Recipe: Pumpkin Chilli

This chilli is a great vegetarian alternative to regular chilli. Although that's not to say that meat eaters won't enjoy it too. This is quick and easy to make with a tin of pumpkin puree. You can also use a homemade pumpkin puree or even butternut squash or similar. Chilli's are a personal thing, feel free to add as little or as much cumin and chilli as you need. Perfect to freeze, serve on...

Review: Union Street Café, Southwark

On Friday, the work girls and I visited Union Street Café for late lunch. We'd been looking for somewhere in the Southwark area and hadn't even considered Gordon Ramsay's most recent offering. It doesn't look like much from the outside, and since its opening a year ago the initial buzz seems to have settled. But, curiosity got the better of us when an offer slipped into inboxes with a set lunch menu...

Recipe: Focaccia

This may look like a lot of focaccia for one recipe but I've scaled it up in order to make some personal ones for loved ones. It was a good excuse to use some of the goodies I took from my Dad's vegetable patch earlier in the week. Mainly the rosemary...I made the train home smell very pleasant. I also have a lot of peppers and chilli which I plan to make into chilli jam, a family favourite. Here...

Recipe: Spiced Sweet Potato Cake with Marshmallow Frosting

I'll make pretty much anything to use up what's lurking around in the cupboard or fridge. I hate to waste food. Usually this involves some form of dinner which, in my family, is known as an 'around the world dinner'. By this, you can expect any combination of leftovers of all sorts of cuisines. I couldn't quite face eating a bag full of sweet potatoes to myself this week so set out to find a suitable...

Review: Dip & Flip Burger

This discovery may be a few weeks late, but let me assure you its completely worth it. When it was supposedly still summer, by that I mean a day of rain storms, Boy and I popped off to see a film at the pop-up cinema in Battersea Power Station. I believe the cinema has since gone so we won't worry about that, but there was a whole host of different food vendors to explore. In between rain storms...

Recipe: Rye Caraway Bagels

This week I decided to go back to basics. When first starting this blog my intention was to learn to bake at home. I had a long list of everything I wanted to try and over two years on there's still so much I feel like I haven't covered. Top of said list, bagels. The recipe is from Ruby Tandoh's first baking book, Crumb, which is full of simple, unpretentious home bakes and great flavour combinations. Rye...

Recipe: Slow-cooker Chilli Con Carne

Another week, another slow cooker recipe. I made this for my Mum when she came over for dinner last week and it went down very well with a glass of wine. You may notice that its quite a hefty amount of chilli, it is, so feel free to half the amounts if needed. The preparation for this took all of 10 minutes; some quick chopping and a few minutes to soften the onions and brown the mince. If you...

Billington's Brownies and #bakeface

"The bake face. The magnificent side effect of baking with Billington's." A colleague asked me the other day if I enjoyed eating my own bakes...! Not to blow my own trumpet, but I do. As much as I love to share and bake for others, who wouldn't enjoy a batch of fresh out the oven, homemade brownies? This is my excited #bakeface... You can vote for my #bakeface here (voting closes 12.10.14) If...

Nordic Cuisine with Martyn Meid

Things got a little bit (more than) indulgent when I went to Miele's Nordic Cuisine Chef's Table with Martyn Meid last week. Martyn had prepared a 7 course tasting menu for us and each course was expertly paired with a different glass of wine by his sommelier. I must admit, I was a little anxious when I received the invite in my inbox. The most Nordic meal I've ever eaten before would probably...