A seasonal change…..
I managed an hour of fresh air today, I needed my ‘fix’ of the open spaces which surround where I live and the place I go to for rest and inspiration. I use this place as the yardstick for the changing seasons, it is quite incredible how the scenery here changes from one […]
A light Summer starter…..
Scallops are a truly beautiful thing, cooked properly and I can think of little to beat them. They are incredibly versatile too, God only knows how many variations I’ve come up with for serving them over the years but I never tire of cooking them.
Summertime in Europe is, I suppose best represented […]
Cheese and fruit Italian style…..
Here’s a simple starter I’ve come up with using that wonderful cheese, dolcelatta da torta. Rich, creamy and full of flavour it makes a great starter or cheese course served very simply with some delicious fruit.
Apricots have been fantastic lately, I love them. They can be tart so I roast them […]
Laura Kelley’s great new book is now available in the United Kingdom
Regular visitors to the blog will recall a recent review of mine about a stunning new book by American author Laura Kelley on all things food and travel in Asia. Volume one of the Silk Road Gourmet Cookbook was recently released in the […]
Turning a classic main course into a starter…
Call me old fashioned but I do like a terrine. There is something reassuringly old fashioned about them, a good one requires skill to make and I appreciate craftsmanship in any walk of life. Terrines are served cold so it is imperative that they are well seasoned, well […]
A kind of pigeon pie….
Here’s a new starter I’ve come up with for one of the restaurants, it came about after pigeon pie cropped up in my mind for some strange reason (probably seeing one in my garden!) Serving a pie isn’t really appropriate in this particular restaurant so I had to find another way […]
Cooking salmon in goose fat….
Cooking fish in goose fat might suprise some people but if you use the right fish, i.e. salmon it can be quite delicious. I first came across this unique method back in the early nineties when I saw Marco Pierre White cooking salmon in goose fat at his legendary restaurant, Harveys […]
Did Haggis originate in England or Scotland?
You either love it or hate it but there’s no denying that haggis is a culinary symbol of Scotland in much the same way that chicken tikka masala is of England
I didn’t get off to a good start with haggis. Two hundred and fifty portions of the stuff […]
Time in the kitchen garden…
My kitchen garden was forced into semi retirement last year when my career took a change for the busier. I had and indeed continue to have mixed feelings about giving it up, it has given me a lot of pleasure over the years, provided me with food, knowledge and a great […]
Hearing from my sponsored child….
Here’s a good news story to cheer the soul in the midst of the recent global gloom, not that most of us can complain compared to living in Myanmar/Burma like my sponsored child May Mi Mi does.
News from May Mi Mi and her family is understandably sporadic and in a […]