Author: Chef M

Enriched with hemp seeds, this sourdough is deeply flavoured, savoury and nutty. As with any bread made with spelt, a little extra kneading and some proving baskets to hold the shape of the loaves work wonders. I love to eat this bread with hearty winter soups.

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Cafreal is an enchanting Goan Portuguese dish traditionally made by cooking chicken in a tangy marinade of fresh coriander, garlic, green chillies and spices. I’ve replaced the chicken with roasted squash, which works well with cafreal’s fierce little kick. The sauce can be blended and cooked in minutes while the squash roasts, making this a great fuss-free recipe and unsung hero of midweek dinners.

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It would be perfectly reasonable to say that broccoli doesn’t need to be messed around, whether in its normal, tenderstem or sprouting form just steam or blanch and enjoy it as the super food that it is. But that ignores the fact that when charred and blistered and crisp at the edges, there’s a whole other level of broccoli to be enjoyed. You can achieve this effect by roasting or grilling (though the broccoli should be blanched first, so that the vegetable is tender and juicy as well as crisp). I love charred broccoli with the crumbs – alongside salmon,…

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Early on in my food writing life, I wrote about a version of this soup, a recipe I’d gotten from Alice Waters. The blog post was called “Sex and the Turnip.” (Analytics tells me this post still comes up quite a bit in certain Google searches.) I felt then, as I do now, that the Hakurei turnip belongs in the ranks of oysters and chocolate that its curvy smooth flesh qualifies it for aphrodisiac status. Bite into a raw Hakurei turnip and it gives under your teeth, not with a crunch but with a glide. Cooked, the texture becomes silky…

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It’s the holidays, and you have seemingly everyone in the family crashing in the guest room, on the couch, and in every other nook and cranny of your house. When you face the daunting task of feeding breakfast to a crowd, this company-size casserole is here to bail you out.

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Sautéing chopped corn tortillas with the onion, jalapeño, and garlic thickens this soup and gives it a nice corn flavor throughout. Sprinkling crumbled corn tortilla chips on top is the perfect way to complete the taco flavor and add some nice crunch. Top the soup as you would a taco with grated cheese, sour cream, and avocado.

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It used to be that a cocktail party wasn’t quite complete without a tray of pigs in a blanket at the ready. My parents carried on that tradition into my childhood. Popular in Dutch communities in the twentieth century, this dish made its way into America’s increasingly diverse cuisine.

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