Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary
cooking up a storm at the edge of the world
In collaboration with Rennies. The summer growing season is officially in full swing! Poor weather for the first half of this year has meant that many gardens in Shetland have been suffering. Things haven’t been growing as well as they could be and so we’ve only started receiving weekly (instead of fortnightly) vegetable box deliveries. …
Curiosities, Stories and Expert Tips from the Culinary World. James Steen (for those who don’t already know) is an award-winning UK journalist, food writer, author and ghostwriter, responsible for the ghosted autobiographies of Marco Pierre White (The Devil in the Kitchen), Raymond Blanc (A Taste of My Life) and Keith Floyd (Stirred But Not Shaken). The …
Summery, refreshing and slightly shilpet. My children absolutely love lemons. Serve some lemon wedges at mealtime with some salmon or with pancakes and you’ll find my younger two children sucking the juice out of the wedges with positive glee. They’ll nibble away at every bit of the fruit so that there is only a bare …
This light and fluffy gluten-free Tunisian orange cake is soaked in citrus syrup for a fragrant, incredibly delicious bake perfect with a cup of tea. Prep Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 50 minutes Difficulty: Easy Day’s off spent baking I had a proper day off yesterday. I woke early with no imminent deadlines to worry …
My Norwegian mother-in-law’s go-to cookie recipe! I have a confession to make. I haven’t cooked a single thing except for porridge for the kids’ breakfast for nearly three weeks! My mother-in-law had been visiting from Norway for a fortnight, and I’d taken on some extra shifts at work for holiday cover, which meant, to my …
A Scandinavian celebration cake with layers of sponge, cream and fruit. I feel I must apologize for the recipe blogging silence of late. Regular readers will be aware that back in February I took on a part time job in our local village shop – a little something to get me out of the house …
A quick, summery salad dressing made with the Zyliss Easy Pull Food Processor. I love playing with new kitchen gadgets, I really do, so when Zyliss approached me some time ago and asked if I would like to test out their brand new Easy Pull Food Processor I jumped at the chance. Their new manual Zyliss …
#24 Kayak into a sea cave. Complete. Earlier this Spring I completed my one star kayak training with the Shetland Canoe Club, meaning I was qualified to go out on trips with the club this summer. We’ve done a few small (5-6 mile) trips on club nights and I’m delighted to say that thanks to …
This deliciously crunchy, buttery oatcakes recipe is made in true Cape Breton style. Serve with plenty of butter, cheese, or jam and a cup of hot tea to dunk! Prep Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 15 minutes Difficulty: Easy Traditional Cape Breton recipes ‘The Scots’, observed G. Bisset-Smith in 1907, ‘are a notoriously migratory people’. …
Recipe, review & giveaway. Summer, allegedly, is going to hit Shetland on Thursday next week, they say. They also say that this has been the worst summer weather for 30 years. Rain, drizzle, cold… and now fog sits on these islands, preventing flights from landing. The wind has stopped, but oh my the midges are …
Because sometimes you just have to. I detest food waste. I really do. Back in February this year I made my husband a batch of experimental brownies as a welcome home treat after his adventures in India. The brownies were awful – truly awful. I’d put far too much cocoa powder in it, skewing the …
Simmer Dim – Shetlandic for ‘summer twilight’ Sometimes I have good ideas. Sometimes I don’t. I’m not sure where on the spectrum of good-bad ideas this camping trip idea lies – somewhere in between, perhaps?
Chocolate, peanut and marshmallow swirl cupcakes! Give me s’more! Did you ever enjoy s’mores as a child? Picture it, an open camp fire, two graham crackers smeared with peanut butter, chocolate chips pressed into the sticky peanut butter so that there were no gaps at all, two or three giant marshmallows stuck on the top …
In collaboration with Green Giant. Challenge #1 – Green Giant Minions Challenge The brand new Minions movie hits cinemas on June 26th and to celebrate, Green Giant is challenging bloggers to create the ultimate Minion-inspired summer snack. Green Giant Sweetcorn is a perfect ingredient for family mealtimes: kids love the delicious, naturally sweet flavour, and …
Spelunking: the exploration of caves, especially as a hobby. There are approximately 1679 miles of indented coastline in Shetland punctuated by the regular appearance of caves, most only accessible by sea if they are accessible at all. The cave at the far end of St. Ninian’s tombolo is one of our family’s favourite haunts, but last …
Nothing beats a home made pizza on a Friday night! We’re a pizza loving family, it has to be said. My bread machine, gifted by my mother-in-law a few years ago, has a convenient 45 minute pizza dough cycle, so there’s absolutely no excuse for not making home made pizza on a Friday night. Simply …
Road trip! Caravans, vikings and a food festival! Living on a remote island archipelago, travelling to the mainland is not something we do very often. Travel costs to get off the island, especially for our whole family, tend to be rather on the dear extortionate side, so we tend to spend our holidays exploring Shetland. …
Fresh strawberries and home grown rhubarb can be very versatile! Well you’ve gone and done it. You’ve used up a glut of strawberries (known, these days, as buying a whole lot of them at the supermarket on special offer because they’re on their best before date), and you’ve ransacked the freezer for the remains of …
In collaboration with Udi’s Gluten Free – full of taste, free of gluten. As a family we are very fortunate in that none of us suffer from food sensitivities. I am free to cook whatever I please without having to take into consideration any dietary restrictions (although the eldest does claim a most severe aversion …
A commissioned recipe for Redmond. Slow cookers are awesome. That’s a given. You plonk your food in, go away and do your thing for the next few hours, and then return to a delicious home cooked meal. The thing is with a slow cooker is that when cooking meat, you often need to sear the …
