Despite what aficionados will tell you, risotto made with a stock cube instead of tremblingly jellied home made stock will be delicious too. This one is a case in point but flavours are boosted by adding some of the prawns right at the beginning of the cooking with the onion and fennel. Flavours are subtle…

Forfar is a place in Scotland and Bridie is the surname of a travelling food seller in the nineteenth century who is credited with making and selling minced meat and onion pies with a distinctive deep pasty shape and crimped edges. I discovered them when I was researching my little book Pasties. I remembered them…

This is a sandwich to cook ahead for; everything is mise en place: aubergine poached, pepper and tomato roasted, all kept in plastic boxes ready for assembly after the bread is toasted. The feta, too, is creamed with thick, natural yoghurt, garlic and lemon and kept on standby in a plastic box in the fridge….

It is ages since I made lasagne. The way I make it, with a tomato sauce as well as a meat one plus béchamel, it’s quite an operation. This version, though, is a bit different. For a start, I used pork mince – moral: wear glasses when selecting mince from the freezer – and instead…

This is a great dish to knock up quickly when you`re starving and want an instant carbohydrate hit with attitude. It goes with almost anything, oriental or not, but is a great base for piling on added value in the shape of fried or steamed chicken, fish or Chinese mushrooms, or greens such as sprouting…

I’m making cous cous often at the moment. Apart from making it to go with tagine, it’s natural partner, it is great in soup, a way of adding extra interest and inspiring unexpected seasoning but good too with commonplace soup ingredients. It was a starting point for this soup, although, like most soups it began…

I love cauliflower cheese and have many favourite ways of making it. This is pretty much my mum’s recipe, her Desert Island dish, gratin-style, with a punchy cheese sauce. I vacillate between a breadcrumb and Parmesan crust or streaky bacon lattice, both of which add a desirable crisp contrast. It is very, very good with…

I like to serve this lovely spicy, hauntingly flavoured tagine with cous cous but rice or green beans and bread are good alternatives. The finished stew doesn’t photograph well so my picture shows all the ingredients gathered before I started cooking. Don’t worry if you seem to have an excess of liquid, it will soon…

This isn’t the most beautiful soup but the flavour is lovely and it’s quick and esy to make with easily accessible ingredients. My pic doesn’t do it justice (no change there then) but it comes highly recommended, delicious with a separately poached egg added just before serving or with crusty bread and butter for dunking….

Roast chicken for two or three always gives sufficient leftovers for another meal and I find it endlessly inspiring. I save leftover gravy too, to add to any sauce I might make. Chicken, young spinach, lemon zest, white wine and plenty of freshly grated nutmeg are a lovely combination held in a Dijon mustard flavoured…