Cauliflower cheese with smoky bacon recipe
I love cauliflower cheese but for years battled unsuccessfully to create the best sauce. I thought that it should be a simple béchamel sauce with cheese. Wrong. My sauce was so thin that you could almost see the dish beneath due to the volume of liquid (water) produced by the cauli. So, after a few years, I gave up. My cauliflower cheese making enthusiasm was packed away. When we miraculously brought Fred's dying cauliflower back to life, I decided to have one final go. Miracles tend to spawn more miracles and I had a thought. If I made a...
read moreBroccoli stalks in a stir fry
The Penultimate Paramour used to save the tree trunk from a head of broccoli to use in a stir fry. So did my mum. Perhaps it was a matter of too long in the wok but even chopped, the tree trunks were soft and watery with a flavour reminiscent of the compost heap. We made a stir fry tonight. Back late from Essex, I was feeling buggy and it was my turn to cook. I had planned to make stroganoff but couldn't face the palaver. In a moment of desperation, I grabbed Nigel Slater's The 30 Minute Cook and thumbed through the pages. This is a great book...
read moreSnow on the vegetables. Broccoli and early broad beans
I was a bit worried by last week's snow and shot down before breakfast, in my dressing gown and wellies, to shake the snow off the broccoli netting. I keep the broccoli under nets to protect it from greedy woodpigeons. But the weight of the snow could snap the stems however sturdy. The fences only vaguely support the netting. I need to make a sturdier structure in the middle of the border this year. The dry weather last summer meant that John delayed planting the broccoli until August. This has dramatically effected their growth. They look...
read more
Most Recent Articles
Google author feature puts your photo on Google search resultsWe changed our old Wordpress theme recently. We wanted a new look and a responsive theme that could adapt to every… »
Lucky breakMany years ago I popped one of those overpriced beer and a glass sets in Danny’s Christmas stocking. It was… »
I made two litres of dog food by mistakeOn Monday I decided to test out the theory that cottage pie is best made with pieces of beef rather than minced… »
Recipe for meatballs and spaghetti with red wine, tomatoes and bell peppers. Foolproof slow cooker/crock pot recipes“Please don’t buy mince again. I just don’t like it.” Danny grumbled out of the kitchen. “But you like… »
Win £50 worth of B&Q vouchers with The Cottage Smallholder and Direct Line Grand DrawFor those of you who missed out on the metal bedstead competition: we’ve got another great prize to offer you!… »
New layout for CSH - testers wanted pleaseDanny here, everybody. 14% of our visitors use mobile devices, such as tablets, iPad, smart mobiles and so on.… »
Recent Comments
{ I ran the draw this morning. Mechanical and impartial as always. The two winners, in the order in which they "came out of the hat"... } – Tue 7 :04 am
{ I would buy some colourful bedding plants for the pots on my new etagere; they will finish it off a treat. } – Mon 10 :39 pm
{ Just moved house and are busy making us a whole new garden from scratch ~ A £50 voucher would help a lot to get our... } – Mon 10 :31 pm
{ So many things I need for the garden, now the water has abated & the mud has finally dried so a £%) voucher would be... } – Mon 9 :30 pm
{ Now this would help towards the outdoor wood burner I spotted in there recently! 
} – Mon 2 :12 pm
{ Our leaking steading roof needs replacing, a huge expensive job but £50 towards it would be lovely. } – Mon 11 :59 am
- Just a few hours left to enter our Grand Draw and win a £50 B&Q voucher. Go on you know that it makes sense! … https://t.co/oewcbGoO
- The Cottage Smallholder Daily is out! http://t.co/8WXuncva
- Only a few hours to go before our grand draw closes. Get in fast! http://t.co/WDdD4roL
FD