Guest spot: Winning Combinations by Katherine Dodd and Paul Arguile
This is Paul’s and my second guest posting. I feel at this point I should come clean. About a month ago, I invited ourselves to Fiona and Danny’s, which, I think, was very good for me, though I’m not sure how good it might have been for our cottage-smallholding hosts. Despite us eating up half a weekend – precious when you have schedules as hectic as theirs – Fiona and Danny generously welcomed us into their cosy, log-fire-warmed cottage with good cheer. Sitting around the table, with Min Pins at close quarters...
read moreHow to cook perfect sirloin or rib eye steak recipe
Friday night is steak night chez Cottage Smallholder. It has become an institution. We started it when Danny was weekly boarding at at an assignment in Exeter, five years ago. The promise of a really good steak bolstered him up on the drive home. The steak has become an integral part of our life. We now accept no invitations on a Friday night, preferring to batten down the hatches, open a bottle of good red wine and pig out on unbelievably good sirloins and, occasionally, rib eye steaks. These were supplied by Fred Fizpatrick on the Exning...
read moreHow to pluck and draw game: a partridge or pheasant.
Game is a treat. We don’t shoot and I don’t know many people who do. Hero of the kitchen garden, John Coe, is a beater during the winter months and sometimes brings us a brace of pheasant. His presents are always hung and dressed, ready for the pot. Occasionally we’re given a brace of pheasant or partridge, complete with feathers Until today, I have hung, skinned and drawn them, and then cooked them slowly, enclosed in a casserole. Now I know how to pluck a bird. By keeping the skin our repertoire of recipes has increased...
read moreQuick cranberry sauce recipe
Two years ago I made cranberry sauce to die for. It kept for months in the fridge and was wolfed down with everything from goat’s cheese toasties to roast chicken. I particularly loved it with brie in sandwiches. In fact we both agreed that it really comes into its own after Christmas, when it is not jockeying for position with so many other treats. Although I would feel bereft if it didn’t make an appearance on Christmas Day. Cranberry sauce is dead easy to make and it’s quick too. Once you’ve tasted homemade...
read moreEasy Mashed potato (no lumps guaranteed)
Where would I be without my potato ricer? If Danny makes mashed potato he pounds away with an old fashioned potato masher. I used to do the same and however long I spent, there were always lumps. D was polite and ate them but I always felt that secretly he was thinking that his were far better. And they were. Rising to the challenge, I secretly asked around for a solution. Some friends used a masher, some took this a step further. They mashed and then applied an electric whisk to the pot. Additions of butter, milk and cream were complex extra...
read moreLast minute Christmas cake recipe
Over the years we have tried various Christmas cake recipes but the best by far was the one that we made last year, a week before Christmas. We wanted a cake packed with fruit but not a dark heavy traditional type of Christmas cake. We’d had to force down too many slices of these in the past. My Mother used to make us these and bring one each Christmas. Then she decided to buy them. These were worse and not disguised by being fed with lashings of brandy. We’d cut a few slices at Christmas, give her half the cake to take home at the...
read moreGuest Spot: Roast Sweet Potatoes with Peppers, Chilli and Feta Cheese Recipe by Katherine Dodd and Paul Arguile
Katherine and Paul, joined us for a late lunch with our old friends Jocelyn and Miles last weekend. They are delightful city fresh busy people with loads of plans. Real foodies with a buzz. The mix was perfect. We ate our Spanish lamb and Paul and Katherine retaliated with the generous offer of contributing a guest blog. We kept on pouring the wine until there was no going back. This recipe is delicious and is one of the few vegetarian dishes that Danny will happily eat. Guest spot: Roast Sweet Potatoes with Peppers, Chilli and Feta Cheese...
read moreComfort eating. Deluxe cheese on toast recipe
Many years ago I moved into my first London flat. A pretty loft conversion with mansard ceilings and views of roofs, chimneys and unending sky. I needed transport so I bought myself a reconditioned BSA Bantam with Easy Rider handlebars and swooped around on that. My Mother was horrified and that made it even more fun. The weekly shop was basic as everything had to be transported on my back in a small frameless canvas rucksack. A relic of a past era, designed to carry sandwiches and a map and possibly a change of socks. If it was filled too...
read more
FD