In My Kitchen

03/04/2026

I’ve been craving this dish all week. Swapped haddock for smoked kippers in this classic recipe. Kedgeree is a versatile, tasty option for any meal. Paired it with a refreshing watercress and beetroot salad. Added parsley, dill, and spring onions to the kedgeree, with a hint of curry powder and asafoetida. The rice was infused with curry and lime leaves. Perfect Fish Friday supper.

05/02/2026

Salmon bowl with Japanese brown rice and daikon.
Topped with avocado, Japanese fried egg roll, Edamame, Furikake and sautéed cabbage with a bit of Dashi and saltz

Super healthy and super delicious.

24/11/2025

28/10/2025

This mornings brunch, which I literally just had 11:30.
Supposed to be at a business planning class, but it seems the organisers were unable to launch Teams so they had to cancel .
In the meantime, I caught up with some other online workshop - to do with a spirit of a business.
By Colette Baron Reid.

Anyhow, I decided to take a break and make my brunch .
The pinto beans were a small batch leftover from another meal last week, which I can’t remember what I used it for .
Nevertheless, I was looking for a paella recipe last night - and fell up on this recipe that I improvised with from my Brindisa cookbook.
Such a lovely compendium of Spanish cookery .
Anyhow, I happen to have all the ingredients in and I decided to put it together yesterday evening .
If any of you have been following my food in my kitchen page on Instagram you know you know that I am quite partial to the Portuguese bread and egg porridge.

So this is my rendition on the same thing, but using this wonderful bowl of left overs pinto beans, carrots, leeks, bacon, chorizo , sweet paprika and at the base a small onion and the a clove of garlic finally chopped.
after adding a wee bit of hot water into the beans in a pot and warming it up-
I added a duck’s egg which was perfectly poached despite its colour and freshly chopped coriander .

A nutritional bowl of protein and vegetables.
Those nourishing bowls are a great breakfast or lunch perfect for the autumn days .

The great thing about this being a stew is it can be eaten at any time of the day or a late supper with some corn tortilla and cheese even.
No limits to creativity in the kitchen .
Curiosity makes delicious meals.

15/10/2025

Portuguese Fish Stew.
Made with fresh fish or any bits of frozen fish you might have lurking in the freezer .

This is a great dish to make when you want to finish up any odds and ends of Fish, which I happen to have in the freezer .
I used two small cod fillets
A fillet of mackerel
Salmon fillet
Fresh King prawns which are frozen and defrosted

In fact, all my fish was defrosted before cooking, which I usually prefer to do.

Pan fry and whole diced onion until soft
Add four cloves of garlic finely chopped
At this point, I added some bacon that I need. I wanted to use up and put that in for a bit of a smoky flavour.

Once the bacon had browned, I added the equivalent of two whole tomatoes chopped into small chunks.

I used five or six smaller tomatoes
I allowed that to soften before adding quarter of a cup of white wine actually I used rosé as that was all I had.

Add a pinch of saffron and let it do its magic.
I then added 4 cups of fish stock - chicken will do or veggie
And let that bubble through.
At this point, you can add your potatoes.

I used 300 g of waxy salad potatoes. That had been pre-cooked in my instant pot.

I cook this for a friend‘s birthday who’s notoriously late and it was a good choice to make as the base of this Stew had time to infuse while I waited for her arrival.

Of course we had a couple of pre-dinner drinks and a chat.
When I was about 10 minutes from wanting to eat, I added the chunks of fish into the pot.

I pan fried the prawns in a separate pan with olive oil and chilli and garlic salt.

Once the fish is cooked lafle into Bowls. Top with the prawns.

As you can see, my version also had some organic purple broccoli, which I added a couple of minutes before the fish went in.

Absolutely delicious and greater the next day.
🍁

15/10/2025

Bottom drawer, vegetable roast soup.
You can’t beat a good old any old roasted vegetables pop down in a blender .
This soup has onions, tomatoes, celery, garlic and small courgette.
Roast in the oven at about 180° C until all the vegetables have softened and roasted .
I drizzled a bit of olive oil onto the vegetables .

Place in a blender - had a bit of water if it’s too thick or some vegetable stock.

Keeps in the fridge for over a week .
What’s not to like?

Served with some stale sourdough crust from Jason‘s sourdough loaf.
Break the pieces of bread into small pieces and place on a tray and cook in an air fryer with a bit of olive oil and salt .
Stores well and can keep up to about a month.

Bon Appetit

26/09/2025

Homemade Mushroom Pate
Part foraged and part chestnut mushrooms.
Made with garlic, thyme, nutmeg, in Madeira wine- didn’t have Sherry. Nevertheless, works well. Blend it into find chopped mushrooms re-added it to the pan to ensure all the water and mushroom juice evaporates. Then add
cream cheese - I used Boursin - a good dollop of sour cream. Mix well.
Herbs i added - dried tarragon too.
season well with black pepper and salt.
I added a tiny dash of mushroom ketchup.

Perfect nibble and hors d’oeuvres to serve this time of the year.
Can be made days ahead as I did with the mushrooms and I cooked the salad potatoes earlier today left them to cool in room temperature.
Potatoes always nicer in room temperature than from straight from the fridge.

leftover mushroom pate can be frozen up to 3 months and or used in a pasta dish served with a bit of truffle oil on top.

15/09/2025

Which mushrooms would you say were edible?
Local foraging around the Meadow land near my home .
Nine photos .
If you know comment by putting the numbers to the ones that are edible .

12/09/2025

Not the best photo as I could only take it from the top
But a great brunch, sourdough toast, with avocado, chilli and garlic pepper on top, a slice of black pudding and poached egg.
I sprinkled some yeast flakes on top of my eggs this morning and a bit of avocado oil not photographed.

A solid brunch/ lunch such as that this really sees you through the day.

23/08/2025

Chinese crispy chicken which worked out really well by using the chicken that had pre-cooked for stock.
In fact, I didn’t have to cook it for long in the actual oil and it wasn’t as browned off when you cook it from raw.

The chicken was was tender indeed topped with green chilies, garlic, and spring onions.
The second photo is congee with spinach .
I used the leftover Thai rice and a freshly cooked chicken broth and did so for 20 minutes in an instant pot .
I added the spinach after to retain its colour and goodness.

Served with a condiment of grated ginger and spring onions with sesame and peanut oil .
Super yum!