I really hope you've enjoyed reading about my life in food as much as I've enjoyed writing and eating it.  Keep cooking!

I've had a truly stupendous bean harvest this year - my only problem is, what to do with them all?  They're sitting in the fridge looking reproachfully at me as I fail to make any headway into the bean stockpile.  Any recipes gratefully received...

I don't really have much to say about strawberries, but I love this picture - aren't they RED?  Mmm.

You know how it is – you’re lying around in the garden, talking about cake... and suddenly YOU MUST HAVE CAKE.  This is the result of that conversation.  Chocolate sponge with a mint butter icing.  I was merely the sous-chef on this project, bowing to my housemate’s superior baking knowledge, but when I’ve wheedled the recipe out of her I’ll stick it up here for you all to enjoy. 

I received Ottolenghi’s Plenty for Christmas last year and this is without a doubt one of my favourite recipes from it.  The garlic is parboiled then caramelised in a balsamic reduction until it’s sweet and soft and totally moreish.  I’m a massive garlic fan and I love being able to stuff quite so much of it into one dish without it being too pungent.  The day someone invents non-smelling garlic I am there, I tell ya.

I love it when summer finally arrives, and I can eat British salad to my heart’s content, without having to worry about carbon footprints or desertification or polytunnels or any of those other unpleasant factors involved in the eating of vegetables out of season.  My great lunch stand-by for work has to be the ready-made Caesar salad in a bag – yes, those overpriced ones with all the fiddly little sachets.  Add some Quorn roasted chicken fillets and you’ve got an instant meal that’s perfect in hot weather.  No, it’s not exactly gourmet eating but I don’t care. 

When I’m at home, however, my go-to salad is quite different.  The basic ingredients are lettuce (gem or round, not iceberg) and lots of capers, with a dressing of lemon juice, olive oil and salt.  I’m quite happy just eating this, but I often supplement with whatever I’ve got in the fridge at the time – normally cherry tomatoes, cucumber, onion or spring onion and spinach.  If I’m feeling particularly adventurous (or have just been shopping and have a well-stocked fridge) then I like to add olives, avocado, green pepper and sunblush tomatoes. Herbs from the garden also help to pep things up – basil, mint and chives are all good.  I can eat bucketloads of this stuff (and frequently do!)

When the weather’s as hot and sticky as it has been here in London recently, a person’s thoughts lightly turn to thoughts of ICE-CREAM.  Now, I’m a big fan of ye olde supermarket special soft scoop for £2 a litre, but sometimes a lady wants something a little more... refined.  And so to Gino Gelato, purveyors of what is surely some of the finest sorbet in the whole of London Town.  All their ice-cream is made in-store, and it’s fresh every day.  The staff are lovely and let you try different flavours before you buy (which is just as well as it’s not cheap – £3.80 for a double scoop, though the scoops are big).  On this latest trip I tried raspberry and merlot sorbet, coffee gelato, and almond and orange blossom gelato before plumping for fruits of the forest teamed with watermelon and vodka sorbet.  Delicious.  So if you’re in Touristville (aka Trafalgar Square) this summer and get bored of dodging mimes and tour groups, go get yourself some gelato.  It’s cool.

Gino Gelato, 3 Adelaide Street, London WC2N 4HZ

I'm a big fan of savory baking so I made these goat's cheese, rosemary and sundried tomato muffins recently and they turned out rather well.  I actually deviated from the recipe slightly and made half with smoked cheddar instead of the goat's cheese, just for variety.  They turned out a trifle heavy, but I might put that down to my over-enthusiastic mixing rather than the recipe; I suspect they may need a light hand.  Still, they all got eaten in short order.  These are best served warm with a dollop of butter.

You've probably heard it said that with food, presentation is everything.  Now, while this is manifestly untrue (taste has to count for something, right?) I definitely enjoy having something pretty on my plate.  And if you're making a beautiful meal, why stop at the table?  Why not go the whole hog and make your surroundings spectacular too? Recently, I've been lucky enough to eat in some of the capital's most beautiful dining rooms; perhaps unsurprisingly, it seems that if you're after a feast for the eyes as well as the palate, London's art galleries could be the way to go...

First stop was the restaurant at the Royal Academy of Arts, which was recently relaunched by Peyton and Byrne.  I must confess that I didn't actually try the food here, but it's a lovely grand, elegant place to pop into for a glass of wine, with a suitably ambitious-looking menu.  I've no doubt this will be the scene for many a corporate event this summer.

 Next on the list is the V&A's well-known cafe (pictures top and below).  The Morris, Gamble and Poynter rooms form what was apparently the world's first museum restaurant and are just as much worth looking at as any of the objects d'art exhibited elsewhere in the museum, with their beautifully tiled walls and exquisite decor.  The food is cheap, and good quality - I had a goats cheese baguette with proper, chewy french bread for somewhere around the £5 mark.  Definitely worth a visit even if only for a cup of tea.

And last, but not least, was a dinner somewhere quite special - in amongst the paintings of the National Portrait Gallery.  This was a corporate event that I was helping out with, so we were privileged enough to get our own private room, in amongst the Stuarts.  And let's face it - who, among their dinner guests, wouldn't like to count King Charles II, Nell Gwynne, and the Earl of Rochester?  Although next time, maybe the Earl can leave his monkey at home...

Working opposite a Holland and Barratt may be doing my bank balance no good at all (why are ‘health’ foods so expensive?) but it’s certainly broadening my knowledge of exciting vegetarian and vegan foodstuffs.  I say foodstuffs rather than food, because I’m not sure what’s actually in all of the things I’ve been trying.  As I’ve mentioned before, it’s rare to actually find healthy food in a health food shop, and the vegetarian specialties certainly win the prize for the most incomprehensible ingredient lists (maltodextrin and carrageenan gum, anyone?)  Still, I’m not one to let a strange ingredient stand in my way.  Here, for your delectation, are my favourite discoveries so far:

1. Gin Gins and Ginger Chews from The Ginger People.  The Gin Gins are small, ginger flavoured boiled sweets with a good flavour and a certain amount of heat.  The real treats, though, are the Ginger Chews, which are basically like extremely hot, chewy chunks of ginger-flavoured Turkish delight, complete with a dusting of icing sugar.  They are AMAZING.  Sadly you only get about 12 per box, bringing them to the bargain price of about 12p each, which seems like rather a lot to me.  Apparently you can also melt both kinds of sweet into boiling water to create a ginger drink, thus placing them into the same category, unlikely though it seems, as Marmite and Marigold stock powder.  I may have to do a hot drink taste test soon.
2. Redwood’s Cheatin’ Chorizo Style Chunks.  OK, so the name leaves something to be desired (chunks?  What is this, dogfood?) but I had a burning desire for a meaty, smoky, tomato & chickpea-y stew a few weeks ago which gave me a good excuse to try them out.  To make the stew I fried up some onions with cumin, smoked paprika, star anise and garlic, then added chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, chopped butternut squash, a tin of chickpeas and the chorizo chunks.  I let this stew for about half an hour and then served with mashed potato on the side.  Delicious.  I think it would be improved by the addition of some spinach at the last minute; might try that next time.
3. Kallo Organic Savoury Rice Cakes with Yeast Extract.  Crisp mouthfuls of marmitey deliciousness.  Best eaten with…
4. Tofutti Creamy Smooth with Garlic & Herbs.  I know I have said in the past that all vegan cheese is wrong and should be avoided.  I hereby retract that statement.  This stuff is good.