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 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 […]
It’s becoming a ritual attending BBC Good Food Show to shop for Christmas presents to myself and meet up with fellow Great British Bake Off Contestants. This year we had tea with Paul, Mary in the very specially created Great British Bake Off Tea Party Garden. My girls are still big fans of the show […]
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 […]
Parsley is too often overlooked as an ingredient in its own right and considered a garnish for many. This is a practice that dates back to Ancient Greece where parsley was sacred and used to adorn winners of sporting tournaments and decorate tombs of the dead. It might also be because parsley is a […]
This is a five minute recipe that you’ll be able to use in lots of different ways – simply stirred into pasta, as a dip with tortilla chips or pretzels or mushed into a jacket potato with some tomatoes on top. I use this with sunflower seeds as pine nuts are rather expensive. I’ve also […]
We have a family tradition which we observe most weekends. Pizza Saturday. It’s rather silly really but we like but it’s a good excuse to leave a little dining formality behind and enjoy a TV dinner with The X factor, Britain’s Got Talent or most recently The Voice. My girls are rather obsessed with Jesse Jay. […]