Category: Mike

I fancied a quick dessert, but all I had was cherry yoghurt. The obvious solution was, therefore, the Internet! The concept of a microwaveable chocolate pudding/cake has been floating around the blogosphere for a while, and is proving popular in all quarters. This version, however, is slightly different: it’s...

I bought a brace of pheasant on the market some time ago, and froze one. Having defrosted it, and thoroughly washed it, I roasted it and served it with roast potatoes, parsnips, and carrots. I heated the leftovers the next day and enjoyed it with mash, and the scraps...

I like a good risotto, and it’s a good way to use up roast poultry. This one was another chicken risotto. But why brown? We’ll see quite soon. First, I lightly sautéed an onion till it was soft and then added sliced mushrooms and the chopped chicken. Into this...

I’d roasted a chicken and made stock from the carcass, but I’d been slightly slap-dash about it and the stock was far too pale and dilute. So, the next day, I put the majority of the stock, having skimmed the fat off, in a pan to reduce – I...

A year or so ago I bought a book that was the sensation of the food blogging community at the time: Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, although it was only recently that I actually got around to making the bread! The basic principle is to make what...

In Finland, ‘name days’ – a day in a year for a given name, or group of closely related names – are celebrated by many people almost as much as birthdays are. Recently, it was my Finnish lab mate’s name day, and in honour of the occasion I made...

I have a Finnish lab mate, and she’s well aware of my carnivorous diet. On her latest trip home she a brought a present for me: mustamakkara, the Finnish equivalent of black pudding, and its traditional accompaniment of lingonberry jam. I sliced off a chunk of the sausage and...

I bought a hock of pork in Waitrose. Fearnley-Whittingstall doesn’t rate it as worthwhile in his Meat book. I think he’s thinking of a different cut to the Waitrose hock, as mine hadn’t plenty of meat and looked great. I opted to cook it like a lamb shank –...

I picked up a guineafowl at Waitrose – it was reaching the use-by date and, hence, reduced somewhat in price. I opted to roast it – giving it 40 minutes on 200C. I opted for a breast and a little of the leg meet and alongside I served the...

A friend is a by-Fellow at Churchill College and invited us to dine with her. For reasons of politik, whilst we were to enjoy the High Table food, we were to ‘dine below’ – in otherwords, on the undergraduate tables. As part of this, we had to abide by...