A new take on Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking

Brownie

Linda McCartney’s book “Home Cooking” was the very first cookbook I ever bought ‒ back in 1992. Twenty-seven years later, I have re-discovered this book in my bookshelf. But while most of the recipes are still great today, the pictures in the book and the layout do not do them justice any more. So I decided to cook and photograph as many recipes as possible from this book, and to include gluten-free and vegan versions wherever possible. Read more about my idea to start cooking Linda’s recipes. Have fun browsing Linda’s recipes below, search by tag or have a look at some of my own recipes. You can also browse my photos.

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Linda's recipes

Tomato and Onion Sauce Italian Style

From: Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking, p. 150

A good and simple tomato sauce even my son would eat. It makes a great difference to take the time to simmer the sauce for at least an hour- the flavours will develop nicely and the acidity of the tomatoes disappears.

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Corn Soufflé

From: Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking, p. 96

A light and fluffy soufflé with corn. It is a surprisingly easy-to-make and impressive dish for lunch with friends or served in individual ramekins as a starter for a dinner party. Serve with a salad.

When I tried this out, the Soufflé was still runny at the bottom of the dish after 30 minutes, but set beautifully after 40 minutes.
It is important to serve the Soufflé straight from the oven as it rises during baking time and will collapse as soon as it is comes out of the oven. To avoid collapsing during baking, do not open the oven door before the end of the baking time.

Gluten-Free: I used gluten-free four (e.g.rice flour), which worked well.

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Linda's recipes

Baked Steaklets

From: Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking, p. 84

Steaklets (or veggie burgers) covered with fried onions, tomato sauce, and fried mushrooms and baked in the oven.

This dish seems to be another one of those dishes meat-eaters like a lot. It has the taste and feel of a meat-based oven-bake and is very easy and quick to make. Perfect for dinner in winter time with lots of friends and family around the table.

I did use vegetable burgers instead of steaklets and substituted 2/3 of the tomato ketchup with tomato purée. I also added 2 tbsp of ready-made salsa to spicen up the sauce a bit.

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Linda's recipes

Chocolate Pudding

From: Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking, p. 157

A rich, chocolatey pudding that is more like a chocolate mousse than a plain pudding.

My son, who is a very picky eater, decided that a chocolate pudding would be something he would definitely like. So we made this together and he absolutely loved it (as did my husband and daughter).
The pudding is very rich and filling, so serving it in small individual cups seems to be a good idea.

I think with this recipe it is really important that you chose as good a chocolate as you can find or afford- it makes a great difference to use high-quality chocolate here. Personally, I would prefer dark chocolate, as stated in the recipe. My family is definitely more fond of milk chocolate, which also works well. If the chocolate is also organic and fair-trade, all the better 🙂

When using milk-chocolate, you can reduce the amount of sugar to 70g as the chocolate is already quite sweet.

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Omelette

From: Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking, p. 65

A recipe for a plain omelette that can be filled with various fillings- a quick and easy lunch. Serve with a salad.

My husband was feeling a little hungry tonight and decided to make himself some scrambled eggs. My suggestion to try omelette instead was met with the confession that he had never made an omelette before. A few minutes later, the omelette was on his and my daughter´s plates and he was confident that he could now master this as well. Our daughter loved the omelette (with a cheese filling) and complained that it was not enough…

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Linda's recipes

Almond Cake

From: Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking, p. 152

A great and simple, yet elegant cake with a sublte taste of marzipan.

I did try a vegan and gluten-free version of this cake, using
115g of vegan margarine,
140g sugar,
100g puréed silken tofu,
1tsp. vanilla essence,
100g rice flour,
70g potato flour,
2 tbsp. potato fiber,
1 tsp. baking powder (gluten-free),
120ml plant-based milk,
55g ground almonds,
2 vegan “egg-whites” (I used the egg white powder from Vantatsic foods).

The cake had a lovely taste and kept moist for 2 days, but was rather soft and crumbled easily. Next time I will try using some flour that will give a bit more texture, such as oat flour or cornflour.

The stated baking time of one hour seemed to be far too long; 40 minutes was enough for my cake to bake.

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Linda's recipes

Bortsch Soup

From: Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking, p.52

A beetroot soup with a truly stunning colour! It combines the very earthy flavours of potato and beetroot with a sour note of lemon and sour cream. I tried it both hot and cold and give it credits for being very different to other soups and for its vibrant colour. However, it will most likely not become one of the recipes I will use very often.
We had a severe storm here in Hamburg during the last two days, and it has been pouring down with rain most of the day. I would have loved to take a picture of this soup but due to a lack of daylight decided not to try. I find that natural light works best for my food photograpy.

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Linda's recipes

Meatless Balls

From: Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking, p. 106

These Meatless Balls are made from crumbled veggie burgers and will make all meat-eaters happy. The children and I had a typical Swedish meal with Meatless Balls, gravy, potatoes, and veg. Even my son, who is an extremely picky eater had to admit that this was quite good 🙂

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Maine Sauerkraut

From: Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking, p. 105

This sauerkraut-recipe combines grated raw potato with sauerkraut and simmers it for an hour to give a very balanced and mild taste. A surprising combination is the addition of sliced apple, which blends in well with the other ingredients.
I did omit the TVP chunks but added some veggy hot dog slices to the sauerkraut 10 minutes before the end of the cooking time.
I used the home-made sauerkraut and gave it a rinse with cold water after draining off the vinegar to avoid a too salty taste.

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Blueberry Muffins

From: Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking, p. 155

We enjoyed a relaxed Sunday breakfast with these blueberry muffins and everybody agreed that they were great.
For people who associate muffins with very sweet, high-fat cupcake-like products, these muffins will come as a surprise. They contain very little fat, sugar and egg, and lots of blueberries, while being light and fluffy. They are typical breakfast muffins, and as Linda suggests, you can even spread some honey on top to make them a real treat.

These muffins are best eaten when they are still slightly warm. Pop leftover muffins in the microwave for a few seconds straigt before serving.

I tried to bake them in individual paper muffin cups/ muffin liners. When warm, the muffins stuck to the paper and were difficult to remove. When cooled, they were easy to take out of the paper cups. Maybe greasing the muffin tin and omitting the paper cup could be a good solution when wanting to eat them warm.

Gluten-Free: I used gluten-free flour plus 2 tsp. potato fiber. The result was light and moist while warm.

Vegan: Replace the egg with 50g pureed silken tofu and the milk with plant-based milk. Use vegan margarine or 40g rapeseed or sunflower oil.

Variations: You could replace 60g of the flour with rolled oats to give a more grainy consistency, or add some chopped nuts or almonds. The blueberries can be substituted for other berries or small pieces of peeled apple. Experiment with adding some ginger or cinnamon or vanilla to the recipe.