I have made this cake twice in a week – once with the last of the raspberries and an apple from the garden and then again with wild blackberries and another apple.  A real foragers cake.  This sort of cooking gives me immense pleasure – I can always rustle up some sort of tea time treat and my ginger cake (July 20103) is a regular go-to as the required ingredients are usually on hand.   This cake is even more satisfying, a few bits and pieces found in the garden are giving star billing, a glorious last hurrah if you will.

A light vanilla sponge studded with flavour bombs of fruit, their crimson colour seeping into the yellow cake like a sunset.  The raspberries I used were supplemented with a few blackcurrants from the freezer and I will use these again soon – their bright and vibrant sharp-sweet flavour the perfect foil to the sweet sponge and a million miles better than the oft used blueberries.

Next on the bake list is my Beetroot and Carrot cake (February 2016) – an absolute delight and a great way to use up some of the late summer root veg (see bottom picture).

Blackberry and Apple Cake

Use what you have – blackberries are an obvious choice at the moment.   When all the summer fruit is done you could use some frozen berries as I did with the extra blackcurrants.  I add the extra flour to balance the extra wetness from the soft fruit and apple.  This isn’t too sweet a cake which I love but it could certainly take a drizzle of the lemon variety if you wanted, see my Spring Lemon Cake (March 2019).

160g butter or Stork

130g caster sugar

Good pinch of salt

2 large eggs

140g self raising flour plus two tablespoons

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

A good handful of blackberries or other fruit (see intro)

I medium apple grated, I don’t bother to peel it

Icing sugar to dust (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180 and line a loaf tin.  Cream the butter or Stork and sugar together until light and fluffy, I use a stand mixer for this but a wooden spoon and bowl work a treat too.  Add the eggs one at a time with each with the extra spoonfuls of flour until well incorporated and then add the remaining flour, salt, baking powder, vanilla and grated apple.  Finally gentle mix in the blackberries.  Put the mix into the lined tin and bake for 40-50 minutes.  Check after 40 and cover with foil if it is brown on top before a skewer comes out clean.   Cool on a rack for 10 minutes before removing from the tin.  Dust with icing sugar if you like or add a glaze (see intro).

The sharp eyed will notice that the cake in the picture above is the raspberry version because I caught a picture of this, the blackberry and apple one went too fast…..

This is essentially a riff on my Chermoula Prawns (April 2020) but with cauliflower.  As such you probably don’t need a recipe but I wanted to draw your attention to it because I make it so much (for that also read eat it and love it so much).   The cauliflower gets those delectable crispy bronzed edges in the oven and these combined with the powerhouse of flavour that is chermoula means this is an absolute winner.   We’ll have this for lunch, sometimes on its own but more often with an assembly of other dishes – this mezze/tapas type eating being a favourite of ours and a good way to eat more veg.   It also works brilliantly in packed lunches which now feature in my weekly cook as we are back at school and work.   You can cut the cauliflower into trendy steaks if you want but I usually do florets – that it is also vegetarian/vegan is simply a bonus.

Incidentally I cook fish a lot with this chermoula as well – very much in the same way as the  chermoula prawns and it perks up frozen fish, which I found myself using during lockdown, a treat.   This makes a supper that feels both light and clean but full of flavour and hugely satisfying.  Whatever you cook it with I encourage you to whizz up a batch – bright with herbs and citrus, underlying spice and a zap of heat – it really is good.

Chermoula Cauliflower

When I came up with the chermoula prawns during lockdown I had to use ground cumin and coriander (see below) as this is all we had.  Now I have a supply of the whole seeds I tend to use these, partly because I love the smell when bashing them in the mortar but also because their flavour is more vibrant.  If you choose the whole seeds simply warm them in a dry pan until fragrant then crush with a pestle and mortar and proceed.

2 tablespoons oil

1 onion finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

Small bunch mint, roughly chopped

Small bunch coriander, roughly chopped plus a bit extra to serve

1 tablespoon ground cumin (or whole seeds, see intro)

1 tablespoon ground coriander (or whole seeds, see intro)

2 teaspoons paprika

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Juice of 2 lemons (use limes if that is what you have)

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Half a tin of chopped tomatoes or 2 fresh tomatoes chopped or a handful of cherry tomatoes (use the whole tin or tomatoes/more fresh tomatoes if you want this saucy).

I cauliflower, separated into small florets

Preheat the oven to 200.  Put the cauliflower onto a large baking pan, turn in one of the tablespoons of oil, sprinkle with salt and cook for 20 minutes or so until just soft and beginning to brown on the edges.  Heat the other tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan and cook the onion gently until soft but not coloured.  Whizz the remaining ingredients apart from the tomatoes in a small food processor, with a hand held blender or chop by hand.   Mix a tablespoon of the paste with the cauliflower and return to the oven for 5-10 minutes and add the remaining paste to the onions along with the tomatoes and a good splash of water.  Once the cauliflower has had its additional time either add to the sauce or dollop the sauce over and serve sprinkled with the extra coriander.  This would serve 2 with rice and was actually enough for the 4 of us as a side for lunch.

I relish that end of the day wind down and particularly at this time of year try to persuade my family to assemble outside if it’s warm, to catch up and enjoy a drink.  Often this is only possible at weekends and even then one or other child is often out but still, it is something I look forward to whether we are in the garden or installed in front of a cosy fire.

With a drink I always, rather greedily, look forward to the accompanying snacks.  Although I won’t turn down a crisp, there are other things I turn to which seem more delicious and rather less greasy.  The most important ingredient though is a touch of salt which somehow defines ‘snacks with drinks’.  It can be as simple as a bowl of olives, briny and savoury or a hunk of parmesan cut into gritty shards – unbelievably moreish and of course ridiculously simple.  The spicy seeds which you will find here (November 2018) make a regular outing and these savoury, crunchy chickpeas have also become a fixture over the years.  You can customise them with whichever spices you favour, I tend to fall back on this classic combination and then add as much or little chilli as I think will go down well.  Sometimes I will make a batch of these or the spicy seeds and put into little bags or jars as presents, none turned down yet.  The chickpeas are fabulous on a salad, we tucked into one this week with masses of grilled courgettes, roast cherry tomatoes and squeaky green beans as this is what needed using up from the garden – it was a stellar combination, though I say it myself.

Chick peas are an absolute star to keep in the store cupboard, an essential in my book.  You can add them to a stew like the chorizo one (September 2013) cook them with potatoes (May 2014) or chicken (March 2015) and of course make an earthy, garlicky hummus.  Or simply open a can and make these.

Crispy spiced chickpeas

Use whichever spices you feel like and you can use ground ones if that is what’s available.  I like to use seeds because the flavour seems more vibrant and of course you get the added bits of crunchy seed alongside the chickpeas which are delicious.

1 tin of chickpeas, drained

1 tablespoon olive oil

Sea salt

1/2 tablespoon coriander seeds

1/2 tablespoon cumin seeds

Dried chilli flakes (optional)

Preheat the oven to 200 and line a baking tray with parchment.  Tip the drained chickpeas onto a tea towel, fold it over to enclose them and gently roll the chickpeas around.  This will both dry them and remove the skins which you can discard.  Once the chickpeas are dry put them into the lined tin and add the olive oil.  Turn until coated then cook for 15 minutes.  Meanwhile heat the spices in a dry frying pan until fragrant and popping then grind in a mortar.  After the 15 minutes are up remove the chickpeas from the oven, add the spices and a good pinch of salt, mix well then return to the oven for a further 5-7 minutes until just beginning to bronze.  Leave to cool then tuck in or scatter over a salad.

The sun is out and it’s time to think about summer food.  As the weather changes so does what we think about eating.   The stews are put away and the salads, vegetables and fruit that are positively blooming at the moment are on the table.

We’ve just seen the last of the wild garlic, really the first of our seasonal treats and a forager’s free lunch to boot.  Now the elderflower is casting its lacy shadow and unmistakeable scent in the hedgerows.  We’ve made our first batch of elderflower cordial (June 2016) – no citric acid to be found so we used an extra lemon and will just make sure we get through it quickly, no particular hardship.  This will find its way into drinks of course as well as jelly (June 2018), Eton mess (June 2016), a pavlova and rhubarb fool.  For the pavlova simply mix some cordial in with the cream and pile onto your meringue – for quantities see the brown sugar meringue with lemon cream (September 2016) or make the meringues with rhubarb and ginger cream (April 2018) and simply swap elderflower for the ginger.

I’m a sucker for anything on toast, even if its just garlic, salt and good olive oil.  A box of tomatoes arrived from the fabulous Tomato Stall on the Isle of Wight yesterday and these will find their way into tomato bruschetta (July 2013) for several days as well as salads and a glorious tomato tart with herby marscapone which is a Diana Henry recipe I return to every summer.

Pepper and caper crostini (April 2014)  is a delicious addition to a tapas like lunch as well as the artichoke crostini (March 2013) or cannellini bean, parsley and lemon dip (April 2015)  which I make so often.  It’s a variation on hummus and works with most canned white beans so whatever you can get hold of at the moment, cannellini or butter bean or chickpeas.

All these need some bread which I know has been a struggle for some with the lack of flour around.  Amongst my recipes are breads that use strong white bread flour, plain flour, wholemeal flour and self-raising so there should be something for whatever you have in the cupboard.  Try the focaccia (May 2014) just omit the wild garlic oil and stick with crunchy sea salt and good olive oil or maybe the flatbreads (March 2018) which can be conjured up in next to no time and always, but always go down a storm.

You could finish with one of the elderflower puddings mentioned above or go for a lemon and lime ice cream (May 2014) or a granita, the ultimate cooler.  There are several here from Strawberry granita (August 2016) which is summer in a glass or the Iced Tea Granita (July 2013) which is unfathomably thirst quenching.

Or what about the Mighty Mivvi, that favourite ice lolly from years ago recreated into something not to be missed, a strawberry sorbet containing vanilla ice cream the size of your head.

Wherever you are spending lockdown I hope you can enjoy the sun and do try and treat yourself with delicious food.  I will be back with some more summer recipes soon.

Barely even a recipe this requires very little effort and few ingredients.  Just a determination to make a pudding with not much to hand.  Raspberries and ice cream from the freezer and a pack of biscuits from the cupboard – I used digestives but you could happily use shortbread or ginger nuts.  Equally whilst I only had vanilla ice cream available this would be fabulous with chocolate ice cream.   A bit of bashing and mushing results in a pud that far exceeds expectations and made use of whittling lockdown provisions.

Raspberry biscuit ice cream cake

200g digestives

75g butter, melted

350g vanilla ice cream

200g raspberries divided into two lots of 100g

1 tablespoon icing sugar

Take the ice cream from the freezer and let it soften while you get on with the biscuits.  If your raspberries are frozen do the same with them.  Bash the digestives to crumbs in a bag, mix with the melted butter and put into a 20cm loose bottom tin.  Mash 100g raspberries with the icing sugar and swirl into the ice cream, add the whole raspberries and pour the whole lot onto the biscuit base and freeze for an hour.  This will serve as many, or as few, as you choose.

The glorious weather of last week has given way to rain.  It seems endless but has only been three days, I think we had been spoilt with a surprisingly hot April.   As often is the case with dreary grey skies I feel the need for a blast of sunny, vibrant flavour and a chermoula paste is an obvious contender.   Full of fresh herbs, zesty citrus, spices and a little heat this is a wonderful and quick way to add massive flavour.

Due to a slightly erratic lockdown larder I have made some comprises to my usual recipe but this version was deemed so good it had to be shared.  In the normal run of things I would use a fresh chilli but have used cayenne pepper instead for heat.  I used a 1/4 teaspoon but feel free to reduce this to a pinch.  Ideally I would also have had more prawns for the four of us but the freezer only yielded 250g.  You can of course use fish or chicken in place of the prawns if that is what you have.   We had this with my go-to pilaff but I would be just as happy to serve the prawns and their punchy sauce on a slice of toasted sourdough.  As ever these days its all about using what you’ve got.

Chermoula Prawns

1 tablespoon oil

1 onion finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

Small bunch mint, roughly chopped

Small bunch coriander, roughly chopped plus a bit extra to serve

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon ground coriander

2 teaspoons paprika

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Juice of 2 lemons (use limes if that is what you have)

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

Half a tin of chopped tomatoes or 2 fresh tomatoes chopped or a handful of cherry tomatoes

250g raw prawns, defrosted if frozen

Heat the first tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan and cook the onion gently until soft but not coloured.   Whizz the remaining ingredients apart from the tomatoes and prawns in a small food processor, with a hand held blender or chop by hand.   Mix a tablespoon of the paste with the prawns and add the remaining paste to the onions along with the tomatoes and a splash of water.  Cook for a few minutes before adding the prawns and cook until they turn from grey to pink.  Serve sprinkled with the extra coriander.  This would be masses for 2 with rice and was actually enough for the 4 of us with some other things for lunch.

I make masses of pancakes – regular sugar and lemon Shrove Tuesday ones, Scotch pancakes which for some reason we used to call Cold Feet, fat fluffy American pancakes and veggie ones.  Lots and lots of veggie pancakes.  Not only are they delicious but a great way of slipping extra veg into reluctant customers (my children) and to use up a glut – I must have made a 1000 courgette and feta type pancakes when we had a courgette glut a couple of years ago.

You can customise these according to what you have – I tend to use something a little starchy like the peas/broad beans or some cooked/canned pulses plus fresh veg such as broccoli or spinach along with any soft herbs I have.  At the moment wild garlic is going into lots of things as we have some growing here but otherwise a clove of garlic adds a gentle hum.  If you use courgette (and it is delicious) then grate it and squeeze out as much water as you can so the batter isn’t too wet.   Same with carrots and parsnips which benefit from grating and any excess water being removed.

I used a couple of spring onions that needed their last hurrah but you could use chives if that’s what you have.  Chunks of feta or cheddar work well and make these even more substantial.  You can add finely chopped chilli or a pinch of cayenne if everyone you are cooking for is receptive – I like to add my heat via a generous squirt of sriracha.

Incidentally these make a wonderful breakfast topped with a fried or poached egg and some Greek yogurt to which you’ve added a swirl of sriracha, just saying….

Veggie pancakes

Below are the quantities I used for the pancakes you see in the pictures.  As long as the amounts are roughly in line you can pretty much freestyle as you please.  A tin of sweetcorn also works if you don’t have any peas or pulses.  Add or subtract herbs depending on what you have and what you like – these pancakes are very flexible. If you don’t have any self raising you can use plain flour plus 1/2 teaspoon baking powder.

300g peas, blanched for 1 minute if frozen

1/2 head of broccoli, approximately 200g, chopped fairly small, core included

3 spring onions, finely chopped

Small handful of parsley

Small handful of wild garlic, entirely optional

2 eggs

200g self raising flour (see intro)

50g Greek yogurt, or regular plain yogurt

A little olive oil

Put everything except the oil into a food processor, season well and blend.  Leave a bit of texture, you don’t want it baby food smooth.  Heat a little oil in a large frying pan and add tablespoons of the batter, leave for a few minutes until turning golden on the bottom when you peek and then turn.  Cook for a few minutes on the other side and then keep warm while you cook the rest.  The above was enough for 4 for lunch with a salad.

I always feel terrible about throwing any food away that I have let slip the net and these days, more than ever.  If there was a time for using every last scrap then its now.  For instance, beetroot leaves that I always try and use but inevitably sometimes find their way to the chickens were chopped the minute I got back from the farm shop last week and sautéed with garlic and chilli. Extra delicious because we ate them rather than our feathery friends.

We can no longer pick a recipe and then go and buy exactly what’s required, rather we have to look at what we have and cook accordingly.  I quite like this challenge so do let me know if you need any ideas.

This was lunch yesterday rustled up from mainly store cupboard ingredients, without using too much of our fresh supplies, very easy, cheap and was properly delicious.   Making the herby oil was just a way of using some of the wild garlic that is around at the moment.  I realise not everyone has access to this so if you have some soft herbs or rocket in the fridge that need using up these will make a wonderful, deep green oil full of flavour which is fabulous with the tomato soup.

Don’t worry if you don’t have any of the red lentils I use to thicken the soup – a handful of rice or a large peeled and chopped potato added instead of the lentils will break down and once blended do a fine job of thickening your soup.   I suspect we will be having this more than once, next time I might add some dried chillies instead of the oregano.  Just use what you have.

Easy tomato soup with herby garlic oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

A good pinch of dried oregano (if you have some)

3 tablespoons dried red lentils (see intro)

1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes

Splash of white wine (if you have some and can spare it)

500ml vegetable stock

100ml milk

A handful of wild garlic or soft herbs/rocket that need using up

A clove of garlic if you aren’t using wild garlic

100ml olive oil

Heat the oil in a large pan and cook the onion gently until soft.  Add the garlic and the oregano if you are using it and stir.  Add the lentils followed by the wine if you are using it and the stock.  Let it simmer, covered, for about 20-30 minutes until the lentils have broken down.  Remove from the heat, add the milk and whizz with a hand held blender until smooth, taste (cautiously, it will be hot) and season.  Either serve immediately or reheat when required.   Blend the oil with the wild garlic or the herbs/rocket and garlic with a pinch of salt and swirl into the soup.  Serves 4.

Whilst I am all for slow cooked braises, blipping away in the oven for hassle free hours to become deeply savoury and yielding, there are times when we need supper in a hurry.  There are many such recipes on these pages* and here is another to add to your repertoire.  Combining those magical sweet, salty spiced flavours from the East, this is lip smacking, satisfying and speedy to boot.

I use pork fillet here which, being lean, lends itself perfectly to a quick stir fry but you could use chicken if you prefer.  I would favour (as ever) skinless thighs over breast though.  For a veggie option I would use big mushrooms sliced and add the cabbage mentioned below to the pan with the mushrooms and sauce.  Apart from the meat or vegetables, this is but a quick rifle around the cupboard plus some ginger and garlic.

For greens I have taken to stir frying some chopped hispi/sweetheart cabbage with either a few bashed sichuan peppercorns or garlic, ginger and chilli.   It cooks in no time and works well with the hoi sin pork, alternatively try the greens with garlic and soy (October 2017).

Hoisin Pork

My children like this served with noodles which I stir into the wok at the end to combine them with the pork and sauce.  I prefer it with rice but, as ever, its up to you.

Thumb size piece of ginger, peeled and grated

1 large clove garlic, peeled and chopped

500g pork loin, cut into pieces the size of your little finger

1 tablespoon oil

100ml hoi sin sauce

1 tablespoon sriracha, or similar chilli sauce

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons soy sauce

Chopped coriander (optional, use it if you have some)

Noodles or rice to serve

Put the ginger, garlic, hoi sin, sriracha, water and soy into a bowl and give it a good stir.  Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan and over a high heat add the pork, leave for a minute to seal then stir fry until coloured on all sides.  Add the sauce and stir for a couple of minutes until the pork is cooked and well coated by sauce.  Don’t cook it for too long or the sauce will reduce too much and become salty.  If you want a little more sauce add a further splash of water.  Serve with noodles or rice and sprinkle with some chopped coriander if you have some.  Enough for two adults and two children.

*Some other top speedy suppers are Claypot chicken (May 2013), Teriyaki chilli salmon (April 2019), Salmon with pickled cucumber (May 2015), Kale, mushrooms and chilli on toast (January 2013), Orzo with bacon, tomato and cream sauce (June 2015), Savoy cabbage with bacon and creme fraiche (February 2015) and those Greens with garlic and soy (October 2017) which I happily have with a pile of rice for a meat free supper – to name but a few.

Depending on which way you look at it there is either a ridiculous number of cook books spread over many shelves in our house or a fabulous, varied and absorbing collection.  I know which camp I am in.   Curated in colour order, there is the blue and green set of shelves, the white, black, brown and gold…. you see how it is.  They take it in turns to go from shelf to bedside or sofa side table and ultimately stove side.  If a particular book hasn’t been read in a while then what a treat, it can almost feel like new.  Others, old familiar books are like carrying on a conversation with a friend with memories shared. Rarely do I flick through one without a recipe or two being added to my list.

The list is an ongoing, ever evolving collection of things I want to try, additions are made almost daily and crossed out when tried, changes and ideas annotated where necessary.  Partly out of greed but also in order to justify this vast canon of work – as long as I’ve cooked a recipe or two from each book over the years it has earned its place.  Our weekly menu combines a couple of new ideas alongside old favourites that deserve a re run and guarantee happy faces which a new kid on the block may not.  Some weeks this means a pile of books being juggled other times I chose one book to cook several things from in one week.

What I’m getting at is its good to get new dishes into your repertoire.  We are all pushed for time these days.  Work, children, pets, houses, gardens all demanding more time than is available and as such falling back on the same old same old is often the easy answer.  One new supper idea a week shouldn’t take too much effort and helps shake off the ennui that can arise from cooking supper night after night after night……

So why not grab one of those books you haven’t cooked from in ages.  You never know, you might discover a new favourite, a real keeper.  Failing that I offer three of my super easy and quick, weeknight favourites here which I would love you to try.

Claypot Chicken (May 2013) one of the easiest and most delicious suppers and no you don’t need a claypot, any old pan will do.   Teriyaki Salmon (April 2019)  unbelievably quick and hugely satisfying.   Pasta with Bacon, Garlic, Chilli and Parsley (September 2017) just a fabulous combination.   So do give these a go and there will be a new easy, family friendly recipe along soon.  If you have a bit more time, why not try a new pud……