It’s been over a month since I posted a recipe – perhaps because real life has rather taken over. I now have a full time job as the cafe chef at the lovely Skip Garden Kitchen near King’s Cross.

I’ve recently found the Waltham Forest Food & Drink Society Facebook page, which is a great resource for foodies living in this part of North East London. The founder Elisabetta, who blogs at the fab Italian-inspired La Mia Kitchenette, sets an ‘ingredient of the week’ on the Facebook page. This week it was fish, and it has prompted me to finally write up this recipe for Pan-fried Sea Bass with Spicy Cous Cous.

Summer has finally arrived! After a disappointingly drizzly June, the sun has properly put his/her hat on and we’re all basking in the sunshine. Or maybe basking for about five minutes and then going back inside, because it really is very hot. If you need a treat to cool you down, then this Fig Leaf Ice Cream might be just the ticket.

With Jo brewing about 40 pints every couple of weeks we often have an overabundance of really tasty beer in the house. It’s delicious to drink but I’ve also been experimenting with using beer in my cooking too. As I’ve started to say…”Why use stock when you can use beer?”

I’m obsessed with pickled onions; I can eat them on literally everything – burgers, with cheese, on the end of a fork straigIht out of the fridge. I particularly love these pink pickled onions; the fabulous neon colour adds a punch of colour and a zingy sweetness to almost any dish.

I’m writing this recipe up while sitting in a little pop up café (Filly Brook) by the station in Leytonstone. Despite it being the 29 May, the rain is coming down in sheets and there is a weather warning of high winds across London.

I’ve been making these for years and they are always a big hit, especially with work colleagues. Make a batch, bring them to work to brighten up a Monday or celebrate a Friday and watch them disappear in record time.

Potato Bread! The most satisfying of foods and a combination of two of my favourite things, potatoes and bread in one beautiful carbohydrate extravaganza.

Crêpes are very thin French pancakes. They are delicious served sweet with lemon and sugar but you can also make them savoury with cheese, ham or vegetable fillings.

Adding carrots to muffins make them deliciously sweet and moist without the addition of too much oil. These muffins are delicious just by themselves, but add the icing for an extra special treat.