I made a new purchase this week - one I've been meaning to buy for ages and never got round to for some reason or other, usually getting distracted by slightly shinier, jazzier things - a sugar thermometer. It's an indispensable addition to the sweet toothed cook's armoury.

I've been experimenting and have become completely addicted to cinder toffee, or honeycomb as it's more widely known. You'll probably have eaten it hundreds of times as a Crunchie bar but a home-made version is well worth a go with a slightly more grown-up, darker, caramel edge.

It's delicious dipped in chocolate, as part of Rocky road (with home-made marshmallows!),  scrunched over ice cream, or even better used as a topping sprinkled over icing on a cupcake.

It's quite a fun thing to make in the kitchen too, a bit of chemistry in the reaction between hot sugar and bicarbonate of soda.

Give this one a go and you'll be a convert - both to the fun and the flavour!

Click here for the cinder toffee recipe

I'm a huge seafood fan - razor clams, cherry clams, oysters and the like. Scallops, however, are one of those ingredients whose pleasure utterly escaped me. I just didn't get it. To me they seemed rather like textured protein - without any redeeming factors!

Then, on two separate occasions these past two weeks, I've eaten such exceptional examples that my mind may have been changed. Scallops in a cep broth at Martin Wishart's fantastic Edinburgh restaurant were sweet and exquisitely cooked - a perfect golden sheen on the outside providing a welcome depth.

My second encounter was at Theo Randall's incredible Italian restaurant at The Intercontinental Park Lane, where the quality of ingredients is second to none.

Theo's cooking is wonderful in its simplicity - using the standard of produce they do, little is needed to let the food sing. For this recipe, try getting hold of the best scallops you can find - track down a local fishmonger if possible. The results will be worth it in the end.

Click here for Theo's recipe for Cape Sante - pan fried scallops served in the shell with chilli, parsley, datterini tomatoes, capers, lemon and lentils di Castelluccio and rocket

Katsu or Tonkatsu is a Japanese method of cooking cuts of meat by dipping them in flour, egg and Panko breadcrumbs and deep frying them.

It's as good as it sounds, and the Japanese serve it either with Miso soup or cut into slices in a sandwich made with the fluffiest white bread, pointed cabbage, mustard mayonnaise and a Japanese version of brown sauce (normally labelled Tonkatsu sauce) - perfect food for a TV dinner.

I have various spots in London that I head to for my favourite dishes, and Tsuru Sushi in Southwark - near the city's famous foodie spot Borough Market - is high up on the list. They have perfected the art of Katsu and I recently managed to wangle their method.

The Katsu sandwich

Step 1
Choose your meat - pork shoulder or loin, chicken thigh or breast (or vegetables) - and cut to 1.5cm thickness. If using a chicken thigh simply remove the skin and bone.

Step 2
Coat the meat in flour (remove excess by slapping gently), then egg, then dip into panko breadcrumbs and coat evenly. The bigger the breadcrumbs, the crisper the katsu.

Step 3
Heat oil until a cube of bread browns in about 30 seconds to a minute. Fry the meat 2 minutes. Take out and rest for 1 minute. Fry for further 2 minutes. This resting ensures a crispy coating and perfectly cooked, juicy meat.

Step 4
Slice the katsu diagonally and arrange evenly on a slice of thick, fluffy white bread (the lighter the bread, the bigger the contrast in texture with the katsu, the better the sandwich).

Then drizzle tonkatsu sauce over the katsu, add a big handful of very thinly sliced pointed cabbage on top and then drizzle with mustard mayonnaise (recipe below) and make the sandwich.

Tsuru Mustard Mayo
•    100ml Japanese mayo (use normal mayo if you can't find this)
•    20ml good English mustard
•    5ml lemon juice

Method

Combine ingredients.

Some of my favourite cooking moments involve using very few ingredients to create something delicious. A handful of this or a splash of that - pure flavours, dealt with simply and easily. Fuss free suppers are the way forward.

There are days when I do happily spend several hours preparing a meal - a labour of love - but often I'll won't have a lot of advance warning to whip something up when people arrive. This is a perfect meal for those times - an easy-as-pie dinner using just four ingredients.

Caramelised onion and anchovy tart

Ingredients

• 1 packet ready rolled puff pastry
• 100g Grana Padano cheese or parmesan, grated
• 1 tin of anchovies or half a jar
• 3 onions

Method

Finely slice the onions and cook them in a pan with a splash of oil on a very, very low heat for around an hour until they are a deep golden colour.

Pre-heat your oven to 220°C.

Score a line around the edge of the pastry about one centimetre in. Spread the onions over the centre of the tart evenly, then scatter the cheese over and place the anchovies on top.

Put the tart into the pre-heated oven and cook for around 15-20 mins until puffed up and golden.

Serve with a green or tomato salad.

Beans and pulses and I have this strange relationship - I've never been able to eat them - not even the baked kind. It's not about the taste, but completely about the texture; sometimes they can have that rather powdery mouth-feel that I find a bit, well, odd.

Sticking to my rule though I found that one good experience can switch it all around - a dish of channa masala, spicy curried chickpeas, was the problem solver.

Somehow the textures just worked and even though the first few mouthfuls of whole chickpea were a bit of a - erm - mouthful, after that I was a convert, taking in lentils, gigantes, kidney beans and everything in between. Although, embarrassingly, I'm not quite into baked beans yet.

This recipe comes from Arch One restaurant right next to London's Waterloo station. They also do very, very good chips. It makes a great starter for a dinner party.

Mixed Seafood on borlotti beans with rocket and red onion salad 

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 50 grams of cooked borlotti beans
• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
• 2 scallops
• 2 cleaned baby squid
• 3 tiger prawns
• 25 grams butter
• 1/4 sliced red onion
• Small bunch rocket leaves

 

To garnish

• lemon wedge
• 4 cherry tomatoes

 

Method

Melt the butter in a pan and add garlic, cook over a gentle heat for 1 minute.

Add prawns, squid and scallops. Turn seafood for approx 2 minutes until almost cooked and season

Add the beans and cook for a further minute.

Serve on a plate, topped with rocket leaves mixed with thinly sliced red onion.

Serve garnished with a lemon wedge and several halves of cherry tomatoes.

 

Well, that's all folks - it seems summer has slinked over without even a whisper. We've had glimmers of hope in the last few weeks but I'm rather resigned to the fact that we've had the last of the barbecues (although last year I had one in September). This weather just seems to call for bangers and mash, toad in the hole, roast Sunday lunches and warming bowls of soup.

This soup is a perfect example of one that you could change depending on the weather. Ideally it is served at room temperature as a summer soup, but if the day is dull and you need cheering up, feel free to serve it warmed through.

The recipe comes from one of my favourite pubs, The Old Bear, sister to The Albion in Islington, which does one of the best Sunday lunches around.

Carrot soup with toasted hazelnuts and pink grapefruit
Buy the best carrots you can for this, preferably organic - they are the star of the show

Ingredients (Serves 2)

• 500g organic carrots
• 100g unsalted butter
• 1 star anise
• 5g salt
• 1 peeled clove of garlic
• 500ml water

Garnish

• ½ pink grapefruit
• 10g hazelnuts
• 30ml groundnut oil or vegetable oil
• 10g pitted green olives
• 5 leaves of tarragon chopped
• 5 leaves of coriander chopped or coriander microcress

Method

Peel the carrots. Slice them into even sized pieces. Heat a pan and add the butter and when it starts to bubble add the carrots, garlic, star anise and salt. Place a lid on the pan and allow the carrots to soften.
 
When they begin to soften, add the water and bring it up to the boil; simmer until the carrots are completely cooked.
   
Remove the star anise. Take the carrots and the liquid and place in a blender, taking care not to fill it too much. Blitz the soup until smooth. Remove from the jug and allow to cool.
   
For the garnish, warm the groundnut oil in a pan over a medium heat and toast the hazels until they go golden. Tip them out on to a plate to cool down and reserve the oil. Once the nuts are cold take a rolling pin and hit each nut once just to crush it a little bit.
Cut each olive in 8 pieces. Skin the grapefruit and remove four segments. Dice into five pieces.
    
Serve the soup at room temperature. Pour into a bowl and top with the garnishes; finish by adding the herbs and a little of the oil you kept from the hazelnuts.   

The blondie is the delicious opposite of the brownie - as opposed to the dark chocolate treat which is seemingly a more adult affair, this is for those with a sweet tooth and an affection for rich, decadent puddings.

For me, both have their upsides. Well, I can't think of downsides for either but I guess they both suit certain moods. A brownie for when I'm feeling grown up, a blondie for the kid in me.

This recipe comes from my good friend Lara who runs an underground restaurant - all the rage these days - in South West London, Sheen Suppers (for bookings email sheensuppers@googlemail.com).

There are a few of these places around town and indeed the globe now - the premise being that an amateur chef invites a group of friends, acquaintances and strangers over to pay for a sit down meal in their house. And if this pudding is anything to go by, it'd be worth trying to find one in your area!

The recipe makes about 16-18 small blondies or 12 large ones. A tin 18cm x 32cm is ideal, or a square of similar dimensions.
 
For the blondies

• 300g good quality white chocolate, chopped into very small bits
• 150g unsalted butter, cubed
• 1 level tbsp of grated fresh ginger - microplane grated is best (no fibres)
• 1 vanilla pod
• 300g soft brown sugar
• 3 medium eggs
• 175g plain flour

Ginger Cream

• 1pt double cream
• 4tbsp golden syrup
• 1 lvl tbsp ground ginger

Method

Pre-heat your oven to 180°C.
 
In a large bowl, beat together eggs, sugar and vanilla pod scrapings.

Melt together 200g of the choc and butter on a low heat in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Cool for 5 minutes so you don't scramble the eggs and add to the egg/sugar mixture.

When well mixed, add the flour - don't beat the life out of it but do carefully make sure it's properly mixed.

Mix in the ginger and taste. It should be there but should not overpower the fudgy flavour of the chocolate.

Stir in remaining chocolate bits and pour into the tray (they need to be small so they melt quickly and don't sink). Tap the tin a couple of times to get rid of big bubbles.

Cook for 35 minutes, testing at 30. They are ready when an inserted skewer comes out cleanish - some stickiness is fine and in fact, desired.
 
For the ginger cream, combine ingredients and whip to desired thickness.

Serve the brownies either warm or cool - you may find it easier to cut them once cooled though - with a dollop of cream on top.

Peanut butter is a great ingredient - both delicious and versatile. It's one of those things that I sometimes forget about and find a jar lurking in the back of the fridge. I'm not a fussy one either - I'm just as happy with Sunpat as I am with the premium organic varieties, although it must be the crunchy one though.
I'm a big fan of the American classic PBJ - the combination of peanut butter and jam on buttered toast is a thing of greatness.  Peanut butter is the key addition alongside chocolate in my peanut butter brownie cookies.
 
They use it in the Victoria kitchen to make a fantastic ice cream - peanut butter is mixed into the traditional custard base and served on a devilishly dark cookie.

A chocolate and peanut butter milkshake is one of my guilty pleasures.

Peanut butter does make a great savoury ingredient too - and it was as a last minute addition to the classic South East Asian salad dressing of lime juice, chilli, fish sauce and palm sugar that it now comes before you.

A very large pestle and mortar are ideal here, but a whisk and bowl would work equally well.  Feel free to replace the beef with grilled chicken or even fish.

Thai beef salad with peanut dressing

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 2 sirloin or fillet steaks weighing approx 200g each
• 4 tomatoes or 8 cherry tomatoes
• ½ a cucumber
• 1 red onion or 10 thai pink shallots
• A couple of handfuls of bean sprouts
• Handful of chopped coriander
• Handful of chopped mint
• 1 tsp ground rice (method below)

For the dressing

• 2 tbs palm sugar
• 2 tbs fish sauce
• 1-2 bird's eye chillis
• Juice of 2 limes
• 4 tbs peanut butter

Method

First make the ground rice. This is traditionally done with sticky rice but feel free to use basmati. Toast the uncooked rice in a frying pan over a medium heat for a few minutes until golden brown. Crush in a pestle and mortar or spice grinder until you have a fairly fine powder. Set aside.

Cook the steaks on a griddle to your liking - I'd suggest medium rare for this recipe.
To make the dressing, crush the chillies in a pestle and mortar. Use one if you don't like it too hot. Add the rest of the dressing ingredients and gentle bash it together. It will look like it won't come together but then suddenly it will. Taste the dressing as it may need more fish sauce or lime juice.

Quarter the tomatoes, seed and dice the cucumber, finely slice the red onion and mix together with the bean sprouts and the herbs. Add half the dressing and toss to coat. Place the salad on a plate and then slice the steak and put this on top of the salad. Drizzle with the remaining dressing, scatter over the ground rice and serve.