I planned on eating just one Easter egg over the weekend but I ended up eating two giant eggs, gorging myself on cake until I hated myself, and drinking like a sailor. Now I feel rubbish and to make matters worse I’m off to Spain soon for a much awaited holiday and have to squash [...]

I’m told that I make a very good omelette. The “secret” (at least according to my dad, who makes the most gorgeous omelettes containing nothing more than some finely chopped onion) lies in whipping the yolk and white well and adding a dash of water and a dash of milk. Once the egg hits the [...]

Since being with my partner, I have put on one entire stone. There is no mystery as to why – it is because I have spent too many nights on the sofa with a glass (ahem) of wine and some really good food, which invariably contains all or one of the following: cream, butter and [...]

I’ve recently discovered Yotam Ottolenghi’s innovative and inventive take on vegetarian food. The chef’s exciting approach to Mediterranean cooking is experimental with bold flavours and pure ingredients. Finding new ways to make vegetarian food interesting is always good so I’ll definitely be buying his book Ottolenghi: The Cookbook. Some of his dishes include white and [...]

For the month of January, The Sunday Times has been offering up a ten-point plan to a better you in the style section. A plan that encourages you to ‘Learn to relax’, ‘Find your purpose’, ‘Revel in strong moments’ and ‘Boost your chi factor’. When reading it, I kind of zoned out and couldn’t help [...]

Christmas dinner is a very meat focused affair and although I do enjoy turkey, I think that turkey and ham are weird together. The sprouts are little green spheres of pure deliciousness but in general vegetables are a tad boring at Christmas and I think vegetarians get a bum deal on the day. Well, if [...]

Reading on BBC online, it appears that the latest conflict between Lebanon and Israel is all about hummus – please note that’s hummus not Hamas. The delicious spread, made from chickpeas is usually blended with sesame paste, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic. It has been eaten in the Middle East for centuries, though [...]

I was in Egypt a few years ago and thought the food was very good indeed. For some of the time, I stayed with a family so I got to  experience some Egyptian takes on some of my favourite dishes. As a big fan of Kofta I was in heaven but it was the falafel [...]

As part of the African special this month, I have another couple of recipes from Morocco for you. I made these two delicious dishes last night and they turned out a treat. I served the dishes with rice but you could also serve them with couscous or bulgar wheat. The bean dish is cheap, healthy [...]

I made this for dinner recently as a side for my Roast Chicken in Butter Sauce. Each time I make a tomato sauce, it’s different. It’s a wondrous, organic, changing thing and can taste so different each time, redolent of memories from the past, spag bol when I was a kid, bruschetta on my first [...]