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.

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.

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!

Tuna & Sweetcorn Yakitori

Japanese style barbecued skewers of tuna and babycorn with ponzu sauce

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.

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 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.

A Simple Sharer of Asparagus with Butter and Lemon

Most cooks agree that when you have an amazing ingredient it is best to prepare it as simply as possible. And they are not wrong: this must be the very best way to eat asparagus. Steamed and presented in a big stack to share. Butter, salt and lemon are optional extras…

Asparagus and Parma ham

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

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.

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.

Sweet Corn Memories

Growing up in Southern California in the 60s, our family was fussy about its corn…

PYO Still Going Strong at Garsons

Get down to Garsons or your local Pick-Your-Own farm and treat yourself to some amazing seasonal produce.

Six Foods to Forage in London this Autumn

Some of the most rewarding forages can be collected this time of year, there’re berries, hips, haws and nuts galore. Here’s six of our favourite…

Ode to an Omelette Pan

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



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