• Blog

    Kale, sausage and black bean stew

    I liked for it’s speed and simplicity and general goodness. It’s a wonderful treatment of kale, and I would do it again. It is missing… Something. A bit of depth? Earthiness? Maybe there was just too much zing? Not sure, honestly. But it was good, and would probably improve if treated to all the trimmings. https://www.theguardian.com/food/2025/mar/04/sausage-kale-and-lime-black-bean-stew-recipe-georgina-hayden

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    Crispy pan fried chicken

    The chicken was slightly over cooked here, you could definitely lose a few minutes in the oven, and the sauce not really right at all… I’m not sure the creme is really necessary at all, but I’d definitely massively reduce the amount. Otherwise, this is a delight. It really infused the chicken with garlic and herb, and the crisp of the skin is wonderful. Definitely a go to recipe. Ingredients: – 4 chicken pieces (thighs or breasts) – Salt & pepper, to taste – Flour, for dusting – 2 tbsp olive oil – 2 sprigs rosemary – 2 sprigs thyme…

  • Blog

    South Indian Fish Curry

    This is not for a week night, with several irritatingly spaced steps as is often the case with Tom Kerridge, but it is excellent, made here with hake, and the pre-salting to firm up the fish is well worth it. Wonderful fresh flavours, well worth the time… But not when you just want to collapse after a day at the computer. From Tom Kerridge, Lose Weight Pg. 82

  • Blog

    Sift: Festive Buns

    These are a wonderful hot cross bun, and I would absolutely repeat them, even though making enriched bread in a cold kitchen in the depth of winter is an act of vandalism to your patience. I did end up making use of the pricing setting in the oven, which I often consider too hot, but in this case was justified. Very indulgent with the white chocolate chunks, and perfectly pleasant, but I wouldn’t add them again. The base bun is excellent as it is. The orange glaze however I wouldn’t do without. From Sift pg. 179

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    Pumpkin curry, coconut chutney with buckwheat pancakes

    Yep this is just wonderful. Delicately flavoured veggie curry is first rate, coconut chutney made with shredded coconut is wonderful, buckwheat pancakes are magic… Seriously, I could devour them without cessation. Altogether it is a bit of a faff for midweek. I was cooking for well over an hour, and that’s without the time to pressure cook the chickpeas, done the previous night… A worthwhile step, they really end up with more body and flavor … but not essential. Individually the parts would be pretty quick though. From Rupy Cooks (Doctor’s Kitchen)

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    Aubergine Green Curry

    Actually very much an aubergine red curry, as I replaced the Thai green curry paste with harissa and it was exceptional. i ford the initial vegetable roasting in the air fryer and ooo that’s a grand way to roast an aubergine. Dries it out and colours it up nicely. I then just reduced the combined curry in a pan. I did feel like some sharpness was required, and I added some lemon at the end, a lime would be preferable. The sweet peanuts are excellent with it… Too excellent to resist stuffing most of them in my face before the…

  • Blog

    Beetroot salad and hot smoked fish

    A beautiful way to cook beetroot, in the oven (or actually air fryer) for and hour or so. Then accompanied with a grain, in this case red rice, though the recipe suggests barley which would be a delight. The vinaigrette is powerful, but a little creamy, and the horseradish is a perfect compliment to the fish. Wow and lovely. From Jeremy Lee, Cooking Simply and Well

  • Blog - Full Recipe

    Salmon en croute & real puff pastry

    Made in the air fryer. I’m starting to think that if you cover the food with foil you don’t lower the temp by 25c… It needed a good full temperature blast at the end to puff up and golden, and meant that it didn’t really puff up as much as it should. This was a combo of Simon Hopkinson’s recipe and Leith’s puff pastry recipe, which is very good and I would recommend it as the go to version. Preserved below for posterity. A coating of mustard on the salmon is welcome, and although this hefty portion with around 750g…

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    Butternut squash and poppadom curry

    Second of the crunchy curry recipes, and also a success. Smooth, fudgy and comforting. This is less healthy and less complex than the chickpea curry, but also very good. https://www.theguardian.com/food/2024/sep/28/yotam-ottolenghi-curries-recipes-squash-poppadom-chickpea-mango-bombay-mix

  • Blog

    Black chickpea and mango curry with bombay mix

    The unripe mango here is a really treat, gives the curry body and tang. Big fan of this, lovely flavours and texture. Could definitely use normal chickpeas, possibly cook it a little less to amount for the density difference, but the colour contrast is great with the black ones. From Ottolenghi: https://www.theguardian.com/food/2024/sep/28/yotam-ottolenghi-curries-recipes-squash-poppadom-chickpea-mango-bombay-mix