Chicken & Fig Fricassée with Red Rice Pilaf

I’d had a box of Camargue red rice in the cupboard for blimming ages. I can’t even remember if there was a reason behind the purchase in the first place but eventually I decided enough was enough and figured it was time to use it. A quick browse online came up with this recipe which served as the basis for this. The original had dried figs but I had some fresh ones so used those. Also made a...

Read More »

An Actually Quite Simple Lasagne

It had been quite a while since I’d last made lasagne. I’m pretty sure that when I did it was Jamie Oliver’s “Simple Baked Lasagne” which is, quite frankly anything but. I seem to recall it took me 4 hours, a million ingredients and a dozen different cooking pans. It was incredibly delicious though so maybe I will blog that some other time. Under a different name though of course: “Jamie’s Far...

Read More »

Spice Pork Belly & Chicory Gratin

As usual when I wanted a good hunk of meat I went to Ginger Pig in Borough Market. One of the other things that I like so much about them is that while they do not have a full range outside of main market days they are still open and there is still plenty of choice. On this occasion for instance I bought my slab of pork plus spicy Italian sausage to mix with minced beef for lasagne and chicken...

Read More »

Black Pepper Tofu

Very many years ago I acquired a tiny little recipe book (I think it may have been a Guardian or Observer giveaway) that had Ottolenghi’s black pepper tofu recipe in it (it can also be found in his book Plenty). It was granted a turned corner - the only time I ever turn corners in books is cookey books, though I am more likely to use those little strip post-its, elsewhere it is a crime against...

Read More »

Tagliatelle with Olive Oil Poached Tomatoes

The aroma and flavor you get from poaching the tomatoes with some olive oil and a bit of garlic until you have a silky, slightly sweet, rich sauce is truly amazing. You wouldn’t want to eat this every day as it is quite a bit of oil.. well, that is if you eat it like we do which is to mix the pasta in with the oil, serve that up and then dollop the tomatoes on top. I suppose you could just drain...

Read More »

No Churn Black Fig Ice Cream

This no churn ice cream really is as simple as it sound. There’s no need for an ice cream maker first off which is genius. Plus no egg to deal with, nothing to heat or fiddle around with, no straining. Just two ingredients: cream and sweetened condensed milk and whatever flavourings you like.  And in that it is also as adaptable as you like. I used black figs as the step-boy’s mum had...

Read More »