lemon | The grub worm

Baked Bream with aromatic herbs and lemony potatoes

Posted on 2 March 2011 by The Grubworm

Has anyone ever told you that nothing in life is simple? Well, they’re wrong. Lots in life is simple. Like this dish. Simplicity itself. It’s one of those beauties that you can kind of throw together, leave in the oven to cook and end up with a really tasty dinner.

And that’s how it should be, because with a few exceptions, you don’t want to mess with fish, particularly white fish. Sure, bream is quite robust, but doing too much to it will dilute and overwhelm the wonderful, delicately meaty flavour and texture. Continue reading →

A spicy and smoky aubergine, chickpea and tomato stew

Posted on 22 January 2010 by The Grubworm

I have a whole repertoire of dishes that I create pretty much from instinct. Cooking most days means that I have developed a whole lot of simple concoctions that are easily adapted to whatever ingredients I have hanging around. This one’s a favourite. It pretty much looks after itself and is straightforward to throw together and leave to bubble away while I get on with other things. In this case singing along to some sixties soul classics at the top of my formidably tuneless voice. Continue reading →

A curative drink before bed

Posted on 15 January 2010 by The Grubworm

There was no dinner as such last night, just a snack in the pub during the break between a conference and a gallery event run by Bizarre magazine. Instead, I’m going post about the curative lemon, honey and ginger drink I made before heading off to bed.

I love these sorts of drinks when I am feeling physically down and am not really in the mood for tea (green, white, black or oolong), my fall-back cure-all. There’s not much that doesn’t look/feel better after a cup of well made tea, it’s just sometimes not the right drink. I can’t explain it better than that. Continue reading →

Cold weather calls for grilled pork chops

Posted on 6 January 2010 by The Grubworm

Snow has been silently covering the London streets today giving Smithfield market something of a Dickensian feel. The current cold snap has brought on the desire for something decidedly meaty and where better to get it than Smithfield, home of the city’s main meat market for centuries? A trip to the last butcher still open at midday snagged two free range pork chops and four plump quail.

Dinner was based around the pork – with something that tasty you don’t want to mess around much. Just a squeeze of lemon juice and some black pepper. And then a simple accompaniment of roast cherry tomatoes and lightly fried courgettes with lemon and black pepper. Continue reading →