All new Top Chef - 15 tips from the first episode
This week, the latest season of Top Chef ™ (Season 21: Top Chef Wisconsin) began streaming. If you want to watch, it’s on Bravo on...
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My food blog
These are posts, all about food and cooking. Occasionally they will be recipes, but usually they are more about cookery challenges and the fun to be had in the kitchen. There is an awful lot of chemistry involved in cooking, and since I spend far more than half my waking hours experimenting with food, I'd like to share some of what I know.
For example, I am currently working on blog posts about
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A comparison of olive oils on the market. I want to test, and then share with you, if and when it is worth selling a kidney in order to buy the finest, oldest, most virginal oil on the market. (Can something be 'most virginal'? Isn't that like being 'most married' or 'most Scottish'?)
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A review of the differences between gochujang, gochugaru and aleppo pepper. I'll be cooking a couple of recipes (most likely these will be patatas bravas ... and a spicy dip) and using the different chili preparations, then inviting friends to a blind tasting to compare and contrast the differences. I'll write up what I find..
Is Horseradish Ice Cream really a thing?
I watch streamed cooking shows at every given opportunity. I'm not actually a fan of most reality shows, because the drama of the...
The amazing Yorkshire Pudding ...
... which isn't a pudding at all In this post, I’m hoping to convince you that you absolutely want to be able to make Yorkshire Pudding,...
How I feel about AI today
I’m pretty sure that I’m not the only person wondering how the rapid emergence of AI will impact my work. I want to share my own thoughts...
Roast Sweet and Sour Parsnip with Pea Mousse
This is a wonderful amuse bouche, or a light appetizer. It is a slice of parsnip, crusted in a sweet, sour, spicy, tangy coat and served...
Salt and Vinegar Jacket Potatoes
In the United States, "baked potatoes" are usually seen as a side dish, and - at least in Oregon where I live - not terribly exciting. In...
Kimchi Emulsion with Feta or Cotija (Cojita)
We find that many valued readers search our site for the spelling "cojita" as well as the more usual "cotija" so we try to use both in...
Salted Apple Flapjacks
The wonderful, traditional flapjack was used in the Stand Up for Cancer ™ 2019 series of The Great British Baking Show ™. This is a new...
Chocolate chiffon cake with salted caramel buttercream
A chiffon cake is made with oil and is softer than a regular sponge.
Butterfly cakes with Blackcurrant and Sesame
This dish was inspired by dishes created in Series 14 of The Great British Baking Show ™ by Tasha and Abbi, who used blackcurrants in her...
Madeira Cake
In Series 11 of The Great British Baking Show ™, for the Showstopper challenge, the bakers were asked to create head and shoulder models,...
Pineapple Upside Down Pudding (or Cake)
This is a lovely, easy "at home" version of Paul Hollywood's expert version which can be seen here.
Mary Berry's Religieuses
Religieuses (French term, meaning "nun") are double layer choux buns, filled and decorated. They were the Signature Dish in the 2024 New...
Millionaire's Shortbread with Fennel and Coconut
In Series 9 of The Great British Baking Show ™, Rahul created a local biscuit which he called the "Fennel and Coconut Pitlaithy Bannock"....
Apple, Almond and Syrup Crumble Loaf
This recipe was inspired by Liam's Signature Bake during cake week of Series 8 of The Great British Baking Show ™. Paul Hollywood...
Coconut Cake
Peter, from Series 8 of The Great British Baking Show ™, made this cake as his Signature Bake in Cake week. 2017. He was judged as having...
Tropical Fresh Fruit Cake
Chris (Great British Baking Show ™, Series 8) baked this is his signature dish in Cake Week, 2017. Paul Hollywood said "This sponge is...
Butterfly cakes with Peaches and Marsala
Try these bite-size delights for any party.
Lacy Brandy Snaps with Apple Crumble
This is a dish inspired by Crystelle, who was a finalist in The Great British Baking Show ™, Season 12 in 2021. Crystelle created this...
The Perfect British Mince Pie
Let me start by reassuring you that although the filling of a mince pie is called 'mincemeat', is has no ground pork in it!...
Tasha's Malted Seed and Rosemary Bread
I'm still a novice with bread. In full confession, I've used the same really easy recipe in a bread maker for almost 20 years, because...
Matty's Sausage Rolls, Great British Baking Show ™
Okay, I'm getting so many requests for a recipe for the Hollywood-handshake dish created by Matty Edgell (winner of The Great British...
Best ever Sticky Toffee Pudding
The holidays are incomplete without at least one warm, sweet, delicious pudding. If you can only manage one, then make it this one. It's...
Thai-inspired crème caramel
In Desserts week of Season 14 of the 2023 Great British Baking Show ™, the magnificent Dan invented a 'Thai-inspired crème caramel'. His...
Lime and Ginger Curd
This is a luscious curd, perfect for slathering onto your buttered crumpet, or for adding to dishes (see it in Thai-inspired Creme...
Prue Leith's Custard Creams
Custard creams are a type of sandwich biscuit popular in the British Isles. They are made with two shortbread-like biscuits sandwiched...
Tasha's Mango and Mojito Millefoglie
Our thanks and congratulations go to Tasha Stones, much loved semi-finalist in The Great British Baking Show ™ 2023, for the concept...
Paul Hollywood's Lardy Cakes
As seen in the final of Season 14 of The Great British Baking Show ™. Read the episode culinary highlights here.
Inspired by Prue Leith's Tarte aux Pommes
There are as many versions of this classic of French patisserie as there are cheeses! For this version, Prue has added calvados to the...
Chocolate Caterpillar Cake
A chocolate caterpillar cake is a popular dessert that is shaped like a caterpillar and made with chocolate sponge cake, chocolate...
Rough Puff Pastry
This is a great shortcut method for making puff pastry. You can use it for sausage rolls, apple turnovers, tarts and savoury pies.
Orange and Ginger Treacle Puddings
Paul Hollywood of The Great British Baking Show ™ writes "These individual puddings are laced with homemade golden syrup and steamed in...
Lemon & Rosemary Biscuit Bars
The tang of fresh lemon and rosemary gives these biscuit bars a taste of the Mediterranean. These marshmallow biscuit bars were part of...
Prune and Olive Bread
A beautifully rustic bread flavored with black olives and pitted prunes. This dish can take half a day because you need to leave it twice...
Garlic Mushroom Picnic Pies
Cristy got a Paul Hollywood Handshake on The Great British Baking Show ™ for her garlic mushroom and leek pies with hot water crust...
Hot Water Crust Pastry
If you want a really crisp pastry, especially if your filling will be wet, then hot water crust pastry is the one to use. It's fairly...
What a pickle ...
Lots of food terms are clearly American (think Sloppy Joes, Smores, Hush Puppies) and although they might have been adopted across the...
Celebrating Charcuterie Boards
I've thrown in my name as a potential "Crackerologist" - an opportunity sponsored by ZENB. They are looking for someone to occasionally...
Which flour to use when making pasta?
I read such divided opinion on the need to use special flour to make pasta, so I thought I'd test it out for myself. The recipe I used...
"Build a Better Burger" competition
Last Friday I took part in Sutter Home's "Build a Better Burger" competition, in the semi-final cookoff in Seattle. My dish was a...
Instead of self-raising flour ...
Don't have any self-raising flour but wish you did? Here are some steps you can take to replicated this ingredient. Option One: For every...
How to fix a dish that is too salty
We've all done it ... spent time in the kitchen making a dish that we are longing too eat, but it's ended up being too salty. In this...
Do you hate recipes that make you weigh everything out?
This is a conversational recipe which, I hope, is a fun way for you to learn how to make a Yorkshire Pudding. This blog is for people...
Battling the Beets (Beetroot!)
This isn't so much a recipe as a rescue mission and a fun way for you to learn from my mistakes. Today I have a challenge and I thought...
English Cheese Scones
English scones are different from American ones. Both versions have their delicious upsides.
How to thin something that is too thick
This is less a 'recipe' and more a list of ways to fix other recipes! Things to add to savory dishes: milk water sparkling wine cream...
Baking blind ...
Tarts and quiches are often "baked blind" when they are to be filled with a cold or uncooked filling. Line the pie dish with pastry (or...
Flavored Milk
This is a recipe for a basic element of good cooking. What is flavored milk? Whenever you use a recipe that calls for a milky liquid...
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