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Part of my vegan feast included marinated mushrooms. I tend to buy these when we are overseas and decided to try to make them myself at home. You need to make them a few days ahead of serving to allow the mushrooms to fully take on the flavours. Head straight on to the Recipe For … Continue reading Marinated Mushrooms
Gougère are little balls of cheese delight. They are made from choux pastry and are light. I could not stop popping these into my mouth after I had made them. Head straight on to the Recipe For Gougère ♥ For the first time in a couple of years, Dave's son spent Christmas with us. James … Continue reading Gougère
The day I made this roast carrot dip I posted it on instagram. My friend Clinton had one word to say about it - why. Well, the answer to that is because I had carrots that needed using up, and a dip that needed making! Head straight on to the Recipe For Roast Carrot Dip ♥ … Continue reading Roast Carrot Dip
I had a lot of coriander at home and could not be bothered to make pesto with it. In my fridge I also had some butter that is no good for baking. I combined the two to make coriander butter. It has been used to flavour hasselback potatoes, and chicken breasts. Head straight on to … Continue reading Coriander Butter
Do you need a dip that works stand alone or with something else? If the answer to this is yes, then you need to make my smokey red pepper dip. I have paired it with a butter bean hummus to make it less boring. Head straight on to the Recipe For Smokey Red Pepper Dip … Continue reading Smokey Red Pepper Dip
Reginette alla Norma is a pasta dish made with fried aubergines, tomato and salted ricotta. To me it is all about our trip to Sicily. While there we met primary school friends of mine for a drink. It was an amazing evening and it felt like we had only seen each other yesterday rather than decades … Continue reading Reginette Alla Norma
Hailing from Lebanon, a fattoush is a bread salad. Mediterranean vegetables, such as tomatoes, radishes and cucumbers are added to the stale flatbread. Herbs are integral to this salad, as well as sumac to add a slightly sour taste. Skip ahead to the recipe for Fattoush Dave and I got our passports back from the Italian … Continue reading Fattoush
When you mention ragu, people automatically think of bolognese sauce. But, in Italy, a ragu pasta sauce is any sauce for pasta that contains meat. These sauces differ from region to region, and mine is Northern Italian. It uses ground beef as the protein. Skip ahead to the recipe for Ragu Pasta Sauce Last year … Continue reading Ragu Pasta Sauce
The morning I started writing my review of Home Cooked & Heartwarming Dave and I had been shopping. We bought a kilogram of mussels which I planned on cooking with Pernod. I used Ashleigh Levin's recipe for mighty mussel pot with secret Sambuca as the base for my Pernod mussels. In her recipe book Ashleigh says that … Continue reading Pernod Mussels
Using fresh baby spinach, watercress and rocket I made this egg free pasta. I was super impressed with the texture and with the fact that I rolled it out by hand. Skip ahead to the recipe for Egg Free Pasta One of the best kitchen gadgets I have is an egg boiler. Mine lets me … Continue reading Egg Free Pasta
To kick off International Scone Week 2018 I made these green scones. Lorraine recommended that they be enjoyed with avocado. Thankfully we are right in the middle of the avocado season. I like mine mashed up with some lime juice, dill and black pepper to season. Skip ahead to the recipe for Green Scones It … Continue reading Green Scones
While watching Yotam Ottolenghi on TV I was reminded of the tahini I had in my pantry. I came up with the idea to make a tahini salad dressing and I was very pleased with the result. These flavours worked perfectly in my cous cous salad. To it I added the leftover pickled carrots from … Continue reading Tahini Salad Dressing
If you are preparing a steak tartare for dinner guests then topping them with these cured egg yolks might be a great idea. It is a little bit fancy but makes for something different in my opinion. Head straight on to the Recipe For Cured Egg Yolks ♥ What has happened with the young adults … Continue reading Cured Egg Yolks
I was given a box of phyllo pastry at an event I went to last year. I usually make my own and left this in the freezer until I had a recipe in mind. When I got zucchini blossoms I knew the perfect snack to make using them. These mini zucchini quiches were the result. … Continue reading Mini Zucchini Quiches
This recipe for duck liver pâté is ideal for when you are entertaining. You can make it in advance and be confident the flavours will impress. Head straight on to the Recipe For Duck Liver Pâté ♥ When we entertain I write down what I plan on cooking. I usually centre my meal around the … Continue reading Duck Liver Pâté
You can serve these roasted carrots cold in a salad. I double up on the ingredients if that is my plan. I have used purple carrots here which I find much prettier than the orange ones. Skip ahead to the recipe for Roasted Carrots When we moved to Gordons Bay in 2001 there was not … Continue reading Roasted Carrots
When I do not have time to spare I make use of my sous vide cooker. I am guaranteed a perfect result each and every time. I made chicken ballotine for lunch on a busy day. Once the chicken was stuffed and rolled I placed them into the sous vide and got on with the … Continue reading Chicken Ballotine
Dave went to work on the race car, staying over lunch time. I had been at gym and bought venison from the butcher after I had trained. I cut some off to make venison tartare for myself for lunch. This is not Dave's favourite meal so I turned being alone into a win-win situation. Head … Continue reading Venison Tartare
I always have frozen peas in my freezer. This means that if I cannot find fresh peas I can still make this pea and yoghurt dip. It takes no time at all and offers a lot of flavour for very little effort. Skip ahead to the recipe for Pea And Yoghurt Dip Last year October … Continue reading Pea And Yoghurt Dip
I wanted to come up with a new flavour of hummus and made a batch of roasted beetroot hummus. It was only when I uploaded the photograph that I realized I had already posted a recipe for this. So I went back to the drawing board and made pickled red pepper hummus. I was really pleased … Continue reading Pickled Red Pepper Hummus