Thursday 17 December 2009
What are you doing for Christmas?
Thursday 24 September 2009
Borough Market - What's Its Future...?
Wednesday 16 September 2009
Carnivores vs Vegetarians - What do you think?
Friday 11 September 2009
The Food Lovers have spoken...
Friday 14 August 2009
Recommened Reads
Monday 15 June 2009
STOP PRESS: CherryBake
Friday 5 June 2009
Monday 1 June 2009
Home-Grown Harvests - It's all over
Thursday 21 May 2009
Henrietta on Radio 4 - The Deighton File
Home Grown Harvests - the rocket is taking over...
Tuesday 12 May 2009
Home Grown Harvests - it's still hard
Friday 24 April 2009
Home Grown Harvest - The Hard Way
Wednesday 22 April 2009
Home Grown Harvest - The Hard Way
Friday 17 April 2009
Home-Grown Harvests - the hard way
Wednesday 25 March 2009
Recommended Reads
Essence & Dessert by David Everitt-Matthias
Essence and Dessert are proper chef’s books filled with recipes from David Everitt-Matthias’ Cheltenham restaurant Le Champignon Sauvage. What makes them such a refreshing change to the horde of books brought out by the TV personality chefs is that there is no dumbing down. The recipes are exactly as you will find at the restaurant. In Everitt-Matthias’ case, this is particularly exciting since the recipes in question are just about as dynamic as they come. Though a look through the index did initially make me think that recipes may have been created with the specific intention of being unnecessarily quirky and different, the excitement soon regained control. The array of ingredients, many of them wildfoods such as silverweed and woodruff, which are used is enthralling – and Essence’s glossary of these less common ingredients and the accompanying suppliers list makes a useful reference tool as well as an aide to the recipes. The dishes themselves are equally intriguing. Ingredients are used in ways you would not imagine – and surely that is what a cookbook should do, inspire you to think of things that you wouldn’t otherwise. Everitt-Matthais plays with taste, texture and presentation, as well as our preconceived ideas of sweet and savoury. Dessert in particular does this with puddings including Jerusalem artichoke cheesecake, beetroot parfait and a swiss chard tart – all of which are high up on my list of must-try recipes. Though perhaps not ideal for beginner cooks, the recipes themselves are less complex than you might imagine. Split into their constituent sections, they are time consuming and protruded but very doable. The way they are broken down also means that they can be adapted easily to suit what you’re cooking. Accompaniments such as jellies, sorbets & sauces can be mixed and matched as desired or even made as stand-alones. If you’re as interested in different ingredients and flavour combinations as I am, then these books are must haves.
Monday 23 March 2009
Recommended Reads
Wednesday 18 March 2009
The Office Snacks
Tuesday 17 March 2009
ITV1's Taste the Nation
Wednesday 25 February 2009
Recommended Reads
Monday 2 February 2009
We Are The Champions
Friday 23 January 2009
Book Reviews
Thursday 22 January 2009
Taking Part In The Sourdough Challenge
Tuesday 20 January 2009
BEN'S SOURDOUGH CHALLENGE
Monday 19 January 2009
No gluten free bread yet...
- I left my scales at the office from when we created the sourdough starter.
- I bought some new scales (for their bigger capacity, honest) but they were rubbish, barely registering ingredients as I lobbed them in.
- I made my production dough and left it on the radiator to do its thing. But the heating was barely on.
- Reading further into the recipe, I read how the bread needed to prove for up to 5 hours in a warm place. This was at 6.30pm and I had just made the production dough which needed up to 3 hours.
- So, I decided to honour all bakers and rise with them at 5.30am to bake the bread I had started. (Actually I hate waste and was determined to have bread for breakfast).
- I mixed the dough at 11.30pm and took it to bed with me (not literally - but its the warmest room at night) to prove.
- I woke up at 5.30am to find that my dough had not risen an inch.
- I went back to bed.
- I dreamt of toast.
Friday 16 January 2009
The gluten free sourdough starter recipe
Gluten Free Sourdough Challenge - Day 3 and 4
BEN'S SOURDOUGH CHALLENGE - DAY 5
Taking Part In The Sourdough Challenge
BEN'S SOURDOUGH CHALLENGE - DAY 4
Thursday 15 January 2009
BEN'S SOURDOUGH CHALLENGE - DAY 3
Wednesday 14 January 2009
Taking Part In The Sourdough Challenge
BEN'S SOURDOUGH CHALLENGE - DAY 2
Taking Part In The Sourdough Challenge
The FRESH Sourdough - Day 1