I was in a bit of a cooking rut earlier this year so I took some time to grab all the recipes I’d saved online and torn out of magazines and updated my recipe books (aw, look – the origins of the 5 A Day characters!). I then added sticky tabs to all the things I want to try soon. I’ve found some great new favourites and thought I’d try and share a few now and again.
These pastry pinwheels were a throwaway line in the Waitrose magazine but I’m glad I spotted it as they’re great and can be frozen for later. You just roll out some puff pastry, spread on some sauce or pesto, add some toppings (I used prosciutto and parmesan), roll it up like a swiss roll and cut into slices. Then bake them at 200C for about 15-20 minutes until the pastry is all puffed up and cooked. My first ones there are a teeny bit undercooked in the middle, but the later ones were perfect. Also, say hello to Bumblebee Meowchi! I’m waiting for some SCK stuff before I show him off properly.
I’ve been trying to cook fish more so I made Smoked haddock, leek and potato chowder (or Cullen Skink as we know it up north) from Delicious and it was so amazingly good. I forgot to take any photos, sorry.
On the dessert front, I had some mediocre raspberries so turned them into a raspberry ricotta cake from Orangette. I’m not sure if I underbaked it or if I got my measurements wrong trying to reduce everything to match my raspberries (annoying US volume measurements), but it sank a lot after I took that photo. Still tasted good though.
I had a hankering for rice krispie treats last year and made these Nigella ones (without the sugar flowers, obviously). They’re so quick and yummy that I have made them quite a few times since. I use a dark chocolate with orange and nuts, which makes it extra good. Also sprinkles on top :)
If you’re looking for recipe inspiration, I love Serious Eats, Smitten Kitchen and David Lebovitz and have a subscription to Delicious magazine (but most recipes are stored online too) and The Guardian app, plus I try to get to Waitrose every month as their free magazine is really good.
