Mr.P and I decided to treat ourselves with this delightful breakfast of fried goose eggs on ‘ Springstep Dairy’ smoked goats cheese potato rostis. Breakfast was a team effort, we work well together….. Mr.P makes the mess and I clean up! That’s a bit of a joke, it’s not always the case we have a good healthy synergy and the best dishes normally appear when we are happy, having a laugh and enjoying ourselves doing what we both do best and that is cooking.

We have never had goose eggs before so it was an experiment as much as a treat, though the eggs  are rather large and filling.

The potato rostis where delicious too, laced with fresh spinach and crumbed smoked goats cheese from Springstep Dairy.

As we sat around the kitchen table assessing our breakfast, eating, drinking coffee and writing notes we both agreed that this dish would not only make a filling breakfast but also be a delightful starter in a pub….note  to ourselves….when we open a place of our own this will definitely feature on the specials menu…..note complete…

Sadly I missed the Wakefield Festival of food, drink and rhubarb on the 26th and 27th of February however I celebrated in my own style by creating this truly remarkable rhubarb and custard pie pudding.

Rhubarb has become one of my favourites, rather odd this as I could never stand it in the past. I suppose my taste  has developed with age and also I am genuinely  interested in rhubarb as it’s a seasonal classic with loads of potential.

The inspiration for this recipe came from Rafael, a Basque Chef. I would  never have picked his book up to read in normal circumstances, however my colleague was having a bit of a clear out in the kitchen and asked if I was interested in the book. Well I had a flick through and bingo!, Chef Rafael had a basque version of a custard apple pie. I noted down the parts of the recipe I liked and made the rest up to suit my style.

It might seem a long winded process to make this upside down pie, hope you trust me enough to give it a go, it’s truly delicious. The pastry and custard both contain a drop of spiced rum which is completely optional and can easily be left out.

This rustic pudding is delicious and will be the perfect perfect pudding to celebrate Mothers day next Sunday.

Oh! the wind is cutting through my bones today! It’s grey, miserable and very wet. Well I know what you must be thinking, there she goes again whingeing about the weather. Well yes that’s true but I’m taking advantage of the cold to cook this absolutely delicious, body and soul warming soup. Well it’s more like stew  as it contains loads of chunky pieces of mushrooms, potatoes and pasta with a rich and soothing broth.

The word Minestrone means ” big soup” made with plenty of chunky vegetables. Minestrone soup forms the cornerstone of Italian cuisine and there is no real set recipe. It’s mainly cooked with whatever vegetables are to hand, with the addition of either pasta or rice but meat is optional.  Well I suppose it all comes down to what leftovers that are available. This kind of recipe is right up my street as our dinners normally consist of whatever needs using up. There is plenty to go round for a few suppers, it’s filling and packed with plenty of flavour.

A few weeks ago I went to Great Garnets Farmers Market held every second Saturday of the month. I was pleasantly surprised as there were plenty of stalls showing off their locally produced wares. The vibe was great as around 500 people flock from near and far with their wicker baskets and recycled bags. You could clearly see which stalls were the most popular as some were nearly done and dusted within a few hours from opening.

It was a lovely sign as the beautiful barn exuded  excitement, as the wicker baskets filled up with various seasonal and local goods. I had a warm fuzzy feeling thinking that people made an effort to drive down the windy bumpy country lane to come to Great Garnets to find local seasonal produce. I believe that this is one of many events round the country supporting local small producers and suppliers. It’s great and made me definitely feel good to contribute and partake.

My best finds of the day were :- this delicious English chorizo made by Sean from The Back Garden in Essex; Coldham Wood Mushrooms; Goose Eggs and Smoked Goats Cheese from Springstep Farm, Maldon Essex; and then the most delicious smoked bacon and award winning sausages from Great Garnets itself. The chorizo, made from the pork produced by Great Garnets,is a tasty dried lightly spiced sausage. It is a great product and can be used in small amounts in plenty of different ways. The chorizo adds a smokey rich flavour to this recipe, however you can substitute it for a more traditional sausage if you do not have chorizo to hand.

I have used Orzo pasta also known as rice pasta. You might find this a unfamiliar ingredient in the UK  however it is widely used and found in Europe and USA. I have known about orzo for quite some time now but I could simply not find it anywhere until fairly recently. It’s good news as we can buy orzo now in the UK , Merchant Gourmet started selling orzo online and some supermarkets stock a small range of their products.

* Ps* I did not forget to use the goose eggs and smoked goats cheese, it will feature in another delicious breakfast recipe very soon….

However it can be an embarrassing time carrying them home. It happened to me once, when without regard I bought some weird and wonderful smelly cheeses in London and then had to make my way home on the train. Well all I need to say is that I had the seat all to myself for the whole journey. It was a bit of an embarrassing situation however once I tucked in this was soon forgotten as the pleasure and enjoyment took over.

There are plenty of cheese shops around but only a few that are run with passion and plenty of’ ‘cheesy’ knowledge. Two of my favourties cheesy establishments in London are Paxton and Whitfield and La Fromagerie. They both stock a wide selection of cheeses from mainland Europe and the United Kingdom. They are definitely the people in the know and are super passionate about cheese. They both have  maturing rooms and dedicated cheese mongers who turn the cheeses daily and they would not release any products for sale unless they are absolutely perfect.

We consume a lot of cheese at home. I love cooking with it and sometimes it’s the perfect partner in crime when I’m simply in the need of doing nothing but relaxing and nibbling something savoury.

My mother used to have this thing about having bread in the house as she always says that if there is not a fresh loaf of bread in the bread bin, then there is no food to eat. I feel the same about cheese. My fridge can be bare but if I have some cheese, then I have food and I can create a wonderful filling and nutritious meal,  a strange superstition!?

Serving cheese as an actual course sometimes is an after thought and some people might think that placing some cheese from the fridge on a plate with a few “tuc” crackers from the cupboard is a problem solved. Well I feel  strongly about giving it plenty of thought. Planning the perfect cheese course to compliment your meal is not to be taken lightly. It’s important to choose the right accompaniments for your chosen cheese. Letting the cheese breathe and come to room temperature is another element in serving the perfect cheese course. Award-winning author Fiona Beckett wrote this wonderful book Fiona Beckett’s Cheese Course in which she tells you how to serve and enjoy all the various cheeses.

I think that the way a cheese course is put together says a million words about a host. For example if you plate the individual slithers of cheese, it could mean that the host is either in a rush to get rid of you or they are counting the pennies.If there is plenty of cheese and is presented on sharing plates it means that the host wants their guests to mingle, chat and be relaxed for hours to come.
Well then there is the debate about when to serve the cheese, before the pudding or after. My personal preference is after the pudding as I like to ponder over the cheese, relax and nibble at leisure.

As most of the regular readers of the British Larder know there is nothing classic or traditional about my cooking. I thrive on twisting and turning recipes to suit my taste and cooking abilities. I suppose one could argue that I feel comfortable as a cook. I believe that cooking is subjective and that there are no rights or wrongs in cookery, well o.k there are certain set rules and formulas that time and time again will deliver the same results. I also believe that one cannot re-invent the wheel and cookery is pretty much like that too, but what we can do is modernize the recipes and good old favourites to prevent them from  becoming …well shall I say extinct”?

I have  Mrs Beeton’s Cook book from 1913 and love it to bits, it’s amazing to read the recipes and some of them have not changed at all, o.k just a few changes to ingredients but that’s about it.

Talking about re-inventions and all that, I have never heard of January King cabbage before. Now I can hear some people screaming at the computer screen asking where have I been all my life?!? Well I only discovered this gorgeous looking cabbage variety at a local farmers market. I love cabbage and its one of those vegetables that has its’ own character when cooked either quickly or slowly braised as per this recipe. I like the buttery flavour and think it adds a unique and  extra deliciousness to my version of a stroganoff.

I have chosen to use beef short ribs,though it was a bit of a struggle to find some at first. Then after chatting to other chefs I found some at Whole Foods Market in London. Cooking meat on the bone keeps the meet moist and adds flavour to the sauce. The short ribs do require an hour and half cooking time but it’s definitely worth the time and effort. The result is a hearty full bodied classic dish.

Last but not least I served my storganoff with a carrot and grain mustard crush, it’s perfect and the slight acidity of the mustard in the carrots sets the stroganoff sauce off beautifully.

This recipe is definitely a treasure and one to consider for a relaxing Saturday afternoon.

It’s mid season for blood oranges and even though they are imported I still think they are pretty special and are one of my personal seasonal favourties. I love the deep red colour and they have a stronger orange taste and more vitamin C than the normal type but have a pleasant hint of redcurrant.

This cake is not for the fainthearted and you must be seriously committed to complete the baking.For me it’s worth every ounce of effort as it’s superbly delicious. Start by soaking the poppy seeds in warm milk, then mix the cake batter by beating the butter, sugar and zest until light, airy and fluffy. Fold in the sifted dry ingredients and finally fold the soaked swollen poppy seeds into the batter.As it takes 1 hour to bake the cake, prepare the blood orange marmalade sauce that is to be spooned over the cake.

Previously I was not fussed in using poppy seeds in cakes as I found them to be too crunchy and it seemed to have a rather bizarre texture. However by soaking the poppy seeds in milk they swell up, become softer and you get a cake with superb layers of flavour, truly memorable.

Whilst baking this cake it took me back to when I was a child, mum used to bake a lemon poppy seed cake and we used to refer to it as the ‘ant cake’, well I suppose the poppy seeds looks like ants!?

This cake  not only makes the perfect slice with a cup of tea but also a pretty special pudding served slightly warm with blood orange sorbet and a dollop of crème fraîche.

This sight is not rare and by no means am I saying that it’s wrong, my theory is that if we mix the “old” with the “new” we end up with spectacular individual and rather wonderful dishes. I loved the way the stall holder marked all his produce, especially where it came from, so I knew exactly that the broccoli was grown locally. Armed with two plump heads of broccoli, round shallots and chillies I wondered off to the next stall.

To be entirely honest it was actually the smell of Colin’s mushrooms, in a good helping of butter,  sizzling in a pan on a tiny camp stove. As it was freezing cold I “snuggled up” to Colin and we started talking about how he grows his mushrooms a few miles up the road. Coldham Wood Mushrooms are grown organically, herbicide and pesticide free. Colin continued to explain how he had grown mushrooms all his life and was still loving it enough to get up at the crack of dawn to stand in front of me to tell me all about it. They grow chestnut, flat cap, oyster and shiitake mushrooms all in his  unique manner. What I liked the most about this conversation was that he is committed to deliver his mushrooms to local businesses, restaurants, pubs, schools and farmers markets. It must be a good thing and certainly I bagged a couple of punnets of Colin’s fresh mushrooms.

As I have sourced local organic mushrooms and broccoli, I need to use as much of it as possible. At home we work really hard to limit the amount of food waste, well there are a few nibbles for the wormery in the garden but we try to minimise  the  contributions to the landfill sites. Hence the use of nearly the whole head of broccoli, florets, stalk and all. It’s interesting to know how delicious the stalk is and it certainly adds an extra  dimension to your final dish.They do not even need to be cooked as it  tastes  just as good raw. The best part is that you end up with nearly a quarter more, in volume, than  if you had only used the florets, a bonus in my eyes.

This dish is versatile and perfect for nearly every occasion; we enjoyed it warm as a side dish to go with slow roasted belly of pork, the left overs were just as delicious for lunch the following day. This recipe will definitely feature at my BBQ table this summer and will be neatly packed into my picnic baskets.

We love a good pancake, there are so many different shapes and techniques but everyone has their own special recipe to enjoy this indulgent and delicious snack.

Today I made fluffy, spongy, sweet and superbly yummy pancakes. I have chosen to make mine fairly small, 6cm in diameter to be precise, well it allows me to be indulgent and they do look rather pretty on a plate. I have served these for breakfast with a large dollop of crème fraîche, a swizzle of local honey and a big squeeze of lime juice.

Actually to be completely honest I did not buy any of the ingredients to make this delicious breakfast, it was more a make it up as you go along idea. In my terms whatever I have in the larder.

I found one lime, plenty of fresh free range eggs, dessicated coconut that I bought a while ago to make lamingtons, which  never got made and then the berries from the freezer. I love my freezer, or shall I say freezers. We have nothing of great value stored in them. Mainly frozen seasonal berries and fruits, ginger, lemongrass, chillies, home made curry pastes, chicken stock and even more berries!

Mr.P’s dad Roy has the most fantastic redcurrant bush that produces more berries than the three households in the family could possibly eat in one season; hence I store them so that we can enjoy them the year round. The same goes for the raspberries, we had a fantastic harvest last summer and finally the last few went into this recipe. The combination of raspberries and redcurrants is one of my favourites, bizarrely they work incredibly well together. I suppose the raspberries counteract the sharpness of the redcurrants and visa versa, I make a stonklingly good Raspberry and Redcurrant Jam that I class as my signature jam.

I hope this recipe will encourage and inspire you to make up your own Shrove Tuesday delight, go on rummage through your larder it’s amazing what one can find. You could make savoury or sweet pancakes or why not go the whole hog and make both!

Happy flipping,but make sure they do not stick to the ceiling!

Last Saturday was no different to my usual ritual when visiting London. Our first stop was Borough market, we arrived just after 9am. First attraction was Monmouth Coffee, you can’t beat the service, coffee and ambiance. I can simply sit there for hours watching the world go by. All walks of life pass through Monmouth,from old, young, market stall holders, rich toffee nose business men, yummy mummy’s to simply Joe blogs and me.

Armed with my shopping list and camera I set off on my rounds,I had to purchase Ras-el-Hanout from the Arabic food company, bread from Rhodes, Chorizo and smoked paprika form Brindisa and Cheese from Mons. Whilst picking up all my goodies and ticking them off my list I have one eye firmly on all the stalls for new season delights such as forced rhubarb, blood oranges and yippe there they were these glorious looking heritage carrots. They caught my eye and I was intrigued. They are organic and therefore not the prettiest carrots on the market but thats what gets me going. They looked rather odd, some were golden yellow, some the standard orange colour and then a few purple ones. These are not completely purple all the away through as the centre is still orange but it’s different and interesting enough for me.

After the visit to Borough market we set off to Portobello Market to visit their British Root Vegetable Festival. We had a quick stop at the Whole Foods Market on High Street Kensington to get short beef ribs, which for some bizarre reason I cannot find anywhere else.Then it was time to head home.

The journey home normally consists of a reflection of how the day went, what the most interesting foodie items were and writing a list of recipes and dishes that we are going to cook the following day.

It’s a  full day trip and a really enjoyable experience every time we want to go to London but we love it. The following day normally is one of  frantic activity,at first cooking and baking, then devouring and enjoying the fabulous food that we found the previous day. This roasted heritage carrot soup was just the perfect dish to soothe tired bodies and sore feet.

This recipe is my contribution in raising awareness of the fantastic culture and culinary contributions that India has brought to the world. Makhani Dal means butter lentil dal, cooked slowly laced with full bodied spices,not necessarily highlighting the heat of the spices but the fragrance and aroma that they bring to a dish.

To finish my two lentil Makhani Dal dish off, I made freshly baked Peswahir naan breads, this is my own fusion of Indian cuisine.

I like lentils and I am using them more and more in my cooking. They are packed with protein and I do not necessarily have to use meat to make a nutritious and filling meal. There are so many different variety of lentils available on the market, I have used green and black lentils for this dish as I wanted  to retain their shape once cooked. I also use green lentils in a variation of rice dishes,whilst red lentils, which normally cook to a soft texture, are perfect for soups and as a thickener for curries and stews.

This dish has become a favourite on our weekend dinner table,  as it  takes time to prepare and cook but for me it’s a labour of love. It’s satisfying due to the buttery richness and more so  if Mr.P makes pleasing noises when he enjoys this dish. He normally goes back for seconds which is his seal of approval.

The Peswari naans are delicious, salty sweet, packed with golden sultanas, coconut and almonds. I have produced two methods, one for making this delicious naan breads in the Themromix if you are lucky enough to have one and an alternative for  the conventional way. Either way is great and there is no difference in the end results. I brushed the warm naan breads with melted ghee or butter and honey once they are cooked. You might find it strange that I cook these naan breads under the grill, but  as they are thin they do not need to go into the oven.The grill is perfect for baking these naans.

I used ghee instead of butter as I wanted to try and remain fairly traditional in the making and more importantly the flavour that it would provide. If you cannot find ghee in your local stores then unsalted butter will be a perfect substitute. Ghee is clarified butter made from unsalted butter by slowly boiling it over very low heat until all the water has evaporated and then the liquid – clarified butter is carefully separated from the proteins that have settled at the bottom of the pan. The result is a clarified butter with a higher burning point and also it could be stored for much longer  before it deteriorates. It all makes sense why ghee is popular in Indian and Sout East Asian cuisine as most of those individuals do not have refrigerators to keep their foods chilled hence the convenience of ghee. The taste does differ as it  depends on the quality and type of butter used to make the ghee, my theory is that the more expensive the ghee, the better the quality.