Category: Mike

Who amongst us can truly say that we don’t think the invention of the pie is one of the pinacles of civilisation? The delight in a crisp pastry outer, a tasty and moist filling, and that wonderous inner pastry layer where the filling has soaked into the pastry to...

Aren’t pigs brilliant? Sausages, bacon, pork – is there no end to the wonderous meats this beast produces? I picked up a gammon joint (smoked) in M&S and cooked it for Sunday dinner. It had about 45 minutes, wrapped in foil, at gas mark 5 then another 20 minutes...

There is a simple and humble pleasure to be found in the traditional dishes of an English autumn and/or winter; the comforting combinations – which oft consist simply of meat and potatoes are, perhaps, unparalled in their ability to warm both the soul and stomach. Cottage pie, of course,...

I was beginning to think I didn’t actually like pumpkin: I’d made two kinds of soup with it, both of which proved disappointing; I’d roasted it with other root vegetables and found it watery. I still had a quarter of a small eating pumpkin left and turned to Google...

Stuff White Brits Like, a UK-version of the famed Stuff White People Like website, lists at number 32 “not understanding economics.” Clearly sensitive to such a gap in the market, Madsen has just celebrated the launch of his latest book – Understanding Economics: Economics for non-economists. Perhaps Alan Johnson...

It had been a long day in the Lab, and I wanted something low effort for dinner. So, I peeled and boiled some potatoes and whilst they were cooking started to heat through some of the leftovers my latest roast pheasant – in this case, the scrappy-looking bits of...

I swung by Cambridge’s market late on Saturday afternoon, and decided to buy a brace of pheasants – £7 – from the butcher. It being late, though, he offered both his remaining braces for £10. How could I refuse? Three went in the freezer, one went in to be...

A few miles south east of Cambridge lie the vineyards of Chilford Hall. I’ve had a couple of bottles of their wines knocking around since the Beer Festival when I exchanged my staff beer tokens for wine. The first bottle I opened was the 2009 Blush – made from...

I like veal. There. I said it. Obviously, this makes me a terrible human being who cares not one jot for animal rights. Patently, this isn’t true: I do believe in animal rights. Animals have the right not to be tasty, and in that case I won’t eat them....

It wasn’t the most pleasant of evenings – cold and damp, as these evenings tend to get – and we’d headed for a warming supper at Ask. I’d enjoyed a spicy meaty calzone and my friend had tucked into rigatoni e polpette; both went well with the Montepulciano d’Abruzzo....