stories from the hearth
We're Jamie and Lizzie, husband and wife team, and we're all about the joys of cooking here at Butter Wouldn't Melt - from big joints of meat to vegetarian favourites to sweet bakes and treats fresh from the oven. And if any of it can be thrown onto charcoal and fire for some extra smokey flavour I'll have given it a go. We hope you find in these pages inspiring tips, recipes and ideas to read and share.
For our favourite and much loved kitchen equipment as well as a few high quality vintage finds, hop over to our shop:
Quick to whip up, it doesn’t require any specialist equipment, except a hand or stand mixer and some patience while it freezes. Flavours and options are endless, but this basic recipe makes for a beautifully smooth texture and the perfect base for any other additions you want to pop in.
Smoked and braised Osso Buco is a real joy. A relatively cheap cut with an amazingly deep flavour giving you a whole heap of vitamins and a self created thick delicious sauce.
There are few sweeter comforts to sit down to than a cup of tea and a good biscuit. These chewy oatmeal and sultana cookies are a little bit special in our book. They’re a recent trial, entirely gluten free, and yet taste every bit as good as their cousins which in our household means they’ve earned a hallowed place as a cupboard staple.
A flourless chocolate torte. Sounds curious to anyone who does only sporadic baking but flourless (gluten free) is becoming more of a theme in the world. It makes for a lovely pudding-y type of cake or a devastatingly moreish treat.
I’d always thought beef stroganoff was a long slow cook. How wrong could I have been. Start to finish this dish takes little more than 30 minutes and with a different take on the spices from your traditional mustard it’s a real winner for family or friends.
This one fulfils everything I look for in a festive cake. It’s elegant, whimsical, made from light-as-a-feather chiffon sponge and, topped with its chocolate egg-filled bird’s nest, an enchanting salute to spring which puts a smile on the face of every child clustered round the table come Easter.
Usually considered one of nature’s most annoying pests and a nuisance, nettles are in fact a lesser known superfood – a rival even to the crowned broccoli. So grab your secateurs, take some decent gloves and hunt out your nearest stingers.
