The Botanical Kitchen
Recipes, travel and the occasional rant
Life gets pretty overwhelming sometimes doesn’t it? The business of work and school and home merging together too easily. Priorities and pace overlap and the wrong things get prioritised and grumpiness sets in. I’ve started to consciously challenge my grumpiness. Is it worth it? Or rather should I focus on all the little things that […]
I was introduced to this lovely honey at a foodie event last year. I had it on a salty cracker with some lovely manchego type cheese. It was incredibly memorable and incredibly moreish.Pasilla Oaxaca Chillies The honey uses Pasilla Oaxaca chillies from the Oaxaca region of Mexico which is about five hours from the Pacific […]
I was rather frightened when my lovely friends suggested a night out at The Grand Central Oyster Bar. I’ve only had oysters twice. Once in a very loud bar whilst very drunk which resulted in me being very, very sick and once in Whitstable Harbour – a much more pleasant experience that I can actually remember. Anyway, it […]
I felt a little sad this weekend as I emptied my freezer of the last bag of this summer’s courgettes. I was getting sick of the sight of them in August but on this cold, wet and windy weekend I was nostalgic for our excitement as the seedlings popped through the soil. I wanted to […]
After my epic summer of courgette production, I froze a lot in a grated a chunk form to use over the autumn and winter months in soups and curries. This dish took just half an hour with the courgette and mussels thrown in direct from frozen. This recipe serves four hungry adults. You’ll need 150g […]
A few months ago at The BBC Good Food Show, I was invited to meet the Barber family and learn about their cheddar. I’m a sucker for good British produce and even more of a sucker for family businesses so I could not resist. I was greeted warmly by three lovely gents from the Barber […]
Every now and then you come across a recipe which you know you’ll make time and time again. This is one of those recipes. I’ve never had twice baked soufflés before. In fact I’ve not had many soufflés at all before as I always choose something cake based for dessert in restaurants. Also soufflés have […]
I always have an abundance of lemons in the house but even more so at this time of year. It’s bitterly cold in our old Victorian house and we already have the odd sniffle here and there so a hot toddy with lemon or a squirt in hot water with some ginger is the perfect […]
This is a wonderful recipe to have in a jar in the pantry. If you don’t have a pantry the fridge will do! I love charmoulla and have adapted various recipes to get to this one. It’s quick to make in a food processor but I would suggest using a large pestle and mortar as […]
These are super simple and quite simply sunshine in a jar. They do take a couple of months to mature and build the flavour but I can highly recommend them for all sorts of uses – tagines such as this Sea Bream and Vegetable Tagine , Charmoulla for this Preserved Feta with Charmoulla to savour with […]
With all the Seville oranges in season in the shops I’m drawn back to the warmth and heat of the Moroccan dessert. Sounds strange but it’s these wonderful oranges that produce Orange Blossoms which in turn are used to make Orange Blossom Water (or Orange Flower Water) and it was this that I smelled every morning when I awoke […]
I’m starting to feel the excesses of Christmas and all this dreary drizzle has really put me off going outside for fresh air and exercise. I’m inspired by all the raw food posts and detox meals but I still find myself drawn to baking, cups of tea and a good book by the fire. That […]