I freely admit that neatness and attention to detail are not my strong points. I'm all about rustic food and a laissez-faire attitude. And yet I am fascinated by bento and love the whole concept of a well-presented, home-made lunch. So when the opportunity to...
Last Saturday my brother and I rented a van, loaded it up with unwanted furniture and drove down to Eastbourne, on the South Coast. It was a beautiful, sunny weekend, more Spring than Winter, full of champagne (it was dad's birthday) and delicious food, with...
You'd be forgiven for thinking that I have deserted my old favourite, the humble flapjack, for more exciting pastures. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth - I make sugar-free flapjacks at least once a fortnight and have become quite the expert. And...
When it's cold out, I love to play mad scientist in the kitchen. So this pasta is a kind of a Frankenstein's monster that's actually turned out damn tasty. Though still green, of course - my metaphor is perfect!I used spinach trottole, that's why it's...
I've never been massively into baking, but now I've understood why some people find it therapeutic and enjoyable. Yesterday, I had one of the most pleasurable baking experiences in my whole life while making these honey and ginger biscuits. There was something about the warm...
I should have told you about this earlier. I don't know why I didn't - the time never seemed right until now. And black garlic hummus is a dark and seductive thing - sweet yet intense, strange yet familiar, it definitely lends itself to being...
This Winter has been all about congee for me, in it's infinite varieties. But this one you see here, this one with the spinach and garlic and soya sauce, may well be the best one yet. Congee is an Asian rice soup, in case you're...
As much as I love to make plans, sometimes I love to cancel plans even more. This is precisely what I did today, resulting in one incredibly pleasant Saturday. If you are lucky enough to be able to cancel everything and have a duvet day,...
Sometimes it takes a cold, dark month and a party full of people you've never met before to make you realize what a good place you're at in your lifeMy peace of mind hasn't come easily, and I'm trying not to grasp onto it, because...
Sometime in the 1940s Lesley Blanch wrote a rather unusual cookbook for her time - Around the World in 80 Dishes. In it, she wrote this: "...