Category: Authors

I went to Bank Restaurant in the St James Court Hotel, and ordered their fish and chips. Wow! the fish was gigantic. It was very fresh with really nice crunchy batter, and came with mushy peas and tartare sauce, plus a poke of chips with some skin on them....

The idea came from my BBQ. If I can wrap bacon round medjool dates for devils on horseback, could I put them in a quiche alongside bacon? I made a normal quiche, adding a spoon of bran to the white flour and using goose fat for shortening. In went...

With Autumn in the air, I doubt there’ll be many more barbecues this year. I held two last week, cooking the usual hamburgers and hot dogs, both Frankfurters and Lincolnshire sausages. I made skewers with prawns, onions, mushrooms and green, red and yellow peppers. I also did devils on...

Lunching for my first time at the Institute of Directors, I ordered their smoked chicken starter.  It was excellent with the chicken moist and not over-smoked.  The herb-crusted half egg was done just right, and the blobs of aubergine mousse were a great complement.  A great starter....

The Cambridge Wine Merchants have an area for people to sit and drink wine, with a small range of foods to go with it.  Of their cheeseboard I chose Suffolk Blue, Suffolk Gold and Godmanchester cheddar – all good cheeses.  It was a pleasure to see oatcakes, rather than...

I pre-cooked the bacon in a microwave and cut it into small pieces.  I whisked up two eggs while the pan was heating up with just a tiny amount of butter in it.  When the butter began to turn brown I knew it was hot enough.  In went the...

Flying out on British Airways to Boston via New York, I chose their marscapone ravioli for my main course, and was glad I did so. The pasta was al dente, and the filling delicious. It went down very well with rosé champagne…...

When I visit the Punt Yard in Cambridge’s Quayside, I often seem to order their “Loose Cannon” pizza.  It features tomato sauce, mozzarella, Wiltshire ham, wild mushrooms, olives, oregano, and I always put some chilli oil on it to give it even more spice. It’s a big plateful, and...

I made myself a rather nice frittata. It took 4 eggs, whisked up with half a cup of goats’ milk, two big spoons of yoghurt and some cream. I put in bacon pieces, chopped red and green peppers and onion, plus seasoning. Crucially I lined the oven with a...

A seafood bisque is a creamy stew of crustaceans, typically lobster, langoustines, crab, shrimp and crayfish. It’s a way of using up ones that are imperfect or not considered good enough to market. Typically the crustaceans are sautéed in their shells before being strained and cooked with cream and...