Master in the Kitchen

Once Through the Garden Summer Soup

Every global culture has some kind of a vegetable soup with a bit of meat thrown in for flavour. The differences between the soups depend on the kind of...

Summer Recipes

Honey and tarragon pork tenderloin

This is such a simple recipe. It takes ten minutes max. to prepare the marinade yet the long soak really does impart the fresh flavour of tarragon teamed up with...

Summer Recipes

Sourdough Pizza

I’m told, on good authority, that sourdough pizzas are all the latest rage in London. This site may be all about traditional cooking but you could never accuse Master...

Summer Recipes

Green runner beans fried in garlic and olive oil

Green, purple and white runner beans are in season! Yay! There are hundreds of ways to serve runner beans. The worst way is to boil them to death and...

Summer Recipes

Panna Cotta with Raspberry Coulis

From Italy with love – a simple, though utterly delicious, fresh summer desert. If you are looking for an interesting way to incorporate live, natural beneficial organism into your...

Spring Recipes

Hot Cross Buns

This is the third of my traditional British recipes for patriotic Remainers who see the future of our country in the sunny uplands of the European Union. My first,...

Winter Recipes

Cassoulet

Many recipes call for the addition of chicken stock to this classic winter stew from the south west of France – but this dish is so packed with flavour...

Blog, Winter Recipes

Citrus! The glamour of January

“Ain’t no sunshine!” announced The Guardian last week (as if we didn’t already know that!). One of the darkest on records (yeah we had suspected). Gloomiest winter since records...

Festive Recipes

Traditional Christmas Cake

Like marmalade English fruit cakes are an acquired taste. Already the family are looking less than enthusiastic about my very traditional Christmas cake. “Nah – sorry – that’s not...

Blog

Autumn Colours

Master in the Kitchen has been quiet of late. Lots of cooking and baking going on over here but just not enough time to post regularly. Two main reason...

Jams, Winter Recipes

The Great British Remainalade

Don’t believe for a single moment that Brexiteers own the rights to British patriotism and identity. I am a British patriot and I am one hundred per cent behind...

Autumn Recipes

Baked Apples in Rum

At a recent advent’s market in Germany I was treated to some seriously good boscoop apples baked above an open fire. They were served with raisins either soaked in rum...

Autumn Recipes

Roasted haunch of venison

Unlike the tougher neck or “chuck” of a comforting venison stew, traditional best practice requires neither a marinade nor a slow cook for a haunch of venison. There are, nevertheless,...

Autumn Recipes

Port & Prune Bundt Cake

This is a substantial cake which stays fresh for up to three days if it can’t all be eaten in one sitting. If you want you can reduce the...

Autumn Recipes

Apple & cinnamon tart

Ingredients For the sweet pastry 200 gr. plain white flour 100 gr. butter 80 gr. sugar 1 tsp. cinnamon 1 beaten egg A pinch of salt For the filling...

Autumn Recipes

Sweet potato frangipane tart

Ingredients For the sweet pastry 150 gr. plain white flour 50 gr ground almonds 100 gr. butter 80 gr. sugar 1 tsp. spekuloos spices (or mixed spice) 1 beaten egg...

Autumn Recipes

Quince & cardamom-vanilla tart

Ingredients For the sweet pastry 200 gr. plain white flour 100 gr. butter 80 gr. sugar 1 beaten egg A pinch of salt For the filling 3 quinces (or...

Autumn Recipes

Late Autumn Dried Fruit and Baked Vegetable Dishes

Autumn is a great season in which to experiment with dried fruit and root vegetables. Traditional societies added a lot of dried fruit to their dishes for the simple...

Autumn Recipes, Jams

Quince Cheese

“For the colour will be as diaphanous as an oriental ruby” Before beginning on quince cheese be aware that this recipe requires some individual love and attention. A good meat...

Autumn Recipes

Wild venison stew with dried prunes

“True wild game has the appeal of rich, variable flavour, thanks to its mature age, free exercise and mixed diet.” McGee on Food and Cooking Late autumn has always been...

Winter Recipes

Cassoulet

Many recipes call for the addition of chicken stock to this classic winter stew from the south west of France – but this dish is so packed with flavour...

Blog, Winter Recipes

Citrus! The glamour of January

“Ain’t no sunshine!” announced The Guardian last week (as if we didn’t already know that!). One of the darkest on records (yeah we had suspected). Gloomiest winter since records...

Jams, Winter Recipes

The Great British Remainalade

Don’t believe for a single moment that Brexiteers own the rights to British patriotism and identity. I am a British patriot and I am one hundred per cent behind...

Winter Recipes

From Belgium with love … Baked chicory in a cheese and ham sauce.

Chicory baked in a cheese and ham sauce is a big favourite in this part of the world. From January until the end of April the markets are full of...

Soups, Winter Recipes

Winter Soups

Nothing beats a thick winter soup. It is the quintessential warm food for cold days. Add enough potatoes, stock, vegetables and a small cut or two of some left-over...

Winter Recipes

Goulash

As with the Belgian carbonarde so too with this traditional Hungarian dish – a good stock makes all the difference. You can omit the stock and have a...

Soups, Winter Recipes

Traditional pea & ham soup

Pea and ham soup is the quintessential, traditional winter soup – comforting , filling but above all tasty. Fresh pea soup served with mint and a light chicken stock...

Winter Recipes

Traditional gammon in a creamy mustard sauce.

I had to wait one week for my gammon but it was well worth the wait. It is not for the first time that I reflect on how lucky we...

Mastering the Basics - ABC, or doh, re, mi of cooking, Winter Recipes

Knick-knack paddy-whack give the cook a bone – Stock

Basic ingredients – A bone (any bone from any animal will do: chicken, game, veal, beef). An onion, Carrots. Celery (or leeks). Salt & Pepper. Parsley. Bay leaf . Vinegar....

Spring Recipes

Hot Cross Buns

This is the third of my traditional British recipes for patriotic Remainers who see the future of our country in the sunny uplands of the European Union. My first,...

Beverages, Spring Recipes

Chilled Rhubarb Juice

Rhubarb juice is highly prized in our house-hold – especially when chilled and served with one or two raspberries and a slice of lemon. The juice I make is...

Spring Recipes

Raw Strawberry Cheese Cake

In catholic Belgium May is a month for weddings, communions and confirmations. With unusual serendipity a four day week-end break coincided with a sunny and clement spell of weather....

featured, Spring Recipes

Traditional Fruit Tart

J. turned 18 last week. He requested a strawberry cake for his birthday celebration. I was not in the least bit surprised – it’s what he’s asked for since...

Spring Recipes

Beef, spinach and ricotta pie

This pie tastes great either warm or cold. Serve it with a fresh salad and with condiments such as pickles, sauerkraut or chutneys. It is probably not a dish...

featured, Soups, Spring Recipes

Traditional Asparagus Soup

The best way to make asparagus soup is to keep it simple. Four ingredients and a food mill is all you need. I use a chicken stock since it...

featured, Spring Recipes

Ol’ Limey Honey and Coconut Cheesecake

I have a feeling this raw cheese cake would appeal to the Royal Navy of yester-year since it is full of fresh lime juice to keep the scurvy at...

Dairy, Spring Recipes

Basic Cheese Cake

Cheese cake can be eaten either raw or baked. Although different they are equally delicious. The one difference between the two is that raw cheesecake is brimming with beneficial...

Spring Recipes

Asparagus Tips

The flavour of asparagus is concentrated in the delicate spear-heads whilst the base of the asparagus tends to be milder – and depending on the age of the asparagus...

Festive Recipes

Traditional Christmas Cake

Like marmalade English fruit cakes are an acquired taste. Already the family are looking less than enthusiastic about my very traditional Christmas cake. “Nah – sorry – that’s not...

Festive Recipes

Pomegranate, mandarine and bulgur salad

After the delicious leg of lamb on Sunday I had plenty of meat left over but felt like something light and refreshing for the following day. Pomegranates and mandarines...

Festive Recipes

Gentleman’s Dessert

This recipe comes courtesy of my mother. In Germany it is commonly known as “Herrencreme” – and is associated with Westphalia, or so I gather. It is typically served...

Festive Recipes

Leg of lamb soaked in mulled wine

The festive season is a great occasion to try out some amazingly simple and delicious traditional cooking. Lamb is not often associated with the Christmas season but the mulled...

Autumn Recipes, Festive Recipes

A traditional meat pie

This is not a traditional mince pie, which entails soaking dried fruit with shredded suet in a jar for up to four weeks before encasing it as a filling...

featured, Featured Recipe, Festive Recipes, Winter Recipes

Alpine Cheese Fondue

One of the great things about rediscovering traditional food and cooking is learning to embrace all the natural fats we were once warned are the root cause of all...

11/05/2016

Pastry

– flour, salt, fat, water (sometimes sugar) – Cultures all over the world have teamed-up ground flour with a...

by K J G

Comments 2

16/03/2016

Cooking Basics: the ABC of our favourite dishes

Every recipe, every dish, every method of cooking food begins with an ABC; a doe, re, mi; a one,...

by K J G

Comments 0

21/01/2016

Knick-knack paddy-whack give the cook a bone – Stock

Basic ingredients – A bone (any bone from any animal will do: chicken, game, veal, beef). An onion, Carrots. Celery...

by K J G

Comments 3

14/03/2015

Marinades

Basic ingredients: – Olive Oil. Lemon juice or vinegar or cultured milk. Herbs or Spices or both. Salt & pepper....

by K J G

Comments 0

13/03/2015

The best start any stew can get – a mirepoix

Basic ingredients Onion. Celery. Carrots. The French name this basic, common-place start to a braised stew after an aristocrat...

by K J G

Comment 1

12/03/2015

Béchamel (or White) Sauce

Basic Ingredients – Butter. Flour. Milk. Salt & Pepper – So many dishes – both savoury and sweet –...

by K J G

Comment 1

11/03/2015

Salad Dressing

Basic ingredients Olive Oil. Salt & Pepper. Honey. Begin by pouring a good glug of vinegar into a salad...

by K J G

Comments 0