smoked trout fennel and beetroot with dill salad

Smoked trout salad with fennel & dill and a horseradish, lemon & yoghurt dressing

Gavin Wren Main Dishes, Recipes, Salads

You really can’t go wrong with this recipe. I mean that in two ways as it’s both easy to make, so no scope for going wrong there, and it also holds it’s ground in the fabulous tasting stakes, so no wrongness to be found there either. Originally, I was determined that this receipe was to be made specifically with hot smoked trout, rather than the cold smoked fish that I’ve used. If you’re unsure of …

Thai fried rice with tofu beans pak choi lime and chilli

Ironic Thai fried rice with Tofu & (or) Prawns

Gavin Wren Fish & Shellfish, Main Dishes, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Occasionally, I spend some time online reading other food blogs (although I try not to, as it’s an endless task). Quite often, as I work my way through the first few sentences or even paragraphs of a post, I find the introduction is some kind of whimsical, limp wrested observation which has little or no relevance to the subject in hand; food. It reminds me of listening to dreary, insipid sermons at church*, where awful …

Feta hazelnut and rosemary crunch spread in a bowl

Feta, rosemary and hazelnut crunch

Gavin Wren Recipes, Spreads & Dips, Vegetarian

Two weeks ago, Guardian Witness asked for people to submit recipes on the theme of ‘poached’, with the best entries to be published in the Saturday edition of the newspaper’s ‘Cook’ food supplement. I looked at my nearly-brand-new blog, knowing that my third recipe featured a poached egg, and, somewhat scared, submitted the recipe. I was completely shocked when a few days later, I got an e-mail informing me that they were posting my recipe …

Prawns with pineapple chilli cooked on a camp stove

Cooking in a field; Pineapple and chilli prawns

Gavin Wren Fish & Shellfish, Main Dishes, Recipes

Firstly, I’d like to offer my apologies for the lack of recent posts. My absence was due to a lovely, yet short, holiday in Sussex, where we stayed in an absolutely delightful shepherd’s hut at Hawthbush Farm, an organic working farm with added ‘glamping’. We stayed in a little hut made for two named ‘Aggie’, who was tucked away in her own peaceful and secluded field. She came fitted with a wood burning stove and …

Za'atar spelt rolls in baking tray

Spelt rolls with za’atar

Gavin Wren Baking, Dairy free baking, Recipes, Spelt & ancient grains, Vegetarian

I wasn’t going to make anything for the blog this weekend. I was feeling down and struggling to find the motivation to make anything, let alone think up, research and write a recipe, then test it for all you lovely blog reading people out there. But then I remembered that I had stocked up on spelt flour a few weeks ago, direct from Shipton Mill, because white spelt flour (also known as ‘refined’ spelt flour) …

red cabbage egg roquefort walnut salad

Red cabbage salad with roquefort and poached eggs

Gavin Wren Main Dishes, Recipes, Salads, Vegetarian

This recipe is thanks to a crate of fresh home-grown vegetables that my folks bestowed upon me on Friday. Having worked our way through tomatoes, runner beans, sweetcorn and cucumber yesterday, I reached the red cabbage bag and wondered what to do. Looking for some inspiration online I was bogged down with the festive spiced red cabbage recipes which the internet is awash with, but they didn’t feel right for a warm summer’s day lunch. …