“My pumpkin dream always has smoked streaky bacon and Swiss cheese in it…” my friend Rob mused aloud as he carved our family pumpkin at the kitchen table on Friday morning. “Like, in a sandwich… Or pasta…” “Or carbonara?” I offered. “Oh carbonara… Pumpkin carbonara…” We sat there silently, grinning, two food-obsessives salivating at the thought of rich egg yolks, […]
Last week at the restaurant, I spent what felt like most of a shift rescuing split things – joking on Twitter that I felt like a Relate counsellor for aioli and custard… And to be honest, I was very excited by the whole thing, because although I’ve made a hundred custards in my little life so far, I’d never ever […]
Serves around 4, depending on appetite. 150g dried red lentils 4 fat cloves of garlic 1 large white or red onion 1 tsp cumin (seeds or ground) 1/2 tsp turmeric 1 red chilli (the general rule is the smaller they are, the hotter they are) or pinch of the dried stuff A grating of fresh ginger or pinch of dried […]
The smallest girl in our household calls pumpkins ‘punkins’ – hence the name ‘Punkin Jam’! If you think carving pumpkins are bland and boring and inedible, this might just be the thing to change your mind… I’m typing this with some hot buttered toast between my teeth with some soft, sweet jam on top… And that handsome chap in the […]
I read with some horror in this week’s Independent that in the UK we will throw away 18,000 tonnes of pumpkin flesh this week (http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/save-our-pumpkins-uk-wastes-18000-tons-of-food-while-carving-halloween-jack-olanterns-9820896.html) while carving out Jack O Lanterns. I eyed the one sitting on the kitchen table with suspicion and dread and the stirring feeling of a mission bubbling away in my little brain… So this morning, […]
