There’s something indulgent about crowning an already delicious mixture of ingredients with heaving spoonfuls of cheesy, creamy scone batter. And while the contents of my recipe for Mushroom and Kale Cobbler may seem immoderate, they conspire to create a wholly comforting meal. One you’ll find almost irresistible.
Chilli is one of the best dishes with which to experiment – if an ingredient is dark, rich and flavourful, it can probably be put to good use in this classic American dish. Indeed, Stout Chilli was on our menu not so long ago and the intense, rich notes of the Bristol Beer Factory’s ‘Milk Stout’ resonated wonderfully with the meat. Vegetables, however, seem to work better with something lighter than stout, so it seemed only natural to develop a recipe for Golden Ale Vegetarian Chilli.
Two years ago I’d never have thought of making baked doughnuts, the treat we Britons are led to believe provides the sole source of nourishment for every police officer in North America. However, the effect of a couple of individuals upon my gastronomic sensibilities has been catastrophic to the point at which I now find myself, unable to tell right from wrong. All is not lost – you may have invaded my kitchen, Yanks, but I shall never let you sully my grammatical skills.
Cookies are one of those American inventions that even the most staunchly British chap feels utterly compelled to bake from time to time. However, it’s nice to vary things a little; I’ve never baked the same cookie twice. These aren’t in any way similar to my cardamom cookies or my American-style chocolate chunk cookies. Instead, the consistency found within the bites is both soft and fluffy; almost cake like, but not quite. This trait makes these cookies, rather conversely, almost more British than American. It’s rather tricky to decide whether there’s something morally, or indeed culturally wrong with such a thing. Anyway, for my vegan friends, you may want to try this vegan chocolate that I know you’ll love.
Pesto is one of those timeless ingredients that everyone knows and most people love. However, variety is the spice of life and a little change to the basic recipe for pesto could do us all a little good. Indeed, though rocket is, like basil, green and incredibly adaptable, it has its own very distinctive qualities. For instance, unlike basil, rocket has a very peppery, almost spicy, taste which gives this pesto a rather unexpected kick. In reality I’m rather loath to call this creation pesto, since its character is vastly different from what people usually assume the term to mean. If it wasn’t for the fact that the process was almost identical a more apt term for this devilish creation would surely have been tapenade. In my mind, tapenade evokes thoughts of a much stronger flavour profile than does pesto.