All Recipes

Slow-cooked pork shoulder in Somerset cider, with sweet apples, fennel and mustard There are recipes you plan days in advance, and then there are the ones that happen because you've got a pork shoulder in the fridge and a bottle of cider sitting on the worktop. This was one of those. I'd been making chutney, which left me with cider, and suddenly the idea of putting that cider into a slow-cooked pork shoulder seemed far more sensible than drinking it while I decided what to d

There are certain combinations that arrive in your kitchen and make you stop for a minute. Greengages and gooseberries were one of those ... Sweet, fragrant greengages on one side, sharp little gooseberries on the other, and suddenly I was wondering what would happen if I stopped thinking about them as two separate fruits and let them get themselves into a little bit of trouble together ... The answer, as it turns out, is chutney, and not just any chutney ... This is a Hot Gr

Now, I know that technically, there is no such thing as blackberry cassis ... Cassis is traditionally made from blackcurrants, and I am perfectly aware that blackberries are not blackcurrants. But I rather like the romance of it. Blackberry liqueur sounds like a perfectly sensible name for Blackberry Vodka, but Blackberry Cassis sounds darker somehow. A little more mysterious. Like something you might find in an old Somerset kitchen, written in faded ink in the back of a rec

I gather you all here today to discuss something on a rather serious note... It has come to my attention that there are people out there, such as myself, suffering from a little-known condition known as CGGOC – Courgette Glut Growers Overload Circumstance. The symptoms are actually very well documented. Sufferers are often left overwhelmed and bewildered as they stare into a fridge drawer full of courgettes wondering what on earth they are going to cook next. In the early sta

Sometimes the best recipes are the ones you never meant to make ... This tart was supposed to be an almond-based apple crumble tart with a Mascarpone and cream cheese filling. It was a perfectly straightforward plan, or so I thought! ... Instead, I went to the super in a thunderstorm, waded barefoot through a flooded car park to rescue my car, forgot the ground almonds I had actually gone to supermarket to buy, and ended up making this ... But this is recipe is proof that so

Nature's Larder It's about this time of year in Somerset that Bramley apples have a habit of appearing on doorsteps .. less cherry knocking, more apple knocking. You certainly can't walk through a Somerset village at this time of year without tripping over a box of Bramley apples. Left hopefully outside a gate with a little handwritten note inviting you to take a few, they're one of my favourite signs that the seasons are beginning to shift. This hearty potato salad is my wa

Some recipes begin with a shopping list ...This one began with a bucket of blackberries. The sort that arrive in a neighbour's hand with a smile and the words, "I thought you might like these." The sort that stain your fingertips purple before you've even reached the kitchen .. and those very blackberries became a delicious homemade curd, rich with a gentle sharpness and gloriously jewel coloured ( When Life Gives You Blackberries ... Make Blackberry Curd.) Generously spooned

A refreshing taste of summer beneath the apple trees ... There are some places that quietly become part of your story. For us, Wady's Cider Orchard and Taproom is one of them. On warm summer afternoons, it's one of our favourite places to escape for an hour or two. Sitting beneath the apple trees with a chilled drink in hand, watching the light filter through the orchard, you can't help but slow down. There's something wonderfully simple about it all ... the scent of apples

They say when life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade ... But every now and then, life has other plans ... Not long ago, I mentioned to my husband that we really ought to go blackberry picking. I had a craving to make a blackberry curd and imagined an afternoon spent wandering the hedgerows, returning home with purple-stained fingers and enough berries to fill a basket. About twenty minutes later, there was a quiet knock at the door, and on the doorstep sat a generous

A crisp caramel brittle for scattering over ice cream, cakes and puddings. There always seems to be a handful of nuts left in the cupboard. Half a packet of hazelnuts, a few lonely walnuts, the last spoonful of pumpkin seeds. Not quite enough of anything to make a recipe ... but together? They're perfect for nut brittle. This is one of those wonderfully forgiving recipes that changes every time you make it. Use whatever nuts and seeds need using up, provided they roughly fil

A rich no-churn ice cream with toasted brown butter, a splash of bourbon, maple syrup and homemade brittle. There are recipes you set out to make ... and then there are recipes that simply appear because your curiosity gets the better of you. This one began with a pan of butter, not for toast, not for baking. Just because I wanted to watch it transform. As it melted, the butter slowly turned from pale yellow to liquid gold. Tiny milk solids settled on the bottom of the pan

The Black Nebula Spritz ... An elegant aperitif inspired by a heritage carrot, an old family recipe and a neighbour's garden. Some recipes begin with a carefully planned shopping list, The Black Nebula Spritz begin with a message from a neighbour ... Whenever Beverley invites me round to try something from her garden, I know I'm in for something a little out of the ordinary. This week, she shared a photograph of freshly pulled Black Nebula carrots on Facebook and casually ann

A silky tomato soup made with cupboard staples ... There are recipes that are planned for days, and then there are recipes that appear because it's lunchtime, you're hungry, and the cupboard happens to be well stocked. This Creamy Vegan Tomato & Butter Bean Soup belongs firmly in the second category. A tin of tomatoes. A tin of butter beans. A squeeze of tomato purée, a sprinkle of smoked paprika, a generous shake of spicy garlic Italian seasoning and enough vegetable stock

A Somerset Fairy Tale (With a Cocktail at the End) Are you sitting comfortably? Then we shall begin... Every fairy tale contains an element of truth. As with all stories handed down through the years, however, they have a habit of acquiring a little extra sparkle in the retelling. Such is the tale of the Fig Leaf & Gooseberry Spritz. And like every good story ... Every recipe has a beginning. Sometimes it's a scribbled idea in a notebook. Sometimes it's inspired by a memora

The drink I nearly didn't make ... This drink almost never existed, but then ... While making my Blackberry & Mangelwurzel Jelly ( Deliciously Unique Blackberry and Mangelwurzel Jelly Recipe to Try ), I found myself standing over a pan of the most beautiful ruby-red juice I'd ever made. It seemed almost criminal to watch every last drop disappear into the preserving pan. So I quietly poured 100ml into a jug. No plan. No recipe. Just curiosity. What followed was one of those

How an old-fashioned root vegetable became my favourite preserve of the summer ... Some recipes arrive with months of planning. Others arrive in the hands of a neighbour carrying a rather extraordinary vegetable. When I was given mangelwurzels ahead of village Mangelwurzel celebrations, I'll admit I wasn't entirely sure where to begin. Most people know them as livestock feed, not something destined for toast or afternoon tea. But curiosity has always been my favourite ingre

"Sometimes the best recipes begin before you've even stepped into the kitchen." When I arrived to collect a basket of mangelwurzels for our village's Great Polden Mangelwurzel Off, they were spread out across the lawn waiting to be admired. Some were red, some golden yellow, all wonderfully wonky and full of character. Standing there, I expected to be planning soups, salads or something savoury. Instead, my first thought was... Orange. White chocolate. Hazelnuts. I couldn't e

"Sometimes the most interesting ingredients aren't the ones shouting the loudest." When I first brought home a basket of mangelwurzels for our village's Great Polden Mangelwurzel Off, I have to admit, I was a little underwhelmed. They weren't the jewel-like reds of beetroot or the sunshine yellows of squash I'd imagined. They were... quiet. My first instinct was to chase colour. How could I brighten them? Should I add the red stems? The leaves? More herbs? More drama? Then,

This Italian Sausage Kale and Tortellini Soup is hearty, comforting and apparently capable of converting kale sceptics ... There are some recipes that receive a warm reception when they arrive at the table. This was not one of them ... When I announced that dinner was Italian Sausage, Kale & Tortellini Soup, my husband looked deeply suspicious. He has long suspected that many of my recipes are simply elaborate vehicles for getting more kale onto the table ... To be fair, he i

Fig Kale & Goat's Cheese Salad ... A salad that proves leafy greens can be the star of the table There are some recipes that are planned meticulously, and others that come together because a few good ingredients happen to cross paths at the right moment. This salad falls firmly into the second category. The idea began with fresh figs and a bunch of kale that needed using. The addition of creamy goat's cheese felt obvious, but it was the savoury granola that transformed it fro