Lancashire Hot Pot
We used to watch Coronation Street when I was growing up. If you watched it too then I’m sure you’ll remember Betty’s hotpot, the only dish they ever seemed to serve in the Rover’s Return. It was always very grey looking and not at all appetising which might have something to do with why I’ve […]
Read More..>>Bubble and Squeak
I don’t normally eat hot lunches, preferring a sandwich or cheese on toast to soup or leftovers but today I thought I should make a start on the vegetable mountain that’s taken up residence in our kitchen. We’d planned a roast chicken for lunch yesterday but since my mum’s oven had broken we had to […]
Read More..>>Fish Fingers
Another recipe from the Mark Hix book we’re currently reviewing: British Seasonal Food. The beginning of the November chapter is mostly concerned with mushrooms, particularly lovely-looking chanterelles, then moves on to slow-cooked meat recipes, with a couple of dishes using smoked fish too. And then fish fingers. I’m not sure what makes fish fingers fitting […]
Read More..>>Sausages and Mashed Potatoes
There wasn’t much discussion over what to eat for dinner tonight: for us, bonfire night = sausages and mashed potatoes. We did consider cooking the Cumberland sausage we brought back from our recent trip but that really needs to be cooked in the oven and ours is currently broken. So, ordinary pork sausages cooked under […]
Read More..>>Scallops and Samphire and Pheasant, Chestnut and Chanterelle Soup
Yesterday was Stephen’s birthday and, as is only right and proper, he got to choose how we spent the day. Luckily for me, it involved a trip to Charing Cross Road to look at cookery books, followed by a visit to Borough Market, a quick stop off at the Tate Modern before returning home to […]
Read More..>>Chicken Casserole
With the clocks going back yesterday, it seemed the right time to start thinking about proper winter food. And that means casserole. And pie. But casserole if you’ve eaten a lot of rich food over the weekend. We had some chicken stock that needed to be used up so, chicken casserole was the obvious answer. […]
Read More..>>Five Courses for Eight People
Last Saturday, Kerri and I cooked dinner for some friends; there were eight of us in total. We eventually came up with a five-course menu. Which could be called seven courses if you counted nuts and a little shot of watercress soup that we served between the starter and main course. At some point we […]
Read More..>>Hawksmoor
It’s taken me a while to post this, mostly because it’s taken me a while to process the experience and deal with it. The Hawksmoor has long been regarded as one of the best steak restaurants in London and certainly my previous experiences of dining there have backed this up. A while ago, they introduced […]
Read More..>>Rabbit Ragu with Pappardelle
As Stephen mentioned yesterday, we planned this dish when we knew we would be in receipt of a rabbit which meant we could start the preparation while cooking yesterday’s dinner. After removing the meat we needed for the curry, we were left with the bones and the legs; the bones went into the stock pot […]
Read More..>>A Tale of Two Roasts
We spent the weekend at my mum’s in Kent and, knowing that we had a busy day ahead, decided on slow roast shoulder of lamb for Sunday’s lunch. One of the great things about this dish is that it cooks on a low heat for a long time which gives you plenty of time to […]
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