This is so simple that it hardly warrants a whole post. Whizz one up if you want to add zing and a pop of colour to all sorts of puddings: chocolate roulade, meringues with fruit and cream, even a lemon tart. Ingredients400g raspberries1 tbsp lemon juice3 tbsp icing sugar Method Put all the ingredients inContinue reading “Raspberry coulis”
Category Archives: Quick and Zippy
Scrambled harissa tofu
Even when we’re not conducting a flirtation with veganism, I like to wheel this out for a weekend brunch. A delicious alternative to eggs, it might be considered a ‘Gen Z rántotta’, because it recalls the paprika-spiced scrambled egg-and-onion dish Babú would cook on those rare occasions when family supper was left up to him.Continue reading “Scrambled harissa tofu”
Moules Marinières
Google this dish and you’ll get a competing array of recipes claiming to be ‘the best’, ‘original’ or ‘the real sailors’ version’. Really, it’s up to you whether you use onions or shallots, add a leek or some lemon zest and finish with butter, cream or crème fraîche. The essential elements are a large pileContinue reading “Moules Marinières”
Eton mess
This is a pudding redolent of summer and incredibly easy to make. You can buy your meringues ready-made or whip up your own with any spare egg whites hanging around (from making hollandaise sauce or mayonnaise or custard, say). There are all sorts of meringue recipes out there and I’m not claiming my version belowContinue reading “Eton mess”
Courgettes, courgettes
Courgettes (or zucchini) are wonderfully versatile vegetables. Cheap and quick to prepare, they can be served as a side dish or beefed up to make a main meal in themselves, and they go well with an array of herbs and spices from all sorts of cuisines. The recipes and pictures below are a mere selection,Continue reading “Courgettes, courgettes”
Omelette wraps
Nadiya Hussain is one of my cooking heroes: she’s a devoted mother, darling of Bake Off, and has done much to destigmatize mental health issues. A couple of years ago she demonstrated a recipe for egg and mushroom rolls on TV – basically a thin omelette fused to a tortilla wrap and filled with whateverContinue reading “Omelette wraps”
Wiener schnitzel
Since you can all make it on autopilot, you don’t really need a recipe for Wiener schnitzel, so my introduction today is going off-piste into linguistic territory. A schnitzel is a thin, breaded, fried cutlet traditionally made from veal; the ‘Wiener’ part means ‘from Vienna’. In Hungary they call the dish Bécsi szelet, Bécs beingContinue reading “Wiener schnitzel”
Lemon pasta
After the excesses and complexities of Easter, here is something very straightforward. Spaghetti al limone is another deliciously simple recipe from the first River Café Cookbook (see slow-cooked lamb shanks), easy to rustle up from limited ingredients. It makes a great starter for an Italian meal or a quick supper dish, served with a tomatoContinue reading “Lemon pasta”
Thai prawn curry
Back when we were in living in Tarleton Gardens, your father and I had a brief flirtation with Ian Marber’s Food Doctor Diet. Like all ‘diets’ the restrictions proved unsustainable in the long term, but one of Marber’s recipes took root. This green Thai curry, originally a recipe for monkfish, is a vehicle for allContinue reading “Thai prawn curry”
Pesto
Like vinaigrette, mayonnaise or hollandaise, pesto is a sauce you ought to be able to sling together on autopilot. The traditional Genoese version demands a lot of patient pounding with a large mortar and pestle, so use an electric blender instead to produce a vibrant, versatile paste in just seconds. The quantities below are approximateContinue reading “Pesto”
Years of Practice 