This month’s recipes
February 2026 M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Category Archives: The Cook Shelf
Pissaladière: an onion tart that is more appetising than its name
Dreadful name isn’t it? Apparently, according to Larousse Gastronomique, it is named after a condiment from Nice called pissalat and, no, that has nothing to do with overactive bladders and is in fact a type of anchovy purée mixed with … Continue reading
Turning a dullard into a diva: a pork chop transformed
Pork chops; not very exciting are they? Now, a lamb chop, even when it is simply grilled is a thing of beauty already but then throw in some feta, lemon and thyme and, well, it is completely wonderful. It helps … Continue reading
Posted in Pork recipes, Simon Hopkinson, The Good Cook
Tagged pork recipes, quick and easy recipes, Simon Hopkinson
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Fast ‘preserved’ lemon zest and a five-minute gnocchi dish
A little preserved lemon is a wonderful thing, especially in anything vaguely North African. But they are very expensive (a jar of about 10 will, for example, cost you about a fiver in Waitrose or slightly more in Sainsbury’s) and, if … Continue reading
Poached Asian duck…bloody marvellous and easy peasy
Poaching is now officially one of my favourite ways to cook meat. Chicken and pork come out beautifully juicy, without a trace of overdoneness and now, ha, this recipe shows how wonderful duck can be cooked in the same way. … Continue reading
Vietnamese lemongrass chicken: medicine in a wok
Despite this blog’s positive transformation of my cooking and shopping habits I still have days when I can’t be bothered, usually in the dark of winter when I’m feeling a tad melancholy, or work has been uninspiring or, like tonight, … Continue reading
Posted in Bill's Everyday Asian, Chicken recipes, One pot
Tagged Bill Granger, chicken recipes, fast recipes
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My favourite winter soup recipe: Locatelli’s chickpea and sage
Once you’ve made a soup with the classic base of carrots, celery and onions, it’s very difficult to go back to any other style. I love a creamy soup, and a spicy one but this base makes something better, something … Continue reading
Posted in Made in Italy, Soup recipes, Wheat-free
Tagged chickpea recipes, Giorgio Locatelli, winter soup recipes
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Poached chicken with rice and ginger and spring onion oil
I seem to be a little obsessed with two things right now: poaching meat and the flavours of spring onions, coriander, ginger and garlic. That’s possibly because poaching is simple yet, when you combine it with such herbs and spices, … Continue reading
Glorious, sticky, weeknight pork belly
Yes I know it’s not a lovely photo. But then pork belly, like most cheap cuts of meat, is untidy to look at, a bit lumpen to handle and unlikely to win a beauty contest compared to a fillet steak or … Continue reading
Making Vegetables Sexy: Riverford’s Vegetable App
There has been a lot of chat about vegetarian-only cookery books recently, partly inspired by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s newest offering but also resulting from the financial and ethical requirements of our age: properly bred meat is expensive and who has £14 … Continue reading
Possibly the best, certainly the easiest, biscuit recipe in the world
I first came across a recipe for croquants in Dorie Greenspan’s book and it sounded too good to be true: thrifty, fast, easy. Then in her friend David Lebovitz’s book Ready For Dessert I saw another, but this time in grams … Continue reading
WTF Do I Eat Tonight? 