This roast spring onion and fennel quiche with beetroot pastry is my first quiche of the year and I went all in with the most wonderful earthy pastry made with some left-over roasted beetroots.  It’s divine and I’m definitely going to be adding more roasted veg to pastry in the future.  It adds not only a wonderful taste but a gorgeous texture too. A celebration of Spring The quiche is a sort of celebration of Spring.  We’ve been experiencing some very odd weather recently.  On Saturday it was freezing cold and then on Sunday is was positively balmy and so I thought a nice ..read more

This mushroom, fennel & broccoli pie, with it’s cheesy white sauce and homemade ruff-puff pastry is so exactly what we need right now to counteract the freezing cold weather we’re suffering.  I realise it seems like a lot of work and I’m not going to lie, it’s an afternoons worth of baking but try and find a slow Sunday to slowly work your way through the recipe and I promise you the rewards will be phenomenal. I’m making this a vegetarian pie by using some Quorn chicken-style pieces but feel free to use regular chicken or your favourite meat substitute or even just more of your favo ..read more

It’s the time of year that  make some kind of upside down cake and it’s usually with blood oranges as their colour works so well as it marbles it’s way into the cake but I simply couldn’t find any blood oranges so made this upside down orange, lemon and blueberry traybake instead. I actually think it works so beautifully as the top (or bottom) of the traybake and all thew wonderful colours bleed into each other it just looks so jewelled. It’s also really easy to make which is a double bonus. Ingredients: 2 oranges 2 lemons (try and get seedless if possible) 100g blueberries 250g butter ..read more

This Roasted Lemon Cauliflower with a Black Bean & Honey Whipped Dip is one of those ‘just throw it all together’ recipes that I love creating when  have a bit of time in the kitchen.  As it happens, even though it seems there are a lot of stages, this dish is super-simple to bring together and I think works really well as part of a ‘meze’ style starter or as a lunch served on toast. the Roasted Lemon Cauliflower one cauliflower – torn into florets (and use the leaves too!) 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 tablespoon lemon oil (Pomora do an incredible one.) 2 teaspoons ‘fresh & ze ..read more

Turnip, watercress and stilton soup. I hate the fact that the humble turnip has been made the enemy of the most recent idiocies from our inept government but I’m playing along here because actually it’s a delicious homegrown vegetable that should be celebrated regardless of the mess we’re in.  This turnip, watercress and stilton soup is utterly divine and about as British as can be, particularly now that watercress is in season. Grandma Sylvia’s Soup I adore this turnip, watercress and stilton soup.  The recipe comes from my grandma Sylvia and it’s THE soup that reminds me of Sunda ..read more

This Blueberry Swirl Chocolate Cake is a sticky, gooey fudgy, brownie-like mess of a cake but it’s utterly divine and perfect for your valentine for the cake batter 200g dark chocolate I used this lovely chocolate from the co-op – chopped 200g butter – cubed 125ml freshly brewed coffee 85g self-raising flour 85g ground almonds 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda 200g light brown sugar 200g golden caster sugar 3 medium eggs 75ml milk for the blueberry swirl buttercream icing 380g icing sugar 225g butter – room temp 30ml double cream 100g blueberries – frozen or fresh Heat the oven to 140C fa ..read more

There have been a lot of Green Goddess Salad on the socials recently and they always look so wonderfully yummy and healthy.  I’d never really heard of Green Goddess dressing until recently but doing a bit of research it seems there are a number of ways to make it as long as it contains the key ingredients of yoghurt, fresh green herbs and garlic then you can pretty much make it how you want. As usual I went with what’s in the fridge plus the salad I drizzled it all over was so simple it’s really rude to even call this a recipe… but here goes: for the salad 2 bunches (or 1 salad bag) of ..read more

There’s a short window in late Jan / early Feb when the world of fresh tangy fruits collide in seasonal excellence and this Rhubarb, Raspberry and Plum Crumble is the love-child of that moment. Not only is it packed with wonderfully tart local rhubarb but it also has some glorious blood orange juice and zest. The combination is so perfect and then combined with raspberries the whole thing becomes a sherbet lovers dream. I’m also using a dash of Campari as I think the bitters in the liquor really work well here. The tartness is offset by the wonderful sweetness of the crumble topping, for whic ..read more

The cavolo nero, green bean and pea salad is the very expression of Spring.  Yes,  I know it’s only January, but I desperate for Spring to be in the air and I wanted to share something wonderfully green (and ever so slightly virtuous!) I also wanted to make something using some of the delicious fresh new Spring veg and this Cavolo Nero, which is essentially a fancy Kale is not only perfectly in season it’s also locally grown here in Lincolnshire which is a double bonus. The dressing for this cavolo nero, green bean and pea salad is inspired by Asian flavours and is delightfully ..read more

This blackberry and porridge skillet cake is one of the most glorious breakfast cakes made in a frying pan you’ll ever eat. If a pan cake seems like an unusual idea to you then think again because it’s such a simple way to make a cake and literally takes minutes.  I whisked all the ingredients together by hand and then you literally dump it into the pan and bung it in the oven.  What could be easier or taster? TIP Ensure you use an oven-proof frying pan with a metal handle (known as a skillet in the US) and be sure to wear oven gloves when touching the handle. 100g dark brown so ..read more