Soup season is upon us.
And in my book there’s no easier way to cram in your five a day at the same time as getting a big dose of comfort, than with a humble soup.
Mixed mushrooms with tarragon and English mustard
Game changer alert.
Every once in a while a really simply recipe does the rounds that gets even nay-sayers to love an ingredient they usually avoid.
Rustic soup of roasted tomato, chunky smoked bacon and red lentil
Several flavours signify the coming of autumn for me.
Smoked meats and fish, jewel like roots, woody mushrooms, sticky and dark red wines, flaky pastry, game meats and poultry. I’m looking forward to getting my teeth stuck into all of them, and on this grizzly bank holiday Monday with a big chill in the air and leaves falling from the trees outside our house (yes already, can you believe it), I knew it was time to put on a cardi and get hearty in the kitchen.
Homemade baked beans spiked with Kraken rum
Beans on toast, one of life’s simple food pleasures. And as much as I’m not averse to opening a tin from time to time, it doesn’t really satisfy my need to create.
Chicken, pecorino and sesame nuggets with Bloody Mary dip
Sexed-up chicken nuggets had been whirring around in my head for a while.
And on browsing Tastespotting I came across just the jolt of inspiration I needed, a cracking recipe and great photo from Sabrina at Inside The Bag.
Ham hock and minted broad bean crostini with wholegrain mustard dressing
If you follow me on Twitter you’ll probably know that I recently moved house.
I didn’t get very far (just five minutes down the road from the last place) but with this new location comes a totally new high street to explore, that of West Didsbury.
Globe courgettes stuffed with giant cous cous, feta and sun-dried tomatoes
A simple and rustic dish, good as a side or lunchtime main.
The last time I posted a recipe using the spherical courgette they weren’t readily available (I snuck mine in from France) but this time I acquired them far more easily, at good old Sainsburys.
Steak, Guinness and black pudding pie
It’s the end of national pie week, and on account of that, Mathew’s love for all things pastry topped and next week being host to St. Patricks day, I decided to revisit and tweak a recipe I’d put on the blog a while ago.
Dark ale cottage pie with vintage cheddar mash top
What makes a good pie?
In my world a good pie has few aires and graces. It should be robust, bold, bubbly - a bit overflowy in fact (is there anyone that doesn’t love the scorched, chewy filling from the edge of the dish? Surely not).
Banana and pecan loaf cake with toffee icing
After three months at grandmas I can’t tell you how many cakes I encountered.
Every day I’d return home and there’d be at least one new cake to eat. Sometimes more than one. One day when rooting around in the ‘naughty cupboard’ I found six cakes. I’m not kidding – six.