• While lemon thyme may look like a regular thyme plant, when the leaves are crushed it releases a beautiful and subtle lemony fragrance. often grown for its use in the kitchen, it also makes an excellent ground cover to use in the garden or between paths – allowing that wonderful aroma to be released whenever someone walks past. In the kitchen A natural antiseptic, lemon thyme has a wealth of natural herbal benefits for the body, including being a great hangover cure when drunk as a tea infusion. However, it’s mainly used like regular thyme in cooking, but with an…

    Sage-roasted baby carrots with hazelnut and oat crumble Serves: 4 Time: 40 mins Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Place 350g baby carrots in a roasting tray and sprinkle with a handful torn fresh sage leaves. Dot with butter and drizzle with a little olive oil. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste and roast in the oven until the carrots are sweet and tender, about 30 minutes. While the carrots are cooking, make the crumble topping by combining 60g cake flour, a pinch salt, 60g brown sugar, 30g instant oats, 60g melted butter and 50g roughly chopped hazelnuts in…

    Sausage and bacon maize-meal breakfast bake Serves: 6 – 8 Time: 50 mins Preheat the oven to 180°C. Heat a large pan over low heat and add a glug of olive oil. Add 1 peeled and diced onion, 2 peeled and minced garlic cloves and a handful fresh, torn sage leaves. Fry until the onion is soft, 10 minutes. Increase the heat to medium, add 250g chopped streaky bacon and fry until the bacon is crisp, 10 minutes. Remove the onion mixture from the pan and set aside until needed. Add 8 pork sausages, fry until golden brown and remove…

    The ultimate toasted cheese Serves: 4 Time: 15 mins Place 8 thick slices ciabatta bread on a cutting board and spread good quality shop-bought mayonnaise over each – this is the secret to a golden, delicious crunch! To assemble the sandwiches, spread a layer of Dijon mustard over 4 of the slices of bread on the non-mayo side (the mayo should be on the outside of each sandwich and the mustard on the inside). Fill the sandwiches with 2 – 3 slices thickly sliced Gruyère and add 2 crispy grilled streaky bacon rashers, if desired. Heat a pan over medium…

    Orange, rosemary and caramel-glazed duck breasts Serves: 4 Time: 40 mins Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Place 4 duck breasts, skin-side down in a cold non-stick frying pan over medium heat (without any oil), 6 – 8 minutes or until golden brown. Pour off the fat regularly and brown the other side, 30 seconds. Simply wipe the pan clean and set aside (you’ll use it again in a moment). Place the duck breasts, skin-side facing up, in a roasting tin in the preheated oven until just cooked through, about 5 minutes. While the duck roasts, heat a little olive oil…