The result! Ingredients: 25 elderflower heads, 3 unwaxed lemons, 1.5 litres boiling water, 1 teaspoon citric acid, 1Kg caster sugar. Method: Pick 25 of the freshest prettiest elder flowers (part of the mystique is that they should be picked in the morning - after the dew has dried !) Put them into a large mixing bowl / add …
Month: May 2020
Spaghetti with mushrooms
Now would be the time to find a packet or two of dried porcini in the store cupboard and write about buying them on Campo de' Fiori. Alas, none left and no trips to Rome for a while. So here I have made do with chestnut mushrooms. Portobello or button mushrooms are fine. A soupçon of truffle oil might be beneficial too.
Omelette
The iconic omelette for my generation is the one in the Ipcress File. When Len Deighton wrote the omelette scene he managed to combine his understanding of food writing, spy stories and London. A life long fan of Deighton and Michael Caine all I can say of my omlettes is I use the same type of mixing bowl. The pan was bought by my father in Leon Jaeggi's, Tottenham Court road, over 40 years ago.
Breakfast
Sometimes it's good to have your favourite breakfast! For me this would always include bacon and potatoes and eggs. This recipe is a halfway house between patatas bravas and huevos rancheros. It can be made with or without any of its ingredients but I would miss the cilantro/coriander/धनिया
Covid comfort cooking 2, Catharine
Strangely, during our recovery, we found that our wholesome, vegetarian diet was not enough to get us back to full walking and cycling fitness. After 14 days of isolation, it was time to venture out to buy fresh food in Sedbergh again. First stop, minced steak from Peat’s and next, the essential bulb of fennel …
Blueberry and apple muffins
Muffins are so handy when you are cooking for one: they can be eaten for breakfast or as an anytime snack, and freeze well. Again I will be deferring to Cooking Texas Style as holding the definitive muffin recipe. Here I have not made very many alterations, save translating into English (measurements), changing the fruit …
Spiced tarte tatin
After a lot of cooking and no shopping I had a few root vegetables and five apples left. Very little butter and no eggs. So, what to make? I am not an habitual fancy pastry chef and frankly just eat anything the oven produces but decided to have a go at tarte tatin. So I did a bit of browsing and remembered some past pitfalls, dug around in the emptying store cupboard and ended up with this:
Covid comfort cooking 1, Catharine
Cooking has always been a source of relaxation as well as a necessity for me. Luckily, I went into lockdown with full cupboards because a few days later I was feeling sick and self-isolating with my partner. My brain disintegrated, and the only thing I could do apart from sleep was go through the old …
Egg and bacon pie
My sister and I have slightly different versions of this intro, it could have happened to both of us a year apart or maybe we were all in the same story together but anyway this is how I remember it:
Lazy cheese scones, Virginia
My neighbours down the road have set up a street stall for charity. They lay out slabs of Mars Bar cake and Rocky Road fudge. There are shortbread biscuits with faces drawn in pastel icing, but these are not their best sellers. Their best sellers are the plump cheese scones they sell in pairs. They're …
Cooking for one 