The Botanical Kitchen
Recipes, travel and the occasional rant
About the author Alain Ducase is a legend. He’s done so much and created such wonderful food all over the world. Did you know he has 20 restaurants in 8 different countries??! He was also the first chef to be awarded 3 Michelin Stars in 3 different cities at the same time. He’s written this […]
Seed Pantry was set up in 2009 with a view to helping everyone enjoy the rewards of nature and to learn about growing food to eat wherever they happen to live. They provide everything you need to grow your own food at home and/or in your workplace, from inner city spaces to back garden veg […]
My daughters are starting to gain confidence on their bikes and so as the weather was simply stunning yesterday we decided on a family bike ride. The National Cycle Network by Sustrans has over 13,000 miles of walking and cycling routes which include scenic traffic-free paths, quiet roads, signed on-road routes and themed long-distance routes. We found a wonderful […]
Whitstable is a pretty little town with lovely lifestyle shops selling sea-themed goods as you would expect but there are also some great artisan food shops. We didn’t have the patience to wander round though as we were hungry for some hearty food to fill starving tummies (following a long bike ride along the Crab […]
One of my favourite salads is Pear, Stilton and Walnut. I never eat Stilton on it’s own but the salty taste mixed with the sweet pear is just so so lovely. So I thought I’d try the same line of thinking with some leftover feta and rhubarb. This recipe serves one! I had it with […]
Loaf cakes are brilliant everyday cakes because they keep for ages and you can serve them in so many different ways. A cold slice with hot custard, a warmed slice with ice cream or crème fraiche, cubed pieces with a chocolate fondue are some favourites in our house. I struggled to get this cake right because the […]
If you’re a fan of easy desserts like me then you’ll love this tart adapted from Alain Ducasse’s book called Nature. Life is too short to make puff pastry on a regular basis so this recipe uses a good ready made one. You’ll need 1 pack of ready made puff pastry 600g rhubarb stalks 200g […]
I always have a pack of puff pastry in the fridge or freezer and these are brilliant and super quick for breakfast if you’ve got some lovely rhubarb compote sitting in the fridge – or any other compote for that matter! Equally great for individual puddings with custard. This recipe makes four turnovers. You’ll need […]
Great British Chefs recently asked me to review The Mighty Spice Cook Book, and being a bit of a spice fiend I was delighted. John Gregory-Smith, the author of this wonderful book, sounds a lot like me. He grew up eating lots of different spices, he’s travelled all over the world meeting local people to learn […]
When Twitter followers suggested this place for dinner, I was a bit confused. A restaurant at a lido? Lidos are only open in the daytime aren’t they? Maybe it wasn’t a lido at all but just built on the site of an old one? After there did used to be a swimming pool in the […]
If you received a beautiful bunch of roses for Valentine’s Day, they should still be going strong. If they are starting to wilt, re-cut the stems on a diagonal and then pop them back into a squeaky clean vase with freshwater. You only need about 2 inches worth of water. Any more than this will […]
I met Rosalind Rathouse late last year. She kindly invited me to lunch at her Cookery School just off Oxford Circus. I liked her right away. She was infectiously enthusiastic about quality food and teaching people to cook great meals. Two areas I am passionate about myself. Rosalind started teaching in her native South Africa where she […]