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Tomatoes with sumac, shallots and pine nuts
Inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi, this recipe is for my favourite salad of the late summer and the best way I know to use home grown tomatoes. What makes it so good is the generous use of sumac, a spice I first came across in Cyprus and bought simply because I didn’t know what it was.…
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Coronation Chicken
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Celery braised with onion and tomato
This dish is as good cold as it is warm. Serve by itself as a starter or as a vegetable dish to accompany chicken. By adding cooked chick peas, it makes an excellent vegetarian dish. I use the whole head of celery but you may prefer to use only the stalks. -Susan 1 head celery,…
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Queen of Puddings
The first wintery weekend of November and we have finished planting bulbs for spring. Hurrah for Mr Scamp! Every year I buy enough bulbs from him to fill four big pots. I am more than happy for him to make the selection. He knows I like single daffodils and not so high that they might…
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Sloe Gin
I had a look to see where I could find sloes and it could be a good year. I have my ‘special place’ a hedgerow outside Wells, just at the start of the Somerset Levels. If the weather is fine, I will pick for an hour or two on Friday.The fields have blackthorn bushes on…
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Courgette and Tomato Bake
There are three words I try to avoid in recipes, ‘bake’ (as a noun) and ‘drizzle’ (as a verb) and ‘blitz’ as in a blender but with so many courgettes still growing on the allotment, this recipe with blitzed herbs and a drizzle of olive oil is a ‘short form’ for a tasty meal. The…
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Beetroot Bourguignon
Feeling cold and wintry and trying hard to get the onion sets planted before the end of the week. The ground has been dug twice and fed well with manure. But there is so much to do for the book launch! What is good is that, locally, there is a general air of excitement. Mandy,…
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Spicy Rhubarb
Is the shortage of ground cinnamon universal or just local to Bath? Waitrose have had none for weeks and a trip to Sainsbury’s yesterday also showed an empty space where the little pots should be? Bad harvest? Sudden demand from watching Mary Berry? Have written to both supermarkets to ask. My own demand for cinnamon…
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Venison en Casserole
The weather has changed and it is time for a winter dish. On Saturday, I had gone to Bath Farmers’ Market specially to see Peter Hurman who runs Somerset Venison. This recipe is a firm favourite. It is based on one in The Robert Carrier Cookbook, first published in 1965 and still a treasure trove…
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Cauliflower, pomegranate and pistachio salad
This recipe came from Yotam Ottolenghi’s Saturday column in The Guardian and could qualify as my ‘Dish of the Year’. Delicious at home and good to take to a party as all the elements can be made in advance and put together before serving. I was especially delighted that Erling, who is from Norway and…