Simple Globe Artichokes

These were absolutely divine. Ambrosia.

The new season is just starting to release some of it's goodies to our hungry selves, and I am taking full advantage. I must have eaten asparagus 4 times this week! The combination of the first greens - prima verde - on a plate is simple and satisfying. I've been creating a mixed herb pistou and drizzling it over asparagus, purple sprouting broccoli, peas and jersey royals. It takes no more than half an hour to prepare and steam it all, and you come out with something that is healthy and delicious.

Globe artichokes are just coming into season, although they tend to be french imports as Britain doesn't grow many.

I made a shallot vinagrette to dip the leaves in, but I actually ended up savouring the flavour of the artichoke alone - it was delicious as is. So I guess this isn't actually much of a recipe and more a cooking suggestion.

1, To prepare the artichoke, break off the stem at level with the leaves.
2, Run cold water into the flower head and then shake to remove any dirt or insects.
3, Place them in a pan of boiling water - with a splash of white wine vinegar or lemon juice - keep the water boiling.
4, The artichokes are cooked when the outside leaves come away when pulled towards the head of the flower.
5, Drain the artichokes by placing them upside down in a colander.
6, Serve them warm with melted butter, a hollandaise, a sauce made of creme fraiche, a vinagrette, tartare sauce... The list is endless and really down to personal taste. Experiment with your flavours!
7, To eat, tear away a leaf at a time and dip in your chosen sauce. Holding the tip of the leaf, bite down on the fleshy part and pull the flesh from it with your teeth. When you reach the centre of the flower and have devoured all the tender baby leaves inside, you will come to the choke which is inedible.

I didn't have the foresight to take a photo of the choke, but this diagram is self explanatory.

Marrow 'pasta' with tomatoes, mozzarella and pesto

Shame on me! I haven't been into my garden in... 3 weeks! I've been so busy that whenever it has been on my schedule of things I must do today, I either collapse with exhaustion or life gets in the way. It's been a tough couple of weeks at work, but I've survived and things should start to return to normal throughout the next week.

I've also not posted anything for a while. Could there be a better way to quell my guilt than combine the two?

When I finally hacked my way through the overgrown ferns and made it to the garden, I was surprised to see that my neglected courgette plant held a solitary marrow -albeit slightly nibbled. It had produced more, but only their stumps remained. (I feel very guilty.) At least they're organic! I was also faced with a lot of weeding...

When faced with a marrow so many people have no idea what to do with it. I understand, I really do. Marrows are, alone, quite watery and bland in taste. However, they are also a quite versatile vegetable, and deserve a second chance. With the correct treatment, seasoning and accompaniment, the humble marrow can be transformed into something exciting and unusual. A few years ago I made a lasagne using marrow instead of pasta, and today I have followed the same principle.

1 marrow

4 tbsp pine nuts
Pinch of salt
250g fresh basil leaves
50g Parmesan, grated
300ml extra virgin olive oil
A few handfuls of cherry tomatoes, halved
A ball of mozzarella


1, Slice the marrow lengthways, about 1 cm thick. Heat a griddle and colour the marrow, taking care not to overcook, until al dente.
2, Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan, and then cool completely. Lightly crush half of them in a pestle and mortar, along with a pinch of salt (if you don't have a pestle and mortar, a blender or food processor will work, if it is small enough to catch the sauce)
3, Add the basil leaves to the pestle and mortar, and working as quickly as possible, pound them into the mixture until you have a thickish paste.
4, Mix in the cheese, and then gradually incorporate the oil. Taste to season.
5, Slice the marrow into chunks, about 2 inch long, then add them to a large bowl.
6, Add the tomatoes, pesto and mozzarella to the bowl, then leave for ten minutes for the flavours to infuse.
7, Garnish with basil leaves and a sprinkling of toasted pine nuts, and serve with crusty bread.

Raspberry and vanilla sponge

I was home in the Borders at the weekend, where our soft fruit is growing like crazy. I miss the glut of raspberries and blackcurrants that a good few bushes can produce - there are so many things you can make. Hopefully, I'll get another chance to go back and make blackcurrant ice-cream, which is beautiful with its tart and sweet edges.

Wee Lorenzo had picked a huge bowl of raspberries that we going squishy in the fridge, so I cooked them down to form a jus and made it into a cake!


The cake recipe itself follows my inherited cake recipe, from the mum's grandma to me. It's so versatile because you are free to add ingredients as you please, so long as you pay attention to the liquid/dry ratio. This cake recipe is part of me, and I swear I could make it in under ten minutes. It's all about getting the consistency right....

150g/6oz caster sugar
150g/6oz butter, softened
3 large eggs, whisked
150g/6oz SR flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
a pinch of salt
1 tblsp milk
1/2 tsp quality vanilla extract
Raspberries
A sprinkle brown sugar

Preheat the oven to gas mark5/180C/375F
Line and flour a round, springform tin.
1, Wash the raspberries in cool water, and look out for any creepy crawlies! It's easiest to do this in a large colander so you can move them around gently.
2, Transfer the raspberries to a large pan and sprinkle a little brown sugar over them. Heat over a gentle flame whilst stirring occasionally. Take the pan off the heat when they end up looking like a runny jam.
3, Whilst the raspberries are cooling, make up your cake mixture.
4, Cream the butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon until the mix is light and fluffy.
5, Mix together the flour, bicarbonate and salt.
6, Mix together the eggs, milk and vanilla extract.
7, Add a third of the wet and a third of the dry ingredients to the creamed sugar, and fold. When this is mixed in, add the next third, then the next.
8, When you are happy with the consistency of the cake mixture, you are ready to mix in the raspberry marble!
9, Sieve the raspberries over a bowl to catch the juices, and either discard or keep the seeds and flesh - I fed them to Lawrence, but they would just as nicely go on a bowl of yoghurt or cereal if you don't mind the seeds.
10, Gently pour the raspberry juice into the cake mixture, and fold. The aim is not to mix this through, but to create  two colours in the cake. If you get carried away and end up with a pink cake, all is not lost - it will still taste delicious - and you will have learnt how not to marble, ready for another attempt!

Rainbow bowl

The impulse to buy the exciting new season vegetables is one that I can rarely resist. Be it the abundance of mushrooms in Autumn or the new asparagus in Spring, there's something really beautiful about knowing that the food you're about to eat has been harvested freshly and locally and grown naturally.

I picked the best of the seasonal veg we had at work - all UK grown and abundant at this time of year. Round yellow courgettes, cheery cherry plum tomatoes (which are so sweet and succulent and ripe), beautiful fresh spring onions, and broad beans (need I explain the beauty of the first fresh broad beans?).

When surveying the fresh display at work, I usually create some recipe in my mind. Pulling all of the the ingredients that are in the cupboard at home and what's available to me there and then, I imagine what I can make out of these and then buy accordingly. This evening: quinoa with these beautiful, multi-coloured vegetables and feta.

This could be created using whatever is available - not everyone has the option to just pick up a round yellow courgette, for instance. Substitute where necessary but the more colours you can fit in the dish, the more appetising it will look and also the greater variety of vitamins you will receive from eating it.

2 round yellow courgettes
250g cherry plum tomatoes
250g broad beans - weight before shelling
a bunch of spring onions
100g quinoa
100g feta cheese (optional)
a handful of fresh mint
salt and pepper to taste

1, Start by cutting the courgettes into wedges - I chose to do them in sixths, but that is down to the size of the courgette itself. You need them to be thick enough that they won't turn to mush when you griddle or fry them. Drizzle the pieces in olive or rapeseed oil.
2, Place the broad beans in a small pan of slightly salted boiling water. Cook them for about 3-4 minutes, then drain.
3, Heat the griddle and lay the courgette out on it's flesh, then turn when they have browned. You may need to do more than one set, depending on the size of your griddle. If you are frying, follow the same instructions, taking care not to brown the skin.
4, Place the quinoa in a pan of boiling water with a little salt. Watch over it as it absorbs water quickly and the cooking time varies between brands. Keep the water a few centimetres over it and stir occasionally. It's ready when it has unfurled - a tail will have come out.
5, While the quinoa is cooking, slice the spring onion and the tomatoes. Place these in a large bowl and add the courgette and broad beans.
6, Break the feta cheese into cubes and sprinkle over the vegetables. Finely cut or tear the mint and add it, too.
7, Mix the drained quinoa through the vegetables and serve as a main on as a side dish.

Awesome vegetable lasagna

Mr. Fox and my nemesis had a face off this evening through the garden gate. Unfortunately it was all over before I could take any pictures, as they were scared off by a couple exploring the gardens backing on to the cliff. If this continues I'll have no more cat shit in the gravel! Go Foxy!


MM came back this weekend from his holidays - he's been away for two months - so I made an epic vegetable lasagne based on Green Kitchen Stories lasagne, which looked so beautiful I couldn't resist. It was lovely, very fresh and full of flavour. I upped the pepper and would recommend a little more seasoning in general - the huge amount of basil doesn't really come through, so don't be afraid to add more, even though it seems excessive to start.

Serves 4 generously and 6 normal appetites.

N.B. I have a generous appetite, and this was too much for me!

A generous glug of olive oil
1 medium size onion (finely chopped)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1 tsp chilli sauce
A couple of handful green olives (pitted)
2 tbsp capers (drained)
4 large ripe tomatoes (cut in quarters)
2 tins plum tomatoes
A good handful of fresh basil
Salt & pepper
1 package of spelt whole wheat lasagne

For the ricotta cheese:
500 g ricotta cheese
Zest and juice of one lemon
A good handful of fresh basil
A pinch of sea salt
A pinch of lemon pepper

For the grilled vegetables:
Olive oil
A few pinches of sea salt
2 courgettes
1 aubergine
300 g chestnut mushrooms
300 g fresh kale or spinach
1 clove garlic

I ball of mozzarella, torn roughly.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4/350°F. 

1, Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Add the onion and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another minute before adding the chilli sauce.
2, Add olives, capers and fresh tomatoes and cook it a couple of minutes more before adding the rest of the ingredients. Cook for 10 minutes, lower the heat and let it simmer for half an hour more under a lid.
3, Finely slice the courgette and aubergine lengthways. Heat a griddle until smoking. Brush the slices with olive oil and lay them on the grill, a set at a time, until soft and coloured. If you don't have a griddle you could use the grill, or even oven roast them.
4,  Fry the mushrooms and the kale/spinach in a pan for 5 minutes with olive oil, salt and garlic. Do this is batches if necessary as the greens will take up a lot of space until they wilt down.
5, Empty the ricotta cheese into a large bowl and add the lemon zest and juice to the bowl. Tear the basil roughly, add salt and lemon pepper and mix together.
6, Begin to assemble the lasagne by starting with a layer of tomato sauce, then a layer of lasagne sheets. Next, smear the ricotta cheese mix over the sheets - this take a bit if work as it is quite sticky. Don't worry about being too precise, it's all going in the oven at the end and will work into itself.
7, Next, lay about one third of the griddled vegetables and then the mushroom and green mix down as evenly as possible. Spoon another layer of tomato sauce on top.
8, Add a layer of lasagne, and repeat these steps until you run out of space of lasange sheets.
9, Make sure you top the lasagne with ricotta mix  - in spread dollops because there's no way of creating an even layer - and then sprinkle the mozzarella over.
10, Bake for about 45 mins - 1 hour.

Broad bean and courgette spagetti

It's the start of summer vegetables! The first ones I've got my hands on are broad beans, hopefully next week there'll be some organic UK asparagus available - watch this space. It's really starting to feel like summer is making itself known in Edinburgh. We've had a good two weeks of glorious weather, in the garden I can't weed fast enough, and all those delightful veggies are coming back!

Tip: When selecting broad beans, gently feel the pod to test how large and firm the beans inside are. It's always a bit of a guessing game, but in general you can feel the beans themselves and the size.

Tonight, I didn't want to do anything too taxing, so pasta was on the cards. I decided to make a broad bean and courgette pasta with ricotta and a lemon dressing.

Serves 2
1 courgette
500g broad beans in their pods
Juice of 1 lemon
1 clove garlic, finely diced
Salt and pepper to taste
Enough spagetti to feed you
A good couple of glugs of quality olive oil
100g ricotta cheese

1, Peel your bean pods and collect the beans in a bowl, then put into boiling water and simmer for 5 minutes.
2, While the beans are simmering, cut your courgette halfways, then cut into 1/2 cm slices.
3, When the broad beans are ready, drain and leave to cool a little before peeling. In this time you can start to fry your courgette in a little olive oil until lightly browned. Remove from the heat.
4, Put the pasta in a pan of boiling, salted water until al dente.
5, When the pasta is close to being done, add the lemon juice and garlic to the broad beans and courgetters, and mix well.
6, When the pasta is ready, drain and then mix all of the veg and juices with it, then sprinkle the ricotta over and stir. Give it a final taste, and serve.

My Greek Feast

On Saturday morning, the sun popped it's elusive head through the clouds. My sister was staying, as was my best friend - so we made a trip to the West End. First we stopped at the Rutland Hotel for a breakfast, which I would strongly recommend not patronising. The food has been disappointing the two times I've been, and always takes far too long to arrive.

Next, to the farmer's market to buy some lamb mince from Reiver Farm to make dolmades. And after such a disappointing breakfast, we treated ourselves (not the sister) to a mulled cider from the
Thistly Cross and a sweet almond pastry from Valvona and Crolla.

It felt like Spring again - after such a long, cold winter. I always get a little carried away with the first signs of Spring and decide it's time to eat outdoors again - and it very much isn't. We made ourselves an indoor picnic, looking out over my view.

The first 'picnic' of the year consisted of spanakopita triangles, houmous, tzatizi, dolmades and falafel, and we spent the morning making it all.

Sadly, little sister had to leave to catch her train before she could share the feast - but we enjoyed it!

The last mince pies

Mince pies are one of my favourite Christmas flavours. Hailing from a large family, I'm used to making serious batches - taking an entire evening up - and then finding them all demolished by the next night Not having to feed all those mouths this festive period was a little strange but I had my best friend around to help and provide camera assistance.

Two to three weeks ago I made my mincemeat up - something I've never done before.

Makes about 2kg

250g soft dark brown sugar
250ml organic dry cider
1 kg bramley apples, peeled, halved and quartered
1 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
250g currants
250g raisins
250g cranberries
75g glace cherries, roughly chopped
75g blanched almonds,
finely chopped rind of 1 lemon

juice of 1/2 lemon

6 tbsp brandy

In large saucepan, dissolve the sugar in the cider over a gentle heat. 

Add all the ingredients, apart from brandy/rum and simmer for around 30 min until everything has a pulpy consistency. You need to stir this occasionally to make sure everything gets cooked evenly.

Remove from the heat and when it has cooled slightly stir in brandy.

If you're keeping the mixture for a while, sterilise some glass jars and spoon the mincemeat in whilst still hot. Stir it a little in the jar to get rid of any air bubbles and fill close to the top. When they've cooled slightly, top with a circle of greasproof paper.

My sweet pastry recipe never fails to impress and is so easy to do - I use a kitchenaid but have also done it by hand with not too much effort.

This quantity makes a lot of pastry - half if you are only making a small batch.

500g plain flour

200g butter

200g icing sugar

4 eggs (beaten)

Mix the butter and flour together - if doing this by hand then rub between your thumb and fingers.

Add the icing sugar and the eggs alternately and mix until it comes together.
Cover with clingfilm and leave to chill in the fridge for at least two hours.
When you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to 180C/gas mark 4.
I used a muffin tray to make my mince pies, but a smaller size would also be fine to use. Grease your tray lightly.

Dust your worksurface with icing sugar or flour, then half the pastry and roll out one half to 0.5cm thickness. Keep turning the pastry every few strokes so it is even in size and you know it's not sticking. Your strokes should have a gentle, even pressure.

Cut out bases for your pies and lay in the tray.
Put a couple of teaspoons of mincemeat in the pies, and top with another layer of pastry. This can be a cut pattern or you could cover the pie entirely. If you decide to cover the top, brush the edges of the base pastry with a little milk and press the edges of the top and bottom halves together. Make a couple of air holes in the top to let the hot air escape.

Put the pies in the oven and bake for 10-15 mins, or until slightly browned. This pastry doesn't colour much when cooked so don't wait for them to brown entirely.

Remove from the oven and dust the tops with icing sugar.

Share with family and friends, or just keep in an airtight container and devour over a few days alone!