Very delicious tarts using practically whatever vegetables you have…..an ideal lunch or light main course. Continue reading “Simple vegetable tarts”
Category: Best Home Cook
Perfect roast potatoes
Shatteringly crisp potatoes with a very soft, fluffy and nicely seasoned interior are a must with any roast dinner. To be honest, though, I could eat them just on their own! Continue reading “Perfect roast potatoes”
Lime and ginger possets
Mouth-puckeringly sharp and lusciously creamy, this very simple lime and ginger dessert, with a hint of lemongrass, is a great way to end a meal. Continue reading “Lime and ginger possets”
Black truffle arancini
Light, crisp risotto balls bursting with the flavours of black truffle, garlic and Parmesan, with a melting Fontina cheese centre: terrific little bites. Continue reading “Black truffle arancini”
Perfect & fool-proof Yorkshire Puddings
An essential accompaniment to any roast – even (or especially!) with Christmas lunch – Yorkshire Puddings have a reputation for being very hit and miss in terms of them working. My fool-proof recipe and top tips will guarantee crisp, light and towering puds. Continue reading “Perfect & fool-proof Yorkshire Puddings”
Courgette, cheese & chilli soda bread
Perfect for using up some of the homegrown courgettes, this very speedy soda bread is made and ready to serve within about 45 minutes. Continue reading “Courgette, cheese & chilli soda bread”
Spiced lamb egg chops
This sublime dish – great as a starter or to serve with drinks – is a joy to behold and I guarantee that once you start eating these chops you will not want to stop!
My ultimate burger buns!
Soft, slightly sweet and a perfect foil for a hearty filling, these brioche-style burger buns are my go-to whenever I want to make the buns from scratch. Continue reading “My ultimate burger buns!”
Basil & roasted garlic soda bread
This is a recipe I am VERY proud of, creating it for one of the elements of my Ultimate Sharing Feast for episode 6 of Britain’s Best Home Cook: a bread that received raves from Mary Berry, Chris and Dan. Continue reading “Basil & roasted garlic soda bread”
Glazed apple tarts
The flavour of buttery puff pastry, rich almonds and sharp apples is sublime and they combine to give a fabulously simple, speedy tart. Continue reading “Glazed apple tarts”
Tiramisu roulade
This is my roulade take on the classic Tiramisu (one of my favourite desserts) and it has proved very popular whenever I have made it for dinner parties. Continue reading “Tiramisu roulade”
Spiced crispy chicken skin
Shatteringly crisp, melt-in-the-mouth and with a gentle curry kick, these chicken skin shards – think spiced pork crackling – are so easy to make and are insanely moreish.
Smoked mackerel pastry rolls
This is a recipe I am very proud of: I had some smoked mackerel pâté to use up and had that “I wonder if this will work…” moment. Luckily, it does work and it is now one of my go-to dishes for buffets and the like. Continue reading “Smoked mackerel pastry rolls”
Panzanella: one of the best & quickest salads in the world. With YouTube version
Great food does not need to be at all complicated or time-consuming. Sometimes the right combination of humble ingredients can become something quite majestic; panzanella is a case in point….
Continue reading “Panzanella: one of the best & quickest salads in the world. With YouTube version”
Sticky ginger & lime cake, and my YouTube debut!
This is an incredibly simple (dare I say “fool-proof”?) ginger cake with a mixture that is made up in seconds: it is very moist, with a nice gingery kick from both ground ginger and stem ginger. A simple lime drizzle finishes off this cake beautifully. Continue reading “Sticky ginger & lime cake, and my YouTube debut!”
Curried cauliflower soup with cumin & onion flatbreads
This is a hearty spiced cauliflower soup that is easy and costs very little to make. I often make at least double the quantities and freeze some for a later time – although all too often even a larger amount of soup gets polished off in one sitting! Continue reading “Curried cauliflower soup with cumin & onion flatbreads”
Speedy spiced tortilla bites
This is one of my “go-to” snacks for whenever I want something quick and tasty. Assembled in moments and cooked in about 10 minutes, these epitomise fast food for me and are perfect devoured in front of the television, or passed around at any gathering for others to tuck into. Continue reading “Speedy spiced tortilla bites”
Blackcurrant curd – and a video from me!
Blackcurrant curd is vibrantly coloured, intoxicatingly fragrant and tangy – and it is very simple to make. As blackcurrants are very much in season here in the UK (I am picking punnets of them every few days at the moment), I love making several batches of them. Continue reading “Blackcurrant curd – and a video from me!”
Home-made lemongrass clotted cream
Clotted cream is one of those phenomenal things that never fails to give me utter contentment. Slathered over freshly made, slightly warm scones and everything is perfect with the world! This is my quirky take on clotted cream, flavouring it with lemongrass. Continue reading “Home-made lemongrass clotted cream”
All about scones: sweet and savoury!
Freshly made scones with cream and home-made curd or jam is one of life’s best food pleasures. But savoury scones are also very exciting both to make and to eat. This post gives a selection of my recipes for both sweet and savoury scones. Continue reading “All about scones: sweet and savoury!”
Instant minted lemonade
This is one of my favourite summertime drinks to make, needing only fresh lemons, fresh mint, water and a little sugar: made in seconds, it tastes much better than any of the artisan lemonades you can buy and can be made for a fraction of the cost of those! Continue reading “Instant minted lemonade”
Pasta with wild rocket pesto & crispy chorizo
Pesto is one of my favourite go-to sauces to make. I usually make it with basil I have grown, but it is fabulous made with other leaves: wild garlic makes a stunning pesto and rocket, which I have used here, gives a nice peppery kick. Here I give my favourite way of serving pesto: with freshly made pasta and crispy chorizo. Continue reading “Pasta with wild rocket pesto & crispy chorizo”
A sous-vide duck egg brunch!
This is a totally fuss-free light meal: freshly made sourdough (toasted), crispy pancetta and a slowly cooked duck egg, with a few fresh chives snipped over the top. When simplicity reigns! Continue reading “A sous-vide duck egg brunch!”
smoked sea-salted caramel chocolates
Caramel-filled chocolates are right up there among my favourite chocolates to make, so this time I used smoked sea salt to flavour the caramel. These are great to give to people as gifts or simply to munch on without guilt! Continue reading “smoked sea-salted caramel chocolates”
Crab bisque
This is a soup that I love to make whenever I have fresh crab shells: in fact, whenever I buy fish from the fishmongers I always like to ask for some of the shells from crab, prawns and the like to use as the basis of a great seafood sauce. Continue reading “Crab bisque”
Beetroot, walnut and goats’ cheese arancini
I made wild mushroom arancini during the quarter-final of Britain’s Best Home Cook, which got great comments from the judges. While that is my favourite arancini flavour, this beetroot version comes very close.
Continue reading “Beetroot, walnut and goats’ cheese arancini”
“Britain’s Best Home Cook – episode 4”: our roasts followed by a crab or cauliflower dish
Last week, the roasts cooked by Dipa and me on Britain’s Best Home Cook were chosen as the judges’s favourites, which was a real thrill: and I was so pleased for Dipa, my wonderful “bench buddy” in the show. So we were given the task of choosing the ingredient for the Ingredients Challenge: crab or cauliflower…. Continue reading ““Britain’s Best Home Cook – episode 4”: our roasts followed by a crab or cauliflower dish”
Stilton, pear & piccalilli pork pies
I loved making my ultimate pie during “pie week” on Britain’s Best Home Cook, and as expected there was much debate among us contestants (as well as among the judges) regarding whether a pie needs a bottom as well as a top…..
Personally, I am in the “I really don’t mind as long as it tastes good” camp! Continue reading “Stilton, pear & piccalilli pork pies”
Episode 2 of my time on Britain’s Best Home Cook – the roulade challenge
Episode 2 on Britain’s Best Home Cook proved to be something of a particular challenge for me, with a few elements in my earlier dishes being not quite right: schoolboy errors mainly! But that was part of the entire delicious learning experience. Continue reading “Episode 2 of my time on Britain’s Best Home Cook – the roulade challenge”
As a contestant on Britain’s Best Home Cook – BBC1
One of my greatest ambitions – to cook on television – came true when I was chosen to participate in Series 1 of Britain’s Best Home Cook for BBC television. Continue reading “As a contestant on Britain’s Best Home Cook – BBC1”
Ginger & tamarind sticky toffee pudding
When Mary Berry says on National television that your pudding is “to die for”, you know you have done ok! Continue reading “Ginger & tamarind sticky toffee pudding”
Simple spiced cauliflower fritters
This is my take on cauliflower bhajis: they are great served with cold drinks or just placed on the table with a cool minty dip for people to just tuck into. I made these during the semi-final of Britain’s Best Home Cook, and while they needed more heat, they went down very well. Continue reading “Simple spiced cauliflower fritters”
Ciabatta with a touch of rye
Although I am an unashamed bread addict, I will confess that until fairly recently I have never got excited by ciabatta; I have tried many ciabatta but have never really been blown away by the flavour – and particularly with bread, I like to be blown away! Continue reading “Ciabatta with a touch of rye”
The very best sausage rolls……..
At the risk of sounding as though I have fallen straight out of a Carry On film I will state categorically that I absolutely love a good sausage roll. One bite and everything is well with the world! Continue reading “The very best sausage rolls……..”
Phil's Home Kitchen 