Skip to content
Recipes

All recipes

Vegetarian, or something you can't eat? Set your diet once and we'll hide recipes that don't fit.

Morcilla dulceSweet blood sausage with walnuts

No Uruguayan parrilla is complete without morcilla dulce: a soft pork blood sausage sweetened with sugar and scented with orange peel, studded with walnuts and raisins, grilled until the skin crisps and served first, as part of the achuras, while the beef is still cooking. It is pork throughout: pork blood, pork back fat and natural pork casings. Making it at home is a project. Buy fresh pork blood with an anticoagulant added from a butcher who supplies it for sausage making, keep it chilled below 4 °C and use it within a day. The common mistake is poaching at a rolling boil, which bursts the casings. Chef's tip: keep the water at 80–85 °C, just shivering, and prick a sausage after 25 minutes: it is done when brown, not red, juice comes out.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Postre MassiniCustard sponge with burnt sugar top

Montevideo's birthday cake of choice since the early twentieth century, the Massini is two thin layers of sponge sandwiching a thick filling of whipped cream folded with egg-yolk custard, crowned with a thin glassy crust of torched yolk and sugar. Bakeries across Uruguay sell it on Sundays. Traditional versions sometimes add a sweet fortified wine to the custard; this one is alcohol-free. The custard is cooked to a safe 71 °C. The common mistake is assembling with warm custard, which melts the cream into a puddle. Chef's tip: if you don't have a blowtorch, put the sugared top under a very hot grill for a minute and watch it closely.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

BusecaTripe and white bean stew

Buseca arrived in Montevideo with Italian immigrants from Lombardy and became a classic winter dish of Uruguayan bodegones and family kitchens, eaten on cold June and July days. Honeycomb tripe is simmered until tender, then stewed with white beans, pork chorizo, bacon, peppers, tomato and paprika into a thick, warming stew served with crusty bread. Buy tripe that is already cleaned and blanched (dressed). The usual mistake is undercooking the tripe: it needs a full 2 hours, until it's soft enough to cut with a spoon. Slow-cooker option: after step 4, cook on low for 8 hours. Chef's tip: a little grated lemon zest and parsley stirred in at the end lifts the rich, gelatinous sauce.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Doolsho (Somali cardamom sponge cake)

Ask a Somali host what goes with afternoon shaah and doolsho will be near the top of the list: a plain, airy sponge flavoured with cardamom and sometimes a little vanilla, baked in a tray and cut into generous squares. It turns up at Eid visits, weddings and family get-togethers, and is just as welcome at breakfast. The crumb should be fine and springy, never dense, which comes from whisking the eggs and sugar for a long time. Knocking the air out when the flour goes in is the mistake that ruins it; fold gently with a large spoon, in three goes, and stop as soon as no dry flour shows. Chef's tip: use eggs at room temperature; cold eggs never whip to the thick, pale ribbon that holds the cake up.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Muqmad (Somali spiced meat preserved in ghee)

Before fridges, nomadic families in Somaliland preserved meat as muqmad, also called oodkac: beef or camel cut into tiny cubes, dried in the sun, fried in ghee with garlic and spices and packed into a container topped with more ghee. A spoonful is eaten for breakfast with sabaayad or canjeero and tea, and jars are made for Eid, weddings and travellers. Sun-drying raw meat is risky in a home kitchen, so this safer version cooks the cubes through to 71 °C first, then dries them in a low oven and keeps the finished jar in the fridge. The traditional raw-dried version is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. Cutting the cubes unevenly is the common mistake: big pieces stay moist inside while small ones burn, so aim for 1 cm all round. Chef's tip: partly freeze the meat for 45 minutes and it cuts into neat cubes far more easily.

240 minSomaliMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Hilib ari (Somali slow-cooked goat with xawaash)

Goat is the festive meat of Somaliland, slaughtered for weddings, Eid and the arrival of guests, and hilib ari, goat on the bone cooked until it falls away, is the centrepiece of those meals. The meat is first simmered slowly with onion, garlic and xawaash, then the liquid is boiled away and the pieces are fried in their own fat until browned and crisp at the edges, so you get both tenderness and crunch. It is piled on a big platter of spiced rice with banana, lime wedges and green chilli sauce. Rushing the first stage is the mistake to avoid: goat stays chewy unless it simmers gently until a knife slides through. Chef's tip: ask the butcher for shoulder or leg cut into 5 cm pieces on the bone; the bones give the meat flavour and the leftover broth makes a good maraq.

125 minSomaliMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Beer (Somali fried liver)

Beer means liver in Somali, and a plate of it, cut into small cubes and fried hard with onion, green pepper and xawaash, is a breakfast institution in Mogadishu cafés, especially on weekends and through Eid when there is fresh lamb or goat liver at hand. It arrives sizzling, with canjeero or sabaayad to scoop it up, a wedge of lime and a cup of sweet spiced tea. Good beer is tender and browned on the outside, cooked through with no pink left in the centre. The classic mistake is salting the liver at the start, which draws out moisture and makes it tough; add the salt at the very end. Lamb, goat, calf or beef liver all work. Chef's tip: cut the liver into even 2 cm cubes so every piece cooks through in the same few minutes.

22 minSomaliMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Hilib geel (Somali fried camel meat)

Camels are wealth in Somaliland, and their meat, lean and slightly sweet with a deep red colour, is a favourite in Hargeisa restaurants, where hilib geel is served fried with onion, garlic and xawaash alongside rice or sabaayad, banana and lime. Camel is a hard-working muscle, so it is first simmered until tender and then fried quickly in a hot pan until browned and fragrant. Halal butchers serving East African communities often sell it; if you cannot find it, beef chuck is the closest substitute and cooks the same way. Skipping the simmer and frying the raw meat straight away is the usual mistake, and it leaves the cubes tough as boots. Chef's tip: keep the simmering liquid; a ladle of it in the pan at the end makes a little glossy sauce for the rice.

85 minSomaliMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Scottish oatcakes

Oatcakes have been baked on girdles across Scotland since oats were the country's main grain, and they are still eaten with cheese, smoked fish or marmalade, and alongside soup on cold days. Medium oatmeal is bound with a little melted butter and hot water, rolled thin and baked until crisp and nutty. Chef's tip: work quickly while the dough is warm; as it cools it cracks and won't roll.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Hot cross buns

Hot cross buns are eaten toasted with butter on Good Friday across England, and London bakeries have sold them for centuries to the old street cry 'one a penny, two a penny'. The soft, spiced dough is full of currants and orange peel, and the cross on top is piped from a simple flour paste before baking. Chef's tip: let the dough rise somewhere really warm; spiced, fruited dough is slow and needs patience.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Dundee cake

Dundee cake is the light, buttery fruit cake from the city of marmalade and jute, said to have been created by the Keiller family to use up their orange peel. Instead of marzipan and icing it is topped with concentric circles of whole blanched almonds, and it is eaten at Christmas and with afternoon tea. Chef's tip: lay the almonds on gently without pressing; if they sink they burn and the pattern is lost.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Simnel cake

Simnel cake is England's Easter fruit cake, once baked by girls in service to take home on Mothering Sunday and now the centrepiece of Easter tea. A light fruit cake has a layer of marzipan baked through the middle and more on top, decorated with eleven marzipan balls for the apostles, leaving out Judas. Chef's tip: wrap a band of baking paper round the outside of the tin; it stops the edges drying out during the long, slow bake.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Singin' hinnies

Singin' hinnies are the girdle cakes of Northumberland and Tyneside, named for the singing hiss of the butter as they cook ('hinny' is a Geordie word of affection, like 'honey'). Mothers made them for children coming home from school, cooked on a heavy griddle and eaten hot, split and buttered. They are scone dough studded with currants and cooked in the pan instead of the oven. Chef's tip: keep the heat medium-low so they cook through before the outside darkens.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Scottish shortbread

Shortbread is Scotland's most famous bake, handed round at Hogmanay with a dram and packed in tins as a gift all year. The classic recipe is one part sugar, two parts butter and three parts flour, with a little rice flour for the sandy snap; it is shaped into a round and cut into petticoat tails, a shape linked with Mary, Queen of Scots. Chef's tip: bake low and slow so it stays pale gold; brown shortbread tastes bitter rather than buttery.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Steak and kidney pudding

Steak and kidney pudding is the steamed suet pie of old English chop houses and Northern family kitchens, the kind of dish that filled up mill workers through Lancashire winters. Beef and lamb's kidney in rich gravy are sealed in a basin lined with suet pastry and steamed for hours until the crust is soft and the filling falls apart. Chef's tip: cook the filling first; it gives tender meat and a crust that isn't soggy.

340 minBritishMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Roast beef and gravy

Roast beef is the heart of the English Sunday lunch, and in Yorkshire it comes with puddings, roast potatoes and a jug of gravy made from the pan juices. A beef joint is seared in a hot oven, then roasted more gently and rested so it slices juicy and pink, with crisp, well-seasoned edges. Serve with Yorkshire puddings, horseradish and greens. Chef's tip: rest the meat for at least 20 minutes under foil; carved straight away, its juices run all over the board.

110 minBritishMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tatws pum munudBacon and potato stew

Tatws pum munud means 'five-minute potatoes' in Welsh, a joke, since it takes half an hour, but it was the quick, cheap one-pot supper of North Wales quarry and farm families. Sliced potatoes and onions are simmered on a bed of smoked bacon (pork) in stock until the potatoes are soft and the bottom layer catches and turns golden. Chef's tip: don't stir; shake the pan instead so the layers stay intact and the bottom crisps.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Yorkshire fat rascals

Fat rascals are big, rough, fruit-studded cakes from the North York Moors, halfway between a scone and a rock cake, and the famous Harrogate tea rooms made them a visitor's treat. Each one gets a face of glacé cherries and blanched almonds before baking. Eat them warm, split and buttered, with a pot of tea. Chef's tip: work the dough as little as possible, just until it holds; overmixed rascals bake up tough.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Raised pork pie

This is a raised pork pie in the style of Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, the hunting town whose pies were carried in saddle bags; only pies made in the area may use the town's name, so this is our home version. Chopped, uncured pork shoulder and belly, peppered and spiced with mace, is packed into a crisp hot water crust made with lard, baked with bowed sides, then filled with a savoury jelly. Eat it cold with English mustard and pickle at picnics or on Boxing Day. Chef's tip: work the pastry while it is still warm; as it cools it cracks.

180 minBritishMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Victoria sponge

Named after Queen Victoria, who took a slice with her afternoon tea, the Victoria sandwich is the cake of English village fetes, Women's Institute competitions and every birthday tea in the shires. It is two light butter sponges joined with raspberry jam and buttercream, finished with a dusting of caster sugar. Chef's tip: weigh the eggs in their shells and use the same weight of butter, sugar and flour; that is the classic way to get a perfect crumb.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Cornish saffron buns

Saffron buns, called 'tea treats' in parts of Cornwall, were handed out at Sunday school outings and chapel tea treats, and they still glow yellow in bakery windows from Penzance to Truro. A pinch of saffron steeped in warm milk colours a soft, enriched dough studded with currants and peel, so they taste gently floral and fruity. Eat them split and spread with butter or clotted cream. Chef's tip: steep the saffron overnight for the deepest colour and flavour.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Devon cream tea scones

A cream tea is the West Country's afternoon treat: warm scones, clotted cream and strawberry jam with a pot of tea, served in tea gardens across Devon and Cornwall. In Devon the cream goes on first and the jam on top; in Cornwall it's the other way round, and the argument never ends. These scones are plain and light so the cream and jam shine. Chef's tip: cut straight down with the cutter and don't twist it, or the scones rise lopsided.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Grasmere-style gingerbread

The village of Grasmere in the Lake District has sold its own gingerbread since the 1850s, a cross between shortbread and a biscuit with a crumbly top and chewy base, wrapped in paper for walkers and visitors to Wordsworth's grave. The real recipe is a closely kept secret; this is our home version, made with oatmeal, brown sugar and plenty of ground ginger. Chef's tip: press only the bottom half of the crumb mixture firmly and scatter the rest loosely on top, which gives the two textures.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Black Country faggotsPork liver meatballs in gravy

Faggots are the thrifty meatballs of the Black Country, the industrial towns west of Birmingham, sold by butchers and served at chip shops with mushy peas and gravy. They are made from pork liver, pork belly and onion with breadcrumbs, sage and mace, and baked in a deep onion gravy. This is a pork dish. Chef's tip: wrap each faggot in caul fat if your butcher has it; it bastes them and holds them together.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Showing 24 of 77 recipes

Show more recipes

Page 1 of 4