Posts by Tom Johnston

So do you have a citrus problem? Find them coming at you from everywhere? That happened to us last year. We threw our first party in over two years. Both L and I both bought lemons and limes by the ton, and probably used but two on the day. Nothing worse than watching them shrinking…

Claire Macdonald This is a genius of a recipe. Even by Claire Macdonald’s standards she has surpassed herself. And with the pheasant season drawing to a close, pheasant breasts are really economical. I think I paid £3 for the meat for the whole dish. With a terrine, you generally require a chutney. No need here…

I mentioned a month or two ago that – to my own surprise – this column has just celebrated its seventh birthday. 7 years. A time for introspection, albeit one without an itch. It started off on the back of two cook books. The first was written for me by my mum when I was…

The original plan for today was to give you a stollen recipe; however, that would have been three sweet things in a row, and I haven’t had time to test it. Next year, perhaps. So, staying seasonal, what shall we have? Over the next two or three weeks, eating patterns will change for many of…

Many families like a trifle on the table at Christmas time. This recipe is taken from Wendy Barrie’s book, Meadows: The Swedish Farmer & The Scottish Cook which we reviewed on Wednesday. A badly made trifle can be disgusting. There are no shortcuts in this recipe as it features home made Swiss roll for the…

With Christmas approaching, I had a fancy to include a cake recipe. Not a traditional Christmas cake – for me it has too much similarity to Christmas pudding, the true highlight (after the roast potatoes) of Christmas dinner. I acquired a stollen recipe from a friend, but I’m suspicious of the yeast quantities given. Not…

With the onset of winter you expect the temperature to drop. That’s fine. In fact I rather enjoy the clear, crisp, blue skied days, but not those damp, dank ones where the cold seems to seep into your bone marrow. At such times comfort food is called for. But which one? Looking through the archives…

This is a homage to Portugal where I holidayed recently. The country is the world’s largest consumer of salt cod. In every supermarket you’ll see racks and racks of the stuff, stiff as a board, probably handy as an offensive weapon. You’ll find variations wherever cod was common, Newfoundland, Norway and the Faroe Islands. It’s…