What Dad Cooked is a collection of our dad’s recipes, thoughts, tips and cooking hacks that simply need to be shared with all you foodies!

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Seasonal Favourites

Some delicious seasonal summer family recipes to choose from the What Dad Cooked repertoire.

Jerk Chicken with Rice and Peas

‘Maybe it’s the wrong time of year in the UK for a BBQ… What?! No way! BBQ anytime of the year, with this awesome, easy Jerk Chicken with Rice and Peas.’

Asparagus Pizza

This recipe matches asparagus with a deconstructed puttanesca sauce. Surprisingly, this really works – the asparagus stands up well to the robust pizza flavours.

Mango Melba

‘Fresh mango is delicious, but as always with Dad, the secret is in the sauce…’

Asparagus and peas braised in butter with herbs, hazelnuts, kasha and lemon

It’s the British asparagus season – make the most of it with this very simple combination: fresh asparagus from local fields and fresh peas from a pod, boiled and then quickly braised in butter, with lemon herbs and hazlenuts and kasha for a bit of crunch.

Latest recipes

Check out Dad's latest homecooked dishes and recipes below. Or click recipes in the menu to browse through 6+ years of Dad's homecooking recipes for families.

Cassoulet de Toulouse à la Pappa

A perfect winter warmer – Cassoulet!

The Laughing Cow Lightest Loaded Quesadilla

Try Dad’s loaded low-fat salsa quesadillas with The Laughing Cow Lightest x8 cheese.

Melanzane Parmigiana with Dolmio 7 Vegetables Sun Ripened Tomato & Basil Pasta Sauce

An excellent way to turn a popular Italian slow food standard into an easy and quicker family classic.

Pumpkin Pie

My best pumpkin pie yet!

Asaparagus

A seasonal favourite ingredient of Dad's, so much so he made a 30 recipe series about the green spears! Try these recipes whilst asparagus can still be found locally.

Asparagus and Parma ham

Here is the simplest way to enjoy the flavour combination of asparagus and Parma ham – side-by-side.

Asparagus Summer Roll

Asian asparagus salad in a rice paper wrap – not your usual way with asparagus – but well worth the effort.

Asparagus Vignarola

This is an Italian stew made from spring vegetables including artichokes, broad beans, peas.

Grilled Asparagus

This is not really a recipe, more a method for grilling or griddling your asparagus.

Dad's Food Journal

Dad loves to write about food. Whether it's discovering a new road local to London or Surrey, where the treasures of foodie stores and independent shops delight—or Dad's macro observations in the world of food. Dad's articles (and foodie stories to his recipes) are a funny and knowledgable journey through the lense of how pops views the world.

Garsons Farm, Esher’s Best Kept Secret

Esher town has something for everybody; but venture off the beaten track and you will find many attractions, including Garsons – a pick-your-own farm, garden centre and farm shop.

And what, exactly, are you supposed to do with a thousand-year-old egg?

This was one of many questions I had on my mind during my latest foray into London for January’s Time Out article.

To Confit or Not to Confit

How can we say we’re ‘worth our salt’ unless we’ve submitted to the mysteries and heartaches of the confit and lived to tell the tale?

A Kerfuffle of Parma Ham…

Whilst shopping at the farm shop, I went to the delicatessen counter to buy some Parma ham for an antipasto. But there was a problem…



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