Oxtail is an underrated cut of meat – and a far cry from the soups of our childhoods. One of the cheapest cuts, if not the cheapest, of beef, oxtail is full of flavour and benefits from slow cooking. This recipe easily feeds a family of four, with leftovers for another day. INGREDIENTS1 oxtail, jointedYare Valley rapeseed oil2 red onions, quartered3 or 4 bay leaves2 celery stalks, chopped2 large carrots, slicedWhite and pink peppercornsHalf a swede, dicedDried parsley & dried oregano1 beef stock pot1 bottle Broadside beerTomato pureeAround 5g porcini mushroomsCornflour Add a splash of Yare Valley rapeseed oil to…
the delicate diner
-
Continue ReadingOld Hall Farm sausages are packed full of meat and therefore, are full of flavour. This simple recipe will feed a family of four and it is so easy to do. You can even cook in a slow cooker on low, meaning that you can get on with your day while the pot does its thing! INGREDIENTS8 Old Hall Farm beef sausagesYare Valley rapeseed oil2 small shallots, sliced2 celery sticks, sliced2 bay leaves2 large carrots, sliced2 parsnips, quartered and sliced4 medium potatoes, cut into piecesDried parsleyA beef stock potSalt & pepperA good handful of mushrooms, slicedCornflour You need a large…
-
Continue ReadingA Norfolk business is bringing an ancient English fruit back to our tables. Jane Steward of Eastgate Larder grows medlars on her six-acre plot near Aylsham. Her orchard of 120 trees, has just been awarded National Collection status by Plant Heritage, the world’s leading plant conservation and research charity. It is Norfolk’s first arboreal collection. She hand makes fine jelly, fruit cheese and spicy medlar chutney exclusively from Norfolk-grown fruit. In addition to sales of her preserves, Jane is raising the profile of the medlar by her talks to garden clubs across the county and to visiting groups. Her aim…
-
Continue ReadingUnfortunately, due to coronavirus, this event is now cancelled. We hope to run these events later in the year, so please check back! I am delighted to share that I will be demonstrating chocolate favourites in time for Easter at Snellings, Blofield Heath, on Saturday 28 March. I shall be making chocolate hazelnut spread, chocolate and caramel ice cream, chocolate mousse, and chocolate, rum and ginger brownies. All will be made using locally sourced produce where possible, and I will be demonstrating how versatile the KitchenAid stand mixer and attachments can be. Tickets cost £10, £5 of which will go…
-
Continue ReadingNorfolk Online is a new website celebrating all things Norfolk, and I am delighted to be their food and drink columnist. The site went live last year, and you can read my columns here. The are also features focusing on business and career, fashion and style, healthy and beauty, home and leisure, and out and about. Bookmark the site today and enjoy this one-stop portal for Norfolk.
-
Continue ReadingI am delighted and honoured to have a recipe in a new book, Bake for Bacon, which launched on 15 October. All the proceeds from the book go to raising money for Priscilla Bacon Hospice, aiming to raise £12.5 million to build a new 24 bed specialist care hospice for the people of Norfolk and Waveney. My original recipe was too similar to another in the book so, fresh out of hospital, I opted for a simple walnut and fig soda bread. So good – especially with raw butter from Old Hall Farm and local cheeses! Order your copy today…
-
Continue ReadingWhat a foodie year I have had! There has been so much to enjoy, to celebrate, and to have fun with. From visiting favourite local restaurants to going on cooking demos and brilliant foodie courses, there has been much to enjoy. The Delicate Diner has grown a lot over this past year and I have to thank you all for your likes, your love, your messages, and your support. Food has long been a passion of mine and I have enjoyed spending more time following this dream this year, and working out how I want to work with food in…
-
Continue ReadingHello my lovely Delicate Diners – and a very Happy Easter to you! What a miserable day it is; typical Bank Holiday style, tipping it down with rain outside, and not a Bond film to be found on the TV inside. So what better to do than share some of my brilliant Easter weekend experiences in Norfolk. I suggest you pull up a glass of something, sit back, and enjoy this foodie blog celebrating fabulous foodie Norfolk. My weekend began a day early as I had a friend up from London for a visit. I had returned from Switzerland the…
-
Continue ReadingI know that this particular blog – celebrating my Foodie Top Ten of 2017 – may seem a bit late. But with Dry January, Vegan January, Blue Monday, Have No Fun in January and all the other negative aspersions associated with this month, there didn’t seem much point in whetting your appetites for some of the most fantastic foodie offerings that there are in Norfolk. Yes, I do agree that we should all drink less and have more meat-free days but the total ‘new year, new me – in with the blender, out with the slow cooker’ – drives me…
-
Continue ReadingOpening up The Delicate Diner and staring at the blank screen fills me with guilt. Guilt that my own job – The Arabian Magazine – has taken me away from indulging in my food side for so long. Guilt that I have not written a single word about food lately – in spite of enjoying plenty of amazing dishes, and even cooking some myself. And guilt that I, may, possibly, just be an indelicate diner now. I shall say it quickly – the equivalent of ripping off a plaster. But… I think my wheat intolerance may be going. … I was first…