Tom Cooks!

Here in Johnston Towers we are big fans of smoked haddock. L is happy having hers poached and served very simply with oatcakes. For me it needs mash. For really filling comfort food, top it with a sauce made using the poaching milk, and perhaps a poached egg as well. But whatever we’re doing, we…

Autumn. The game season. The gift that just keeps giving. On a regular basis we toddle out to Castle Game and fill our shopping basket. Then and only then do I start thinking about how I’m going to cook it. Today’s dish worked exceptionally well. Partridge has a delicate flavour. You have to be careful…

At heart this is just a posh version of that simplest of Italian classics, spaghetti oglio, aglio e peperoncino,  ie with oil, garlic and chilli. It’s so easy as to defy belief. For today’s dish, the quality of your ingredients will make all the difference, though I did improvise. A few pointers. Use your very…

Mielko Itadakimasu! The customary saying before eating in Japan. It’s more than just bon appétit: it literally means I will have the food respectfully. For this, the last article influenced by our jaunt to Japan, I’ll say thank you (arigato) to Mielko, the lady who taught us to make sushi, and who sent us away…

For the first cook of the post Japan period, it’s surely appropriate to start with what is probably the best known Japanese food, sushi. As we alluded to on Wednesday, there are about five varieties. I exclude sashimi from that, as no rice is involved. Today’s version, makizushi, is so called because you use a…

With Wednesday’s French influences still ringing in my ears, we had to go to France for today’s recipe. In fact, to France via New York. There are many versions of this classic, but this one comes from Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook. Brasserie Les Halles in New York City was where Bourdain was Executive Chef…

Well, if Wednesday’s On The Side column got you in the mood for coffee, I thought you might like a slice of cake to go with it. With apples coming into season, why not try this terrific recipe from the celebrated Sarah Mellersh of the late lamented Let’s Cook Scotland? Thanks as ever to Sarah…

Yes, I know we had a chutney recipe a week or two ago; however, this is the first batch we’ve made here this season. Since word got around that we make the stuff, kind souls have taken to donating apples. Two large bags in the space of a few days. Not only did nephew Andrew…

In today’s review of Tipo (don’t miss it, the restaurant, that is, not the review – oh come to think of it, sample both) I expressed surprise that a top chef would be featuring pâté. My, how food snobbery seeps into our bone marrow. Once, of course, it featured on every menu, hence the backlash.…

Even by their standards, Scottish raspberries have been superb this year. If you are pondering the relevance of this thought in an ice cream recipe, allow me to enlighten you. I often serve this with rasps and coulis and balsamic, and truly wonderful it is too. I wrote about that combo three years ago. You…

I laugh more than I used to. A thing called retirement was largely instrumental. One thing which does make me chuckle is when someone asks me for my chutney recipe. Since I let it be known that I was in the market for unwanted apples in the season, I usually make at least one batch each…

After last week’s classical Claire Macdonald recipe, I thought you might like a change, This is a Thai style recipe of which I’ve picked up various versions. It seems to have been made famous by the blessed Delia, but at heart it’s a Thai go to. Very simple, but first, a few pointers. Don’t get…

As I wrote on Wednesday, inspiration can come from strange sources: but sometimes it doesn’t come at all. Struggling a little for this week’s Tom Cooks! I remembered a lemon chicken recipe sent to me by my excellent friend, licensing lawyer extraordinaire, JH. Rereading it, I remembered why I had left it to one side. I…

Professionals, look away now. Serious cooks who have created this lovingly from a classic text, do likewise. This is a true mongrel of a recipe, born of improvisation on my part, and vague memories of seeing folk on the telly doing bisque-y type stuff. All I will say in my defence is that the end…

Having savaged the “muscovado creme caramel” which we served in hicce, reviewed in today’s Tom Eats! I thought I would share with you the recipe from the lady who made this dish better than anyone. My mum. I’ve never cooked it, as it’s not a pud that I much care for, but I have seen…

The short but welcome blast of summer weather has got many of us reminiscing of classic meals eaten outside, probably seeking shade from the hot Mediterranean sun. Think south of France, and you probably think about Nice. The Larousse Gastronomique will tell you that à la niçoise is simply the name given to the style…

The strawberry season is well under way. How have your experiences been? I rate it a bit better than last year, but that’s not saying much. We’ll have to wait and see if the two warm days this week represent our entire summer. With luck the red beauties will soon get the sun on their…

Claire Macdonald Just over a year ago at the Masterchefs’ Lunch, I met one of my food heroes, Claire Macdonald. Not only is she delightful, she gave me permission to reproduce her recipes. We try to stay seasonal here, and ingredients don’t get much more seasonal than British asparagus. I’ve written about it before. As…

This pleasantly alliterative recipe is my take on a dish which I ate at Valvona & Crolla, which was reviewed last week. It is laughably simple. Like pesto itself, you can play about with the ingredients, but if you omit any, you’d have to rename the dish, obviously. You can use any pasta you like,…

Last week we had a wee history lesson: this week brings us up to date. Today’s recipe is for Coronation Quiche, devised by Royal Chef Mark Flanagan, apparently in consultation with the King and Queen Consort. Critics of Coronation chicken were heard to mutter that with its curry flavour it was hardly British. I can…

Now don’t start complaining that we still have a couple of weeks to go. When it comes to matters royal, the art of preparation knows no bounds. I can tell you that contingency plans for the late Queen dying in Scotland started some 15 years ago. We have only 15 days. Time to start practising.…

This is a variation on a recipe which I found on the internet. I’m always suspicious of those recipes  which call for luscious ripe plum tomatoes. I suspect their authors are still harbouring memories of summer holidays in Italy or Spain. I use the tinned variety. As an aside, am I alone in refusing to…

I say, I say, I say, what do you get if you pour boiling water down a rabbit hole? Hot cross bunnies! Boom, boom! I thank you! Well it made my nieces laugh – when they were about three. As I hinted on Wednesday, today’s recipe is for hot cross buns. (On Good Friday? Where…

After musing on the delights of the rijsttafel the other day, I thought this might be a good time for an Indonesian recipe. Google Indonesian food and by far the most common dish is nasi goreng. Well I did that on the old site – seven years ago, I discover – and, to be frank,…