Travel tips-Restaurant reviews-Recipes
I was given some really lovely and thoughtful presents for Christmas. Unsurprisingly, there are always a few foodie things and one exciting one was a box of Seggiano’s black rice. This was given to me by my daughter’s in-laws, Janet and Colin. This organic black Nerone rice was developed from an ancient Chinese variety (it […]
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I’ve carefully called this post A Ratatouille. Emphasis on the ‘A’. Ten years of food blogging has taught me to tread carefully when it comes to classics and people get very upset if they think you’ve got it wrong. To be honest, I don’t like people messing with the classics too much myself; there comes […]
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This is an adaptation of a Rick Stein recipe in his Long Weekends book. I’m particularly attached to this book (and the accompanying DVD of the TV series) at the moment, not only for its great and reliable recipes, but its subject: Long Weekends. Pre-Lockdown I’d become well practised at making the most of a […]
Read MoreIt’s taken me most of my life to appreciate cauliflower; it’s not that I disliked it when I was younger, more than I thought it was a bit boring. I grew up at a time when cauliflower was only eaten two ways: boiled with white sauce poured over the top to accompany a Sunday roast; […]
Read MoreThe decision about what to rustle up for a quick and easy mid-week supper is often determined by what’s lurking in the fridge. Today there were 4 medium-large tomatoes and half a pot of single cream. I often make a sauce with fresh tomatoes to go with pasta in the week for a simple supper, […]
Read MoreThis one is for Di, who very kindly brought me back some of Yiannis’s herbs from Kardamyli where she was holidaying recently. What a treat! And so very nice of her to think of me. Writing about Yiannis’s wonderful herbs and Kardamyli was one of the very first posts on the blog, just over four years […]
Read MoreNicola and Rachael had a bumper crop of yellow courgettes in their garden this year and brought a lovely large round one with them for me when they visited at the weekend. I wanted to do something special with this beauty. Nicola said they were good roasted so I considered cooking it as a side […]
Read MoreI’ve been really enjoying Rick Stein’s latest series – Venice to Istanbul. Probably largely because the journey begins and ends in two of my favourite cities but also because of Stein’s easy watchability; his mix of culinary and history and literature, as well as the gorgeous photography bringing the wonderful locations into your sitting room. I […]
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 MoreMy new love affair with freekeh led me to cook with it again this evening. I was completely blown away by its fantastic flavour when I cooked it with courgettes and herbs last week and that in turn led me to go and buy some more! While freekeh can be an alternative for rice, bulgur […]
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