Pickles were always part of our meals at home, breakfast and lunch especially. Dill and dill crowns are an integral part of Swedish pickled gherkins. They should also be both salty and sweet and definitely not too vinegary. This is a family recipe, given to me by my grandmother, I’ve just tweaked it a little….
Preserving
How to make Rosehip Jam
Autumn brings a whole host of delicious fruit for us to cook and preserve. Among them are blackberries, crab apples, sloes and rosehips. Well, what are rosehips? They’re the fruit of the rose plant, orangey-red in colour, ready and ripe to pick in early September in the UK. The most common rose hips are from…
Catalan-Style Sardines
I first devoured a dish similar to this some years ago in the Costa Brava; I’ve endeavoured to emulate it since. Tried and tested, I think I’ve now mastered the recipe. Fresh sardines, coated in flour and shallow fried until they’re just cooked through to preserve them. Then marinated in a tasty, piquant tomato sauce. …
Home Hot Smoked Salmon
Hot smoking fish sounds intimidating but it’s something anyone can do. I have used my Big Green Egg to smoke mine but all you need is a kettle barbecue or a stove top smoker. The process takes a few hours but the only tricky part is the ability to control the heat if you’re using…
Dehydrated Sourdough Starter
So you’ve taken up the challenge of sourdough baking. You’ve made a starter, fed and nurtured it over several weeks. Basically it’s become your favourite pet! Well I’d like to share a handy tip with you. Your starter is wonderfully bubbly and active. You’re baking once or twice a week because you have time and…
Scandinavian Quick Pickled Red Onions
Generally you’ll always find a jar of these sweet piquant vegetables in my fridge. Pickled red onions transform raw onion from pungent and crunchy to delicate and mellow. Occasionally I add chilli flakes for extra spice or herbs for extra flavour. They couldn’t be quicker to make either, just measure out the ingredients and mix,…
Spiced Preserved Pears
As winter is almost upon us I like to have a few hidden gems stored away in my larder to pull out at the last minute. These are just that, fragrant autumn jewels that see me through the winter months. Simple as they are, they bring warmth to salty cheese and work perfectly with game….
Pickled Blackberries
I love the ritual of blackberry picking, time spent, basket in hand choosing the ripest juiciest fruit for dessert. When my children were small it was a family affair and a competition as to who could pick the most berries. Now I’ll take a friend and my dogs to forage and chatter. Is it me…
Brined Salmon with Creamy Dill Infused Potatoes & Lightly Pickled Cucumber
Most of you are familiar with Gravad Lax, a popular delicacy in the English-speaking world, and English has naturally adopted the short version of its name, gravlax. There seems to be endless ways to flavour this fish from beetroot, horseradish to gin and juniper. You may not be aware of the lesser known Swedish classic…
Elderflower & Lemon Cordial
If you are really quick and very lucky, you may just get the end of the elderflower season. Ambling home after a dog walk last week I spotted a glut of elderflowers on the edge of a field, which I duly and promptly helped myself to. I made sure I picked evenly and left enough…
