Is there anything better to eat in the summer than a salad made with ripe, sweet tomatoes, handfuls of fragrant, aniseedy basil and good quality creamy mozzarella? It is perfect alongside hunks of rich olive oil focaccia as an al fresco lunch. As the days shorten and autumn rolls into winter it is impossible to get delicious tomatoes. Our homegrown tomatoes are long gone and the supermarkets have reverted to selling the watery ones that are available out of season.

If you get hold of good quality mozzarella it seems a shame to cook it (except perhaps on top of a wood-fired pizza) so I developed this mozzarella salad for the winter months; it is a celebration of the flavours of autumn – the sweet, nuttiness of roasted squash and creamy, crunchy hazelnuts paired with the soft, lactic acidity the mozzarella. Continue reading →

It’s a cliche, but I first ate this dish from a street vendor on the Khao San Road (the infamous backpacker district in Bangkok) when I was a student. I was travelling on a shoestring, I’d landed in Asia for the first time having been brought up in the not very adventurous food scene of Northern Ireland in the 1980s & 90s. I was totally blown away! What was this salty, spicy, sour and sweet concoction? Slippery noodles, fiery chilli, soft tofu, chicken or prawns and crunchy peanuts on top and all cooked in less than two minutes and for a cost of about 25p. Continue reading →

This is a Spring pavlova to make the most of early season rhubarb and the end of the citrus season, well before any of the soft fruits or stone fruits are in season in Europe. I love desserts with fruit, much more than with chocolate, so Spring and the Hunger Gap can always feel challenging for puddings. Continue reading →