The Botanical Kitchen
Recipes, travel and the occasional rant
It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a supperclub. The last one was actually Asma Khan’s Jai Ho Supperclub. Asma has become a good friend and I am so proud of her success at The Sun and Thirteen Cantons pub in Soho, London. If you haven’t been then do pay her a visit […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
There is something rather therapeutic about baking pastry. It’s the stages I think. Making the dough, chilling the dough, rolling out the dough and finally baking. The stages fit rather well with my running schedule. I’m running for Action Against Hunger in the 2016 Virgin London Marathon. I’ve started training now because I’m a slow […]
So what is ‘it’ that is eating my kale? For the last two years I have planted kale at the allotment. I have given up trying to grow from seed. It’s impossible without a greenhouse so I am ashamed to say that I get a batch of six from the garden centre. Almost before I have […]
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 […]
I am ashamed to say that prior to a couple of weeks ago I had never really thought about the different varieties of UK ‘Early Potatoes’. I’d grouped them all under ‘New Potatoes’ which is to be honest the only variety I tend to see mass marketed in the supermarkets. Jersey Royales in the main. I’ve discovered a […]
How is it midsummer weekend already? In my part of London we’ve only just started getting those balmy sunny evenings. They have been so few that we’ve savoured each one til the last trickle of light fades behind the trees and the Salvation Army tower visible from that special corner of the garden. Of course […]
There is a beast on my allotment. Something that’s nibbling at the few plants we have in the ground. This is what it’s done to our wonderful kale which is all but gone. With sowing season now fully underway, I decided to pull out the final scraps and rework the bed for something new. Rainbow chard […]