Duck & Honey Plum Sauce {+ why cauliflower pizzas are wrong}

Jump straight to the recipe → "Be like a duck. Calm on the surface, but always paddling like the dickens underneath" - Michael Caine Two hours I spent this week experimenting with cauliflower pizza bases. Two hours of my life I shall never get back. I knew it was a bad idea. The first time I saw the recipe I archived it in the “That Sounds Revolting” file in my brain (the ...

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Thai Squid Salad

Thai Squid Salad {+ other Asian salad stories}

Jump straight to the recipe → "I'd say the most dangerous thing I've ever done is probably bungee jumping in Thailand" - Simon Cowell I bought an orchid at Bangkok airport once. And then got on the plane and proceeded to spend the next eleven hours in a panic that I was going to be arrested at Heathrow for bringing prohibited plant contraband into the country. I am pretty sure I didn’t ...

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Chicken and Pumpkin with Soy & Star Anise

Jump straight to the recipe → So this whole 'posting once a week' thing hasn't really worked out for me that well. I could make excuses but it feels better simply to adopt the mantra of a famous British Kate - never complain, never explain. (Now I've thought about it, there really are quite a few famous British Kates these days aren't there? Between the likes of Moss, Winslet and the artist formerly known as ...

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Lemon Chard Aloo

"The unfortunate thing about working for yourself is that you have the worst boss in the world" - David Eddings When I started this blog I had this rather grand expectation that I would post two or three times a week. That's what they tell you, the internet people. It's what they say you need to do to get anybody to read it. Something about search engine optimisation. It's what you need to do so that you ...

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4 Ingredient Fig & Blueberry Maple Compote

Jump straight to the recipe → Tediously enough, I can't eat most fruits unless they are cooked or meticulously peeled. This is a relatively new development in my life and while I don't expect any sympathy (as medical conditions go it isn't exactly that terrible, is it?), it is still really bloody annoying. Especially so for somebody who is trying to hit their 7 a day target but who is also pathologically lazy. Peeling an ...

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Squid, Bean & Chilli Salad

"The only thing that will make a souffle fall is if it knows you're afraid of it" - James Beard Post frequency levels have taken something of a battering the last few weeks. I wondered today whether I should just have done what they used to do over at Goop and simply announce that the blog is going on holiday until September. But then I got a grip and realised that ...

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david lebovitz chocolate cake dulce de leche

Salted Caramel Molten Chocolate Pots

"I love the smell of juice boxes in the morning" - Robert Duvall I was at a seminar thing recently where one of the speakers was Martha Swift, who turned her home cupcake operation into the hugely successful Primrose Bakery. I asked her whether she thought that her business, and those like it, were being negatively impacted by the War On Sugar that is currently being waged left right and centre. ...

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Vignarola (Roman Spring Vegetable Stew)

"Let’s leave to the English the taste for eating boiled vegetables without any seasonings or at the most with a little butter; we southern types need our food to be a little more exciting" - Pellegrino Artusi (1891) I am suffering from possibly the most middle class complaint of all time. Farmers market envy. Yes, I actually said that out loud.  I keep stumbling upon blog posts with photos from US farmers ...

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What to do with Artichokes

Jump straight to the recipe ideas → "These things are just plain annoying. After all the trouble you go to, you get about as much actual food out of eating an artichoke as you would from licking 30 or 40 postage stamps. Have the shrimp cocktail instead" - Miss Piggy So that 7 a day series I mentioned. A new vegetable each week and all that. Not really happened, has it? I ...

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Vietnamese Turmeric Fish (Chà Cá Há Nôi)

"U.G.L.Y. You ain't got no alibi! You ugly!" - Daphne & Celeste No, not you. I probably haven't even met you so how could I possibly know that? Monkfish. They are ugly. If you've ever had the pleasure of seeing a whole one - fishmongers often just have the tails on display - you will know what I am talking about.  Their heads are as wide as their bodies are long, they have 7 ...

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Diana Henry fennel, feta, almond salad

Fennel, Feta, Orange & Almond Salad {+ thoughts on growing my own veg}

Jump straight to the recipe → "Show me your garden and I shall tell you what you are" - Alfred Austin I consider myself to be a fairly logical, rational sort of person. I have become pretty boring since turning 30 and am not prone to random spontaneity or great frivolity these days. But every so often I go through phases where I am sure, convinced in fact, that every idea I have ...

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Bill Granger Pork Cashew Nut Salsa

Pork with Cashew & Mango Salsa

"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia" - Charles M. Schulz I have fallen off the wagon this past week.  It was largely down to my own complacency - I started to let myself think that I had this healthy eating thing down and that, without any actual planning, shopping or thought I would just be able to whip up some wonderfully tasty ...

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