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…

When I came to check out these muffins that a friend raved about, it seems they were invented by Jamie Oliver. Thank you Jamie! A whole load of other websites have variations – so nothing new here. Muffins are back! Bored with our usual breakfasts and lunches, muffins seemed a good idea. I have now…

A present of bread flour set me off on the path to make Swedish buns. The recipe for my first attempt was too ‘eggy’ and Carin, my Swedish exchange from my teenage years, agreed. They should be less rich but dark as the cinnamon and sugar caramelize on top. For the bun dough: 100g unsalted…

I have become a convert to za’atar since discovering the Zaytoun brand which was established as ‘a social enterprise and community interest company’ to establish a UK market for Palestinian artisanal produce. The flavour of the West Bank thyme is magic. This recipe was inspired by Yasmin Khan. Her book, Zaitoun, is one that I…