Canicule (heatwave) cooking

Recent hot weather has inspired a bit of chilled food ‘cooking’.  Mostly in experiential stages and just throwing things together. My go to hot weather meal is a gazpacho….I just use what I have on hand- with tomato, cucumber (remove seeds and skin), red onion, olive oil and sherry vinegar as a base…then maybe a …

A summer taste of home: bread and butter pickles

A number of people have asked for my recipe for Bread and Butter Pickles so I thought I would share – it was given to me by an American friend who lives in Clun which is a village on the Welsh border in Shropshire (thank you Linda!).  Apart from a little bit of patience it …

Jar collecting

Before we moved to France I used to keep jars in the anticipation I would find time/supplies to make delicious jam to share with my friends and neighbours.  The usual scenario was: Make one batch of something each yearGet really motivated and excited and collect jars until they were spilling all over the floor of …

When you need a bit of sweetness in life. Cajeta: goat’s milk caramel

What to do when you have too much goat’s milk and you need a little pick me up.  Yes, of course, cajeta!  OK you probably thought,  “make cheese”, and I have been working on that  - with mixed results (I’ll post that a little later) or maybe ‘ how about some delicious yoghurt”….and that is …

London Omelette

Not ‘folded frying pan’ omelette, not a ‘Denver’ omelette, not a Spanish omelette (which is actually called a tortilla in Spain – not to be confused with those corn or flour tortillas you use for burritos and tacos!)….and there really isn’t an ‘official’ London omelette so why not this recipe. Like a Spanish omelette, it …

The Ultimate Compliment

Cassoulet!  The ultimate winter comfort dish...and last night I received the ultimate compliment: "This is the best Cassoulet I have ever had- including what I had in Carcasonne".  And this was from a Frenchman.  I have to admit it was indeed delicious, but that was less to do with my cooking skills and more to …

Simple Sunday Pleasures….and a new cheese discovery

Scrambled eggs on toast. That's it. OK....with a grating of a bit of hard cheese...and maybe a drizzle of truffle oil on a special Sunday, but really...two fresh eggs, scrambled (or scrumbled if you live in Germany and have a dodgy menu translation) and eaten on a bit of sourdough toast. Simple. Tasty. This is …

….and new butcher

McKanna Meats at 21 Theobald's Road....not quite a five minute walk from my new office and a meat-lovers dream! Recommended by a friend who works at the BBC. The first thing she said when I told her I would be at Chancery Lane was, " ahhh...you will be very close to my favourite butcher!" A …

“Whiff of Autumn” shoulder of lamb, with cumin-orange mashed sweet potato and minted spicy corn relish

Lamb 1/2 shoulder of lamb (bone in) 1 yellow onion, peeled and quartered 2 cox apples, peeled and quartered 8 cloves garlic, peeled few cloves stick cinnamon 2 dried red chilies (if I had them I would have used chipotle) few sprigs rosemary 2 fresh bay leaves 1-2 teaspoons ground cumin 1 teaspoon dried oregano …

Wahaca and Caribbean inspired cilantro rice

So Wahaca is not a serious mis-spelling of Oaxaca, but rather a tasty Mexcian Restaurant near Covent Garden in London.  They serve up great 'street food', tacos, tostadas, quesadilla...burritos...guacamole...well you get the idea.  The food is  yummy and  fresh, and decently priced so you can afford to stuff yourself and have a very good Margarita.  …