Always a festive time of the year. A couple of weeks doing Christmas and New Year (usually after big bakes); the winter dip in energy followed by the tedium of income tax returns. But then, the approach of Valentines Day followed by my birthday three days later. These things we take seriously. Valentines falling on […]

Peter Reinhart’s Garlic Lovers’ Italian Sausage. Deep pan pizza – how to feed two people on three sausages – just look at that caramelised cheese. Couldn’t even finish it (until this morning!)

“The” Chicken Burger because this isn’t any old chicken burger, it’s a bit magnificent. Comes from the ancient document below, carbon dated to the last century. Back in the 1990’s Richard Ehrlich had a column in the Guardian magazine when Matthew Fort edited the food section. I liked that era unlike the “Feast” of the […]

I buy my tortillas by the kilo from Cool Chile Co. That’s about 40 a pack and, if you’ve got to pay mailing, you might as well buy two packs or, like this time, I pressed the wrong button and ended up with three packs. That’s a lot of tortillas even after I gave one […]

You may have noticed that I’m an effective if not subtle barman. So occasionally it’s good to sample the arts of a proper cocktail bartender and see how the professionals perform. In my experience this is not as easy as it seems – never mind the state of modern cocktails, any barperson with a shaker […]

Just for a change I actually managed to prepare a few little things before Christmas – nothing major, just a few nibbles to complement the first drinks of the day, chatting in the kitchen. All lifted from Pepita Aris’ Tapas & Traditional Spanish Cooking, Kindle edition currently £2.99. The whole of this book is contained […]

Twasn’t the night before Christmas, twas the day before New Year’s Eve and we’re having a very lazy lunch. A nice bowl of Mexican fish soup has brought us as far as mid-afternoon and next up will be a dish of pasta with smoked salmon & porcini. Instead there’s a bang, the music stops and […]

Yet another use for my 80% hydration dough – https://thepartisanbaker.com/80-hydration/ Comme d’habitude there’s dough in the fridge awaiting the call. Couple of weeks back there was some six or seven days old by which time the gluten is pretty knackered. Freezer was full of buns so I thought I’d do something crazy and make flatbreads. […]

This all started when Kev gave me a litre bottle of Wood’s 100 Old Navy Rum that had been sitting gathering dust for some years on his top shelf. He’d had a bad experience with it after a night on the rum and blacks – not surprising as it weighs in at 57 proof. To […]

Has to be one of my favourite breakfast breads. Don’t really do sweet stuff but this has a gentle sweetness from a small amount of honey (12%) and the raisins. Look carefully. Not a single raisin has been stolen by the raisin thief – you have to get up early for that. Remembering and negotiating […]