Pumpkin Pie

Every year without fail I carve a grinning face into a pumpkin, but often, a couple of days after the trick or treaters have cleaned us out of sweets and chocolates the pumpkin just ends up in the compost bin. It is shame to let the flesh go to waste though because it can be made into soup, roasted or chopped up and put into a risotto, this year however I wanted to try my hand at a dessert, pumpkin pie. I have tasted pumpkin pie before at Thanksgiving...

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Wiltshire Lardy Cake

Wiltshire Lardy Cake by CharlotteLardy cake - a reminder of buying cakes on Saturday with my dad from a bakery in Gloucester, Jane's Pantry, a place that all Gloucester folk know well. What joy when I opened my favourite book, British Regional Food by Mark Hix, to find a recipe for Wiltshire lardy cake.This recipe will not disappoint; it is gooey, fruity, doughy and sweet - great with a coffee on Sunday morning. It will definitely make you want to...

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Best Steak Lettuce Wrap

Best Steak Lettuce Wrap by CharlotteThanks to friends Phil and Sonya I have discovered the best steak lettuce wrap. This is food that is very pleasing to the eye and mouth. It can be made in three shakes of a lambs tail and will be sure to give you that red meat fix.The ten steps to steak wrapping:1) Go to your butcher and get a tasty piece of rump steak (to cook whole) 2) Marinade the meat in lemon juice, chilli (fresh or dried) and fresh ginger3)...

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Harvest

When trying to decide how to best celebrate my birthday, I discovered that Alex James was going to be holding a festival on his farm in Oxfordshire which combined several of my favourite things all in one field, good food, music and cider. So with tickets to Harvest booked and a sprinkling of close friends I knew I had the recipe for an excellent birthday!Charlotte and Julia also had a few surprises up their sleeves to make it an even more memorable...

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The Piedmonte Diet

by CharlotteWho ate all the Piedmonte?Sunday pranzo (lunch) a la Barbara Bruschetta with tomatoes Salami crostini Salmon crostini Tomato mozzarella focaccia Coleslaw Cena (dinner) Pasta al ragu Pasta puttanesca (whore's pasta) Birthday cake (record breaking-lightest sponge ever) Merlot di Cascina Capriolo (courtesy of Alistair) Pranzo - a kind of use up / get into Italian mode meal Roasted red peppers Insalata Caprese - home grown tomatoes...

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Barrafina

by Charlotte A while back I went to Barcelona and ate some amazing food. Around the same time I started hearing about Barrafina, and how it was London's Cal Pep (the best tapas place in Barcelona). Finally, about a month ago I went to Barrafina, and yes, I will be going back. Barrafina is tiny and popular so one should abide by these rules:If you are dining there for lunch arrive at 12.15 ideally, 12.30pm latestAt dinner you should aim to arrive...

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Barbeque the Italian way

by Charlotte I recently gave these two recipes to our local magazine, Living South. Having spent some time thinking about a particular bbq in the hills of Bologna 7 years ago. On this occasion we got scooted into the hillside on the backs of mopeds vaguely knowing to keep an eye out for a patch of sunlight woodland. We found it and all the guys started to make the barbeque, lay a table, cook the meat and make all the salads – pretty impressive to...

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Pork Pies & Potted Things...

Pork Pies & Potted Things by CharlotteThe al fresco dining afternoon/soiree was planned for a beautiful mid July afternoon. Everything was going well, a little too well. To spice things up the rain arrived, I cancelled the borrowing of the bbq and announced grilled food with kitchen/lounge party as the order of the day.In keeping with my Mark Hix obsession I had two recipes from British Regional Food planned, plus some salads, Matt's homemade...

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Glastonburger

A world of extremes on Worthy Farm.Devoted Keston Kitchen followers will have enjoyed, and been somewhat overwhelmed, by Charlotte and Matt's food diaries from their gastronomic tours (see On Location Paris and On Location Sicily for the comprehensive documentation of their holiday feasting). Not to be outdone, Rachael and I decided to document our food consumption at our annual trip to Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts; the...

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Goosnargh Cakes (pronounced 'Goozna')

These little beauties are easy to make, they can be served as a sweet or savoury biscuit/cake, and not only that, they come from my favourite cookbook of the moment - British Regional Food by Mark Hix. These tasty little cakes, or biscuits, come from the north west, Lancashire to be precise. They can be dusted with sugar for a sweet kick or served with some cheese if you are that way inclined. This week I have been mostly eating Goosnargh cakes with...

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Harry Potter marathon sweets

If like us, you are planning a Harry Potter marathon, in order to watch all seven spectacular films before the final battle arrives on our screens in July, it may be wise to take a few minutes to consider what sweets to serve. The films are long and require much snacking. We are now over half way through, having watched four films and the list below details the sweets which have worked well for us so far:Strawberry liquorice wandsPopping candy (super...

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Green Gazpacho

Summer Soup: fresh and green as pastures newSelecting the starter for Supper Club numero dos was a drawn-out affair. I was feeling despondent after weeks of making roasted vegetable terrines that did not set, when Charlotte stumbled across this recipe from Plenty by Ottelenghi. It ticked all the boxes: seasonal, light and a perfect match for Rachael's delicious ricotta and sun dried tomato stuffed chicken which would be making its debut as our...

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Ginger, Lemon and Garlic Baked Salmon

Ginger, Lemon and Garlic Baked Salmon. By Ceri.This is a really fresh fish dish, perfect for Spring or Summer and is one of my favourites from my contribution to the Keston Kitchen Calendar for the month of May. I was given this recipe by my previous boss, Jill. My colleague, Sarah and I would poise with our notepads at the ready whilst she dictated recipes to us. The flavours go really well and the end result is succulent fish and tasty spring...

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On location: Paris

Two hungry Londoners in Paris.On arriving in Paris for a two night, three day sojourn, pretending to be French, I decided to keep a food diary. The Sicily diary had been a great success, as well as highlighting how much one can eat. So here's what happened en France.Day UnPetit déjeuner:Café au lait and cappuccinoPain avec beurre et confiture (rouge) Déjeuner: Le TimbrePea soup with pork croutons (!)Terrine with onion marmalade and cornichonsCochons...

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Sausage rolls

A couple of weeks ago Charl had some of her uni friends round for lunch, it was a sunny spring Sunday afternoon so we had a picnic in the garden before heading to the park.My contribution to the spread was some homemade sausage rolls, they are really quick to make (as long as you have some puff pastry already defrosted and you aren't hideously hungover). You can definitely tell the difference from frozen pre-made sausage rolls and using homemade...

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Pop Up Supper Club

Pop-up Supper Club - Take #1 The idea of a pop-up supper club in the lounge had been floating around the Keston Kitchen since the end of summer 2010. The first one finally took place on March 12th. The evening was a brilliant success and a great time was had by all. Behind the scenes When we realised we were serious about popping-up in the lounge, the preparation started with finding a date that we could all do. Not as easy as it sounds when...

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