Feeding since 1982
Just a quick update from me tonight, as I’m in the middle of working on my next recipe post – a true healing and homely recipe, that will hopefully be live over the weekend. But until then I just wanted to share a link to my first proper interview for ‘Stirring Slowly‘! The lovely ladies at ‘The Happy Foodie’ interviewed me on what it is like to write a cookbook, my guilty food secrets and my inspiration; you can check it out here.
9 weeks till publication…
Greek Lent is almost here! I normally just give up one thing (coffee, cheese, chocolate…) but this year I’m going to do it properly, I’m going to basically be vegan for 50 days. OK, so it’s not as straight forward as that, there are some days you can eat fish, and some days you can’t eat olive oil, but I’ll turn to my yiayia for guidance. I still find it quite confusing. Anyway, I’m going to try, and I’ll share my progress with you all and hopefully find and create some exciting recipes in the process
So, the bread. The inspiration for this recipe, tahinopita, is one of my favourite things about Greek Easter. Traditionally eating during times of lent and fasting, you can buy individual ones all year round from Greek and Turkish bakers (or make it yourself of course). But growing up it was always eaten around Easter time, due to its lack of animal products, and I just love it. The soft dough, caramelised crispy edges, and gooey middle (a bit like frangipane)… insanely moreish.
Most commonly known for its addition to houmous, savoury dishes and dressings, tahini is brilliant for baking with. Sweetened, like in this recipe, it has a peanut butter vibe, and works wonderfully with honey, maple syrup or brown sugars. (Also a little bit in a smoothie with banana, honey, milk and cinnamon is ridiculously good). The most complicated thing about this recipe is making the bread, which isn’t difficult at all, I promise. The filling and ring part is even easier, and is perfect for a rainy day at home. I hope you like it as much as I do.
I’m back!
I’ve been away from here for a shockingly long time and my excuses are many – I really need to learn multitask. The main reason though is a good one though, I swear, I’ve written a book! (Chances are you’ve come via Instagram and you probably already know that, but just in case…). Yes, a book, a real life cookbook. I’ve wanted to write cookbooks for years now, it really is a lifelong dream come true, and I’m beyond thrilled to say it’ll be released on 9th June this year. It’s called ‘Stirring Slowly – recipes to restore and revive’, and it’s all about comforting, calming cooking – food that will make you feel good from the inside. No faddy diets or overly fussy recipes, just proper home cooking that will reconnect you to the kitchen. You can preoder it on amazon already, or just have a nosey at the (gold foiled!) cover:
Stirring Slowly: Recipes to Restore and Revive
I’m sure over the next few months I’ll be including more on Stirring Slowly, cheeky extracts and pictures, behind the scenes stuff, but for now a recipe that could easily have made it into the book. A comforting and warming classic, with a twist.
I’ll often ask Pete if there’s anything he fancies for dinner during the week and this week brought a new dish to our household: the humble cottage pie. By new, I just mean for us, it’s not something that frequents the Hayden dinner table, especially as I tend to opt for lamb (shepherd’s) over beef (cottage). Happy to oblige off I went, adamant I’d make him something incredible (and better than the one he gets from his favourite lunch spot – Fuzzy’s). The result was a classic cottage pie, with a cheesy cauliflower mash on top – a combination of 2 of Pete’s favourite dishes. Serve with a little English mustard and you’re winning.
Ps Exciting times, the website is about to get a make over. Please bear with me while it undergoes some changes.
