Skip to recipes This has been one confused winter: daffodils rehearsing in December, snowdrops extending their run into March, then actual snow just as the daffs get into full costume. It’s as though winter had stage-fright and only roused itself … [Read more...]
Duck legs braised in red wine
The cooler weather invites those gamier meats that are at their best in autumn and winter. Duck legs from farmed birds are rich and delicious, easy to cook, and not too expensive. In France they are made into the famous confit, slow-cooked immersed … [Read more...]
Rose geranium sponge cake
If you are a fan of the edible rose geranium, as I am, this is a beautiful cake with a herbal, floral note, supported by Cognac and the flavour of good butter and eggs. The leaves of this scented pelargonium add prettiness and a complex flavour. … [Read more...]
Autumn leaves
This has been the most colourful October I've seen in England for years. We've been blessed with generous sun this month after a wet September, and it has burnished our autumn palette with gold. My edible-flower and salad garden, newly planted … [Read more...]
Late-summer recipes
Skip to recipes The dog days are passed, but we hope for one or two last barks. We know it’s coming, but we’re not yet ready to hand over to autumn. No need, just yet, for summer’s exuberance is still here in the late-summer harvest that is … [Read more...]
Elderflowers: champagne, cordial and a cake
There’s just time to make one more batch of elderflower cordial and champagne, with their inimitable fragrance of English summer – floral, yet also a little wild and very slightly musty. Nothing drinkable is more evocative of our hedgerows and … [Read more...]