Pontack Sauce was reputedly made in the kitchen of M.Pontac whose tavern, The Pontack’s Head, was established in Abchurch Lane in the City of London after the Great Fire of 1666. M. Pontac was the son of Arnaud de Pontac, president of the Parliament of Bordeaux from 1653 to 1673. He owned excellent vineyards, including…

It was time to invent a new cake and this has been declared a rival to my ‘winner’, the Cheltenham cake. Both are easy to make, moreish and freeze well. Try to use pears that are neither too hard nor too soft. Windfalls would be fine. Line a greased 30 x 23 cm baking tray…

‘Tarragon is quarrelsome in the company of the bitter herbs and, but for its role among the fines herbes, is best used alone. Very pleasant when handled with discretion, it can become repellent – and this is especially true of cooked dishes – if too liberally dispensed; in combination with parsley, chives, and chervil, a…

It is a wet day and a good excuse to go through a pile of recipes and ideas for recipes that are piling up on the floor of my office. The strange thing is that the most tempting recipes are often the simplest. I look forward to making a rhubarb cheese cake, an Ottolenghi dish…

Most of a tin of anchovies is left over from making gremolata – perfect for using in anchovy butter. Again, the recipe is an Elizabeth David classic. ‘This is a most delicious little mixture and a wonderful standby for serving with steaks or for adding to eggs en cocotte’*. Drain the anchovy fillets and soak…

Near the stables is a quince tree which overhangs the hedge. I was kindly allowed to pick some of the fruit. Having cooked apples with quince to put into the deep freeze for crumbles during the winter, the big treat, is to make this stew. The recipe is taken form Sabrina Ghayour’s book Sirocco. The…

A great way to cook courgettes which goes so well with floured and pan fried fish such as sardines or sea bass. 2-3 medium courgettesExtra virgin olive oil2 garlic cloves, finely chopped1 tbsp roasted sunflower seeds1 tsp tahini pasteJuice of 1 lemonFinely chopped mint leaves (optional)Salt Preferably using a mandolin, slice the courgettes very thinly…

As Elizabeth David says, this is ‘an excellent little dish, which makes a course on its own’*. However, the quality of the carrots is important. 400g young carrots, scraped and each cut in half lengthwaysOlive oilA few tablespoons of long grain riceSalt2 tbsp dried mint or 3 tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped (or finely chopped…

This recipe comes from Yasmin Khan’s Zaitoun and is seriously good. She gives it the adjective ‘comforting’ and it is, full of flavours I love. YK’s recipe is vegan but I am happy to use chicken stock which gives a deeper flavour. Perpetual spinach seeds, sown in mid August, were already showing by early September.…

Last year, just when we had finished our turnip tops, I found a delightful recipe for orecchiette with turnip tops and mussels in Antonio Carluccico’s book Pasta. Any recipe that includes mussels certainly wins favour even if we did have to wait nearly a year to taste. This dish also works well using broccoli. Don’t…