The veg chaps at the market have been selling big bunches of basil all summer with leaves as big as spinach. So I’ve been making a lot of pesto (very simply parmesan, pine nuts, garlic, basil, olive oil whizzed together) and looking for different ways to use it. This one’s a lovely, light casserole. The meatballs […]

I’m not sure why, but every so often, the conversation in the office comes round to chicken Kiev. Everyone loves it – there’s a distinct sense of general excitement if someone’s having Kiev for tea. In recent years I may have progressed to the M&S variety, but there’s still a place in my heart for […]

[tweetmeme source=”easyteas” only_single=false http://www.URL.com%5D I had a new year’s email from the nice chaps at WordPress this week with lots of useful facts and figures about my blog. I sort of keep an eye on the stats I see in terms of how many people are reading, but I don’t really have much of an […]

[tweetmeme source=”easyteas” only_single=false http://www.URL.com%5D Just finished watching the Great British Waste Menu. It was a BBC challenge in which four top chefs had to produce a banquet for 60 from food that had been (or would have been) thrown away. The scale of waste is shocking – from farmers ploughing crops which don’t meet supermarket […]

[tweetmeme source=”easyteas” only_single=false http://www.URL.com%5D My heart sinks at the thought of ‘just a salad’ for tea – I’m too much of a carnivore. But I don’t want to end up the size of a hippo so I’m always on the lookout for ideas to make a meal of more exciting salads. The best lesson I […]

Time to share my favourite ever recipe. I’ve made this for family, a dozen friends at a time or just for tea midweek and it was the first meal I ever cooked for my better half. It takes a little while in the cooking, but it’s so easy to prepare and the end result – […]

This is pretty much my all-purpose pasta sauce recipe (the tomato version, anyway – see below for the cheese version). Tonight I’m making it with sausages cos they were on offer in Marksies – got up too late for the market this Saturday. We eat it with turkey quite often too for a good low […]

[tweetmeme source=”easyteas” only_single=false http://www.URL.com%5D Delia copped a lot of unfair flack for suggesting that it’s better to cook from scratch using a few shortcuts than not to cook at all. I agree and here’s my favourite cheat recipe – a creamy chicken in white wine casserole. I’ve been making it since student days so can’t […]

I searched high and low for a good korma recipe as I never found anything in a packet or jar that wasn’t gloopy and too sweet. I’ve worked on this over time as a recipe so it works for me every time. Although I will admit from the start that it’s a bit of a […]

A 20-minute tea this, and tastes amazing. Looks like it takes much more effort than it actually does. I think I got the basic method from watching Valentina Harris do it on the telly. It’s simple and a great way to use a really wide range of ingredients as anything goes.