The Botanical Kitchen
Recipes, travel and the occasional rant
January is a time to be virtuous after the excesses of Christmas. I’m drawn to vibrant, ‘green’ food to cheer myself up from the dreary drizzle outside. Thankfully my baby spinach has survived the weather in my garden. The leaves may be a little smaller and the bugs may have nibbled here and there but […]
When I was in Amsterdam over Easter I came across these amazing ‘speltbolletje’ which I have been trying to get a recipe for. They were little, round balls of bread filled with apricots an figs and covered in pumpkin seeds. Sadly I haven’t been able to find a recipe (despite lots of help from Twitter […]
I have been looking into making this recipe since a recent visit to Amsterdam. I tasted these amazing rolls called ‘Speltboletje’ made with spelt flour, figs and apricots covered in pumpkin seeds. These aren’t quite like the ones I tasted but their are close. I bought Doves Farm Wholegrain Spelt Flour and it was lovely. […]
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 really fortunate over the last few months to have met so many amazing foodies who have shared not only their wonderful ingredients but also their passions for helping and supporting others to (re)discover the great produce we have in this country. I’d like to introduce you to two who inspired today’s recipes of Sourdough […]
Now I have been desperate to bake this bread but have always been put off by the long process. I had a go at making a sourdough starter once and the resulting loaf was awful 🙁 So I have been shy to try again. However after reading Lea Harris’s blog post and receiving a starter […]
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. They also go well with hummus. I made these rolls in Episode 3 of the Great British Bake Off. Paul commented that you couldn’t taste the […]
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 […]
I love pepper. Day to day I do use a lot of black pepper and you could substitute the peppercorns in this recipe for crushed black pepper kernels as this works equally well. I have used green and pink peppercorns in this recipe though because they have a bit of a tangy taste which […]
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 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 […]