I’ve often said that my love of vegetables could so easily see me as a vegetarian, if I didn’t love eating meat as much as I do! When I’m looking for something fast and nourishing for lunch, I will more often than not turn to fresh vegetables as the basis for my meal. My garden has decided on more meals than I could count, so I always check to see what might be on offer there as my first inspiration. For some reason I always feel so virtuous when I make a salad for lunch; it’s fresh, tasty, filling and healthy and it fits the bill when I limit myself to taking a short break at the office. -MB Read the rest...
Combine the beauty of Autumn with the newfound change in the weather, and you have the perfect backdrop to sharing your table in celebration of the season. My entertaining always follows the golden rule of keeping things simple to let the produce shine. Using ingredients that are in season and prepared ahead of time makes all the difference - a stressed host is never fun! I always create generous platters of nibbles beforehand and have an icy cold glass of Sparkling Ruby Cabernet ready for everyone on arrival. With a choice of Pate, Kalamata Olives with fresh herbs and orange zest, just baked bread to dip into new season’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Dukkah, a perfectly ripe cheese, Fruit Paste and biscuits, it’s very easy to deem this ‘picnic on a plate’ as lunch, and spend the rest of the ‘cooking time’ enjoying myself! Read the rest...
To start my day with hand picked figs from our orchard, halved over oats and a good dollop of yoghurt, seems to set things right for whatever the rest of the day holds. Perhaps it’s the fact that such a breakfast is so precious a treat, as any fig grower will know just how fleeting figs are, but a perfectly ripe fig, plump and rubescent, seems to hold a certain enchantment that I never tire of. -MB Read the rest...
My Mother made beautiful scones and I am always trying to replicate them. So how do you get your scones perfect everytime? Here are a few of my top tips! Read the rest...
If ever there was a time of year to spend more time outside rather than less, Summer is it, and for me that includes taking every opportunity to cook outside (with the limited time we have left). There’s something quite set apart from the pressure of ‘having to make dinner’, when you are chatting to friends and family, with a drink in hand around a barbecue. It’s a communal way of cooking in a sense, and I love that. -MB Read the rest...
