Fresh and fiery home-made guacamole

April 12, 2017.Reading time 2 minutes.

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I could eat avocado all day long. Filled with an eg, baked and sprinkled with paprika for breakfast, mashed on a well-oiled ciabatta for lunch, betwixt a bun with honey-glazed chicken and lettuce leaves at the end of a hard day, and even with a little balsamic vinegar drizzled on top and eaten straight from the skin […]

Salted caramel brownies with salted caramel-dunked pretzels

March 18, 2017.Reading time 7 minutes.

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I realise it’s pretty basic to say love salted caramel, but it really is the cat’s pyjamas… Last weekend, I made my own salted caramel – you know, just to have – and thought I’d best put it to use pronto to avoid actually eating it from the saucepan with a spoon. Enter my double […]

The best boutique hotel in Amsterdam

March 14, 2017.Reading time 5 minutes.

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I’ve been to Amsterdam a couple of times and I’ve stayed in accommodation that spans the spectrum – including a hotel with glass walls around the shower and full view of the toilet from the bed! – so it is with great confidence that I recommend my most recent home away from home in the […]

The Dream Terrine {Recipe}

March 9, 2017.Reading time 5 minutes.

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Put a menu with terrine on in it in front of me, and rest assured I’ll take you up on a slice of meaty loaf. I’ve wanted to make my own homemade terrine recipe for ages but I always convinced myself it was too much agro, too expensive and too icky – I’m not a […]

REVIEW: The Tame Hare, Leamington Spa

February 16, 2017.Reading time 4 minutes.

It’s not all about London, y’all… A couple of weekends ago, we took a trip to Leamington Spa to see some friends (hi, Mike!). We had a fab time playing games – girls are infinitely better at Articulate, it turns out – drinking lots of wine, and stuffing our faces. There were several face-stuffing sessions, but […]

Slow-cooked ox cheek goulash

February 9, 2017.Reading time 5 minutes.

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In celebration of my ox cheek goulash recipe being published in Voucherbox’s new e-book, I’m re-sharing it with you lovely lot. The team at Voucherbox wanted to create a collection of 22 recipes that didn’t break the bank, and I was more than happy to let my low-cost goulash recipe out into the world. Did […]

The only chocolate cake recipe you need

January 30, 2017.Reading time 4 minutes.

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This is the BEST chocolate cake you will ever eat. I’ve made it approximately 10 times, and not once have I been able to snap a picture of the whole thing before someone snaffled a slice. It looks the part and it bloody well tastes it too. It’s SUPER chocolate-y, not just a bit chocolate […]

The most decadent bacon sandwich you’ve ever eaten

January 27, 2017.Reading time 4 minutes.

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We do weekend breakfasts in a big way around here. All calorie counting goes out the window, and butter is considered a main ingredient. Grease is not dabbed away with a fresh piece of kitchen towel, and small plates are disregarded – only great platters the size of your face will do. Understandably, the bacon […]

Red wine-braised lamb shanks with cheesy polenta

January 23, 2017.Reading time 5 minutes.

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Oooooooh it just sounds hearty and winter-appropriate, doesn’t it!? I hadn’t cooked lamb shanks before this recipe, but I’ve eaten my fair share and I think they’re utterly underrated. When they’re cooked low and slow like here, they’re just as good as slow-cooked beef and have heaps of flavour. And you don’t have to treat them […]

Blueberry and raspberry oat bar bites

January 19, 2017.Reading time 4 minutes.

There are two distinct categories of people. Those who eat breakfast and those who don’t. I love breakfast. It’s one of my faves (along with lunch, dinner, and supper), and my mood and work is considerably better when I have it. HOWEVER, I am time-poor in the mornings, largely through my own inefficiency and a […]

REVIEW: Smokestak, Shoreditch

January 16, 2017.Reading time 5 minutes.

I fell in love with Smokestak’s smoky, meaty tendencies quite some time ago at Dinearama, one of my favourite pop-up foodie fests in London. In the summer, we went almost weekly, and every time without fail, I’d have to sample the signature pork ribs or beef brisket. So, I was pretty gutted when I found out […]

Chorizo and coriander scotch egg

January 11, 2017.Reading time 6 minutes.

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Picnic food is my absolute fave. I am genuinely just as happy at a schmancy restaurant as I am with snacking sausages. Mini quiches, pork pies, and of course, scotch eggs, are my weakness all year round. I’m either setting them out on a blanket in a park in the summer or popping them on […]

Tartiflette with chicken

January 7, 2017.Reading time 4 minutes.

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I saw a poster for apres-ski staple, tartiflette a couple of months back on the tube. The advert was actually about travelling to the French Alps with some low-budget airline, but the picture depicting a cheesy one-pot wonder was what lured me in (unsurprisingly) and after a little research (see: Googling ‘what the hell is […]

Easy chicken jalfrezi recipe

January 5, 2017.Reading time 3 minutes.

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This isn’t actually my chicken jalfrezi recipe. I pinched it from the Hairy Bikers – favourites of mine in particular for their fail-safe and relatively healthy curry recipes – and changed it a tiny bit. Mostly, I changed it because I can’t leave anything alone, but also because the recipe was written in a quite […]

The best places to celebrate Burns Night 2017 in London

January 3, 2017.Reading time 4 minutes.

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A much underrated evening in the calendar, Burns Night is a Scottish celebration, which marks the birthday of great Scottish poet, Robert Burns (he’s the guy who wrote Auld Lang Syne!). He died in 1796, and his friends would gather to drink and recite his poetry in his memory every year after that – thus […]

The best brunch spot in New York: The Butcher’s Daughter, Nolita

December 28, 2016.Reading time 3 minutes.

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My list of places to eat in New York far outweighed my list of places to see. But I have been before, so I felt it was only fair that I move my attention away from viewing decks and shopping malls and on to buffets and brunches… Top of my must-visit roster was a vegan […]

5 mid-week meals you can prepare in advance

December 3, 2016.Reading time 3 minutes.

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I’m getting into the habit of spending my Sunday afternoon batch cooking our meals for the rest of the week and I’m not gonna lie, it’s pretty life changing. Last weekend, I made butternut squash soup and a meaty ragu and we were good to go four nights of the week (plus I had lunch […]

Brisket and chilli ramen

November 29, 2016.Reading time 6 minutes.

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Saturday afternoons of Christmas shopping are best followed by a steaming bowl of ramen. And Sundays are, of course, perfect for succulent slow-cooked meats or buttery pies, generously filled. And my brisket and chilli ramen sorts you out for both, thanks to the masses of leftovers this recipe produces (more ideas for leftovers at the […]

Self-service wine at The Black Bottle in Winchester

November 28, 2016.Reading time 3 minutes.

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If you’re a fan of wine, novelty, and shabby chic furniture and happen to have an afternoon spare in Winchester, a trip to The Black Bottle is the perfect way to fill it… In a cute country house, all lead-paned windows and creaky doors, you’ll find The Black Bottle. A ‘pub slash wine cellar slash […]

Christmassy chocolate bark with Reese’s peanut butter cups & marshmallows

November 22, 2016.Reading time 3 minutes.

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For all I know chocolate bark has had its day, but after seeing some rather sickly-looking ‘unicorn’ bark, I thought I’d give my own, more grown-up (see: decadent and chocolate-y) version a go. And since Christmas is a comin’, I topped it with gold sugar stars and dubbed it ‘festive’. Well, it clearly wasn’t unicorns […]

REVIEW: Masala Wala, Brockley

November 18, 2016.Reading time 4 minutes.

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South London is a treasure trove of independent eateries, and in particular, great curry houses. You know the sort, living room-esque setups with big windows on the front. Mismatched chairs and stools you can just about fit one cheek on. Hustley and bustley, low lighting, elbows knocking, waiters shouting. Traditional Pakistani restaurant, Masala Wala Cafe […]

Homemade butternut squash and chilli soup

November 16, 2016.Reading time 4 minutes.

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A tin of soup from the supermarket costs about a £1 for a single serving and is full of sneaky salt and probably not all that tasty. This homemade butternut squash soup recipe costs about 40p per serving and makes enough for FOUR servings, making it ideal for bigger groups, particularly hungry boyfriends or leftovers-lovers […]

How to make Dishoom’s breakfast naan

October 14, 2016.Reading time 3 minutes.

How amazing is Dishoom’s bacon and egg naan? I mean, Indian for breakfast – what’s not to like (but also, who’d have thunk it!?). Usually, I have breakfast at home because well, I’m never up in time to head out for it and even at the weekend the London-based eatery stops serving that delicious bacon […]

What to eat in Florence, Italy

October 10, 2016.Reading time 8 minutes.

Pasta, pizza and coffee are all a given when it comes to eating out in Florence, and if you’re planning a trip, you’ll no doubt be hoping to fill your days with all of them. But if you want to really taste Italy, you need to try the city’s more specialist edibles, the things the locals […]

REVIEW: No.5 Bridge Street, Winchester

October 5, 2016.Reading time 11 minutes.

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The eating scene in Winchester is pretty darn good, and the sweet cobbled city is easy to get to from London (57 minutes from Waterloo, to be exact), offering a more tranquil but no-less-delicious alternative to eating out in the Big Smoke. I’m a big fan of The Black Rat (read my review of The […]