Tortillitas de camarones

Posted on May 14, 2016 by Louise

There are some foods that are unforgettable and legendary, ones that are marked by time and place in such a way that they stay with you forever. These little fritters are one such legend. I first encountered them on a meandering trip through Spain fifteen years ago in a small town called Sanlúcar de Barrameda, on the Guadalquivir estuary. Most famous for being the only place in the world that makes manzanilla, easily my favourite drink on a summer’s evening, I caught a bus there to try it in situ and, by chance, discovered these at the same time. Great lacy discs of prawns and chickpea flour arrived in a towering pile and I ate as many as I could before I had to catch the last bus back to Jerez.

It took me another fifteen years to find the recipe, in the Morito cookbook and, though the results aren’t quite as perfect as the ones you might find in a rammed bar in a Spanish square, they are really worth your time. Fast, simple, gluten-free (oh yes), they take minutes to make and give, it seems, years of pleasure. Continue reading →

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Bavette: not just for the French

Posted on April 29, 2016 by Louise

A menu fixe steak-frites, usually preceded by salade de chèvre chaud and followed by mousse au chocolat, is probably one of many people’s first experiences of eating out in France. The steak, in most instances, is often bavette, or onglet (more of that another day), a cut which until quite recently was not widely available in the UK, certainly not in supermarkets. But, ah, that is changing; I recently found it on sale in Waitrose and I now know why it is always on those lunchtime menus: it’s so cheap! Continue reading →

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Morito mackerel kebabs

Posted on April 22, 2016 by Louise

The word kebab is often a little tarnished. But, since the Friday-night kebabs of my youth, the reality of what a kebab is, or what is on sale has changed somewhat. Anyone who has tried Greek souvlaki or a Lebanese chicken shawarma will know that a combination of roasted or grilled meat, with a sharp, spicy dressing and a crunchy salad, wrapped in pitta, tortilla or lavash is a great pleasure. And one that is extremely easy to replicate at home. Continue reading →

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How to feel rich for a quid: peanut-sesame noodles

Posted on April 6, 2016 by Louise

There aren’t many foods I miss from childhood, nothing remarkable or special to my family anyway. My grandma’s apple pie, perhaps, because we had it, without fail, every time we went to visit. Tuppence-worth of hot chips on a cold night on the way home from Brownies, because the contrast of temperatures, and the vinegary-saltiness, was so delicious. Lemon and sugar pancakes, on Shrove Tuesday, because we never had pancakes any other day. Not much, then. And it’s rare that I have a Proustian, food-related moment, because none of the food I ate was memorable. Continue reading →

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A midweek treat: broad bean, pea and potato quesadillas

Posted on March 16, 2016 by Louise

The quesadilla, like a sandwich or a kebab, is a fabulously forgiving vehicle. It lends itself to vegetarians, pescatarians or omnivores, it can be eaten simply midweek, as it is, or dressed up with guacamole, salsa and melted cheese at the weekend and if you only have part of a recipe, not all of it, you are still likely to produce something filling and delicious. Continue reading →

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How to eat well, whilst working full-time, in five steps

Posted on March 2, 2016 by Louise

Those who read this blog regularly will know that for most of its existence I have been freelance, working a maximum of four days per week, generally from home. Which has meant that cooking for both the site, and for myself and friends, has been easily achieved whilst working. I would saunter off to the shops when I needed a break, start some bread in the time it took to boil a kettle, and instead of spending forty minutes on the train home, I’d walk two seconds to my fridge and start deciding what to make.

Since January, though, such a sauntering lifestyle has been a memory because I have been back in an office five days per week, out early, home late. And, my, I’d forgotten what a toll that takes on everything else. Suddenly, there are no impromptu trips to the supermarket or the Turkish shop for a missing ingredient, no leisurely recipe-browsing and choosing over lunch and definitely no baking. Cooking has dropped very low down the league of priorities, behind laundry, getting fresh air to offset the air-conditioning (how quickly we stop going out for lunch…) and sleep. So far, I have always cooked when home, and not resorted to things on toast, but only just. This weekend I decided to be a little more organised. Because, in reality, eating well is less about time, more about planning. If you spend a couple of hours thinking about what you will cook, what you already have and what you need, you can avoid the knee-jerk, and often expensive, trip to whichever branch of ‘Local’ is on your way home. Here are my top five tips. Continue reading →

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Saturday night eatin: Meera Sodha’s Howrah Express cinnamon lamb curry

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Louise

A few weeks ago I did something that I don’t do very often: ordered a takeaway. I don’t do this very often because it is a) expensive and b) disappointing. I love the idea of someone delivering my dinner, but unfortunately, once I start eating, it never feels quite like my dinner; generally, it is oversalted, or overcooked; if there are vegetables, they tend to be soggy and if there is rice, it is just the wrong side of dry, with very little taste. At a push, a pizza works, but how often do they arrive hot and crisp, rather than lukewarm and droopy? Continue reading →

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A winter wonder: sticky toffee pudding

Posted on February 5, 2016 by Louise

I don’t often share pudding recipes, probably because I don’t often make them. But what else is winter for, if not pudding? I have made this every month since October and, because winter has been quite rubbish (well, it has for me), I offer it to you as a little treat to get you through to the end of February.

It is such a simple pudding that you can make it even when your guests turn up an hour early, the main course hasn’t been started and you have never made it before…and everyone loves it. You can make it in advance too, and reheat it, but I have never been that organised (see previous sentence…). This recipe, from BBC Good Food, specifies making it in individual moulds but I just tip it into a square (24cm or so) tin, and then cut out large pieces for everyone. If you eat nothing else till the start of spring, you may be a tad undernourished but, my, you’ll be happy.

Pretty as well as delicious!

Pretty as well as delicious!

Continue reading →

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Seven-minute midweek cheese sauce for gnocchi or pasta

Posted on February 3, 2016 by Louise

I have been back at an office 9-5 for four weeks and have, of course, been remembering how very few things are really WTF material. When you’re out all day, commuting for almost two hours, and trying to get life admin (tax return anyone?) done in the evenings, cooking suddenly becomes a luxury.

And, yet, so far, in the last month, time constraints have helped me discover some real gems. In these circumstances, I am driven by two things: the need to use up whatever is in the fridge and, when I can, the desire to make something that will bear a repeat for lunch the next day. This falls into the first category; I always have loads of leftover cheese and cream, and though I can usually find a use for them, I recently came across three recipes on The Wine Society’s website which made me glad I had a fridge-full. The first, a cheese sauce for pasta or gnocchi, made me cheer with delight at its simple, thrifty usefulness. One for the dark nights, when fast, warming food is all you need. Served with gnocchi, this takes seven minutes, including the chopping… Continue reading →

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New year, new you? Don’t you believe it…

Posted on January 15, 2016 by Louise

I was suitably delighted to hear the first dire ‘what not to eat/drink if you don’t want to die’ prediction on last Friday morning’s news: there is no safe alcohol consumption and both men and women should not drink more than 14 units per week (previously men’s limit was higher).

It makes a great headline in January, a month which has now become ‘how-to-flagellate-yourself-every-which-way-month’. I’ve lost count of the number of people I’ve heard and overheard talking about what they are not doing right now; my least favourite was in the supermarket, where a small girl asked her mum why she wasn’t eating bread, as she had just said, in January. The reply? ‘Well, it’s sort of a tradition’. So from, ooh about six years of age, that child will believe, along with many other things, that cutting stuff out of her diet at the beginning of the year is normal behaviour.

I am not going to go on about what a sad culture we have become if that is the case. I’d rather counter it with some fascinating, and much more life-affirming information that may help you interpret these headlines and either take them, pretty much always, with a pinch of salt (unless that’s out too…) or, at least, be prepared to form your own opinion.  Continue reading →

Posted in Tips you won't want to live without | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments