A Good Taste Companion

Mmmmmmm, this is a staple, a stand-by. So so easy to make, you can do it quick, you can do it slow, you can't go wrong. You can spice it up or you can calm it down. What's not to like? I started making tomato soup following first a Delia Smith recipe and then a J amie Oliver number.  This is a mix of both.  I tend towards the slow and lazy Delia roast tomato soup version, and have moved away from Jamie's very expensive multi-coloured designer tomatoes-on-the-vine approach. This (to the right) is Delia's slow-roasted version - with basil and croutons ...  hers is languid and sophisticated. Hers is so Italian with its olive paste and wotnot ... you can hear the latin notes of Rome oozing through this one. . . (Click on the image). And this (to the left) is Jamie's - he gets you to make a dessert and a side dish all in the same 30 minutes.  You serve the soup on TOP of ciabatta chunks as if they were giant sunken croutons. I had this at a friend's h...

So just for fun ... a Comic Life Recipe ...  It's not really a pesto, but it works like one. A pesto hack, maybe.  But we'll call it Hey Pesto!  This stuff is quick to rustle up as a sauce or garnish. You can use it to pep things up in a mild tasting pasta dish or to top a soup or casserole.  It adds a zingy sparkle, when you are scoffing your way through a one bowl winter warmer; the food we often have in the cold is a single comfort dish, substantial and hearty and with everything piled into the same  pot.  So we sometimes need a little variety, a culinary fascinator ... a topping.  You might have a crunchy crouton ... but if you have chunky bread on the side maybe a crouton is one starchy carb too many. Hey Pesto!  Here's what goes in: Ingredients: A bunch of basil ( a cup full) The juice from  half a lemon (or a lime)* 1 - 2 tbsps excellent quality olive oil 1  clove garlic or 1./2 teaspoon lazy garlic 20 gr...

Golden Barley Warmer The main thing to know about this dish is that it involves a lot of chopping; if you're not in the mood for chopping, then step away from the recipe now ... But it's worth the trouble; firstly because you can make this sumptuous, warm, golden, richly flavoured vegetable casserole in a generous quantity - and  you can eat some now,  and squirrel away the rest in your freezer for later.   Don't follow my ingredients list slavishly; you need some root vegetables, you need a grain, you need a sweetener such as tomatoes, a few herbs, and you could even scatter in some small green beans - or even a tin of cannelloni beans. A handful of chopped spring greens could work quite well and you could stir them in at the end of cooking time too. I think it's good to keep the carrots and the butternut squash - the golden colour perks you up in January and February when you really could do with some colour in your life.     I tend to mak...

Good taste, short cuts, simplicity and variety: recipes here are easy to shop for; easy to cook and varied in flavour and type. I eat what makes me feel well and what I enjoy. I'm influenced by what I think are healthy combinations - but who knows?  Advice fluctuates.  I am walking evidence that following a good diet is no guarantee for good health; I'm convinced that eating healthily can help you make the best of the genes you have been given - but that you can't change the basics. This is a recipe store, of favourite flavour combinations and methods. Fashions come and go;  I like to move with the times as its easy to get stuck in a rut.  But I'm not one to jump on to bandwagons. I'm not into coconut fat but won't harp on about why I think it's suddenly so popular; and I won't lecture anyone about butter or sugar.  We have to just do our best, eat our veggies and try to stay lean - not mean. And while we're at it - I am not into that idea of ...