Carl Legge:recipes, thoughts, ideas

  • Chickweed recipes: pakora & hot dressed salad

    I picked a load of chickweed (stellaria media) after I took all the pictures for this post on the 52 Week Salad Challenge. It’s a very versatile ingredient. When at its peak like this it can be easily eaten raw and is also great cooked. As the plant gets older it can get a bit…

  • 52 Week Salad Challenge – January pickings

    Michelle over at Veg Plotting suggested on twitter the other day a challenge to grow or forage some salad every week of the year. It’s a great idea and so I’m joining in. I thought it would be fun to see what was available at this time of the year. We’ve had a very mild…

  • Haggis Lasagne Recipe

    I made a huge pile of haggis yesterday that we had with pearl barley risotto. To continue the Hibernian/Italian theme, I ‘ve paired it with home-made pasta today. The roasted tomato passata, dried tomatoes and preserved courgettes are all bounty from the summer: saved for a winter treat. I’ll add the recipe for all this…

  • Mutton roasted with amaretti-date spiced marinade

    I’ll confess that I wasn’t planning to blog this recipe. However, the reaction of friends on twitter and the team here was so good that I had to share. And that’s why there isn’t a fab picture of the cooked dish: it got eaten before the camera could record it. Sorry. I wanted to cook…

  • Apple, almond & date cake recipe

    This cake is so simple and stunningly satisfying. It has a crunchy top and moist inside. The flavours are pleasingly complex with spicy sweet/tart apples contrasting with rich toffee-like roasted dates. The spelt flour and almonds give the cake a substantial nutty body. It tastes great warm straight from the oven or cool later on.…

  • Chestnut ravioli with brocciu

    Like many English people, I have a love affair with Corsica. It’s partly because of this: Corsica has a fantastic blend of  Mare et Monte: sea and mountains. It’s why I live  in North Wales, to be with môr a mynydd. But Corsica smells different too: it has the maquis. The maquis is a mixture…

  • Llyn first frosts

    We woke up this morning to some hard frosts after a very clear night. The sunrise over Cardigan Bay was glorious. The red light shone in the trees and they glowed with a warmth absent form the air. Snowdon rises magestically into the clear air.

  • Olive oil and potato flatbread

    This is the second weekly Short and Tweet Challenge based on Dan Lepard’s new recipe book Short & Sweet. This olive oil and potato flatbread is crisp and flavoursome on the outside and moist & chewy on the inside. Amongst the bakers taking on the Challenge, there’s been some discussion about flour types and handling…

  • Fig, fennel, coriander & bay jam

    As you can see, the figs produce a wonderful colour and texture. The fennel gives a lovely background warmth with the bay. The coriander provides generous light bursts of flavour. The story behind this jam is that I had the good fortune to receive a present of a jar of fig, vanilla and ginger jam…