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By Anna, 19 July, 2010 1:12 pm

Now, I know and you know that this is an odd recipe to share in the height of a very warm Summer, but there is method to my madness.
1. We had had a salad week – that is, one piece of protein and lots of salad. I wanted something filling, darn it.
2. I fancied a substantial pudding but couldn’t bear the thought of an oven blasting away.
3. I saw a pot of tres posh ‘made-with-the-eggs-of-a-golden-hen-and-milk-from-the-Queen’s-cow-and-a-pod-of-vanilla-plucked-by-a-tame-cheetah’ custard and it was cheap. If someone else had bought it, they might have poured it over something horrible.
4. I had a dreg of raspberry jam in the bottom of the jar and the jar was annoying me in the fridge. It kept getting in the way. It even fell out of the fridge that morning, so its fate was sealed.

So, actually, this is an extremely sensible recipe for the height of Summer because it takes moments to make, doesn’t require an oven or hob and is jolly nice to eat after endless days of what is essentially the ritual munching of humans on glorified grass otherwise famed as ‘seasonal eating’. Seriously, I am this close to going off beetroot again. Don’t even talk to me about feta.

If you cannot stand the thought of eating a hot pudding in this weather, then be kind to yourself and print it out for Autumn. Having such a quick option for a pudding that usually takes hours to steam is invaluable.
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By Anna, 20 October, 2009 4:10 pm

Liquid Autumn.

Warming, vaguely sweet, easy and delicious. My butternut squash cost me £1 and I have a saucepan full of soup that will freeze well, so I should have added economical to its list of attributes.

Continue reading 'Butternut Squash Soup'»

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By Anna, 17 October, 2009 7:14 pm

I’ll admit, my cheese sauce is nearer cheese fondue than cheese sauce, but I reckon that cheese sauce needs to taste of cheese, not hint at it. Unless macaroni cheese tastes of cheese, I see no point in making it. None at all. In fact, I’m getting twitchy at the thought of it.

There’s only one thing better than macaroni cheese and that’s macaroni cheese with bacon in it. Walk this way…

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By Anna, 25 September, 2009 2:45 pm

We love celery soup. Celery is a fine thing; tall, proud and distinctive tasting, but heat mellows it, rounds the edges, seduces the non-celery lover into a helpless admirer. Marvellous. Neither Ian nor Alex are fans of raw celery, but they both love this soup. Really, they LOVE it. What’s even better? It couldn’t be easier to make.

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By Anna, 8 September, 2009 8:58 pm

I so nearly called this Pig, Pea and Parmesan Pappardelle – in the interests of alliteration, of course – but to give it a comedy title would detract from this quick, easy and utterly delicious pasta recipe.

Pappardelle is an odd one, in my opinion. All pasta has the potential to be very filling, but pappardelle takes that to new heights; therefore, I urge you not to give each person 100g dried pasta as a portion – well, of course you can, but expect to have some left uneaten. Pasta, bacon, sweet peas (peas that are sweet, not the flowers – that might be all aroma and no flavour), parmesan and wilting, peppery watercress, bound together by creme fraiche. Let’s get to it.

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