Rosie Mackean’s quick and easy recipe for cucumber rice with fudgy eggs | Quick and easy

31 August 2026 at 15:00

An intriguing and refreshing hot-cold combo of eggy rice, butter, cold cucumber sauce and pickles

When cooking on a weeknight, it’s easy to forget that sometimes experimenting with temperature is as important as flavour. Hot things combined with very cold things are exceptionally refreshing in the summer, and also make the mundane more exciting and playful. This dish of hot rice, hot butter, cold cucumber sauce, hot egg and cold pickles might sound, well, a bit weird, but I promise it’s delicious, comforting and also cooling.

Good Time Cooking: Show-Stopping Menus for Easy Entertaining, by Rosie Mackean, is published by Pavilion Books at £26. To order a copy for £23.40, visit guardianbookshop.com

Squash salad and chocolate mousse: Dean Parker’s recipes for early autumn

The Guardian

By: Dean Parker

31 August 2026 at 08:00

Celebrate the flavours of the coming season via this rewarding salad and rich dessert to share

As the days start to shorten and the temperature drops (finally!), the produce becomes richer, sweeter and more comforting, and the onset of autumn is a time of year that naturally brings people together around the table, which is something I’ve always loved about food. At the restaurant, we try to let the ingredients do the talking, and we work closely with growers and producers to make the most of whatever’s in season. Today’s recipes celebrate some of my favourite seasonal flavours: the salad is simple but deeply satisfying, balancing sweet roast squash with bitter greens and a punchy black olive tapenade. For dessert, meanwhile, chocolate mousse with poached fruit is my idea of autumn in a bowl, not least because quince has a beautiful, floral character that develops as it cooks, and pairs perfectly with dark chocolate and the nutty richness of browned butter. The creme fraiche adds freshness and balance, and brings everything together. Both dishes are rooted in the philosophy that guides my cooking: celebrate the season, respect great ingredients and create food that encourages people to slow down and enjoy each other’s company.

How to make key lime pie | Felicity Cloake's Masterclass

The Guardian

By: Felicity Cloake

30 August 2026 at 15:00

The indulgent, pleasantly mouth-puckering Floridian dessert in nine easy steps

Beautiful as the Florida Keys are, with average August temperatures topping 30C and with hurricane season looming, I think I’d rather enjoy their most famous culinary export in the calm of our own more temperate isles (well, usually, at least). Cool and creamy, with a refreshingly sharp, citrus tang, this is the perfect make-ahead dessert for any bank holiday festivities.

Prep 20 min
Cook 15 min
Chill 3 hr+
Serves 6

Flipping marvellous: Yotam Ottolenghi on the joy of simple breakfasts – plus six exclusive recipes

The Guardian

By: Yotam Ottolenghi

29 August 2026 at 10:00

Weekend mornings are for family – and whoever happens to be over. Forget fussing and focus on just one big lovely thing for the middle of the table. Here’s how

Family life has had a bigger impact on how I cook at home than almost anything else. There’s a lot of pasta on the menu these days, and potato wedges with different sauces. A lot of meatballs. And a great many pancakes – more than I would have ever predicted before I had kids.

My weekend pancakes – which made their way into my book Simple Too – are supposed to be a batch-cooking exercise: lots made on Sunday, then reheated through the week, in the toaster or a dry pan on the stove, so breakfast is more or less solved until Friday. That’s the theory. In practice, all 22 pancakes the recipe makes are gone by Sunday lunch – eaten by the boys, their friends, or whoever happens to be over for breakfast.