Here’s one of our favourite sorbets:
St Clement’s Sorbet
Feeling Fowl
Hungarian Sausage (Kolbasz) with Apricot
Snack sticks can be made with dried fruit added. In larger salami the distinct flavor of the fruit merges into the overall taste of the meat. In snack sticks, due to the short drying time, the fruit adds a distinct and delightful note. Yeast, which can be present on the surface of dried fruit, is dealt with by soaking the fruit in high proof alcohol.
Cheese and Onion Pie
I like this pie best as a cold-cutting pie. It’s a great addition to a buffet table. The recipe comes from my grandma, who lived in the North West of England – Lancashire and Westmorland – for many years.
You’ll see from the photo that the bottom’s a little bit soggy – hey, sometimes that happens; it could’ve done with a few more minutes in the oven, but so what, it tastes great.
The recipe’s really simple; I’ve tried it in the past with additions like egg in the filling, but this one’s the best, just cheese and onion like grandma used to make.
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Sweet BBQ Sauce
This is a basic barbecue sauce that’s based on a commercial one that was available in the UK until recently.
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Easy Salami – Snack Sticks – An Introduction
Snack sticks, along with jerky, are an increasingly popular option for people looking for a fast, portable, high protein snack food. Most snack sticks are a cooked product (heated to 68-70 C). Some are smoked and / or dried as part of the manufacture. Fermented snack sticks, on the other hand, are an interesting subset of salami products.
Important: Changes to EU curing rules
An EU directive in October 2023 introduced changes to the permitted levels of nitrite and nitrate in cured food, which came into full effect on 9 October 2025.
The reason for the change is to reduce the chance of nitrosamine formation whilst keeping the meat safe. Nitrosamines have been linked to some forms of cancer. As home curers who do not sell their products, we don’t have to comply with this, and in the UK, even commercial suppliers don’t have to now that we’re no longer in the EU. However, I intend to – I think it would be irresponsible to ignore a law whose formulation is based on the advice of some of the best meat and other scientists in the world.
Cheese Roulade with Mushroom and Spinach
A nice meat-free dish that’s been adapted to reduce the fat level. It’s by no means low-fat, but making the sauce without butter or oil has reduced the fat. It could be reduced further by using a lower-fat cheese and skimmed milk.
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Potted Ham
This is a great recipe for all those odds and ends of ham that are left after slicing. It’s also a good way of using the hock or shank of a pig’s leg.
Chicken and Wild Rice Sausage Burger
Northern wild rice (Zizania palustrisis) is an interesting grain, it is one of four known wild rice types. My sister sent me this which was harvested by the Chippewa tribe in northern Minnesota.
