28 March 2012

Sophie Grigson Cookery Demonstration At The Oak Tree In Helperby

On Monday 26th, we had arranged a cookery demonstration by Michael Ibbotson (who owns the acclaimed The Durham Ox); they have, also, recently taken over The Punch Bowl in Marton cum Grafton and breathed life back into it and are developing a reputati...

19 March 2012

A Better Version Of Simnel Cake Than My Last Attempt

A year or so ago I made a simnel cake, but it came out rather squat and a tad heavy. The squatness was easily remedied with a smaller baking tin, while the texture was improved through using a lighter recipe with more eggs. I have, also, used an id...

05 March 2012

Having A Crack At Making Pan Pepato

One of my favourite Christmassy things is panforte and I, also, love Nurnberger lebkuchen.  It hails from Siena which is probably my favourite city in Italy.  There really is something special about sitting out in the Piazza del Campo, looking across...

25 February 2012

Delicious (Though I Say It Myself) Orange And Earl Grey Cake

12 February 2012

Homemade Marshmallows

It is not very often that I rip out pages from cookery magazines for use at a later date, so it was a surprise when the other day I found some pages I had ripped from a copy of the magazine, Delicious, from some years back.  In it, I had obviously fa...

17 December 2011

Recipe For Nurnberger Christmas Cookies - German Lebkuchen

Following on from the spekulatius blog, we have been having fun trying to make German lebkuchen cookies.

11 December 2011

Recipe For Speculaas Biscuits - A Dutch Christmas Treat

One of my favourite Christmas cookies are spekulatius biscuits, or speculaas as they are called in the Netherlands.  I remember we always used to get a special parcel from Lebkuchen Schmidt in Nürmberg from my Granny.  In amongst all the beautiful ti...

30 November 2011

North Yorkshire Beef Stew

15 November 2011

Mint Choc Cupcakes

Weren't we all brought up on the luxury of After Eights or Elizabeth Shaw Mint Crisps or Matchmakers, those quintessentially 1970s pieces of sophistication?  Or was it just me?  So using our new mintier Organic Peppermint Extract, I decided to create...

06 November 2011

Lamb Stew With Rosemary & Lemon

I was pottering around the shops the other day and their was some good looking shoulder of lamb.  They called out to me "Cook me, take me", so I asked the butcher for them and popped them in the basket.  Back at home, I found some lemons that need us...

04 November 2011

Chocolate Ambassador

At my father's 75th birthday bash at the weekend, our children could not get enough of the Prinz Regenten Torte nor the Chocolate Ambassador.  Chocolate Ambassador turned out to be a rich chocolate mousse with raisins and biscuit within it.  As we we...

01 November 2011

A Couple Of Simple Recipes Using Steenbergs Peppermint Extract

Using Steenbergs relaunched organic peppermint extract, I made a few peppermint flavoured sweets the other evening for a Diwali meal that we were treated to by some good friends.  They are really simple and quite delicious; the hostess loved the Pepp...

10 October 2011

Blending Breakfast Teas (2)

These developments in tea blending style are best described through the developments in the composition of the standard household tea blend over the years.  These show how the blends became more complicated, even as they became less complex in flavou...

25 September 2011

I Needed A Fix Of Vegetable Curries

12 July 2011

How To Prepare The Meat For Your Burger

But the key to the recipe is the meat. You should not just get the nearest pack of mince that you can find, but should go to a proper butcher and get the mince made for you using the right types of meat.  The best beef for a burger comes from the top...

08 July 2011

Starting Out - The Basics For A Simple Homemade Burger

Some time ago, I started a quest for a great burger, then stopped that search as things at Steenbergs gave me less time than I had needed.  But I think I am ready to start that hunt again.

11 June 2011

My Take On The Modern British Balti - A Recipe For Balti Masala

On Thursday, I was at home sorting out some domestic chores with some builders and my mind wandered to food and more specifically curry.  I craved a great balti, so I whipped one up, together with some dhal.

29 May 2011

Recipe For Axel's Vegan Mung Bean And Tofu Soup

This week is National Vegetarian Week and we have been enjoying new and wonderful vegetarian recipes including Sally's new recipes for Moroccan Vegetable Stew and Vegetable Fajitas that we have added to the main Steenbergs website.