21 July 19

Sunday All the work for the family bbq done, all I have to do is lay the table in the garden and thread the chicken onto kebab sticks. Now this should be a quick, painless episode but although I’d thought ahead and soaked wooden sticks, decided to use my ancient metal skewers, now tarnished with…

14 July 19

Sunday Lunch at Harry’s (aka Giannakaros Traditional Fish Tavern) on the beach at Thanos, Lemnos, is as good as ever. Harry jumped ship to the family’s other restaurant at Kontias (more later) some years ago and younger brother Peter keeps the same high standards. While Harry’s son and daughter run Kontias, Peter’s daughter is a…

Strawberry Trifle

My childhood trifles always included jelly, tinned fruit and a thick, hard layer of Bird’s custard under the whipped cream. I remember the smell rather than the taste of sherry and it’s that sweet boozy smell of custard, fruit and cake that so evocative however the trifle is made. This one is made with pale…

7 July 19

Sunday All week I’ve been segueing left at the car park entrance to Chiswick House to visit the horses and hens at Giffords Circus (www.GIFFORDSCIRCUS.COM for latest location details), recently arrived and set up in two huge meadows adjacent to Chiswick House. I love this charming old-fashioned circus run by Nell Gifford and this morning…

Cornish Sea Trout Fishcakes

These fish cakes could be made with any firm fish but cooked sea trout, salmon or trout, would be the best. The quantity of fish to potato is approximately one to two with egg yolk and a dusting of flour to bind, with spring onions softened in butter and masses of chopped herbs – mint…

30 June 19

Sunday The wonderful sunny weather holds out, so it’s lunch in the garden and thoughts of super-easy, minimal cook meals. Made a batch of what I call River Café chillies, which is something my son Zach learnt when he worked there; red chillies are finely chopped then immersed in olive oil, ready for action. As…

Beetroot, Tomato and Spinach

Beetroot and spinach is a match made in heaven, the earthy flavour of freshly boiled beetroot with sweet-sour tomato works in many ways. Here, the dish begins with onion, softened and flavoured with crushed garlic, chilli and aniseedy caraway. Diced beetroot and peeled, seeded tomato are simmered with the onion then stirred with quickly blanched…

23 June 19

Sunday For the first time in ages, the fish kettle came down from its perch above the kitchen window, it’s layer of grime scrubbed clean, ready to balance over two burners half filled with herby, acidulated water. There it simmered gently, poaching a splendid Cornish sea trout, its eyes sparkling brightly before they turned cloudy…

Torn Chicken, Sausage and Spinach Gratin

Leftover roast chicken was the inspiration for this gratin. I added it to faux sausage meatballs with a hint of shallot, lemon zest and nutmeg, all held in a Dijon mustard flavoured sauce made with chicken stock and milk. The gratinee topping ended up suitably crusty and golden, the perfect foil for the essentially soft…

Broad Bean Soup with Soft Poached Eggs

I hate clearing out my deep freeze and usually end up throwing out forgotten food, the single lamb chop and burst packet of peas. The happy discovery of two half eaten bags of frozen broad beans and four forlorn rashers of streaky bacon led to this fantastic soup. By starting the recipe with smoked streaky…