Throughout our lives we may move around but wherever we live there are hopefully things we remember with fondness – maybe it’s a friendly bunch of neighbours, the local pub that keeps superb ale, that place on the corner that makes sensational sandwiches or a take-away where your order is placed before you’re through the… Continue reading A love letter to all the butchers I have known…
I’ve got a confession to make – I don’t eat pancakes very often. But, on Shrove Tuesday, it always seems criminal not to. And, each year, the tradition is the same, a batch of paper thin, crispy crepes suzette are sizzled on the hob and kept warm in the oven before lashings of lemon juice… Continue reading Shrove Tuesday…
In my latest attempt to cook my way through the food days that are scattered across the year, I took on National Pizza Day – yes, there is such a thing, who’d have thought! I love a pizza – what’s not to love about a crispy thin base, a rich sweet tomato sauce (with a hint… Continue reading An excuse for pizza (if any was needed)…
As part of my quest to cook through the myriad of food and drink days that pepper the year, last night I took on Chinese New Year. Not so much a dedicated food day as a worldwide celebration, but excuse enough, if any was needed, to cook Chinese food. I think I was far too ambitious. It must be… Continue reading Chinese New Year…
I recently started looking into our national and international food and drink days – there are many. It came about in January when friends from South Africa were visiting. On the Sunday of their stay they wanted to eat roast beef and Yorkshire puddings in an English pub. Now, having our own cattle we were… Continue reading British Yorkshire Pudding Day…
For me, the festive period always offers up the opportunity to cook and bake dishes that only seem apt at Christmas. In turn this means there is always too much good food in a relatively short period of time! Too many mince pies, sausage rolls, stollen, lebkuchen, Christmas cake, Christmas pudding and ham, to name but a… Continue reading Reviewing the year in food…
For the past few months I have been ever-so-slightly glued to watching the institution that is the Great British Bake Off. As this most recent series unfolded I took to recreating each and every technical challenge that the contestants were set – one a week for ten weeks. Now, I love to cook, but I’ve never really been much… Continue reading A Great British challenge…
Well, what an experience that was… A few months ago I decided to put myself forward for the Norfolk Home Chef of the Year award which is part of the Norfolk Food & Drink Awards. Looking back, it was a rather brave move for me, but I did it out of a love of cooking. I… Continue reading Norfolk Home Chef of the Year…
A few weeks ago I harvested a large number of cucumbers from the greenhouse. I was thinking about what I could use them for, aside from salads and pickles, when it suddenly occurred to me that the crisp, clean flavour would lend itself well to an ice cream. My thinking was inspired by a grapefruit and basil ice cream… Continue reading Cucumber ice cream, really?
I was born and raised in Cromer and, for a few years, regularly went out to sea from the town to fish for crab and lobster – so cooking with crab is second nature to me. Each year I’m overjoyed (no exaggeration) when the crab season starts and I make sure I stock up the freezer with crustacea to last… Continue reading Cooking with Cromer crab (and a recipe for crab ravioli)…
