Category: Authors

Hard cheese

I like most cheeses and eat more of the stuff than is good for me. I like the English hard cheeses, and was pleased to see them making a comeback. Their sales were reported up last year, at the expense of some foreign ones. Alain Guilpain, Tesco’s cheese buyer,...

Cheap as chips, but more healthful

Breakfast this morning consisted of two Weetabix, of which I am quite fond, with some semi-skimmed milk. Lunch was a sandwich from Boots in Charing Cross station. I normally stay away from packaged sandwiches, as they’re almost always full of junk, but I was en route to a meeting...

Roast beef on St George’s day

Sunday April 23rd St George’s Day. Somehow my usual porage with maple syrup (first breakfast) and croissant with cheese and blueberry jam (second breakfast) didn’t seem to do it justice. I found a place with roast beef and Yorkshire pudding on the lunch menu. It was M A Potter’s,...

Pasta with cupboard clam sauce

For Sunday lunch, I made pasta with clam sauce. I’d never cooked with clams before; in fact, I’m not 100 per cent positive I had ever eaten clams before this afternoon. Something to do with having grown up on the beach and being sickened by the quivering wet masses...

Skinny cows and those who love them

Tonight I tried to make a curry that would approximate chicken tikka masala, yet another glorious product of British imperialism. Except I was trying to be a bit healthy about it, so didn’t want to use any oil or cream or coconut milk in the production. While I managed...

Trout, chicken, apples, brambles

Saturday April 22nd The meal started with maple-smoked trout, for which I made a whisky-based horseradish sauce. For the main course I roasted chicken legs the easy way, by wrapping them in greased foil and cooking for about 35 minutes in a hot oven, then opening the foil for...

Venison burgers and Byzantine chanting

Friday April 21st The barbecue went well. Cambridge was prickling with light rain as it started, but we guessed correctly that it wouldn’t last. This time there were jumbo franks, and instead of the rather doughy finger buns, we used fresher and lighter mini-sub rolls. Once again, French’s mustard...

Reclaiming the kitchen with Nigella

I was working from home today, which meant that I had an experience which is (lately) unusual for me: cooking, and not once, but twice. I love to cook, but with crazy working hours and a mother-in-law-to-be who loves to feed us, I haven’t done much of it for...

Meat Pie

Yesterday I made a meat pie. Minced beef and onion. It seemed a little plain and without alot of taste, it was the first savoury pie I have made so hopefully the next one will sort out those problems.  I am currently eating an apple crumble which is delicious....

Mustard cheese?

Some Arran cheese came yesterday. It always tastes good, especially if you eat it with Arran traditional oven-baked oatcakes. I wasn’t entirely sure about this one, though. From the Island Cheese Company, it is an Arran Mustard Cheddar, described as A classic combination of traditional Scottish medium mature cheddar...