Travel tips-Restaurant reviews-Recipes
When I was in San Sebastián last week with Annie, we had a wonderful porcini mushroom and chestnut risotto in Bar Simirimi on our last evening, having seen it being prepared the night before from our kitchen-side seats. We both said it was something we’d have to make at home and tonight that was just […]
Read MoreGiven the amount of time I spend in my local Revital health food store, you’d think I was seriously into ‘health foods’. But I go there to buy all kinds of things from organic granola, to coconut oil, Pukka herbal teas, Green People suncream, apple cider vinegar and a variety of supplements that I sometimes […]
Read MoreI’m generally a fan of the minimalist approach to risottos: just one or two main ingredients that are allowed to shine with the rice. And, of course, the rice must be a good risotto rice that will give that essential creaminess, such as arborio or vialone nano. However, when I was in Venice recently, I […]
Read MoreI hadn’t planned to cook. Well, not cook from scratch. I had to work over the weekend; a job I’d taken on just before Christmas turned out to be much longer than expected so I had no choice. Taking a portion of the turkey curry I had in the freezer seemed like an easy option […]
Read MoreLeeks are in season – they’re available and best eaten November until April – but the ones I’ve seen in the supermarket have been so ridiculously expensive, I haven’t been able to bring myself to buy any. What on earth is this all about? Once £4.99 for 3 large leeks. But then I saw a nice […]
Read MoreIt’s been a long time since I’ve had to think about cooking regular family meals but with Jonathan and Lyndsey staying with me at the moment, I’ve had to take my turn and come up with something reasonably easy and inexpensive for midweek supper. And something that also contains or is served with meat. While Lyndsey […]
Read MoreI love beetroot and it’s such a gorgeous earthy warming vegetable for this time of the year. Though it does also make a wonderful salad, used fresh and raw, such as my Sensational Antioxidant Salad; or as a dip, like my Roasted Beetroot, Tahini & Orange Dip and of course soup. There’s barely a soup as […]
Read MoreOK. I might be overdoing the pearl barley cooking and soon I shall turn into a light-brown grain. But after the lovely Josephine at My Home Food That’s Amore asked if my Barley Risotto yesterday was an orzotto, I thought I’d better do some research. Pearl barley to me is my mother putting some in a […]
Read MoreNo, dear Italian friends, this is not an Italian risotto and please forgive the use of the word ‘risotto’, but Ottolenghi uses it in his wonderful book Jerusalem from which I took this recipe. (Though it has to be said, it’s not quite his recipe, as you shall see.) I’ve learned that Italians are very correct when […]
Read MoreI bet you thought, She hasn’t made risotto for a while, but here we go because I can’t keep away from that arborio rice for long! Actually, what I couldn’t resist was the organic asparagus in Waitrose yesterday. It’s a bit early for home-grown English asparagus after the awful winter and late arrival of spring, […]
Read More