These partridge came from the local butcher, and were tucked in between the pheasant and rabbits. It’s officially autumn. Partridge aren’t as intensely ‘gamey’ as some of the larger birds. The meat is much darker than chicken, but isn’t as strongly flavoured as pheasant. It’s a nice compromise. A game bird for people who don’t [...]
A common Indian, specifically Moghal, technique is to cook a lot of onions separately and add them to a curry dish during the last few minutes of cooking. This has the effect of substantially altering the taste and consistency of the dish…the end product is something of a surprise to the diligent cook who has [...]
This is a very heavy duty chocolate cake…a huge slab of chocolate punctuated with praline and nuts. There is nothing light here, but much to enjoy. A Nigel Slater recipe, from the Observer. Toast 100g of shelled and skinned hazelnuts in a dry pan until golden. Keep the nuts moving – they’ll burn in an [...]
Everybody has a couple of cookbooks that are just a little bit more stained and greasy than the rest, books that have seen more distinguished service than all the others on the shelf. I have two – the distinctly unfashionable Delia’s Complete Cookery Course by Delia Smith, which I grew up with and still refer [...]
Fish pie is universally loved in our house. This version is from Jamie Oliver’s second book, The Return of the Naked Chef, back when Jamie was a cook rather than a moral crusader. A fish pie is well suited to this time of year, when the weather can’t really decide if it’s going to be [...]