Figs & Fennel
Good, honest food to share with friends
This coconut and Thai basil stir fry is a reminder of just how versatile the humble coconut can be! I have long used coconut for wet south Asian curries but it was after coming across Rick Stein’s India: in search of the perfect curry that I started using fresh coconut […]
This Quinoa Mexicana Salad is quick, easy and nutrient rich making it perfect lunchtime fare to get you through the winter months. Though imbued with a sense of promise of what the New Year might offer, January is a month in which I never seem to quite get on top […]
When cooking mushroom bourguignon the kitchen becomes the hub of the house with guests drawn in by the wafts of wine and thyme, taking turns to linger over the hob to breath in the intoxicating aromas. One of my first cook books, given to me by my mother, was Delia […]
This chestnut, black olive and thyme pâté is rich, boozy and luxurious – a perfect starter or buffet table offering for the festive season. You can forage for sweet chestnuts in UK woodlands from around mid-October but if you don’t get around to it or the maggots have got there […]
Stuffed vine leaves, known in Greece as dolmades, are the ultimate sharing food both in terms of the cooking and the eating. In my late teens I was lucky enough to chaperone a young deaf woman, Jenny, to visit her parents in a small village near Thessaloniki, northern Greece. The […]
After several weeks of season denial the day is finally upon us. After a week of wandering around the house wearing two jumpers and a blanket as a cape I have finally given in and put the heating on. Although a fan of winter salads the status of soup as […]
This lemony courgette soup packs a serious citrus punch combining with the mint pesto to create an aromatic and revitalising dish. I should begin by confessing that by the time we had harvested the yellow courgettes for this soup they were rather overgrown and looked more like marrows. As it turned […]
These maple roasted carrots with coriander and quinoa are the perfect addition to a winter feast. The high sugar content in carrots adds to their versatility making them suitable for sweet as well as savoury dishes; this recipe straddles somewhere between the two. Cooking the carrots slowly releases their natural […]
I am going to be begin with a word of warning. A few years ago, fresh back from a trip to Vietnam and full of enthusiasm for this brilliant cuisine I booked a meal at a rather upmarket Vietnamese restaurant in London. I excitedly ordered a large plate of summer […]
This year on my birthday I became the proud owner of my very own blow torch. Since then it has been somewhat of a quest to find ingredients that would benefit from a being set on fire. Grapefruit, the pink fleshed variety, is particularly satisfying as not only does it […]