Little Summer Puddings 

When it comes to bread I’ve always been a fan. From your San Franciscan sourdough, to Turkish pide, to Italian ciabatta and foccacia, Indian naan and roti, Lebanese flat breads, the quintessential French baguette and even your humble white loaf, I love them all.

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date & brandy bread pudding
When it comes to winter desserts, there are few things as comforting and satisfying as a good pudding. The British are the masters of this with their roly poly pudding, baked rice pudding, treacle pudding, tangy lemon delicious, chocolate self saucing pudding and the bizzarely named ’spotted dick’.  And of course there is your classic Christmas pud all dense fruity goodness served with a boozy brandy custard or the perennial favourite of Sydney cafes - the sticky date (or toffee) with a toothachingly sweet caramel sauce. But if I was forced to choose a favourite, it would be hard to go past the simple pleasure of a bread & butter pudding. Read the rest of this entry »

‘the model child’ chocolate & pear tart

One of the things that I really love about cooking is that you always have to be on your toes. No matter how many times you’ve made a particular dish or carried out a particular technique, if you’re not paying attention things can go awry all too frequently. And while here at stonesoup, I tend to stick to the success stories when it comes to documenting the activity in my kitchen, I am far from immune when it comes to kitchen disasters. Read the rest of this entry »

banana tart tatin with vanilla icecream

Earlier this year I was foolish enough to begin and publicly announce on this very site, a quest to overcome my last remaining food dislike: the banana. And while I am still a long way from considering myself a banana fan, I have been making inroads into the land of monkey food since my last encounter with a super moist banana cake. Read the rest of this entry »

Luncheon: such a delicious, exotic sounding word. So much more evocative than a boring old lunch. I’m sure no one ever has a luncheon alone, scoffing something microwaved at their desk between emails. No, for a luncheon there must be company, and an abundance of food, an ourdoorsy setting, plenty of booze and of course the whole afternoon to make the most of it all. Read the rest of this entry »

little chocolate tarts 

Mention the name Jamie Oliver at a dinner party and I can guarantee pretty much everyone will have an opinion. Love him or hate him, he really is one celebrity chef that gets under people’s skin. Recently I was at such a dinner and while most of the other cookbook junkies like myself, admitted to owning at least one Jamie book and being a fan of his recipes, the not-so-into-cooking contingent were surprising in their response. Read the rest of this entry »

asparagus with poached egg and pancetta 

The humble egg is a pretty amazing food. Not only are they the most complete source of protein, containing all the essential amino acids that our bodies need. They are the cornerstone for many different dishes. Imagine a kitchen without eggs and you would be picturing a very sad place. Read the rest of this entry »