From Honey To Coffee: Five Recipes To Make From The Dandelions In Your Garden

Posted on 16/05/2026 by Boris Clair

Sometimes treated as a weed, dandelions can be key to a healthy backyard. Not only do they help to feed hungry bees, but their seeds can nourish birds – including rapidly-dwindling greenfinch populations – too.

So perhaps it’s not surprising we can benefit from eating the plant, too. Dandelions contain a range of vitamins, potassium, iron, antioxidants, and prebiotic fibre.

Some in-vitro research suggests it could reduce cell inflammation (chronic inflammation is linked to worse ageing), too.

Speaking to the Cleveland Clinic, registered dietitian Nancy Geib said their leaves are “probably the most nutritionally dense green you can eat – outstripping even kale or spinach”.

Which means we probably shouldn’t be asking if we should eat dandelions, but instead focus on how.

Just make absolutely sure the dandelions you’re eating haven’t been treated with weedkiller or other pesticides, and clean them thoroughly.

5 dandelion recipes

1) Fried dandelion heads

This Appalachian recipe is pretty simple; baste dandelion flowers in eggs before tossing them in seasoned flour and frying them.

Reviewers of its Allrecipes entry called the meal cheap, easy, and tasty.

2) Dandelion green salad

Younger, more tender leaves are sweeter and milder, and are probably best for beginners. These are delicious blanched and sautéd with garlic and herbs.

But older, more bitter leaves can bear seriously strong flavours, like intense salty and sweet notes (just make sure to blanch them before eating). Try them in a salad with feta, bacon, maple dressings, and other punchy accompaniments, or boil them in soups or stews.

Be careful to thoroughly wash dandelion greens, young or old, before eating them.

3) Dandelion pesto

Make it as you would a basil version: wash the leaves and blend them with pine nuts, oil, hard cheese, garlic, and salt.

Or, if you want a truly Italian finish, make it in a pestle and mortar.

4) Dandelion honey

Perfect for vegans and gastronomes alike, this recipe is essentially an infused syrup.

Boil the heads, after shaking them to remove any insects, with water and lemons. Let them sit to infuse for a couple of hours, strain the liquid, and then boil the flavoured water into a syrup with sugar (it thickens a lot as it cools).

5) Dandelion coffee

You read that right. The washed and dried roots of dandelions can be chopped small and roasted in an oven until dark brown and ground into a powder.

You can then turn that into a distinctly flavourful “coffee” by adding water.

Torte Peasana: This Italian Cake Is The Best Way To Use Up Old Bread

Posted on 21/04/2026 by Boris Clair

I’ve recently got back into making sourdough, but it’s brought about a problem I could never have expected: by day five, I sometimes have rock-hard leftovers.

I can’t bring myself to throw it away. But now I’m at week four, I’ve grown a little tired of bread-and-butter puddings.

So, when I found a recipe for torte peasana – an Italian dish that’s sometimes called “village cake,” “black cake,” or “milk cake” – I figured I’d give the baked custard a go.

Spoiler alert: it’s delicious.

What is torte paesana?

It’s a cake from the Lombardy region of Italy. There’s no one set recipe, but usually, it uses up stale bread in a thin custard made with sugar, cocoa, eggs, and milk.

Grappa-soaked raisins sometimes make an appearance (I soaked mine in orange juice, which is probably sinful but tasted delicious). Nuts, like almonds or pine nuts, are common, and crushed Amaretti biscuits occasionally feature, too.

But I would be doing the dish a disservice if I pretended its scope was that limited. You can include a variety of fresh or dried fruit (I reckon pears, dried cranberries, or figs would be delicious) if you want.

You don’t have to soak dried fruit in anything, but if you choose to, a variety of wines and spirits will do, as will some fruit juices.

You can add orange zest to the mix if you like. I used old sourdough, but you don’t have to: stale baguettes or even old ciabatta would be great too.

Cocoa can be substituted for chocolate, and vice versa. Like bubble and squeak, torte paesana has all the hallmarks of a brilliant leftover recipe: it’s endlessly adaptable, next to impossible to mess up, and almost inevitably delicious.

How did it taste?

It’s impressively rich and deliciously squidgy; a bit like bread and butter pudding or French toast, but more grown-up and with a greater mixture of crunchy and chewy textures.

It’s addictive.

How do you make torte peasana?

Ingredients:

The recipe I ended up making for my tiny torte peasana was:

125g old bread,
30g raisins (other dried fruit will do),
30g flaked almonds (whole almonds or other nuts will be great too),
10ml orange juice (grappa, wine, coffee, or other drinks will do),
25g cocoa,
250ml full-fat milk,
1 egg,
3 tablespoons granulated sugar.

But this was only because I had a tiny amount of bread (125g) left, and it left me with a smaller, thinner tart.

Double what I have here for a bigger, better cake.

That would look like:

250g bread,
60g raisins or other dried fruit,
60 nuts,
15ml orange juice, grappa, coffee, or other soaking liquid,
50g cocoa,
2 eggs,
6 tablespoons granulated sugar,
500ml full-fat milk.

Method:

1) Heat up the milk. I was dealing with very old, tough sourdough. If your bread is softer, you may be able to cover it in cold milk and sit it, weighed down, on the counter for an hour or so, but I couldn’t do that. I brought the milk to just below boiling.

2) While this is cooking, place a tablespoon of e.g. grappa over the dried fruit. This can be done in a bowl. And if you don’t have anything “special” to soak them in, boiling water plumps them nicely; hot coffee would be delicious.

3) Pour the hot, but not boiling, milk over finely-torn bread and place a weight (I used a bowl full of ceramic beads) on top to ensure it’s submerged. Let it sit for about half an hour. Now would be a good time to add fruit zest if you want to include some.

4) Preheat the oven to 170°C ten minutes before the bread’s finished soaking. Line a tart tin (I used a pie tin, which worked fine despite my meagre half-serving) or a pie tin, though ideally not one with a removable base, as this can leak. If you are using biscuits, whizz them into a powder now.

5) Mash the bread. I used the end of a wooden rolling pin, but a wooden spoon would probably have worked. For especially stubborn bread, use a stick blender. Make sure the milk is not still hot; tepid is fine, but hot milk will cook the egg early.

6) Add the cocoa, eggs, and sugar. If you’ve blended or smashed up some biscuits, add them now too. Stir or mash them together. Don’t worry too much about how the batter looks: so long as there are no massive lumps of bread and nothing’s curdled, it’ll work.

7) Add the nuts and soaked raisins and stir. Then, pour the mix into the lined container and bake. For my mini-tart, it took 20 minutes. For the bigger one, it should be about 35-40 minutes. Check to see if the tart is firm.

8) Let it cool. Torte paesana gets better with age (allegedly: I didn’t wait long enough to check), so leave it overnight in the fridge if you can bear it. Serve with cream or creme fraiche, or (as I used) mascarpone, if you like.

WTF Is ‘Brothy Rice’, The Food Trend All Over Your Feeds?

Posted on 08/01/2026 by Boris Clair

If you’ve 1) been online recently and 2) love to find recipes on social media, chances are you’ve heard of “brothy rice”.

Though the techniques, ingredients, and recipes used in viral “brothy rice” videos are centuries old, the new term has done what many a catchy title has before it: turned an established food into a viral online hit.

This video, for instance, which sees a poster spoon ladles of creamy sauce over fluffy rice, chicken, and pak choi, has amassed millions of views.

Multiple creators have questioned the recipes’ sudden popularity, with one TikToker pointing out that variants of the dish have existed in Asia “since the dawn of time… it’s not a new thing”.

Another said: “Am I the only one who already… had brothy fucking rice?”

Here, Ashley Bennett, the head chef at Southeast Asian-inspired restaurant Ka Pao, shares why “brothy rice” is having such a moment, as well as how to perfect it at home.

What is brothy rice?

It’s more or less what it sounds like: any dish that involves pouring some form of broth, or stew, or sauce over rice, veggies, and/or meat.

It is, Bennett reminds us, not new. “Although the name feels modern, the idea is very old,” she explained.

“Rice served with broth or soup has been part of everyday eating across Asia and beyond for centuries. Variations exist in many cultures as food that is filling, gentle and practical, often eaten for comfort or recovery rather than show.”

Why has brothy rice gone so viral?

The meals are often simple, delicious, filling, and fast (I use a New York Times version about twice a week, because it takes next to no prep time). They are often healthy too.

“Brothy rice feels right for how people want to eat at the moment. It is comforting without being heavy and works with the reality of home cooking, where meals need to be flexible and low effort,” Bennett said.

“It suits batch cooking, leftovers and simple ingredients, and it feels genuinely nourishing, which makes it especially appealing in winter.”

How can I make the best “brothy rice”?

Whether you’ve been making the meals that inspired “brothy rice” for years or have found new recipes through the trend, Bennett has some advice.

“The most important thing is to treat the rice and the broth separately. Properly cooked rice gives structure, while a well-made broth brings depth and balance.

“Taking time with the stock and adjusting seasoning at the end makes all the difference, especially adding a little acidity to lift the flavour,” the chef said.

Want a professional-level finish? “Restaurants tend to put more care into their stock and are more confident about seasoning right up until the last moment,” she ended.

“They also think about how the dish finishes, adding freshness or texture so it feels complete. Those small touches are easy to recreate at home and instantly elevate the bowl.”

5 Delicious Ways To Use Leftover Selection Box Chocolates

Posted on 29/12/2025 by Boris Clair

Q4 has been immensely profitable for this Bounty lover.

Not only are my household’s selection tubs filled with leftover coconut treats that nobody else wants to touch, but I’ve also snapped up box after box of reduced Bounty-only chocolate trays in my local supermarket (the joys of being one of about three target customers, I suppose).

Still, don’t mistake me for a universal chocolate lover. I despise anything strawberry or orange goop-filled; I will not, and dentally cannot, touch a toffee. There is no place on my rarefied palette for a waxy, solid-chocolate sweet either.

Which begs the question: what to do with all these unwanted sweets?

Here are some of our favourite suggestions:

I do not play about my rocky road recipe, but I also know it’s an adaptable dish:n add honeycomb, fudge, or chopped-up selection box chocolates to your heart’s content.

I also think this could be a fab way to get the most out of any leftover dried fruit (I love cranberries in mine).

In my experience, the best brownies have no melted chocolate in their batter: that makes them a little less fudgy than cocoa-based crumbs.

But I am no monster: I love chocolate chips in them. And, as Jamie Oliver suggests, there’s no reason not to replace those with selection box choccies.

Legendary baking site Jane’s Patisserie recommended turning leftover sweets into deliciously doughy cookie bars (mmm).

Of course, you can make regular cookies with them too: just make sure to use inverted sugars, like Golden Syrup, to achieve bakery-level softness.

I’ve long held that chocolate fudge, which can be made in minutes on the hob or even in the microwave, is a festive hack to both delicious sweets and last-minute, thoughtful-looking gifts.

Fuss Free Flavours points out that this “no mess” recipe can help to use up up to 30 leftover chocolates too, though it’s not ideal for those with gooey centres or those containing whole nuts.

Cheesecake has the perfect effort-to-reward ratio, in my opinion: just mix some mushed-up biscuits with butter, whip some cream cheese and cream with sugar, and whack them in the fridge.

Waitrose points out that you can “use up any leftover chocolate” with their little pots, while I’m half tempted to chop some into my favourite Nutella version.

11 Ridiculously Easy (And Delicious) Christmas Eve Dinner Ideas

Posted on 24/12/2025 by Boris Clair

OK, so your household might do Christmas dinner a little differently – we’ve always been a “chicken instead of turkey” home, and have hated debates about the role of cauliflower in the meal.

But usually, the fast is planned weeks, even months, in advance. Not so for Christmas Eve, though, at least in our house.

While friends from across Europe have standard dishes they always go for the night before Christmas, I always feel at a bit of a loss. I want something fast, something festive, and something that won’t tire me out before the main event.

Luckily, a post shared to Reddit’s r/Cooking, which reads, “I need easy ideas for Christmas Eve that are not lasagna,” has answers (good, because I’ve never made an “easy” lasagna in my life).

Here are some of the top replies:

1) “I’d go with a pot roast.”

“It’s filling, and it gets all your meat and veg in one pot.”

Credit: u/LadyLongLimbs

“Here is something you can prepare for the oven the day before,” replied u/EvaTheE.

BlueCupcake4Me, meanwhile, said, “This is our absolute favourite pot roast recipe. Worth every minute. The only modification we make is to add more broth.”

2) “This year I’m making enchiladas.”

“It only takes about 35-45 minutes to heat up afterwards. I’ll be pre-assembling them before the service and letting them sit for an hour as everything is cooked already.”

Credit: u/SarahB2006

3) “My family always does Swedish meatballs on Christmas evening.”

“It’s something that takes very little time that night and can be done easily – and fits the Christmas vibe.”

Credit: u/hibernate2020

“Yeah! We do Swedish meatballs along with a cold ham and other Swedish smorgasbord items like boiled potatoes, Jansens potatoes (or equivalent potato gratin), hard bread with Swedish cheese, lutefisk (only for the brave), gravlax, etc,” u/knifeyspoonysporky responded.

4) “In my family, we do a tamale party with beans, rice, and a few kinds of tamales.”

Credit: u/chicklette

“Tamales! Buy a few dozen and provide salsa, guacamole, etc,” u/Extreme_Breakfast672 agreed.

5) “When my mum got older, we did soups and sandwiches.”

“We had several crockpots of different soups and a spread of several types of meat, cheese and bread/rolls, as well as the condiments, along with crisps, veggies and dips.

“Everyone was tasked with bringing something, even if it was just drinks, plates, soup bowls, etc. Both old and young enjoyed it. You can leave it out to snack on through the evening. And the cleanup is easy.”

Credit: u/hummingbird_lane24

6) “Ham. Nothing is easier.”

Credit: u/name-not-yet-taken

“Yesss. Plus lots of people go crazy for it in appetisers the next day. [It also] mixes into breakfast or potato dishes.

“I leave a container of slices in a conspicuous part of the fridge just for my father-in-law. He finds it like there’s a beacon in the Tupperware lol,” replied u/toreadorable.

7) “You can do what my wife and I are doing, get takeaway Chinese food.”

Credit: u/chriseldonhelm

8) “Have you ever done fish en papillote (fish in a bag)?”

“It’s so easy-you can prep everything ahead of time and assemble the bags earlier in the day, then bake when you’re ready to serve.

“Here is the recipe. My family reduces the amount of Cajun seasoning and adds thinly sliced vegetables, like courgette and julienned carrots. Serve with orzo or angel hair pasta, and you have a complete meal.

“Add a salad and/or soup if you want multiple courses!”

Credit: u/nola_t

9) “Fondue.”

Credit: u/girlwhoweighted

“My family likes to do cheese fondue for Christmas Eve,” said u/april-oneill.

“Serve with a sturdy bread, cubed ham, sliced apples, and steamed vegetables (broccoli and cauliflower are good for this). It’s easy but feels festive.”

10) “We’re doing nachos! We’re non-traditional around the holidays.”

“Two kinds of meat, beans, cheese, and all the sides. Everyone can build their own.”

Credit: u/hellonheels99

11) “A nice beef stew. Any leftovers can be either frozen or used within a few days.”

“I generally put beef cheeks, carrots, onions, rosemary, thyme, juniper berries, and bay leaf in a bowl filled with wine and stock the night before.

“The following day dry the meat and veg, fry it off to give it colour, put the wine/stock in a pan and bring to a simmer for 15 min, add all your meat/veg, bring it back to a simmer, throw it in the oven with a lid for 6 hours at 140C, and crack the lid off in the last 90 minutes.

“If you’re doing dumplings, crack the lid at 60 min, and just remove fully when you add your dumplings. As a bonus, you can often reserve some of the gravy to use on Christmas Day.”

Credit: u/XcOM987

‘People Love It’: 7 Ridiculously Easy Meals Guests Will Be Wowed By

Posted on 25/11/2025 by Boris Clair

As if thinking of what to eat in the week wasn’t hard enough, then comes the challenge of actually cooking the meals. When will the injustice end?!

Still, thanks to people like Redditor u/DanielQ_bu7, we can at least work out the least amount of effort we need to expend for the best possible results.

In a post shared to r/Cooking, the poster recently asked respondents to share meals which take next to no effort but which never fail to impress loved ones and guests.

Here are some of our favourite responses:

1) “Roast chicken. So easy and smells amazing when roasting.”

Credit: u/Difficult_Rope7898

“Marcella Hazan’s roast chicken with two lemons has never failed to come out juicy and delicious for me, and it always impresses. And it’s so damned simple,” u/Stuffandwhatnot agreed.

2) “Baked Brie.”

“Wrap [puff pastry] around a wheel of brie. You can top with preserves, honey, or just go bare. Serve with crackers or Melba toast.”

Credit: u/MiladyStarkX

“A friend of mine sautées mushrooms, then piles them on top of the brie and wraps it all in [clingfilm] and puts it in the fridge for a couple of days,” AndSomehowTheWine2 responded.

“Then unwrap the [clingfilm], wrap in puff pastry, and bake. The mushroom flavour just infuses [into] the brie, and it is all DELICIOUS.”

3) “Beef Bourguignon.”

Credit: u/LeRoiDeNord

“Julia Child’s recipe is my favourite. It’s really easy, and people LOVE it,” replied u/DaCouponNinja.

4) “Tiramisu.”

“My family thinks it is some sort of miracle that I make it. I think it’s amazing that it’s so simple (I guess it could be complicated if I made the ladyfingers myself).”

Credit: u/Darthsmom

5) “No knead bread.”

Credit: u/Western-Bad-667

Writer’s note: My favourite focaccia recipe involves a no-knead overnight proof. I can never get over how good it tastes.

6) “Risotto or carbonara. Italian food in general is worth adding to your repertoire.”

Credit: u/Kathryn_sedai

“Once you get it right (took me about four tries), add cacio e pepe to that list,” said u/Skoalreaver.

7) “Dauphinoise potatoes. I make it for Christmas dinner, and it’s the one recipe everyone always asks for.”

“I use Martha Stewart’s recipe.”

Credit: u/Egedwards

5 Fast, Cheap, Healthy(ish) Dinners I Can Actually Be Bothered To Cook On Weeknights

Posted on 19/11/2025 by Boris Clair

I know it happens every year, but the ridiculously early sunsets the UK faces each winter never fail to take me by surprise (what do you mean it’s dark at six minutes past four today?!).

That, I’m afraid, has spelt disaster for my dinners. I am frankly not bothered to cook during exhausting, gloomy evenings – even my usual old rotation has failed me.

There are, though, some exceptions. They all take 30 minutes or less, involve no fussy extra steps, and taste good enough to see me through my post-work exhaustion.

So, in case you’re looking for something similar, here they are:

Cook time: about 25 minutes (with pre-cooked lentils)

I know, I know: I don’t want to eat anything called “salad” from August onwards either. But to be honest, this warm version (which, by the way, keeps beautifully in the fridge) barely counts: it’s more of a hearty, seasonal grain bowl.

It’s also perfect for emptying your cupboards, because it’s really adaptable. Replace, or mix, lentils with other pulses and legumes like butter beans, chickpeas, or even nutty bulgur wheat.

And provided you use canned lentils instead of cooking your own (I always do this – I simply warm them in a pan for a couple of minutes before serving), it takes well under 30 minutes.

Cook time: 15 minutes, if that

When this five-starred recipe calls itself “super fast,” it means it – I had to double-check the instructions the first time I made it to ensure I hadn’t missed a step, because it came together so quickly.

The light but satisfying flavour is especially soothing after a long day of work, too. One word of caution, though: if, like me, you slurp soup at a rate of knots, slice the bok choi across so you don’t almost choke on a large piece (this has happened to me more than twice, which, though embarrassing, at least proves the soup is good).

For a slightly more wallet-friendly version, the BBC’s similarly speedy chicken noodle soup recipe is perfect, too.

Cook time: about 20 minutes

Another five-starred recipe, this one-pot wonder comes together in about half an hour.

Its ridiculously comforting flavour is perfect for cosy nights in, and I find it unbelievably satisfying – and the zing of mustard in its sauce means you won’t feel completely overwhelmed by its creaminess.

I am sure the recommended rocket included in the original recipe would add to that brightness, too, but to be honest, I’ve only ever had baby spinach to hand – thankfully, it still tastes delicious.

Cook time: 15 minutes, with pasta

Our young adult selves were onto something with the whole “pesto pasta dinner” thing. But if you fancy something a little more grown up – and about five times as delicious – I recommend whipping up your own pesto while your pasta is bubbling away.

I first made this pistachio version after trying the NYT’s full ravioli recipe. But, while I loved the sauce, I knew there was no way I’d actually whip out my pasta machine of a Thursday night, so I’ve simply kept the pesto and swapped the hard part for pre-made spaghetti.

Pesto is surprisingly forgiving: I didn’t have pine nuts the first time I made this, and it was still delicious.

I will say, too, that though it sounds more involved, a pestle and mortar is actually faster and better than a blender: see my (awful) blended results below (left), compared to the two-minute, creamier version (below right).

Cook time: about 15 minutes

Oh, how I love a healthy-ish dinner whose instructions basically read “cook onions, pour in cans, eat”.

This one is filled with fibre-rich butter beans, a surprising amount of veg (and fruit, I suppose, if we count tomatoes), and loads of flavour.

It’s a one-pot wonder, too, which I’ll always take if at all possible (less washing up!), and it’s ridiculously hearty when paired with buttered crusty bread.

9 Ridiculously Easy Meals That Are Low-Effort And High-Reward

Posted on 01/10/2025 by Boris Clair

If you’ve been feeling a lot more tired recently, you’re not alone: autumn fatigue can occur thanks to gut changes and disruptions to your workout routine.

And that’s not to mention the exhausting effects of upcoming clock changes.

That’s only one reason why people (it’s me, I’m ‘people’) might be looking for truly low-effort meal ideas at the moment.

Luckily, the members of Reddit’s r/Cooking have got our backs.

Posting to the forum, site user u/kindnessabound asked people to share their favourite “low-effort high-reward meal”.

Here are some of the most-upvoted responses:

1) “Pan-fried halloumi in a pita or naan with tzatziki, tomatoes, pickled onions and rocket.”

“We always have pickled onions in the fridge, and tzatziki can be made a day or two in advance. I can have dinner on the table in 15 minutes. [You can] substitute the halloumi for shrimp, falafel or rotisserie chicken.”

Credit: u/mtrva

2) “Miso pasta. Like a year ago, someone in this subreddit said it was the lowest effort, highest reward meal they can’t stop making, so I tried it.”

“I can’t live without it now. So easy, so comforting, delicious, and makes a huge batch that heats up well for days.

“Cook 450g spaghetti. Reserve about 240ml of pasta water. Strain the pasta. In the empty, hot pot, mix three tablespoons of miso with six tablespoons of butter and half of the pasta water on low heat until a smooth sauce forms. Put the pasta back.

“Stir in 80g grated Parmesan bit by bit. Add more pasta water if it gets dry. Serve with chilli oil/hot sauce if you’re feeling lazy, or sautée some mushrooms to elevate it.

“Absolutely life-changing. It’s not no-effort like grilled cheese or air fryer food, but the ratio of effort to reward here is off the charts.”

Credit: u/Athyrical

3) “English muffin pizzas with a touch of mozzarella cheese on top, prepared in an air fryer.”

Credit: u/Specific_Progress_38

“I use a bagel more often, since I’m more likely to have them in the house, but this is one of my favourites [when I] only have 10 minutes and want comfort meals,” u/ellen_boot agreed.

4) “Caccio e pepe. I’m making it this second.”

“Cook your pasta in less water. Drain (SAVE YOUR PASTA WATER) and keep the cooked pasta on a plate with a lid on.

“Reduce the pasta water until it’s cloudy and thick.

“Pull the pan off the stove, and remove most of the water. Add the pasta back in, reheat for just a moment until streaming, and remove from the heat.

“Stir in the black pepper and finely-grated parmesan until you get your desired consistency.”

Credit: u/Jealous_Tutor_5135

5) “Anything in a slow cooker.”

Credit: u/Suspicious-Gold-9947

“This! Buy a pork shoulder, make a paste from a BUNCH of spices (paprika, chipotle, cayenne, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper) and a little olive oil, and rub it all over the pork. It’s almost hard to overdo it with the spices.

“Add a chopped onion, a couple of cloves of minced garlic, and a couple of chopped jalapeños. Put that thing in the crock pot for eight hours and then go to town. Buy some rolls and make some coleslaw if you want,” u/BenThere20 replied.

6) “I feel like salmon always has a high bang for your buck flavour [to effort] ratio.”

“Maybe crispy rice, salmon and chilli crisp.”

Credit: u/CoconutDreams

7) “Quesadillas or grilled cheese.”

Credit: u/Koala-o-sha

“I second grilled cheese!” responded u/a-forgetful-elephant.

8) “I toss frozen fish fillets into my air fryer.”

“I make a quick sauce from mayo, chipotle adobo, and Cajun seasoning.

“Then, I fry some corn tortillas into tacos. I put the cooked fish in them, add toppings of my choice, and stuff them in my face.

“Curses. I have leftovers to eat for dinner, and now I want fish tacos.”

Credit: u/obsessiveAboutCats

9) “Ramen fits this bill for me perfectly.”

“My favourite is carbonara-style packet noodles. Dice some bacon, cook it, and set it aside. Mix the ramen pack with three egg yolks and freshly grated parmesan.

“Cook the noodles, remove them from their liquid and place them into your pan. Heat it up, add back some starchy noodle water, mix in the egg packet mixture, put it in a bowl, add the diced bacon on top, and then grate more Parmesan cheese on it.

“The whole thing takes 10 minutes and is insanely delicious.”

Credit: u/crackofdawn

So THAT’s Why Restaurant Risotto Tastes So Much Better

Posted on 28/07/2025 by Boris Clair

Risotto is one of those creamy Italian dishes that’s oh-so-comforting and a real treat as the weather starts to cool.

But if you find the risotto you make at home is lacking a certain something, culinary pros have a word of advice – and the mistake you’re making might actually be very easy to rectify.

Recently, a risotto-loving Redditor took to r/AskCulinary to say their risotto smells nice and rich, but “doesn’t taste that way” – and they pondered where they were going wrong.

They shared that they typically cook the onions and toast the rice for a minute, before adding white wine. They then cook the rice in mushroom stock (for about 25 minutes) before adding butter and parmesan.

Redditor ivaivazovski also said they added some mushrooms, which they’d fried separately and, again, deglazed with white wine.

“It tastes alright, but I was expecting it to taste a lot richer based on the smell. What can I do to actually enhance the taste?” they asked.

How to make risotto richer

If you’ve been faced with the same dilemma, chances are you’re skimping on salt. Or butter. Or both. As one commenter said: “Richness comes from fat, so more butter and more cheese folded in.”

The overwhelming consensus was that the probably dish needed more salt, too.

“Risotto, especially mushroom risotto, wants lots of butter, and you’re likely lacking salt as well,” said one respondent.

Others suggested you could add salt (“and a little complexity”) with a tablespoon of soy sauce.

Chef Ben Kelly said when making restaurant-style mushroom risotto, the key technique is to “slowly and gradually cook a starchy ingredient by adding liquid in small amounts and stirring”.

The aim is to “draw starch” from the main ingredient to give the dish its creaminess. The chef said 90% of the creaminess should come from the starch, and the rest should come from butter and parmesan cheese.

Any other tips?

Just. Keep. Stirring.

The chef explained you should be adding a ladle of stock to the rice and then stirring it gently until the liquid has been absorbed – “then add more and repeat”.

The process is long – it will take about 20 minutes in total – but it’s worth it.

“If you want that creamy, silky risotto texture, this is how you get it. The rice is done when it is plump and tender but not mushy. It should still have a tiny bit of chew to it,” he added.

Don’t try to make too much at once, either.

As Italian chef Valentina Harris explained for Sous Chef: “In the vast majority of domestic scenarios, cooking any more than 600g of rice for Risotto in a large pot will just spell disappointment.”

She also warned against browning your onions – cook them in butter until soft, instead – and to add all the rice to the pan in one go, before stirring and toasting the grains “without browning”. Then, gradually add your stock.

So THAT’s Why Restaurant Strawberries Taste So Much Better

Posted on 12/07/2025 by Boris Clair

We’ve written before at HuffPost UK about how to achieve a restaurant-level finish on everything from scrambled eggs to potato wedges.

But even something as simple as cucumbers and strawberries can be elevated to a professional standard, too – provided you know the chef’s secrets.

Luckily, Sabian Mehmetaj, pastry chef at Nottingham restaurant Cleaver & Wake, has shared the secret to getting the most out of the staple Wimbledon berry.

“Strawberries are such a nostalgic fruit,” he shared.

“Everyone remembers picking them, growing them or eating them with cream while watching Wimbledon. They’re simple but full of joy, which makes them perfect for summer desserts.”

Here’s his method for keeping them at their most delicious.

Store strawberries in a manner that mimics the great outdoors

“Fresh strawberries are always best, but how you store them really matters,” the chef revealed.

At his restaurant, they try to mimic outdoor conditions in their kitchen.

“During the day, we keep them at room temperature, then store them in the fridge overnight,” the pro revealed.

“This replicates the natural cycle of the seasons and stops them losing their flavour. When strawberries are too cold for too long, they can taste flat and dull.”

Berry producers Driscoll’s seem to agree.

They advise removing strawberries from the fridge “an hour or two” before eating them to get the most of their fragrant flavour.

As America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) shares, strawberries don’t actually have that much sugar; the smell is a big part of why we perceive them as sweet.

Allowing them to come to temperature will make their smell more pronounced, improving the taste of your strawberries.

Swap meringue for crumble, too

Mehmataj shared that though a pavlova is classic, he likes to add a different crunchy layer to his strawberry desserts.

“Most people go for meringue with strawberries, but I like to make a simple crumble topping instead and season it with a pinch of sea salt,” he said.

“That savoury note helps balance the sweetness and gives a really nice contrast in texture” (remember when people started pairing their strawberries with balsamic vinegar?).

If that doesn’t suit, the chef recommends a scoop of Italian meringue instead.

“Either way, it’s a dish that feels seasonal and familiar but with something a little different,” he advised.