The Botanical Kitchen
Recipes, travel and the occasional rant
Firstly Happy New Year to you all. Did you have a good one? We celebrated in the Florida Keys. Islamorada to be precise. Ringing New Year in on a hammock at midnight GMT. The Americans thought we were rather mad shouting Happy New Year and singing Auld Lang Syne at 7pm EST. But quite frankly […]
Aside from beetroot, I’ve managed to salvage some chard from the allotment this week. It was being eaten by something a few weeks back but seems to have renewed growth. I must confess though that I don’t much like chard! We decided to grow it because it was just so so pretty to look at […]
It’s been a while since I was at the allotment. It was a pretty grim day today and none of the plots were looking that great to be honest. Empty canes stick out from the ground. Seedlings were not to be seen – even in the greenhouses. It’s that time of year when everything is just […]
Recently I’ve been involved with the Gift Of Waste campaign which is being run for The European week For Waste Reduction. It aims to promote actions people can take to reduce the amount of waste they generate – specifically food waste. I got involved with the campaign because I hate waste. It drives me mad to […]
I ate the last of my squashes this weekend. The little baby ones that have been so pretty as decorations. The ones that didn’t get stolen for Halloween. I was inspired to keep them whole by this recipe by Emma at The Food Gatherer. I then remembered seeing something similar in one of Diana Henry‘s […]
Having had such a bounty of beetroot at our allotment again, I’ve been experimenting with sweet as well as savoury dishes. This creation was a real quickie I discovered with some leftover cooked beetroot we had in mash the other day. I was about to put it into a chocolate brownie mixture as that was the obvious thing […]
I am still harvesting my holey kale at the allotment but am also loving all the curly kale around locally. Usually I find this too tough and bitter but lately our vegetable bag scheme has provide some sweet tasting leaves which barely need blanching to cook. Here are a few ways I’ve been using the […]
It’s Bonfire Weekend in the UK. It’s a pretty grim one to be honest. As I’m writing this post I’m snuggled in my fleece pyjamas and woolen socks with the heating on full but still feeling cold looking out at the rain. No matter. It is Bonfire Weekend and we shall celebrate in wellies and waterproofs […]
The first time I visited Thailand I left out Ayutthaya – the ancient and majestic city of ruins which lies just north of Bangkok. It was one of my biggest regrets. 18 years on during my second visit to the country it was an absolute must do on my already enormous must do list. Although Ayutthaya is just a […]
I just popped one of these in the oven and so I thought I’d write the recipe up while I still have the luscious smells wafting up from the kitchen and before I need to run downstairs and make custard for the girls. The blackberries are just about from the allotment. My new allotment neighbour […]
If there is one crop I’m chuffed with this year it’s my runner beans. I pulled the last of them yesterday and they’ve given me a plentiful crop all summer. I plant Firestorm Runner Beans as they have beautiful red flowers which are also edible. I planted late this year so didn’t think I’d get […]
Those of you who read this blog regularly will know that I love taking a look behind the scenes of food producers and places. I was therefore so excited when I received an invitation from Borderfields Rapeseed Oil and Hammond Produce to visit their Innovation Garden in Nottinghamshire. The day started with some cooking demonstrations […]