The idea for this dish came from the recipe for Pollo Spago in The River Cafe Cookbook by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers – a book I hadn’t looked through for ages. Their dish was inspired by one served in Wolfgang Puck’s Spago restaurant in Los Angeles. My version is a little different to suit…

I enjoy making quiches but, shame on me, it has been pointed out that there isn’t a single recipe for a quiche in The Allotment Kitchen. All sorts of things can go into a quiche and, to be fair, I do give the recipe for the best ever quiche pastry. A Very Good Pastry for…

We have never had such a good crop of tomatoes. Many thanks to Di Cray and Penny Dalrymple-Smith for giving us plants. We have not had the blight that has plagued us for the last few years. The greatest pleasure, beyond eating tomatoes warm from the sun, has been to watch the hints of redness…

Finally our tomatoes are turning red. Hurrah! Time to use them and this is a great relish to serve with chicken pieces flavoured with Aleppo chillies and garlic. 225g tomatoes 1 medium sized onion Handful chopped coriander Large pinch salt 2 tbsp lemon juice ½ tsp toasted and coarsely grounded cumin seeds Cut the tomatoes…

Autumn is a good time to make minestrone soup as it uses so many vegetables that are in season. This year we are blessed with our best ever tomato crop, as well as onions, beans and carrots. My new herb bed is also doing well. There are many versions of minestrone soup. All contain tomatoes,…

Another bumper crop of crab apples and, as this was such a popular jelly when I made it last year, there is every reason to make it again. Crab apple jelly is not labour intensive to make, the jelly does not need long to set and even the scum is easy to control. Win, win!…

I had forgotten all about this dish until a friend sent a picture and declared it ‘delicious’. Perfect for early autumn. 1 large red onion, finely sliced 4 tbsp olive oil 3 cloves garlic, chopped 8 small beetroot, peeled and quartered 6 carrots, sliced at an angle into pieces about 3cm long 3 bay leaves…

Carrie, who illustrated The Allotment Kitchen, made Springfield Cake (Pear and Ginger Sponge) for guests and, on the back of it, six copies of the book were sold. We had our neighbour in for dinner on Sunday and I cooked a smaller version, suitable for a 20-21cm diameter cake tin, by simply reducing the ingredients…

For the final time after ten years we are spending the last week of August on Madeira. We leave tomorrow on a very early flight. There is so much to do and the cats sense we will be leaving them. Despite the dry summer, we have a good crop of Opal plums. We picked buckets…

I was surprised to see that I had never listed this recipe which is high up there among my favourite meals. Tasty, easy and never fails. I have been cooking it for so long that it was refreshing to go back to one of the original recipes (I have come across this recipe in various…