Gather Food, Flowers & Friends
When temperatures start to climb, this Roman-style rice salad with tuna, vegetables & hard boiled eggs is my go-to recipe for feeding a crowd. As well as being deliciously full of flavour and easy to prepare, it’s also a handy option for bringing on picnics, walks or long car journeys.
With sunshine on tap over the last few weeks, I’ve been broadening my BBQ repertoire with new flavour combinations for the grill. One of my best discoveries was this delicious beef kofta burger with crunchy veg; tangy pickles, lemony houmous yogurt & crumbled feta; AKA a full Middle Eastern feast in a bun, and it’s exactly as good as that sounds.
Taking inspiration from the restaurant-style kievs I love so much, and adding a little extra ooziness just because, I recently came up with these very yummy mozzarella, rosemary & chilli breaded chicken cutlets. I would call them Kievs, but that term is somewhat sacrosanct to me, so cutlets it is. Give them a go, I think you’ll love them too.
With its glossy, colourful top and crisp, flaky base, this tomato tarte tatin is a gorgeous way to elevate a glut of tomatoes into an elegant & eye-catching seasonal showstopper for a summertime feast.
Newly trendy or not, there’s no classier snack to start a celebration than a platter of devilled eggs. I’ve pickled mine pretty, pink and ready to party in a beetroot & vinegar brine.
Whether diluted in cold sparkling water as a deliciously refreshing cordial, infused in syrup for lemon drizzle cake or used as the basis of a fabulous fizzy summer cocktail, elderflower cordial is the essence of early summer captured.
Like all the dishes from the River Café, the simplicity of this dish means that using the best quality ingredients is paramount. It is utterly transportative, for all that it is, and is ideal served alongside a glass of rosé and the last of the evening’s sun.
I’ve always been a fan of Welsh rarebit toasts – my parents used to occasionally make them for lunch on Saturdays when I was small and I could never understand why they tasted so good. Now that I’m older, I understand that they’re pretty much pure ‘umami’. And I also know now just how good they taste with a cold drink.
A fortnight ago, I tried Nigella’s famous chocolate Guinness cake for the first time at the Peacock Green café besideContinue Reading
The first pâté I ever loved was given to me one Christmas Eve by my friend’s mum, the same womanContinue Reading
  Just a quick post with a quick recipe for my favourite ever biscuit – peanut butter cookies. I firstContinue Reading
There was never any cupcakes in our house when we were growing up, nor fairy cakes, nor queen cakes. ButContinue Reading
My mum has always used a lot of buttermilk in her baking, be it in Ulster-style griddle-cooked soda bread, cheeseContinue Reading
    Peanut butter is one of the strongest flavour memories from my childhood. It tastes like the end of theContinue Reading
There was a lovely feature in The Telegraph last Saturday which featured ten or so British politicians reminiscing about their EastersContinue Reading
