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!

Be Inspired
Seasonal Favourites

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

Clam Chowder — An American Classic

Clam chowder is an American classic. You will find it on the menu at any American restaurant. And if it’s not written on the menu, you can safely assume that it will appear by default at the soup and salad bar.

Snickerdoodle Dandies

An American favourite and an excellent way with cinnamon.

Delicious Summer Hake & Crab Linguine

‘With all the Mediterranean weather we are experiencing recently – what better time to serve up a fresh al fresco seafood pasta.’

San Joaquin Battered Asparagus

In San Joaquin County, at Stockton California they stage an Asparagus Festival in April. Stockton is the centre of asparagus growing in California so it makes sense to celebrate the crop…

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.

Dad’s Japanese style Asparagus Tempura Soba

This is a classic Japanese way with soba and tempura. Strickly speaking the asparagus tempura is kaki-age, made like a tempura fritter rather than individual spears coated in tempura. But such academic details seem trivial when it comes to tempura – any tempura is amazing – especially asparagus!

Asparagus in Miso Dressing

Like sesame sauce, miso ends up in sauces and dressing for many classic Japanese salads. Here I’ve combined miso with asparagus to make a rather exotic salad – wasabi on the side adds piquancy and a touch of jeopardy to the dish.

Asparagus Bruschetta

Most asparagus bruschetta recipes use goats cheese. I tried this and it’s okay but unremarkable, so I made a artichoke and cannellini bean puree to replace the cheese – it’s much better.

Asparagus and Salmon Quiche

The boys are not keen on quiche – but I cannot see what is not to like. Besides putting asparagus in a quiche is a good way to enjoy the asparagus season.

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.

Eggnog – an American Tradition

Making eggnog is an essential ritual for Americans during winter celebrations. But beware – it’s dangerously delicious!

Shanks, Hocks, Knuckles, Shins and Legs

We all know about lamb shanks – they’ve been mandatory dishes on gastropub menus for years. But what about the same joint in pork and beef?

British Pie Banquet at The Thomas Cubitt

In case you didn’t know, this week is ‘British Pie Week’ – a fact that might have inspired The Tomas Cubitt gastro-pub to celebrate by hosting a British ‘Pie Banquet’ earlier in the week.

Ode to an Omelette Pan

Those of a certain age will remember the post-Elizabeth David halcyon days of home gastronomy…



ADVERTISEMENT
© What Dad Cooked, 2026. Privacy Policy. Terms and Conditions. Twitter Instagram