About a year ago I went to visit my friend B who was living in Athens at the time. The November mornings were already cool but the midday sun was still seductively warm and we explored everywhere on foot. One morning we ambled around the sprawling Monastiraki flea market, ogling at forgotten treasures and curiosities, and … Continue reading
I fell in love with soba noodles on a trip to Japan last year. Until then, my Western experiences of ‘authentic’ Japanese cuisine had led me to believe that the Japanese subsisted on sushi alone, washed down with green tea by day and sake by night. I was obviously wrong (about the sushi anyway!). And everything … Continue reading
This is the sort of dish that is at once exotic and comforting. The warm spices and sweet apricots taste of Morocco, with its mountains of spices and sticky almond croissants and endless thimbles of syrupy mint tea. And yet a bowl of this is also exactly the kind of thing that should be eaten with … Continue reading
Monkfish is a beautifully textured fish and so meaty that it can stand up to proper flavours – move over white wine and parsley, I’m talking chorizo and garlic and smoked paprika (okay, and a teensy bit of parsley). At once easy to make and completely dinner party-proof, this is a dish of two halves … Continue reading
I admit that there are as many recipes for meatballs out there as there are Italian grandmothers. But I urge you to have faith and try these succulent beauties as it’s just ridiculous how good they are. I would venture as far as to say that they are the last word in meatballs…and the sauce … Continue reading
Hi folks. I’ve got a real treat in store for you today and, if you’re in the market for that sort of thing, it’s rather nifty for catching boys too. This risotto is the first supper I ever cooked for my boyfriend (he liked it so much that he insisted I send him home with the leftovers) … Continue reading
My boyfriend is in the Alps this weekend, prancing about in powder and having a jolly good time of it. I want some fun too. It is not snowing outside and I am hundreds of miles away from any mountain range. I am not swaddled in a dozen layers like a podgy onion, nor have I … Continue reading
This recipe is pretty dirty. At the risk of stating the obvious, it has nothing to do with the low-calorie, guilt-free popcorn snacks favoured by reed-slim gym bunnies across the City. Oh no. This is about making food sufficiently sinful for those moments when you want to shut the rain out, curl up on the … Continue reading
“And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.” It’s been raining and raining and raining for days here, almost without pause, and I’ve been cowering inside like a sad damp cat for as much of it as possible. It’s the sort of weather that makes you want to curl up and eat … Continue reading
Mmmm, steak. Steak and salad is one of our staples at home and it regularly crops up as a quick and satisfying midweek supper. Today’s variation is a take on the classic Italian tagliata, beef steak sliced into ‘ribbons’, which featured heavily on the menus in Sardinia when we were there. It was often served with a … Continue reading
pip & little blue 