These guys are unlike any crumpet you can buy in the shops. They are made using the rye sourdough starter from the recipe here, along with a little buckwheat flour – a nod to crumpet heritage, as they were traditionally made with buckwheat – and fermented slowly to develop their characteristic bubbles and an incredible sour flavour. The batter is further enriched with sour cream and bicarbonate of soda to help things along just before cooking.

I make them every time I refresh my sourdough starter, and keep a stash in the freezer to bust out for breakfast and snacks. Make sure you are using lively refreshed sourdough starter or your crumpets won’t bubble (follow the starter refreshment steps here). They are incredibly satisfying to make, but there is a knack to it. The key is patience. And you’ll need crumpet rings. Eat them with homemade butter (see here) and jams and clotted cream or with wild medlar jelly (see here) and a slice of cheese. They are also brilliant for breakfast topped with smashed avocado, a poached egg and My ‘Kind Of’ Kimchi (see here) but really, the possibilities are endless.

50g Sourdough Starter (see here) or 1 sachet fast-action dried yeast

2 tsp caster sugar

200ml lukewarm water

175g plain flour (or 150g plain and 25g buckwheat flour)

1 tsp fine sea salt

½ tbsp sour cream

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

splash of milk (optional)

a little neutral oil and butter, for greasing

1 In a jug, mix your starter and sugar with the water to dissolve it, whisking out any lumps.
2 Combine the flour(s) and salt in a bowl and make a well in the middle. Slowly pour the wet mix into the well in the flour and briefly mix with a whisk to combine to a smooth batter. Don’t overmix – you’re not trying to create gluten as this will make the crumpets more bread-like. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave to ferment in a warm place for at least 6 hours (or preferably overnight in the fridge). How long you can leave it will depend on your patience, but I sometimes leave the batter for 2 days in the fridge – the flavour develops and gets more sour the longer you leave it.
3 After the mix has fermented, mix the sour cream with the bicarbonate of soda then add to the batter, thoroughly whisking out any lumps until you have a batter the consistency of very thick double cream. If the batter isn’t pourable, loosen it with a little splash of milk. Leave for 30 more minutes.
4 Grease a flat, non-stick frying pan or hot plate with a little neutral oil or oil and butter and place over a high heat on a medium-sized gas hob burner. Grease two egg or crumpet rings and pour 2½ tablespoons of batter into each ring.
5 Cook over a medium-high heat for 1 minute (watch the clock – if you leave them any longer the bottom will burn), until bubbles have popped through on the surface and the mixture is starting to set. Turn the heat down to low and cook for a further 5–8 minutes (this will depend on how full the rings are), until set on top – there should be plenty of holes at this point and the batter should be pulling away from the crumpet ring. Using tongs, lift off the crumpet rings and flip the crumpets over, turn the heat up again and cook for a minute until golden on top, then transfer to a wire rack to cool. Grease the pan in between batter additions to keep it from sticking.
6 Once all the crumpets are made and cooled, grill or toast them to perfection, or, if you’re doing lots at once, you could roast them in a hot oven for 3 minutes. Slather with butter and jam, or Marmite and cheese, smashed avocado and kimchi, or tahini with really good honey, or peanut butter… you get the drift. These keep well wrapped in cling film in the fridge for a couple of days (not longer, as the sour cream will moulder). I also like to make them ahead and freeze them.

TIP: If you’re vegan, you can swap the sour cream for water and fry the crumpets in oil rather than butter.

WHAT TO DO IF…

There are no holes: this means the batter hasn’t fermented enough and needs longer (the time it takes to ferment depends on the weather and humidity); also, check that your starter is alive and well. Try incorporating a little extra sugar just before frying, too.

The bottom is burned: you filled the ring too full or cooked it at too high a heat at the start. Try using a little less batter and keep an eye on the time you cook it over the higher heat. There is an art to making crumpets so don’t be hard on yourself if it takes a few attempts to get it right. It’s a bit like making pancakes – you’ll get better as you go and while it can be a little tricky to get right, I promise you it is so worth it. Also, remember all the bottoms will be pretty dark as that’s just the nature of crumpets. As long as they’re not black you’re good to go.

The crumpets are wet in the middle: homemade crumpets should be squishy and moist in the middle but not too wet! Did you skip the cooling stage and dive straight in?

Beetroot and horseradish blinis

Makes 15–20 blinis

You can use the crumpet batter to make plain blinis, or this beetroot version. These are great topped with sour cream, the smoked trout (see here) and dill.

1 quantity Sour Cream Sourdough Crumpet mix

For the beetroot and horseradish purée

2 roasted beetroots (shop-bought or (see here)), roughly chopped

1 tbsp creamed horseradish (or ½ tbsp freshly grated)

1 tbsp rapeseed oil

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 Place the beetroot in a blender, food processor or Nutribullet with the horseradish and rapeseed oil and blitz to a smooth purée. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
2 Stir in 1 tablespoon of beetroot and horseradish purée when you add the bicarbonate of soda in the crumpet method (see here) – it will make the mix bright pink.
3 To cook the blinis, grease a flat, non-stick frying pan or hot plate (see here) with a little butter and oil and set over a medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon of the batter to the pan and cook for a couple of minutes (cook a few at once if your pan is big enough), until bubbles appear on the surface, then flip over and cook for a bit longer. Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper and repeat with the rest of the batter. Keep warm and serve, or allow to cool, then put in the oven at 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6 for 5 minutes to heat up.

TIP: You don’t use all the beetroot and horseradish purée in step 2, so keep it in a jar for eating on toast with smoked fish, salt beef etc., or use in salads.

Broad bean and raw courgette salad

with ricotta

Serves 4 as a side

This salad screams early summer, with its nutty raw courgette ribbons, vivid green broad beans, lemon juice and sprightly fresh herbs. I use smaller, firmer courgettes for this as they are the stars of the show. If you grow your own and have any courgette flowers, tear them up and add them for extra colour. This makes a really special al fresco lunch, and is nice piled onto the warm yoghurt flatbreads (see here).

2 medium courgettes, peeled into long thin ribbons with a vegetable peeler

handful of mint leaves

handful of basil leaves

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

grated zest and juice of ½ unwaxed lemon

1 tsp runny honey

1 garlic clove, grated

pinch of dried chilli flakes or 1 fresh red chilli, desseded and finely chopped (optional)

100g podded fresh or frozen broad beans

100g ricotta, drained in a sieve, or Fresh Curd Cheese (see here)

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 Put the courgette ribbons in a bowl with half the herbs.
2 Whisk the olive oil, lemon zest and juice, honey, garlic and chilli flakes (if using) in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3 Dress the courgette ribbons with the dressing.
4 Prepare a bowl of iced water. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and blanch the broad beans for a couple of minutes, then drain and immediately plunge them into the iced water. Once cool, drain again and squeeze the broad beans from their skins, using your nail to pierce the skin. You can skip this step if you’re using super-young broad beans, as the skins are less bitter than the older ones.
5 Pile the dressed courgettes onto a platter, scatter the broad beans onto the salad and dot over the ricotta or fresh curd cheese. Garnish with the rest of the herbs and serve with any remaining dressing on the side.

TIP: Broad beans can be fiddly to peel so I usually blanch and peel them as soon as I get them, then keep them in a bowl in the fridge dressed with a teaspoon of olive oil ready to use whenever I fancy. They will keep for a few days like this.

Mackerel with buttered greens

and pickled radish

Serves 1

One of my favourite food festivals takes place in May each year on the beach in St Ives, Cornwall. The setting could not be more inspiring – you can smell the sea as you cook. This dish came together one year when I heard about a mackerel honesty box where you could buy the freshest local mackerel for pennies. A kindly local gent was known for having a mackerel ‘shed’ which was always stocked with ready filleted, sparklingly fresh catch just outside his house. I couldn’t resist walking the streets until I found the box. I paired the mackerel fillets with freshly foraged three-cornered leek, which grows like a weed in Cornwall, and is beautiful wilted in butter and served with pan-fried mackerel. If you can’t find wild leeks, use the greens of spring onions or baby leeks, thinly sliced lengthways, with a handful of spinach.

handful of samphire

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

sprig of thyme

1 × medium fillet of mackerel, pin-boned

10g unsalted butter

handful of baby spinach

60g three-cornered leek (or spring onions)

½ lemon, for squeezing

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the pickled radish

1 tbsp cider vinegar

2 tsp caster sugar

pinch of salt

2 radishes, thinly sliced, preferably with a mandoline

1 First, quick-pickle your radishes. Whisk the vinegar, sugar and salt in a bowl until the sugar has dissolved. Toss the radish slices through the vinegar and leave them to pickle while you cook the fish.
2 Blanch the samphire in a saucepan of boiling water for 30 seconds, then drain.
3 Heat the olive oil in a heavy-based, non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the thyme and allow it to infuse in the oil for a few seconds, then add the mackerel fillet, skin side down. Season the flesh with salt and pepper and cook, without moving the fillet, for 3–4 minutes, until the skin is crispy and the flesh is starting to cook through and become opaque. Carefully flip the fillet over and continue cooking on the flesh side for a matter of seconds, then transfer to a plate to rest.
4 Add the butter to the pan, followed by the samphire, spinach and three-cornered leek. Season with salt and pepper and wilt the greens in the butter for 2–3 minutes, tossing to thoroughly combine. Pour away any excess liquid, squeeze over a little lemon juice and serve the mackerel on the wilted greens with the pickled radish on the side.

Crab, Jersey Royal and asparagus salad

Serves 2–4

This recipe unites my two favourite spring ingredients – Jersey Royal potatoes and asparagus – with creamy crab, fresh green apple and soft herbs for a celebratory salad. The dish has everything: an irresistible earthy minerality from the potatoes (which are fertilised with seaweed), buttery green goodness from the asparagus, and luxury from the crab and mayo which dresses the salad as you eat it. It’s worth making your own mayonnaise (you can make it in advance, it will keep in the fridge for a few days), but if you’re pressed for time, shop-bought works, too – just stir a good fresh egg yolk through it to enrich it. This is a lunch worth carving out a couple of hours for with a friend.

sprig of mint

300g Jersey Royal potatoes or new potatoes, scrubbed

300g crab meat, split into white and brown

juice of 1 lemon

pinch of cayenne pepper, plus extra for sprinkling

1 green apple, cored and finely chopped (skin on)

3 spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced

200g asparagus spears, trimmed and each cut diagonally into 3 pieces

handful samphire or sea purslane (optional)

1 baby gem lettuce, outer leaves separated, washed and dried, heart split in half

10g chervil leaves

10g tarragon leaves

10g flat-leaf parsley leaves

sea salt

For the mayonnaise

2 egg yolks

½ tsp sea salt

juice of ½ lemon

100ml extra-virgin rapeseed oil

200ml vegetable oil

pinch of ground white pepper

1 First, cook the potatoes. Bring a large saucepan of well salted water to the boil, add the mint and the Jersey Royals and simmer for 15 minutes, until tender – do not be afraid of overcooking them, as they are far better soft than chalky. Turn the heat off and leave them to cool down in their cooking water (this retains their earthy flavour beautifully).
2 While the potatoes cook, make the mayonnaise. Put the egg yolks, salt and lemon juice in a food processor and blitz until smooth. With the blades still turning, very, very slowly drip in the 100ml rapeseed oil, a drop at a time, until the oil starts to emulsify and the mixture looks smooth and creamy. Once the rapeseed oil is incorporated, very slowly start to drip in the vegetable oil, blitzing the whole time, until it starts to thicken. Once you’ve added about half the oil and it’s looking thick and creamy, increase the pouring of the oil to a steady stream – making the mayonnaise will take 10–15 minutes. If it becomes too thick and stiff to work at any point, just add a few drops of water or a squeeze of lemon and blitz again. If it splits, see tip (see here).
3 Once the mayonnaise is plump and emulsified, add 1 tablespoon of water. This will lighten the mayo and make it creamier. Add the pepper and blitz until combined. Scrape it out into a bowl, taste for seasoning and add a little more salt or lemon juice until it really sings.
4 Mix half of the mayo with the brown crab meat, a squeeze more lemon juice and the cayenne pepper. Fold in the apple and spring onion. Taste for seasoning.
5 Bring a pan of salted water to the boil, add the asparagus and cook for 3–5 minutes, until just tender. For the last minute, drop in the samphire or sea purslane to blanch. Drain immediately and refresh in iced water.
6 Spread the brown crab meat and apple mayo out on a platter. Top with the drained potatoes, lettuce (leaves and heart), samphire (or sea purslane) if using, and asparagus, building up layers and seasoning as you go with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Top with the remaining mayo, followed by the white crab meat and soft herbs. Squeeze over a touch more lemon juice, sprinkle with cayenne pepper, if you like, and serve.

Cime di rapa

with roast peppers, chickpeas and oregano-baked feta

Serves 2 as a lunch or starter, or 4 as a side

This is a lovely veggie lunch in its own right, or a satisfying summer side to go with a barbecue. Cime di rapa is one of my all-time favourite greens – it has wonderfully sweet and tender leaves and a satisfying bitterness. Translating from Italian as ‘turnip tops’, it is also known as broccoli rabe or rapini, and is great in pasta dishes, on pizza or as a blanched side (dressed with plenty of lovely extra-virgin olive oil) for roasted or barbecued meats or fish.

400g mixed tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

50ml extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

pinch of dried chilli flakes

2 sprigs of rosemary

1 × 400g tin chickpeas, drained

2 romano peppers (or red bell peppers)

200g block of feta

1 tbsp fresh oregano leaves or 1 tsp dried oregano

pinch of coriander seeds

bunch of cime di rapa (or chard or cavolo nero), bases trimmed and leaves separated from stalks

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas 7, or if you have one, fire up the wood oven.
2 Place the tomatoes in a roasting tray with the garlic, drizzle over half the olive oil and sprinkle with the chilli flakes, then season well with salt and pepper. Throw the rosemary in the tray and shake everything together, then roast in the oven for 15–20 minutes, until the tomatoes have softened and are starting to char and caramelise. Add the drained chickpeas, toss to combine, then return to the oven for another 10 minutes, until the chickpeas are roasted and are starting to crisp up.
3 In the meantime, char the peppers over a gas flame, on a barbecue or under the grill, until black and soft all over. Remove from the flame, place in a bowl and cover the bowl with cling film. Allow to cool then wipe away the blackened skin with kitchen paper (don’t worry if you can’t get it all off). Remove the seeds and cut the peppers lengthways into long, thin strips.
4 Put the feta on a piece of foil and drizzle over the rest of the olive oil. Scatter over the oregano and coriander seeds and wrap the foil around the feta. Place in the oven or on the embers of the barbecue and cook for 10 minutes, or until starting to turn golden and tender.
5 Bring a large saucepan of well salted water to the boil. Blanche the cime di rapa stalks in the water for a couple of minutes, then add the leaves, cooking both the leaves and stalks for a further minute, then drain. Remove the tomatoes and chickpeas from the oven, add the red peppers and cime di rapa and toss through. Remove the rosemary sprigs and serve with the baked feta on top and some extra olive oil drizzled over.

Quick wild garlic yoghurt flatbreads

Makes 2 medium or 4 small flatbreads

These speedy, four-ingredient flatbreads are perfect for a quick family lunch, a pre-dinner snack or on the side of the plate with a stew or curry to soak up the juices. They get a lot of airtime in our house, particularly in spring and summer when the wood oven is lit, but you can just as easily cook them on the barbecue too, or a hot griddle or frying pan. They have a moreish sour flavour (thanks to the yoghurt, which reacts with the self-raising flour to puff them up) and are just begging to be slathered with wild garlic pesto or butter while they’re warm. Experiment with some of the other flavoured butters (see here) in autumn: try brushing them with the porcini butter and topping them with fried wild mushrooms and tarragon. Don’t scrimp on the yoghurt with this one, full-fat is the way to go.

210g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting

½ tsp salt

210g full-fat natural Greek yoghurt

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

4 tbsp Wild Garlic Pesto (see here), or 30g Wild Garlic Butter (see here), melted

1 Put the flour and salt in a bowl and combine, then spoon in the yoghurt and olive oil. Give it a stir to combine everything, then, using oiled hands, bring the mix together into a soft dough. Briefly knead and scrape around the sides of the bowl to pick up any crumbs or scraggy bits, then allow the dough to sit in the bowl for a couple of minutes. While it’s resting, either heat up a cast-iron skillet over a high heat or set your grill to its highest setting. For those with a wood-fired oven, these are also great cooked in there as you would the Sourdough Pizza (see here).
2 Lightly dust the surface with flour and tip your dough out onto it. Split the dough into two or four, depending on whether you prefer 2 medium flatbreads or 4 small. Roll each piece of dough into a smooth ball and flatten each one on the surface with the palm of your hand, then roll it out using a rolling pin to your desired thickness and shape – I like these quite thick and pillowy (about 1cm thick).
3 If using a griddle pan, place your flatbread on it and cook over the highest heat for 3–5 minutes on each side, until golden and puffed, then remove from the pan and slather the top with the wild garlic pesto (loosened with the tablespoon of oil first) or butter while the bread’s hot. If using the grill, place the flatbreads under the grill and grill for about 4 minutes, until puffed and golden, then brush the tops with the wild garlic butter or pesto and return to the grill for another minute or two. If you’re cooking them in the wood oven, bake them as you would a pizza and brush them afterwards with the pesto or butter. Eat while still warm.

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