Caramelised onion is a wonder food. The humble onion, when cooked slow and long to release its natural sugars transforms into a sticky, sweet and savoury taste sensation that adds incredible flavour and richness to a simple host of foods – steak, roast beef sandwiches, root vegetables and more. In this recipe I celebrate caramelised…
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Eggplant with crunchy parmesan and herbs
Eggplants are a favourite of mine and I find their deep, shiny colour, complex flavour and silky texture quite compelling. For two summers I have grown eggplants in my vegetable patch and they have yielded sensationally. The fruit of the variety I grow is generally long and slender, although sometimes a big, round eggplant appears.…
Read MoreRocket, apple and parmesan salad
Summer is perfect for salads and many meals I make in this season revolve around a salad. It is easy, though, to slip into boring salad mode and turn out a perfectly nice, but ho-hum garden salad, just because it’s what first comes to mind. It’s no more effort to do something with a bit…
Read MoreSmoked salmon heaven
This is almost too simple to be called a recipe – it’s really just an open sandwich celebrating the beauty of smoked salmon combined with crunchy, flavoursome dark grain bread, smooth and luscious cream cheese and salty, astringent capers. So satisfying to make and to eat and far better for your body and soul than…
Read MoreBlueberry muffins
I confess that I have a love/hate relationship with muffins. A good muffin is a beautiful thing and I have eaten some spectacular ones. But a bad muffin is pretty disappointing. Case in point – most cafes serve muffins – but they are usually enormous, either dry or stodgy, and the flavourings, be they blueberries,…
Read MoreTzatziki, or, finding my inner Greek
It’s a bold thing to suggest that any recipe for tzatziki is an original and I don’t make that claim. It’s a classic sauce/accompaniment that has its origins in Greece but versions also appear in Turkish, Cypriot, and Persian cuisines. I owe what I know about making great tzatziki to both the wonderful Jamie Oliver…
Read MoreBruschetta three ways
Bruschetta is an Italian dish, whose origin dates to as early as the 15th century. In its simplest form it consists of grilled bread rubbed with garlic and topped with extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. There are innumerable variations, although tomato, basil and mozzarella is a favourite and probably the best known topping. I…
Read MorePoached apricots with vanilla and star anise
Apricots are just amazing when they are gently poached; so much better than eating them fresh. They are sweet and juicy and tangy and speak to me of summer. I poached these apricots in a simple sugar syrup with vanilla, a strip of lemon rind and a star anise, flavours that go really well with…
Read MoreSpiced carrot dip
My father-in-law ate carrots under sufferance and to tease him I used to suggest all sorts of carrot based recipes for me to cook and him to eat. He never tried this spicy dip, but I like to think that if I hadn’t told him that it was made with carrots, he would have loved…
Read MoreSlow roasted tomatoes
These tomatoes are incredibly simple to make, taste fantastic and can be used in a multitude of ways. I like to have them as part of an antipasto platter, roughly chopped and stirred through pasta, layered in a vegetable lasagne, smashed onto toast with fresh ricotta and basil, or just by themselves. Hot,…
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Simple food 