Recipes
Jersey royal potatoes with peas, wild garlic and crème fraîche
A recipe for one of my favourite ingredients (potatoes) from one of my favourite restaurants, Root in Bristol, whose chef, Rob Howell has written a glorious cookbook of their food which is basically vegetable-based without being wholly veggie.
Spring vegetable tart with mustard cream and watercress
If you're looking for an impressive vegetarian centrepiece to a spring meal this lovely light recipe from Signe Johansen's and Peter's Yard's book Smörgåsbord, is perfect though if you serve it on its own I think it would probably only feed 4-6! (Only 4 in my family!)
Romy Gill's lamb harissa
One of the most beautiful and original books that has been published recently is Romy Gill's On the Himalayan Trail which focusses on the food of Kashmir and Ladakh. Here's her recipe for lamb harissa which - surely a bonus for meateaters - is commonly garnished with a sheekh kebab. I also like the idea it's a brunch dish!
Potato boulangère
There are few totally new recipes but sometimes just thinking of one in a different way as Joe Woodhouse has done with his gorgeously crispy potato boulangère in his inspiring new book Your Daily Veg takes them to another level.
James Martin's chocolate and hazelnut choux buns
I love the idea of a whole book devoted to butter, surely one of the most underrated and maligned ingredients, so congrats to TV chef James Martin for pulling it off. There are so many recipes that appeal to me but this indulgent take on profiteroles has a real wow factor.
Olive oil pistachio and lemon snack cake
Not being much of a baker I totally buy into the 'one tin bake' idea especially when the recipe comes from the wonderful Edd Kimber. This is from his latest book One Tin Bakes Easy and I absolutely love the combination of flavours.
Dublin coddle
If you're wondering what to prepare to celebrate St Patrick's Day, Coddle could be the answer. Here's the version from J P McMahon's magnificent new The Irish Cookbook.
Pizza by any other name
What to eat on a Sunday night when you've been out for the day and everyone suddenly wants supper? Rosie Sykes addresses just this issue in her delightful Sunday Night Book which was published in 2017.
Nokx Majozi’s Fish Curry and Pumpkin Maize Meal
There are so many good recipes in The Female Chef, a compilation of favourite recipes from Britain’s leading women cooks that it’s hard to pick out just one but here’s one from a chef I really admire, Nokx Majozi of the Holborn Dining Room. Nokx is famous for her pies but this is a family recipe from her homeland of South Africa.
Layered sweet and sour beef stew (Lah'meh Fil Meh'leh)
So many cookbooks these days have similar dishes that it's great to come across one that includes recipes you won't find elsewhere. That's absolutely the case with Eat Share Love a collection of recipes and stories from the home cooks of Bristol's 91 language communities collated by food writer and campaigner Kalpna Woolf.
-david-loftus.jpg)
Burmese Mango Salad with Peanut and Lime
I've loved all of Meera Sodha's books but her new one, East, which includes vegetarian and vegan recipes from the Indian sub-continent to the far east may be the best yet. And I love the zingy fresh flavours of this mango salad.
Scallop Ceviche
If you're looking for an impressive dish for Valentine's Day try this delicious scallop ceviche from Rick and Katie Toogood's Prawn on the Lawn: Fish and Seafood to Share. (It feeds 4 but I'm sure you can manage it between you!)
Harak Osbao (lentils and pasta with tamarind, sumac and pomegranate)
This is one of Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi's contributions to Cook for Syria a brilliant fund-raising book of middle-eastern inspired recipes from top food writers which was conceived and curated last year by instagrammer Clerkenwell Boy*.
Chocolate, banana and hazelnut galette
If you're a chocolate-lover - or buying a present for one - you're going to want to get your hands on a copy of Sue Quinn's The Little Chocolate Cookbook which is full of really original and delicious recipes including this chocolate, banana and hazelnut galette.
Steamed sea bass with ginger and spring onion/Qing zheng lu yu 清蒸鱸魚
One of the simplest Chinese recipes but a perfect one for the Chinese new year according to cookery writer Fuchsia Dunlop, author of the brllliant Every Grain of Rice
Chipotle-spiced black bean soup
Pulse-based soups like this black bean soup are super-comforting and warming in chilly weather. I rustled it up to use a batch of black beans my neighbour Jenny Chandler had given me and wouldn’t claim for a moment it's authentic but it is good!
Cullen skink (smoked haddock and leek chowder)
If you can't face the thought of haggis on Burns' Night how about a warming bowl of deliciously creamy cullen skink - the Scots' answer to chowder?
Parsnip, Miso, Oat and Shallot Boulangère
A gorgeously hearty, warming vegetable-based dish from Gizzi Erskine's inspiring book Restore which is full of and advice on how to eat ethically and seasonally.
Best ever seville orange marmalade
I’m not a great one for ‘the perfect this’ or ‘the perfect that’ in recipes but if you’re a marmalade aficionado I promise you this is as good as it gets. Intensely fruity, thick and sharply flavoured.
Fromage fort
If you’ve been doing your duty by British cheesemakers you may well have a few odd pieces lurking in your fridge you couldn’t bring yourself to throw away and which are now past their best.
RSSNever miss a post!
Most popular
9 fine wine matches for duck
My latest book
How to Drink without DrinkingWine basics
How to pair wine with fishFood & wine pros
What makes a vino da meditazione?
About Fiona
Events and appearances
Work with me
