The Botanical Kitchen
Recipes, travel and the occasional rant
For the last few weeks, over a month even, I’ve been waiting. Waiting for just the right time. The right time to look over my shoulder, check nobody is watching and pick. Pick wild garlic to be precise. I’ve been running past it, detouring to take a peek and willing it to come up as […]
The sun has been on good form in my little corner of London recently. The parks seem greener, the blossoms seem to be out in bloom again and even the frost looks inviting. I hope it is a taste of the summer sunshine to come as I am most definitely a summer girl. I blame the fact that […]
The first time I saw sorrel was at The Eden Project in the gift shop. A stunning red veined variety which tasted as beautiful as it looked. I promptly bought a plant which sits happily in my garden for infrequent nibbles. It’s so pretty I don’t want to take too many leaves off it for […]
Hasn’t Christmas come around so quickly this year? I know all the advertising kicks off as soon as the summer sales have finished but I cannot believe we have just this weekend left to buy gifts. Our list always includes edibles – some shop bought and some home made. Here is some inspiration if you’re […]
My daughters love peanut butter. I love peanut butter! But aside from one particular brand (Whole Earth) there are too many nasties in commercially made peanut butter so every now and then it’s nice to make your own. This recipe just has just a few ingredients.
I was inspired to grow a little garlic after a visiting Mark at South West Garlic Farm last year. My garlic will never be as good as his and I won’t ever be planting the volume he does but I like the idea of my allotment being busy doing something over the winter. A few tips on planting […]
I felt rather sad for the onion this week. I was in a falafel shop ordering my lunch. As part of the salad there are onions and as I was returning to work after lunch I asked the young man to leave them out. I didn’t want to be smelly (or indeed make smells!). He […]
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 […]
There is something stunning about beetroots in their pickle form. I love the the way they transform a salad or a sandwich into something very cheffy and expensive. I’ve never made a pickle before so this recipe took a few attempts. It’s also not a large batch because I don’t have a big fridge. It […]
I cannot believe how tasty nasturtium leaves are. I’ve had them in salad before and rather love the peppery taste but in this simple pesto they have an intense flavour that reminds me of mild watercress. You’ll need 100g nasturtium leaves 3 large garlic cloves 70g Parmesan cheese 70g almonds – roughly chopped 160ml extra […]