A chilly stay in the Cotswolds included a visit to a delightful pub called the Chequers Inn at Churchill, Oxfordshire. As rain lashed down outside and my dog snuggled close to the roaring fire, we tucked into plump, bouncy, interestingly devilled kidneys on toast. This is my interpretation of that heartening lunch, perfect for these…

Beetroot ticks so many boxes if it’s treated right. I love it foil-wrapped and roasted with thyme and garlic, served with a squeeze of lemon and splash of my best olive oil; at the moment extra virgin Contadino from Monte Pollino. This is a variation on that theme using boiled beets topped with creamy sheep’s…

Whenever I roast a bird, I always save the bones for stock. Pheasant produces remarkable stock. Clear like consommé, virtually fat-free, golden and richly flavoured. It gives zuppa alla Pavese, an exquisite but simple soup from Pavia, a new lease of life. Apart from good stock, it  requires very few ingredients, an egg and slice…

This is a lovely jam that sets well and ends up clear and glossy, a light burgundy colour. Apart from the occasional piece of plum skin, it is more like jelly than jam. This recipe makes several jars, how many obviously depends on size but I always include several smaller jars so I can give…

In an ideal world there will always be a big jar of home made pickled onions in the cupboard. Everyone loves them so much and they are one of the first things I learnt to make from Betty, my mother-in-law. I used to have a copy of her spice mix but now I buy ready…

When I think back to the palaver my mother went through with the annual ritual of making the Christmas puddings, not to mention mincemeat for mince pies and Christmas cake, it is shockingly easy to make them today. All you do is stir all the ingredients together and steam the mixture in pudding basins. The…

When my sister arrived from Sydney on a visit, our first meal together was cauliflower cheese. When we visited our brother in Spain, she made it for him. Cauliflower cheese is a tradition in our family. You could say we were weaned on it; it was probably mother’s Desert Island dish. Great though it is…

This is one of those lovely gooey aubergine stews, this time mixed with sloppy, intensely flavoured roast red pepper, onion, a hint of chilli and a goodly slug of white wine with flat leaf parsley to pretty. Serve it with short stumpy pasta tossed with Parmesan or over doorstep bruschetta with a generous garlic rub….

This soup looks deceptively like Heinz tomato soup from a can. It’s blessedly simple to make, no chopping or frying, just roast tomatoes, red peppers and small red onions, the latter two peeled, then everything liquidized with stock. I tend to use chicken stock for vegetable soups (a cube is fine) but vegetable stock will…

There was a fantastic turn out of friendly people for my sausage cookery demonstration as part of the Chiswick Literary Festival, Cook Book division on Saturday 14 September. The lovely ladies from Cook Book Festival, who did all the preparations and planning for all the events, were so supportive and helpful. Sadly Rodney from Macken’s,…