Mains
Michael Kitson
Creamy Mushroom linguine

A good friend of mine loves food puns. She doesn't even like normal puns that much. Just food puns. And I realised, while I was making this dish, that it happens to contain two ingredients that frequently feature in her puns. Puns that I've heard numerous times. I'll hear her familiar voice in my ear whenever I'm slicing a mushroom “ain't mushroom for more of them is there” followed by “I'm know I'm hilarious, you don't have to tell me, I'm just such a fun guy”. I'll receive a text later about how the elderly Italian chef 'pastaway'. *Groan*. [...]

Creamy Mushroom linguine
Mains
Michael Kitson
Adaptable One Pot Curry

A few years ago, while learning how to cook at university, I realised that to make many curries you follow more or less the same sequence of steps. Once memorised, that sequence became super helpful to me. I was able to quickly and efficiently produce a healthy, filling curry without a recipe or too much thought. So in today's post I'm going to show you this sequence in the form of a flowchart [...]

Adaptable One Pot Curry
Snacks, Dips
Michael Kitson
Roasted Almond, Coconut & Hazelnut Butter

Originally I made this nut butter for a friend's birthday without a recipe write-up in mind. I normally have a pipeline of recipes queued up for testing, photographing and posting - however, your response to it on instagram, lovely readers, warranted not only a write-up but also a free pass to skip the queue! [...]

Roasted Almond, Coconut & Hazelnut Butter
Mains
Michael Kitson
Mushroom Ragu with creamy polenta

One of the first dishes I made when I cut out meat from my diet was this braised mushroom ragu by Jules from The Stone Soup. Her sciencey approach appealed to me, and I was drawn in by the idea of a really slow-cooked meal that emulated cooking meat.

Today's recipe is my version of the above dish. Although I adored Jules' recipe - rich, concentrated, intense - I did feel there was room for improvement: both flavour-wise and for practicality [...]

Mushroom Ragu with creamy polenta
Tips + How-To's
Michael Kitson
4 quick kitchen tips

As you may have seen from my instagram, I'm in the middle of testing a few recipes, like this mushroom ragu (!), so for today's post I'm going to share my top 4 kitchen tips. Some may sound a little silly and straightforward, but sometimes I can get in a sort of routine or rut when I cook and these tips I've heard or read have proved to be great time-savers.

Let's start with breakfast [...]

4 quick kitchen tips

biscuits

Vegan Florentines

Vegan Florentines

Hi everyone! I hope you're all having a great festive period. Personally I haven't been feeling that Christmassy, until last night when our tree went up which Max (my dog - to the unacquainted) duly had a good bark at. Anyway, today I've got a real gem for you. These vegan florentines are so decadent and elegant they basically scream Christmas. I would seriously recommend them as a Christmas present, but I do realise I'm a bit late in publishing this post! Perhaps if you have any presents to give after Christmas, like I will, to other relatives, a few days later?!

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Vegan Rusks

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Vegan Rusks

I can only apologise - for the wait. Months ago, I promised in my non-vegan buttermilk rusks recipe that I was going to veganise it very soon. Alas, it has not been 'very soon'. We ALWAYS have a tin of these delicious snacks in my house but I seem to have forgotten to share them with you because I’ve been distracted by constantly looking to post the freshest, most exciting idea I've got going.  

But they're finally here! 

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Buttermilk Rusks

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Buttermilk Rusks

When I was in South Africa, I came across certain foods that I learnt were deeply embedded in South African culture. For instance, a South African 'braai' (barbecue) is something of an art form and not to be messed with - the suggestion of using a gas-powered barbecue is actually insulting out there. Secondly, Rooibos (AKA red bush) tea: the go-to standard cup of tea is brewed with leaves from the Rooibos plant which produces a caffeine-free, earthy, slightly fruity beverage. And lastly, rusks [...]