright dinner options available, having something comforting and imaginative in a cold spring can be harder. A relatively quick and delicious meal I’ve been enjoying recently is stuffed and roasted aubergine. Served hot or warm, the spongy flesh roasts up beautifully into…
Saffron Spiced Easter Salad
This impressive-looking Easter Salad of Quails Eggs & Hasselback Potatoes with a saffron dressing is actually very easy to make. The rich, velvety dressing can be prepared ahead and stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. The rest is really very straight forward with delicious results. Saffron and citrus, the sunshine in all…
Charred Vegetables with Tonnato Sauce
Ever heard of Vittelo Tonnato? It’s a dish from Northern Italy, very popular in ’80’s. Consisting of a creamy mayonnaise-like sauce flavoured with tuna and anchovies, served with cold sliced veal. It may sound odd to you but this combination works tremendously well. The dish was born thanks to a particularly creative chef who wanted…
Speedy Laxpudding (Swedish Salmon Pudding)
This has to be one of the finest examples of Swedish home cooking (husmanskost). This, for me, is nostalgia on a plate; Laxpudding or Salmon Pudding is a meal that is a wonderful way of using up leftovers, however that doesn’t mean it needs to be relegated to the status of a mere mid-week supper. …
Onion, Pearl Barley & Cider Soup
There’s nothing more comforting than a hearty, steaming bowl of soup when the wind is howling and the rain is lashing down outside. This delicious onion, pearl barley and cider soup is packed with intense caramelised onion flavour, with hints of thyme. To make this extra special I like to add a side of cheesy…
