While with Erinn in Brooklyn, she took me to one of her local haunts – the Krupa Grocery where I had two food epiphanies: the shrimp burger and a dish called Chicken & Egg – chicken liver parfait, devilled egg and candied cocoa nibs. The Chicken and Egg impressed me so much I went back for seconds. I love old school dishes brought up to date and made exceptional. The stand out element of this dish is the beet pickledRead more

I recreated this dish after trying it on a trip to Rome with friends I’ve know for 25 years. As a group we’ve lost loved ones, lost body parts and lost swathes of our memories through over indulgence of booze. Equally, we have helped each other through each of these episodes. Our family are our nearest but our friends, those we choose to have in our lives, are our dearest. Here are mine… Lucy I met Lucy while I wasRead more

I date an Australian, I’m surrounded by Australians, I love Australians. Except in winter. The moaning about the wet, the wind, the cold and the dark never ends. To help the long winter nights fly a little faster, I throw good intentions out the window and embrace indulgence with reckless abandon. This dish helps me do all this in under an hour. The key to making this one-pot warmer a success is reducing the mushroom liquor till it’s thick andRead more

Mum, my Bermondsey Belle, was a titan of a woman who made an impression wherever she went – tall, glamorous, tough and never afraid to voice an opinion. Duchess loved her food and never let a diet, a fad or a whim stop her from indulging in a good meal. Growing up, my best friends were twins and we did everything together and mum always kept the house open to welcome them with a cheap but tasty meal. One day things gotRead more

This dish was created for Ruby during a trip we all took to Chamonix earlier this year. While they all went ski-ing, I stayed with my feet firmly planted on the ground and went hiking along the Grand and Petit Balcons – beautiful Alpine walks through woods and over steep drops. As with all four year olds, Ruby is defined and determined in what she will and will not eat – and the theme for the day was mushrooms. AndRead more

This staple comes from Claudie, my landlady while I was a student in Avignon. While my friends were struggling in social housing, I’d managed to land a top floor flat of a second Empire house in the centre of Avignon with a family who genuinely cared for each other – and me the interloper. One of the conditions of me staying with Claudie and her family was to have dinner with them every Thursday. This is where I learned toRead more