Ajvar

The things I do for my colleagues. Ed mentioned that when he’d been on holiday in Croatia, he’d had this gorgeous dip made of aubergines and red peppers, and was bemoaning the fact that he hadn’t been able to find it since. I was pretty sure I’d be able to find a recipe, and I …

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Cauliflower, parsnip, Jerusalem artichoke and coconut soup

This was one of those soups that came about because I had things I really needed to use up. It was cold and snowy, and I love having a big pot of soup on the stove plipping and pootling away gently. I know that seems like a lot of coconut, but it was a large …

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Non meat meatballs

My friend Cat recently made these, and foxed her friends because she’s vegan, and these looked a lot like meat in her post. After some confusion, and explaining, the recipe for these rather lovely aubergine and olive balls was shared. Cat’s was from the Abel & Cole recipe book, and the one I’d seen was …

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From Mamushka to Kaukasis

The cookbook world can be a hectic one. It seems that every week there’s a New! Shiny! thing exploding on to our shelves and Kindles, each chef or cook with something to say about their own food, stuffed chock full of ridiculously pretty photos and sparkles.Many of these books also make the food seem almost …

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Halloumi and Spinach Curry

I don’t know why I never thought to use halloumi in a curry before, seeing as it is virtually the same set of ingredients as paneer, but I guess I’m just so used to it being grilled or fried up in Mediterranean dishes that it never crossed my mind. Using it in a curry changed …

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Borough, my Borough, and a recipe

Borough Market reopened yesterday after over a week closed, due to the aftermath of the terror attack. I couldn’t get there for the 10am ringing of the Market bell, though I dearly wanted to be there, so I went back that evening, just to walk about, and find my traders to hug. It had been …

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Warm Salad of Cauliflower, Almonds and Garlic

It was Easter weekend, and I’d been cooking. As ever. I had bits and pieces to use up, so this salad came together as a way of doing so. Now I think I might be buying the ingredients purely to make it again! The almonds are used as a major flavour/texture component here, not just …

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Red Cross Foodie Fest dinner

A while ago now, I saw an ad for the Red Cross Foodie Fest. You send them a text, they send you a spice pack, with recipes, place mats, and information. Win! (It’s finished now, but keep an eye out for future events.) Explore a world of flavour with our unique world food tasting experience …

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Lamb Stuffed Peppers

Lamb is definitely one of my most favourite meats, so when I heard about the lamb recipe challenge (link here: http://www.tastyeasylamb.co.uk/Follow-the-Flock/Lamb-Recipe-Challenge ) I was sold. Winning something is nice, of course, everybody likes the chance to win something, but I admit that was more motivated about having a chance to experiment with lamb, which I always …

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Aubergine is marmite.

Well no, not actual aubergine marmite (though...hmm....) but aubergine really is the marmite of the food world.    The amount of people that loathe it, and the amount that adore it, seems to be about equal amongst my friends and, to be honest, given how I have had it cooked in this country, I can …

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