Christmas Huts and Pasta

Jenny and I went to visit the Bath Christmas Market this year. It was a surprisingly British assault of the senses - politely queuing crowds, neat rows of wooden huts and a pervasive sweet, slightly spicy smell. This it transpired was one of the several stalls selling caramelised nuts, roasted in big round copper pans right there on the stalls. To further the culinary excitement hiding round the corner...

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New Houses, Autumn and Peanut Brittle

A lot of changes have happened since my last post. Since my birthday we have gone house hunting, bought one, moved in, done a whole load of d.i.y. and now are starting to settle. Autumn seems to have crept up on me and it is already showing signs of being over! Autumn is the time for lighting fires (our new house has a wood burning stove in the lounge!),  apples and burnt sugar. This week I have...

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Lemon Sorbet

One of my fondest memories of the Italian exchange (way back in my school days) was eating gelato with friends almost every day. If we were on a trip somewhere we would find a gelateria, and if we were spending a day in the local town, then there was a gelateria beside the river that we would all descend upon. Ever since then I have had a love of lemon sorbet. I was delighted to discover how simple...

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Salmon Gravlax with Sourdough

Jenny and I first encountered gravlax whilst on honeymoon in Scotland. We decided to treat ourselves to dinner out at a nice pub and, being near Aviemore, wound up at The Old Bridge Inn. Being  indecisive we got a starter to share and, having never had gravlax, we decided to try it. Having thoroughly enjoyed our dinner I wanted to learn more about how it was made. The finished dish is rather...

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The Birthday Dinner

For some crazy reason, this year I decided to cook a dinner in honour of my birthday. "Why not?" I foolishly thought. So after many weeks of head-scratching and much practice, the menu was pinned down as follows: Gravlax and Sourdough Traditionally cured salmon served on fresh sourdough, with a leafy salad and a dill mustard sauce Lemon Sorbet Haggis Ravioli Fresh Ravioli filled with...

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Excuses

January has passed and it transpires I haven't written a single post since before Christmas! My sincerest apologies. I have been working on learning lots of new skills and planning a dinner party for the end of the month. All of the recipes will be being blogged after the event to try and make up for this long silence. To help you wait here are just a few of the things I have been working on: Fresh...

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