The Cottage Smallholder

  As a child egg and bacon pie was a traditional picnic dish and I loved it. This is not a quiche. The eggs are unbroken and the texture and flavour of the combination of short crust pastry, floury egg yolks, silky egg whites and thick cut bacon is out of this world. I had Read More »

It’s the time of year when we start to clear the freezer of game given to us during the shooting season. We tend to keep our eyes peeled for cut price game.  Waitrose stocks rabbit, venison, pigeon, partridge and quail. All quite expensive but often marked down to half the original price –these are brought Read More »

We are eating far less meat these days. Eating superb meals most evenings.  But sometimes we long for a real alpha carnivore meal, especially as we have ditched the Cottage Smallholder Friday night steak treat – just too expensive at the moment. This recipe is so easy, delicious and cheap. If you used non organic ingredients Read More »

I woke this morning with one eye puffy, bloodshot and streaming. It was agony. What had happened during the night? Danny was alarmed. “You can’t decorate with just one eye. Your painting will be asynchronous.” “What on earth does that mean?” “It’s an IT term. Meaning intermittent amongst other things.”  He explained. Past caring I Read More »

During a cold snap a few weeks ago I had a longing for a really good Cottage Pie. So I made a version of this dish in the slow cooker (crock pot). Adding vegetables from our garden – the cottage kitchen smelt wonderful for hours. The slow cooker is a great way of cutting the Read More »

A few months ago a local caterer and superb cook was spotted buying a Waitrose fish pie. When she was asked why she was buying one when she could easily run up a pie herself, her response was clipped. "I just couldn’t make it for the price." The story did the rounds in Newmarket and Read More »

I’ve always wanted to have a go at making pork pies. I even bought a tiny funnel for adding the jelly a couple of years ago in the faint hope that I would have time to try over Christmas. When The Chicken Lady admitted to a similar dream I retrieved the funnel from the depths Read More »

Before we go anywhere, this is not a portrait of Anne Mary. She has served this dish at every summer party that I can remember. I am not a big eater but having tasted this once I always make a beeline for it. And often return from the sunny garden for more. Under cover of Read More »

We are chomping our way through veggie dishes on alternate nights. Actually, it’s been a joy so far. Great flavours and combinations. A revelation. Danny wakes me in the mornings. As he’s putting down my large mug of sweetened tea, he gently enquires who is cooking tonight. “It’s me and it’s vegetarian tonight.” “Great!” This Read More »

Last week we ate a slow pot roast pheasant baked in a nest of spicy red cabbage. It was pretty good – an easier variation of the recipe that appeared in The Times . But I didn’t think that it was a patch on our gypsy style roast pheasant. This evening I made a pheasant Read More »