Category: Robert

A little petit four

  Still I have an abundance of strawberries and raspberries and I had some cream that needed using up, so I made this little petit four that is imitative of cheesecake but is made with simple whipped cream. Not much to say about this, but isn’t it pretty? I’m...

Calvados and orange soufflé

  Always a challenge to even the most experienced cooks, the soufflé is the perennial wowza of desserts. Light and fluffy, if you can get the sweetness right, the soufflé (a mix of roux and heavenly clouds of beaten egg whites) is absolutely divine. I made this one by adding calvados...

Beet it!

Beetroot, so often a pickled memory from childhood, is in season at the moment and when roasted makes for a lovely side dish: sweet and earthy and without the mildest hint of vinegary tang. When roasting a beetroot I like to cover them in parsley, thyme flowers (which bloom...

‘Croque monsieur’

This is a dish I’m trying out for tomorrow’s dinner. Now, I’m not a great fan of deconstruction for the sake of it. But I am a fan of snappy names for dishes, so while this isn’t strictly speaking a croque monsieur (there’s no bread for a start –...

Cream tea

Today I was supposed to be preparing blueberry caviar for the salade des fruits d’été I shall be serving on Monday as the alternative to the traditional buffet-froid (my guest is not a huge meat fan). However, my local supermarket didn’t have agar agar (necessary for the spherification of the blueberry...

‘Tis the season to be foodie

I know, it is always the season to be foodie. But early summer yields some of my favourite goodies. I am currently doing some of the prep for a full-course birthday dinner I am cooking for a friend on Monday, so I have plenty of tasty bits and bobs...

This isn’t one for the vegetarians…

My apologies for the phone picture. After spending a very long time on this dish I tucked straight in without photographing it. This is my friend Caleb getting a closer look. The dish was lobster thermidor, and we bought this lobster live from a cute little fishmonger on Gloucester...

Smoked haddock with an onion sauce

Sometimes, a simple fish dish is all you need to round off an excellent summery day. This is smoked haddock which I poached in milk. I then removed the fish and added stock, garlic and onions to the cooking liquor and boiled until the onions were soft. Once the...

After living like a monk: FISH!

Hello interwebby world! My apologies for my long absence but recently various composing projects have left me with little time to think of my gut and I have been living off beans on toast, etc. and had nothing of note to report (except the discovery of adding mustard to...

Roast Beef with Port and Dijon Sauce

When staying with friends I think it is only polite to cook. This crossed the line from manners to obsequiousness, though, because it was so absolutely scrummy. I sealed the beef and then roasted it until pink and moist. Then, while it was resting, I set-to making the sauce....