The Botanical Kitchen
Recipes, travel and the occasional rant
If you’ve had a good look round this blog, you’ll notice lots of little food. I’m a big fan. This is such a brilliant recipe. You can have it in the pastry cases as I’ve described below or simply as a little salad inside a leaf of gem lettuce or on top of some parchment […]
I have never smoked anything before. Seriously. Not as in cigarettes, naughty things or food so this was a real challenge in my head. It was beaututifully simple though and filled my kitchen with the most amazing smells. First from the tea smoking, then the buttery walnuts and then the beautiful tarragon leaves. The recipe […]
If, like me, you get an inkling for cheese in the evenings with your glass of red wine this is a brilliant recipe for you. They keep really well in an airtight container for about a week but never last that long in my house! These also taste amaaaazing with some Thistle Pate that was […]
I’ve been to a few Gala Dinners and Drinks Receptions for work recently. It’s that time of year. I know I should be enjoying the dressing up part and the celebration itself. Don’t get me wrong, I love wearing an evening gown and heels and jewellery and being all girly. But ‘networking’ is soooo scary isn’t it? […]
I made this quiche for Episode 2 of The Great British Bake Off. I hadn’t really made much quiche til I started recipe testing for the show because I’ve never been a huge fan. I am now a convert. Quiche is such an easy meal. Served cold or warm it’s filling and nutritious and there […]
These bread rolls are a brilliant alternative to naan bread or chappattis when eaten with dhal based recipes. They are also great with one veg soups like tomato or broccoli. I made these rolls in Episode 3 of the Great British Bake Off. Paul commented that you couldn’t taste the halloumi because of the chilli but […]
Soda bread is brilliant! It’s such an excellent ‘rustle up’ bake. Five everyday ingredients, a bit of loose mixing, a quick spell in the oven and you have a delicious loaf ready to be scoffed. Most recipes use buttermilk but I never have any so I use yoghurt and milk. Instead of the chillies you […]
This is a really easy variation on traditional hummus and you could substitute the sweet potato with butternut squash for an equally lovely accompaniment with the cumin bread rolls. You’ll need For the hummus 2 large sweet potatoes 4 cloves of garlic 2 heaped tbsp tahini 2 tsp ground cumin 4 tbsp extra virgin olive […]
This is a basic white bread roll recipe and instead of the cumin seeds on top you could use poppy seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds or even oats. I use my KitchenAid to make bread because I’m usually short on time. If you don’t have a mixer then just mix everything by hand and allow […]