Cauliflower and Porcini Mushroom Wellington is the ultimate vegetarian centrepiece dinner recipe. Easy to prepare, and goes with all of the usual Christmas dinner trimmings. ** Holidays are special times. Often with our wider family and friends, these are occasions where we gather together to break bread and strengthen bonds. In our family we often …
Marmalade Carrot Cake with tangy swirls of burst cranberries is the perfect “just-in-case” cake to have on standby during the festive season. A cut-up and keep kind of cake for family and friends. Not much effort for a whole lot of reward. Merry Cakemas to you. ** Having well-loved recipes that I can tweak to …
It is more “Scottish monsoon” than “flaming June” around here so you will forgive me, I hope, for ignoring salads and plumping for pie. A summer-into-fall (!) luscious chard, portabello mushroom and broccoli pie, studded with nuggets of feta, buttery pine nuts and magical za’atar. Covered, of course, with a few hand-crumpled layers of paper-thin …
A little taste of Turkey lurks in this deceptively simple, but deeply-flavoured vegetarian pasta dish. Make more onions than you need and add the remainder into dishes for days to come. The aroma of slowly cooked sliced onions draws my family to the kitchen faster than a cake pulled from the oven. And I don’t think this is a reflection …
Enjoy this fuss-free, family-friendly vegan pasta dish for a midweek supper, or at the weekend with a glass of wine. Full of nutritious beta-carotene and quercetin, this healthy, creamy mac and cheese look-alike is full of the goodness of sweet pumpkin and tender roasted red onion. Make it gluten-free with your favourite g-f pasta shapes. A …
Before the brambles completely go, I thought I would slip this under the seasonal food wire. No sweet breakfast in autumn can be truly complete without something darkly juicy mixed in. And freshly foraged brambles (small wild blackberries) fit the bill nicely. Right now I am in the Lake District of England, reviewing a cottage for …
This time of year – despite the falling temperatures and falling leaves – is a favourite time for me as a homecook, and glutton. And figs are one reason why. Beautiful, black bursa figs – with their soft, edible dusky-leather jackets, and their tiny crunchy seeds – are my favourite fruit of autumn. I know …
I can’t believe it is almost the end of August. I’m not ready to let it go. One of the reasons is that here in Scotland we are experiencing a late burst of summer, after a rather underwhelming (okay, quite miserable) July and early August. Out of necessity I have shed my jeans and sweaters for shorts and …
This is simply one of the nicest cakes I’ve made – sweet or savory. And it is not just the taste, wonderful though it is. When I was doodling ideas for this Easter recipe in my little black book I had a feeling that it would be a keeper. The deep, herbaceous freshness of just-picked nettles …
One of the joys of visiting America is breakfast. Or rather, going out for breakfast. Every city, town, speck on the map, boasts a place that opens at silly o’clock for the first meal of the day. The UK has a go, and has got better, but to really do breakfast out you must visit …