The grapes are hanging thick and heavy in our pergola. Such a useful plant. In winter the bare vines let the north western afternoon sun stream onto the verandah, warming the floor and creating a nice spot for proving bread or sitting with a book. In spring the fresh, delicate leaves make dolmades, wonderful lunch or picnic or party food. In summer the vines are thick with leaves blocking the…
Someone asked me not long ago if I make sourdough crackers. They are so easy they are scarcely a recipe at all. Just sourdough starter, wholemeal flour, oil, salt, and perhaps some sesame or poppy seeds. Ok, I’ll try to be a bit more specific. Because it is really worth making your own, and avoiding all those nasty transfats, as well as the ridiculous amount of packaging.
Davidson plums make very easy and very superb jam – enough pectin to set reliably without anything added, just two largish easy to remove seeds, a full complex flavour that would be overelaborated by adding spices, and a gorgeous deep clear claret colour.
My friend Joe is gluten intolerant, and not very dairy tolerant either which makes making dessert for him a pain in the ass but I love him so here is my best, Joe friendly dessert recipe.
Yes, yes, a hundred times yes from me. Nearly four years ago I found a pasta machine at a garage sale. I had been making pasta from scratch before that but rolling it out with a rolling pin, which meant that lasagna and ravioli were much more likely than spaghetti or tagliatelle. I wrote at the time that “I’m not sure at all whether it will be a stayer.” But…
This recipe fills two dozen wonton wrappers – what we get in a packet of wrappers from the supermarket. Using bought ones makes the recipe really really fast and easy, but making your own isn’t hard especially if you use a pasta machine, so I’ll include the wrapper recipe too.
There’s usually a reason why popular vegetables are popular, and ones nobody has ever heard of are ones nobody has ever heard of.