Taste is perception, human taste can change, and anyone can begin to like dung beetles if you eat enough of them. I won’t be in a hurry to though; I have enough to contend with in the Western cuisines!

Take celery for exactly, if you dig deep enough you’ll find the roots of the celery plant go straight to hell. As for they are the Devil’s vegetable, vile stuff! The only way you can remove this sinful demon from such a vegetable is to cook it, then it becomes acceptable. Next time you’re at a buffet and you see someone eating raw celery, throw some holy water them. You’ll see them go up in smoke ala Linda Blair from the Exorcist!

But my food disciples, we did not gather here under the heavenly glow of Nigella to talk of such things. The topic of this discussion centres on CORIANDER! These plant’s roots are too sewn deeply into the depths of hell. Just the mention of the name to the pure will have them running for the hills, ears bleeding.

I get tired of these overly happy TV chefs chopping CORIANDER into their steak sandwiches, salad make from plants that should be left firmly in the garden and their chocolate cakes. Because “everyone loves CORIANDER, it’s so tasty…!” No, it’s not.

But I have to admit to making a soup the other day which was so tasty I might actually to downgrade my hatred of coriander to a hatred of fresh coriander. I will state now that you are free to use fresh coriander, but remember you will have to sell your soul to Satan!

Serves: 2/4

Prep time: 15 mins

Cooking time: 30 mins

You’ll need:

• 4 large carrots
• 4/5 potatoes (slightly more than the carrots)
• 1 pint of chicken stock
• 1 tsp ground coriander powder (use fresh if you are ungodly)
• 1 tsp of cumin
• Salt and pepper to season

To make:

• Peel and chop all the vegetables into small chunks
• Place all the ingredients into a large pan
• Bring to the boil then turn heat down to a simmer
• Cover and cook for about 30 minutes or until everything is nice and soft
• Blend with a hand blender or in a food processor/blender that is suitable for hot liquids
• Taste and adjust seasoning if needed
• Serve with warm crusty bread

I do love to make home-made soup, it’s cost effective, tastes so much nicer and there’s very little effort involved ( apart from the laborious task of peeling and chopping the veg).

I made this recipe when I was emptying out my vegetable draw from the fridge. Suddenly realising that I had brought all these wonder veg on a overly ambitious “healthy” shopping trip to Sainsburys!

Serves: 2/4 (depending on how hungry you are)

Prep time: depends on how good you are at peeling and chopping the veg

Cooking time: 30 mins

You’ll need:

• 2 Parsnips
• 3 Carrots
• 1 Sweet Potato
• 3 Small Leeks
• 4 Shallots
• 1 Tin of Chopped Tomatoes
• 1 Pint of Chicken Stock
• Salt
• Pepper
• Dash of Worchester Sauce

To make:

• Peel and chop all the vegetables into small chunks
• Place all the ingredients into a large pan
• Bring to the boil then turn heat down to a simmer
• Cover and cook for about 30 minutes or until everything is nice and soft
• Blend with a hand blender or in a food processor/blender that is suitable for hot liquids
• Taste and adjust seasoning if needed
• Serve with warm crusty bread

One tempting sin I usually find myself purchasing if I need quick, dirty food (prep and cooking time less than 15 minutes, saturated fat content over 40%) are those Birds Eye Beef Burgers. They come in packs of four and cost about 99p – bargain.

Whilst these bad boys do have a place in my heart (read: heart disease) I do love a home made burger. They are pretty straight forward to make and I want to share my personal favourite.

Serves: 4

Prep time: 15 mins

Cooking time :15 mins

You’ll need:

• 500g of pork and beef mince (250g of each)
• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 egg
• Breadcrumbs from two slices of bread (crusts off please) soaked in milk
• Finely chopped chilli or fresh basil
• Salt and Pepper to season

To make:

• Place all ingredients into a bowl and mish and mash until combined
• Split burger dough into 4 equal parts and mould into burger patties
• Place into the fridge to cool for about 15 mins
• Heat a pan or griddle to a medium high heat and fry for approximately 15 mins, turning occasionally
• Cooking time will depend on the thickness of the burger, if you are in a rush make them thin and done bother with chilling them
• For goodness sakes, NEVER, press the burgers with a fish slice whilst cooking. It will drain away all those gorgeous juices inside

Why not try making my “dirty burger” with these?

I always used to have an issue with cooking rice, I would follow the packet or try the method some people use of chucking a load of rice in a pan with a torrent of unmeasured water, heating it up and hoping for the best.

My hope was nothing but dashed by the piss poor rice that resulted. Throwing it in the bin would be an insult to the bin, I was inclined to bury it in a very deep grave.

So my brother, god bless him, came back from travelling around Australia is a great and easy method to cooking rice:

To cook yummy rice:

• Measure out your rice into a sieve (1 cup per serving) and give it a good old rinse till the water is pretty much clear.
• Place this into a pan of which you own a matching lid.
• Measure out equal measures of cold water for each cup of rice (1 cup of rice = 1 cup of cold water).
• At this stage I like to add some stock to the water. Chicken is lovely but your preference, I mean you might be a veggie. You can use granulated, the concentrated liquid or crumble some cubes in.
• Put the pan on full heat and wait for the water to start boiling. The second it starts boiling turn it onto the lowest hob/heat you have and cover.
• Leave for exactly 15 minutes, no peeking!
• Once the 15 minutes are up, fluff with a fork and you’re done!
• You might want to add a bit of hot water if you find it’s a bit sticky!

Alternatively if you are posh and have a rice cooker, use that!

So it is not often I spend a lonely night in NYC, but this was a rare occassion. I had just had a great weekend walking around taking lots of pictures and drinking cocktails. My friend had gone back to Miami and my Aunt had left for Connecticut for a few days. What is a boy to do? Cook, obviously! I mean like erm DUR! (In my best valley girl accent).

So what’s on the menu tonight…NY Chix Salad…yum

To make one serving you’ll need:

• 5/6 large Romaine Lettuce leaves
• one large tomato
• two eggs at room temperature
• half a red onion (finely chopped)
• one chicken breast
• olive oil
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp marjoram
• 1/2 tsp  thyme
• 1 large tbsp of mayonnaise
• Shabu Shabu dipping sauce (Goma Shabu)
• Salt and Pepper

To make:

• Chop the chicken breast into small pieces and place in a bowl with the oil, herbs and a good seasoning of salt and pepper. Mix well and leave to rest.
• Place the eggs into a pan of cold water to cover. Heat until simmering and then boil on a low simmer for 6 minutes to get a  hard boiled yet soft yolk (7 minutes for rock hard yolk). Once cooked take out and run under a cold tap for about a minute then shell the eggs under the running water. Once shelled leave under running cold water for about 5 minutes until completely cooled.
• Heat up and pan with a tiny drop of oil (there is oil on the chicken to help it from sticking). Pan fry the chicken for a few minutes until cooked through. Once done place in a bowl to cool completely.
• Whilst the chicken is cooling wash the lettuce, tomato and onion. Chop and mix in a large bowl.
• Once the chicken is sufficiently cooled mix with the mayonnaise and Shabu Shabu dipping sauce. Layer over the salad.
• Cut the eggs into quarters and place on top.
• Enjoy with a nice cold glass of Sauvignon Blanc!

The three people I fed this too liked it, but I fear Marmite Syndrome might be the case.

So I was doing a mundane tuna pasta thing and I though I would try something a bit different…there’s only one way to find out if you like it…

Ingredients:

• Half a small bag of dried pasta (around 250g) (Fusilli or Fusilli Bucati Corti) works well
• Tin of tuna in brine or spring water
• Small tin of sweetcorn
• Two heaped teaspoons of mayonnaise (FF) (use light mayo or even one light mayo, one natural yoghurt for a healthier option)
• 1 tsp of Tom Yum paste (available at Oriental or Thai supermarkets
• Tabasco
• Salt and Pepper

To make:

• Put the pasta onto cook – follow instructions on the packet, whilst this is cooking;
• Mix the mayonnaise, Tom Yum paste and Tabasco (number of drops to taste)
• Empty the tuna and sweetcorn into a large bowl and mix together with the mayonnaise mixture
• Drain the pasta and allow to cool for a few moments
• Empty the pasta into the tuna bowl and mix well
• Season according to taste

This is great to eat straight away, or allow to cool to eat cold. Either way the lemon grass and spice from the Tom Yum paste adds a real depth of flavour that compliments the tuna!

As always, please let me know what you think!

So I made this bad boy up whilst sitting around waiting for a little triplet of sausages to cook to be stuck between some bread. I do like a nice spicy sauce with a sausage sandwich but Daddies or something just does seem to do it for me. Besides, I like a combination tomato and brown sauce anyway.

So, it’s quite simple, put the following ingredient in a ramekin and mix – use on whatever, sausages, burgers etc.

To make:

• Mixture of 2/3 Tomato Ketchup and 1/3 Daddies/HP Sauce (I used tablespoons with the follow quantity so you might want to double up according)
• 1/2 tsp chicken stock (powder or concentrate from bottle)
• Good slug of Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tsp of hot chilli sauce (adjust depending on how hot you like it, 1 tsp if pretty fiery!)
• 1/2 tsp American BBQ Spices (Schwartz do a good one)
• 1/2 tsp finely chopped garlic (optional)

A great alternative was adding a tsp of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano which is great when you fancy something different!

Try it and let me know how it works out!

So, I thought I would start this wonderful blog of my food creation journey of discovery (what?) with the down right dirty.

So it’s New Year, you’re cold, depressed after coming back from Florida and hungover. There is only one cure. The Dirty Burger. Inspired in retrospect by my Scottish housemate (you have to pronounce it right) this baby was right up my street that day.

We, the food educated, should know what is good for use and what is bad for us. I know what is good for me, I know The Dirty Burger is bad for me. It’s like when my friends laugh at me for ordering a diet coke with burger and chips. I actually like diet coke and I want to minise my calorie intake for this sitting, alright?

I had just come from holiday and had limited resources in the larder. So I call upon my housemate’s waffle stockpile from the freezer, read on…

You will need:

• 1 large burger (ideally homemade – my recipe coming soon!)
• Two potato waffles
• Cheese
• Special Sauce (recipe coming soon – use ketchup until then)
• Bacon
• 1 egg

Put the burgers on, ideally fry, grill for heathier option. Turning until cooked. DO NOT press the burgers whilst cooking.

At the same time put the waffles under the grill – turning occassional until cooked.

About 5 minutes before the burger is ready, pop the bacon and egg into a pan and fry.

To assemble:

Place waffles on plate, stack in following order: Cheese, sauce, egg, bacon, burger.

Grab a knife and fork, lots of kitchen roll and enjoy!