Our holidays with the Taylor family – in Provence, Norfolk and Dorset – are particularly memorable for the food we’ve eaten: sausages and lentils, crab linguine, barbecued mackerel freshly fished by Hugh F-W and, in April 2009, this gorgeous spring lamb with haricot beans and rosemary lemon gravy. I brought the lamb and the recipeContinue reading “Easter Lamb”
Tag Archives: Mother Rach
Thai beef salad
This meets the qualification for inclusion because it has gone down a storm on the three occasions I’ve made it: first at The Ridge one Boxing Day (maybe 15 years ago); then last year, mid-pandemic, at Granny’s flat in Putney; and, most recently, to celebrate the February birthdays in 2021. My go-to recipe comes fromContinue reading “Thai beef salad”
Hot citrus pudding
The television series that accompanied the publication of Delia Smith’s Winter Cookbook in the 90s made a big splash and inspired a number of family meals that have stood the test of time (Colcannon potatoes and Mushroom risotto being two examples). This excellent hot pudding quickly became a favourite for Sunday lunch. Full of freshContinue reading “Hot citrus pudding”
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”
Apple sauce
An essential accompaniment to roast pork or goose, apple sauce is incredibly simple to make and will keep for at least a week in the fridge, for eating with leftovers. Make sure you’re armed with a lemon to stop the apples from browning once they’re peeled and cut. The quantities here are approximate: feel freeContinue reading “Apple sauce”
Aubergine steaks
A long-standing regular on the weekly menu, this recipe makes a great meat-free supper dish, substantial enough to justify the description ‘steak’. I came across it in Marie Claire magazine in the early 1990s, when I was in a five-year vegetarian phase that ended decisively over a dish of beef carpaccio, at Woz in NottingContinue reading “Aubergine steaks”
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”
Beef & almond curry
Madhur Jaffrey (yes, her again) traces the ancestry of this dish to the Persian shahi korma, lamb cubes smothered in a rich almond and cream sauce. We enjoy Jaffrey’s version with beef, although you can use lamb if you prefer – but you have a lamb dhansak recipe already in the archive. This can beContinue reading “Beef & almond curry”
Pancakes galore
Children’s birthdays chez Collier are celebrated with pancakes for breakfast. We owe this idiosyncratic tradition to the cycle of the moon, its influence upon the religious calendar, and the births of Louis and Rosa just two days (and three years) apart in mid-February: Shrove Tuesday regularly coincides with one of these birthdays. To deflect accusationsContinue reading “Pancakes galore”
White chocolate cardamom mousse
If, after making hollandaise or mayonnaise or custard, you’re looking for a use for leftover egg whites, look no further than this rich, aromatic mousse. The recipe is from Nigel Slater’s Real Food (the same source as lemon chicken), which has a whole chapter devoted to chocolate. Slater insists that only the best quality whiteContinue reading “White chocolate cardamom mousse”
Years of Practice 