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.

Use your (chocolate and banana) loaf!

I confess that I’m not much of a baker - but this is more for reasons linked to desire than to ability. When cooking, you generally want to taste the finished dish to judge its success or failure, decide what needs adapting to improve the flavours next time, and hopefully ensure that it will bring a smile to the lips of any dinner guests. The danger I face if that dish is a tureen of velvety chocolate mousse or a basket of cupcakes is that my sweet tooth will overcome my sense of portion control, and pretty soon my body will involuntarily wibble and wobble more than a jelly on a plate (and not in the way Beyonce meant…!).

Flocking to Hummingbird

Yesterday was a seminal moment in my foodie life - my first ever visit to the famous Hummingbird Bakery. I am now a proud member of the exclusive club of gourmands who has visited both this London bakehouse and the Magnolia Bakery, the even more renowned American version of cake paradise.

A proper "pukka" pie

When it comes to food, we all have our own preferences and peculiarities. After all, eating is the very definition of a matter of taste - indeed, one person’s manna from heaven may well be another’s vision of hellish torture. 

This subjectivity extends not only to the flavour combinations we enjoy, but also to the quality of ingredients and standards of production that we will accept. The sticking point for me is sausages - I refuse to consume a banger containing less than 75% meat. But my boyfriend’s crusade of choice is the quest for the perfect pie. In his eyes, a proper pie is a meaty filling encased entirely in pastry, and a pie “without sides” is nothing more than a stew with a pastry lid.

Destiny in the form of a date (and ginger naan)...

As a recent convert to the benefits of healthy eating and regular exercise, I’ve mainly succeeded in ending my long-standing relationship with doughy goods. Painful memories of speeding treadmills and heavy dumbbells can be an effective deterrent against the temptations of even the crunchiest French baton or softest herb-studded foccaccia.

But Indian naan bread is still my weakness. 

Saturday night spaghetti

Discovered some rather tasty looking chorizo whilst perusing my parents’ fridge. My first opinion of paella was rejected due to laziness - spending Saturday night home alone may be one thing, but spending the majority of the evening standing over a stove stirring rice would just be a step too far.

"It is impossible not to love someone who makes toast for you" - Nigel Slater

I don't make much toast, but I do make a pretty decent bacon sandwich, with lashing of tomato ketchup. It might even have a fried egg in it too, if you're particularly special...