All posts filed under: Recipes

Pan fried duck with damson sauce, bok choi and shiitake mushrooms

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This dish was inspired by my recent London treasure hunt, where I was given an insight into the fascinating culture of Hong Kong. Read more about my experiences here. Ingredients 2 duck breasts 1 star anise 3 sprigs of rosemary 25 butter 10 shiitake mushrooms 1/2 red chilli, cut into rings (keep seeds in) 200g bok choi A few drops of fish sauce 1 tsp soy sauce 1 tsp sesame oil 1 tsp groundnut oil 3 cloves garlic 120g white rice Sea salt and pepper to season For the damson sauce 3 cm ginger, grated 1 red chilli, seeds removed and diced 225g damsons, stoned and halved 75g light muscovado sugar 15ml balsamic vinegar Method For the damson sauce 1. Stone the damsons and place into a pan, along with the balsamic vinegar, chilli and ginger. Cover with the sugar and plase on a medium heat. Let the sugar dissolve and leave to bubble for 5 minutes or until the damsons are soft 2. Blend the damson mixture until smooth and the pass through a …

Homemade pizza – in a pizza oven

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I adore going to my boyfriends parents house for the weekend. They live not too far from the coast and have the most amazing house – complete with a pizza oven and a large veg patch in the garden. Despite the fact that the pizza oven has been sat in the garden for a good couple of years, we had never used it – until a couple of weekends ago when I was determined to make the most of the bank holiday weekend (and the last of the summer days). For the toppings, we rummaged around in the veg patch and used home grown basil, potatoes, courgette – and used the eggs laid by the chickens that run free range around the garden! I also used a pack of the BEST iberico ham that I carved by hand at the Brindisa ham school a couple of weeks ago as a delicious topping. Here’s a recipe for dough and a basic tomato sauce – you can use whatever toppings you like. I usually prefer to keep …

tarte au citron recipe

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Who doesn’t like a good slice of tarte au citron? The buttery, flakey pastry with the rich, sweet and tangy wobbly middle. Pour some double cream over a big slice and that’s me done. I’ll tuck myself away in a corner for a few minutes so no stray forks can interfere, while I enjoy every last morsel. But despite there being a few decent shop bought alternatives out there, home made is definitely preferable. Having never made one before, I set out to do just that on Sunday. What I didn’t realise was just how long the process is – I completely understand why people shove one in their supermarket trolley. Not only is it 10 times quicker, it’s also around the same price. But nothing compares to home made (if done well of course) and it is oh so satisfying to see the golden pastry and wobbly lemony filling come out of the oven almost perfect. I got my recipe from Lindsey Bareham, who wrote a piece about the delightful dessert after being inspired …

Melt in mouth meringue recipe

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If you have read my blog in the last few months, you will know that I have three gorgeous chickens on my roof who provide me with fresh and delicious eggs daily. Since only two of us in the house eat eggs, we sometimes get a bit of a glut, as you can see. So we’re forever having to come up with ways to use more than just one or two eggs at a time. Someone suggested I make meringue but I wasn’t keen on the idea at first – I would rather tuck into a big slab of cake or a delicious brownie than a light and fluffy meringue. Then again, I had never made them before so decided to give them a go. As our eggs are very small, I would recommend using Bantam eggs. If you are using hens eggs, use two less than I have stated. I was so pleased with how they turned out – they have a beautiful golden colour due to the fact that I used unrefined golden …

Pan fried lemon sole with samphire and parsley butter

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Samphire is everywhere at the moment. I had it with fish at three different restaurants last week and I can’t get enough if it. So when I was getting my fish from the Waitrose fish counter at the weekend, I was very happy to see a pack of the delicious green edible plant sat next to the fish. I chose two filets of lemon sole and grabbed a pack and a lemon to go with it. I was very looking forward to my Monday evening dinner but was left slightly disappointed with the samphire. I followed the cooking instructions on the pack but the stalks were quite hard and a small amount was inedible. Only a very small amount though so the meal was not ruined. I can’t expect cooking with a new ingredient to be perfect first time, so as with most things, practice makes perfect! Ingredients 2 skin on lemon sole fillets 1 garlic clove 1 red chilli 2 knobs of butter 4 tsp fresh or or frozen parsley 90g samphire Salt and …