Prawn and chorizo paella for one person to enjoy

With my partner away for the weekend, I was struggling to motivate myself into making a real evening meal. Ironically, the thought of just throwing some pasta into a pan and onto a fast boil when I’m preparing a “dinner for one” is even more tempting now that I’m a (relatively) confident cook than it was when I was a (relatively) naive student. A large portion of my love of cooking comes from seeing other people enjoy my food, so the culinary process seems significantly less pleasurable when there’s no-one else around to appreciate my efforts.

Souk-scented chicken tagine and fruity couscous

Marrakech is the holiday equivalent of Marmite. For some people, the cacophony of sensations that hit you as soon as you arrive in the Djemaa El Fna square are just too overwhelming – the traders’ attention-grabbing hollering is too loud, the labyrinth of overflowing stalls is too claustrophobic, the bustle of busy shoppers and speeding mopeds is too chaotic.


But just as I was hooked on Marmite the first time I tasted it sandwiched between crunchy toast and nutty cheddar cheese, so I fell in love with Marrakech the moment I stepped into the souk.

Spicy sausage stew for a sunny day in Spain

The weather gods appear to have misunderstood the meaning of British Summer Time. This year we lost an hour as normal, but didn’t seem to be gaining any increase in temperature in return. So when my boyfriend told me we had the chance to escape breezy Britain for a trip to sunny Spain with his family, I jumped at the chance.

I’d been caught out in the rain so many times over the past couple of months, I’d finally accepted there was no point in purchasing the Gladiator sandals I’d promised myself – so this sojourn sounded like a dream come true. As someone who grew up by the sea, there’s nothing I love better than siesta-ing on a soft sandy beach, listening to the backing track of waves lapping the shore. However, he confessed there was just one tiny thing about the holiday I should probably know in advance…

A week’s worth of eats and treats

An unexpected adjunct to my burgeoning passion for the culinary world is a blossoming interest in photography. A hallway full of school portraits exposing my past as an acne-ridden, speccy teenager has given me an aversion to appearing in front of the camera, so I generally prefer to rely on my memory for a record of any seminal moments.


But it’s an entirely different story when the photo’s subject is a dazzling dessert or a stunning supper. Admiration for the cooking skills on display at my favourite eateries, and disbelief (plus a hint of pride) at the dishes being served up at my dining table means I feel increasingly obliged to provide photographic evidence of my dietary habits.

Resorting to Risotto

Without wishing to sound arrogant, I make a pretty mean risotto.  I don’t really understand how this happened, as I only discovered the delights of this wonderful oozing rice dish a couple of years ago, but it has rapidly become a reliable recipe for storecupboard emergencies and situations when I need to impress.

One of the things I love most about risotto is the way its flavour entirely depends on which ingredients are added to the rice mixture – almost like an Italian version of the fabled stone soup. Creamy and sweet with parmesan and leeks, crisp and fresh with asparagus and smoked salmon, silken and earthy with butternut squash and sage...there’s a combination to satisfy any craving and every mood.