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(All Recipes have Gluten-Free Options)

Welcome to Menu Mistress…

I love cookbooks and have an extensive collection! The idea of Menu Mistress is to share recipes from these books that I’ve tried and tested. This blog is essentially for people who love food but don’t have the time, energy or patience to find that winning recipe – that’s the job of Menu Mistress! Naturally I also enjoy eating out, so I’ve turned my hand to restaurant reviews too – check them out here!..

(Recipes are updated every week – scroll down and sign up at the bottom of this page to receive a weekly reminder)

Tuesday Treat

Carrot Cake with Tahini Orange Frosting

Can a cake be healthy? Well, this one’s certainly healthier than most!.. It’s from ‘The Food For Life Cookbook’ by Tim Spector (of ‘Zoe’ fame). He claims that the added benefit of the Greek yoghurt frosting is that the protein and fat will help slow the absorption of sugar into your bloodstream from the cake… so it’s definitely worth a try!.. And it’s delicious; the aforementioned frosting gives a wonderful tartness that cuts the sweetness of the carrot cake. A friend introduced me to this recipe when she served the cake at a luncheon; we were all very impressed and felt rather smug at being so healthy – thanks, Sarah!

85ml extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for greasing

100ml kefir

3 eggs

4 tablespoons honey

85g soft light brown sugar

285g ground almonds

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

4 tablespoons pumpkin seeds

50g walnuts, roughly chopped

2 teaspoons baking powder (gluten-free if required)

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Pinch of salt

200g carrots, grated

For the topping:

185g Greek yoghurt

2 tablespoons tahini

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon honey

Zest of ½ orange

2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds

Fresh berries

*You will need a 20cm round springform cake tin, greased and lined.

1. Put the olive oil, kefir, eggs, honey and sugar in a bowl and mix to combine. Add the ground almonds, cinnamon, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt and mix everything until thoroughly combined.
2. Fold in the carrots and then transfer the mixture to the lined tin. Flatten with a spatula and bake in a preheated oven, 160’c fan, for 45-50 minutes until a metal skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before removing from the tin.
3. Meanwhile, make the topping. Mix the Greek yoghurt, tahini, vanilla extract, honey and orange zest in a bowl – it will thicken slightly. Spread all over the cooled cake and decorate with fresh berries and a sprinkling of pumpkin seeds. (Store in the fridge covered for up to 5 days).

January 2026

Happy New Year! Yes, another year of cooking adventures! I’ll be honest with you, there is a small part of me that feels slightly anxious at this thought. I’m always on the hunt for new, successful recipes, but there can be weeks when they’re elusive and I’m left restless in my kitchen. In an exaggerated way, I imagine it’s rather like an author with writer’s block – one moment you’re riding high on success and the next you feel very much lost and out of control. I flourish when cooking goes well. I suppose, to avoid disappointment, I could just keep to all my tried and tested favourites – there’s certainly enough already on this website! However, where would the fun in that be? So instead, I continue to feed my addiction of buying new cookery books and looking online for recipes which will hopefully be ‘winners’. One of this month’s recipes was discovered during a period in which I was struggling to find that aforementioned ‘winner’. Then, whilst searching the book stores, I found Athena Calderone’s ‘Cook Beautiful’, and soon after, I was singing in the kitchen! I thought that this recipe would be a particularly good recipe to share with you at the start of the year. And, I’m hoping that, like me, this recipe will leave you ‘singing’ in your kitchen!..

So, Menu One is ‘Pan-Roasted Chicken with Shallots & Dates’ from the cookbook, ‘Cook Beautiful’. Who would have thought that a few dates, olives and shallots could shine so wonderfully with a chicken breast?! Menu Two is ‘Simple Goan Fish Curry’. This recipe, which is from the cookbook ‘Simple’ by Diana Henry, may be ‘simple’, but it’s packed with flavour. Make sure your store cupboard has the ingredients at the ready for this delicious curry, which is easy to cook any day of the week.

So, 2026 here we come…Enjoy!..

Menu One

Pan- Roasted Chicken with Shallots & Dates (Serve 4)

Ok, I know that all the recipes I share are delicious, but this one is particularly good!.. Who would have thought that a few dates, olives and shallots could shine so wonderfully with a chicken breast?! Thanks to the cookbook ‘Cook Beautiful’ by Athena Calderone for this fantastic recipe. You’ll need an oven-proof frying pan – a cast-iron one is best. Caldrone suggests putting the pan in the oven first to get it really hot to brown the chicken breasts – a great idea if you have time on your hands (and remember the handle will be hot!).

4 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts

2 tablespoons grapeseed oil (or sunflower oil)

60g unsalted butter

10 shallots, peeled, larger ones halved lengthwise

4 cloves garlic, smashed and roughly chopped

8-10 sprigs of thyme, divided

120ml dry white wine

360ml chicken stock

8 Medjool dates, pitted and halved lengthways

100g green olives, smashed and pitted (I use Nocellara olives)

1½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 lemon, zested and juiced

Sea salt and black pepper

1. Place your largest oven-proof frying pan in a preheated oven, 230’c fan, for 15 minutes (see note above). Pat the chicken breasts dry and generously season on all sides with salt and pepper. Carefully remove the hot pan from the oven and place it on the stove. Add the oil and heat over a medium-high heat until very hot. Working in two batches, cook the chicken, skin-side down, until the skin is crispy and golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate, whilst you make the sauce.
2. Drain off all but 1 tablespoon of the oil from the pan. Over a medium heat, add 30g of the butter, and when melted, add the shallots. Cook the shallots for 5-6 minutes until caramelised and golden. Add the garlic, a few thyme sprigs, and a further 15g of butter, and season with salt and pepper. Toss with the shallots and continue to cook until they begin to soften, 5-7 minutes.
3. Add the wine and reduce it by half. Add a few more thyme sprigs and the stock. Simmer over a low heat for 15 minutes, until reduced slightly. Check the seasoning and add the dates and olives to the sauce.
4. Return the chicken to the pan, skin-side up and place in the oven, 230’c fan. Roast the chicken until it’s cooked through, about 20 minutes.
5. Transfer the chicken breasts to a plate, set them aside and keep warm. Return the pan to the stove over a medium-high heat. Add the vinegar to the sauce, simmer until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, 3-5 minutes. Remove it from the heat and stir in the remaining 15g of butter and the lemon juice. Check the seasoning. Return the chicken to the pan and serve immediately, garnished with the remaining thyme and lemon zest.

Menu Two

Simple Goan Fish Curry (Serves 4)

This recipe from the cookbook ‘Simple’ by Diana Henry, it may be ‘simple’, but it’s packed with flavour. Make sure your store cupboard has the ingredients at the ready for this delicious curry, which is easy to cook any day of the week. (Depending on your tastebuds, you may wish to reduce the amount of green chilli).

4 teaspoons coriander seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

4 dried red Kashmiri chillies

2cm root ginger, peeled and finely grated

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 teaspoon turmeric

Sea salt and black pepper

2 tablespoons sunflower or rapeseed oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 large plum tomato, finely chopped

400ml can of coconut milk

1 tablespoon palm sugar or soft light brown sugar

2 teaspoons tamarind paste

1 green chilli, deseeded and finely sliced (*see note above)

500g firm white fish fillets, skinned and cut into 3cm pieces

2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves

1. Toast the coriander, cumin seeds and the dried chillies in a dry frying pan for about a minute. Crush in a mortar and pestle, then mix in the ginger, garlic, turmeric and 1 teaspoon of salt.
2. Heat the oil in a sauté pan over a medium heat and fry the onion until soft and golden. Stir in the spice mix. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add the tomato and cook until soft. Add the coconut milk, sugar, tamarind and green chilli and bring to just under the boil. Immediately reduce the heat and simmer for about five minutes, until slightly thickened. Taste for seasoning
3. Season the fish all over, then add to the sauce and simmer gently for about 4 minutes until cooked through. Check again for seasoning, add the coriander leaves and serve with rice.

A Little Bit of Housekeeping…

To find all the recipes from my blogs go to the Recipes page where there is a link to print them off. 

Oven Settings – All my recipes presume that you are cooking with a fan oven, increase the temperature by 20’c for conventional ovens without a fan.

‘Staple Side Dishes’ – when you see this note beside a recipe, it indicates that I have previously published this side dish on Menu Mistress. I have re-published it so that you don’t have to trawl through my old recipe blogs to find it – Menu Mistress is about making your life in the kitchen easier!

Gluten-Free – I eat gluten-free, so all of my recipes have gluten-free options, although I must stress that if you have an allergy please double check all ingredients. If flour is used you can substitute it with gluten-free flour (I use Dove’s Free From range) and likewise with other ingredients such as pasta or soy sauce, you can use gluten free options.

Most of the recipes on Menu Mistress are courtesy of the creativity of cookery book writers, old and new. The recipes are an ‘amuse-bouche’ of those available in their books. Please go to my Cookbooks page for more information.

Music to Cook to….what I’ve been listening to in my kitchen!….Click on this link to listen to my playlists (listen without judgement – it’s just a bit of fun!)

Any feedback or recipe ideas? Leave your comments at the very bottom of this page… or feel free to contact me personally here!…

Have you made one of the recipes from Menu Mistress?…Why not take a photo and share it on Instagram, please mention @menumistress or tag menumistress!

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