Sowing the Seeds

nigella bookWatching the ghastly events at Isleworth Court this week, it was pretty much a forgone conclusion I’d be Team Nigella since it would take a lot for me to back a man who throttled his wife. But it was also because Nigella has probably been the biggest influence on my cooking career of anyone.

It was her columns in Vogue in the very late 90s that turned me from being able to make food to being able to cook and understanding the power of writing and talking about food. Prior to that, most of my food influence had been from family or watching people like Keith Floyd on TV, but Nigella introduced me to food writing. Her columns seemed incredibly grown up and very cosmopolitan. I felt so very adult cooking things she wrote about while friends made baked potatoes and Old El Paso kits when we went round for dinner before a big night out.

Read more

In a pickle…

/
Anyone who knows me in real life knows I have a bit of a…

To-marrow never comes…

/
My courgette plants have been a disappointment, maybe even…

Baked eggs

/
Miss South is doing some visiting for the next few days and…

Gilak, or Persian Perfection!

/
This week saw my dear friend E's birthday and to celebrate this…

Sweet on corn…

/
It's still theoretically summer and that means just one thing…

Ravioli

/
I have had a hankering to make pasta from scratch for quite…

Summer pudding

/
Yes yes, I know summer is hiding her light under a bushel right…

Suffering fools gladly…

/
I was recently chatting with Miss South about the relative…

Jerk Cook Out, Brockwell Park

/
I have just returned from the outdoor food event of the year…

Etta’s Seafood Kitchen, Brixton

/
Times are a-changing for the 1930s covered market in Brixton…

Hacked and stirred up…

/
Well, in what is probably a coming of age rite for up-and-coming…

Edamame Bean Dip

/
I am a big fan of frozen vegetables. Cheap, long lasting…