Category: Cooking

Confession time: Years ago, I received a rice cooker as a gift that I’ve used guiltily only when the gift-giver in question comes for dinner. The rest of the time — whether I’m cooking rice to accompany a weekday dinner or as the base for…

Spring and summer are full of bright and fresh flavours, especially in the fruit department. Beautiful berries are calling our name, melons are at their ripest, baskets of juicy peaches and nectarines are readily available, and perfect plums take us well into the fall. That’s probably why it’s…

If there is ever a reason to eat chocolate for breakfast, now is the time. These oatmeal will be your new favourite dessert, snack and morning meal. There’s a bottom layer of oat shortbread cookie, topped with smooth chocolate and almond butter and finished with oat…

If there’s one rule to cooking on a shoestring, it’s to be adventurous. Hundreds of ingredients cost just pennies, but you’re unlikely to find them in the fresh or chilled aisles of a supermarket. Turn to frozen, tinned and dried foods. Here, among the packets of…

These barbecue secrets can help you relax allowing space during your cook-out to have a chat or get another from the fridge. But if you lovingly tend your barbecue armed with a Dutch oven, temperature probe, plancha plate and fish basket, this article is not for you….

Preparation time 1-2 hours Cooking time 10 to 30 mins Serves Serves 8 Ingredients For the rough puff pastry 125ml/4fl oz cold water 250g/8oz plain flour 2 tsp lemon juice 100g/3½oz cold butter, into 1cm/½in cubes 50g/1¾ oz cold lard, into 1cm/½in cubes For the filling 300g/10½oz sausage meat 1 tsp salt…

The folding method is a little tricky on these palmiers, but the fillings are oh so simple. For this recipe you will need a food processor and a stick blender. Ingredients For the pastry 125g/4½oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting 125g/4½oz strong white flour ½ tsp salt…

Ingredients For the stuffing 100g/3½oz dried cranberries 100ml/3½fl oz Marsala 2 tbsp olive oil 2 banana shallots, finely chopped ¼ tsp ground cloves ½ tsp ground allspice 2 tsp chopped fresh sage 1kg/2lb 4oz Italian sausages 2 free-range eggs, beaten 50g/2oz parmesan, grated 60g/2¼oz breadcrumbs For the turkey joint 5kg/11lb double breast turkey joint, boned, butterflied, with…

Less than 2 hours of roasting makes this roast turkey breast a relatively quick dinner. As well as lemon and thyme, the stuffing features tart dried cranberries, crunchy almonds and sweet leeks. Ingredients For the stuffing 1 tbsp sunflower oil 1 onion, finely chopped 1 leek, trimmed and…

Preparation time less than 30 mins Cooking time 1 to 2 hours Serves Serves 8 This dish is perfect party food, and great for feeding a crowd. The crisp filo pastry and flavoursome rice make this coulibiac lighter than the traditional Russian dish. Ingredients 500g/1lb…