A Year From Oak Cottage
I left the hot clang of professional kitchens for a small cottage, a stubborn garden and a slower kind of appetite. This is my record of the year: what I grow, what I cook, what works, and what ends up in the compost.
This week in the cottage kitchen
There is usually flour on the table, a pan cooling by the back door and a list of jobs I have only half-finished. I am learning to cook by the weather again. If the leeks are ready, they decide supper. If the berries need picking, the jam pan comes out.
Start with something good
Honey Butter Cottage Loaf
A soft loaf for toast, soup and standing at the counter with a knife in one hand.
Roasted Tomato and Basil Garden Soup
The late-summer tomato glut, roasted until sweet and blended into lunch.
Slow-Simmered Beef and Barley Stew
A steady winter pot for days when the rain has settled in properly.
The first ten recipes
- Honey Butter Cottage Loaf
- Roasted Tomato and Basil Garden Soup
- Apple Cinnamon Oat Crumble Cake
- Creamy Leek and Potato Pot Pie
- Blackberry Jam Thumbprint Biscuits
- Herbed Chicken with Root Vegetables
- Lemon Elderflower Drizzle Cake
- Rustic Mushroom and Thyme Tart
- Strawberry Rhubarb Breakfast Scones
- Slow-Simmered Beef and Barley Stew
A year of small notes
I am not chasing perfection here. I have done enough of that under strip lights. At Oak Cottage I want food that suits the day, uses what is close by and leaves the kitchen feeling lived in rather than conquered.