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.

So it's goodbye summer and hello autumn; and although it's a tragedy waving goodbye to the two warm, long, hazy summer nights we had, I'm really looking forward to the next six months of eating.

Game is about to come into its prime and with it all the flavours that marry so well - autumnal fruits, pears, apples, chestnuts, quinces, parsnips, cabbages, cavolo nero and beetroots.

Dare I even mention Christmas yet? Although I'm already looking forward to that, quite possibly my favourite meal of the year.

Our menu at the restaurant changes now quite significantly with the change in the seasons. Partridge replace pork and earthy, deep soups take the place of light, fresh salads.

We put on things like cock-a-leekie, a perfect example of the warming, flavourful fare we should be devouring at this time of year.

It's a time for crumble, for risotto flavoured with pumpkin and pancetta, for stews and braises. Having said that, the sun will probably come out again tomorrow... 

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.

 

Ricotta is one of those ingredients that needs quite a lot done to it to make it exciting. I personally love the fact that it is rather the blank canvas and perfect for both sweet and savoury. In the restaurant where I work we do a fantastic lemon and ricotta cake, delicious, squishy and sharp.

It can be quite wet, so baking it adds an interesting extra layer of textures and flavours as in this recipe for a late summer salad, full of vibrant herbs to perk you up on a near-Autumnal evening.

The earthy lentils add a wonderful contrast of texture. I wrote a note in the margin of this recipe suggesting that a roasted red pepper cut into strips might make a lovely addition.

Lentil and baked ricotta salad

Ingredients (serves 2 as a light salad)

• 75g lentils
• 200g ricotta
• 4 tomatoes
• 1/2 a red onion
• A handful basil
• A handful mint
• half a small packet of cress

For the dressing

• 1tsp Dijon
• 1 tbs chestnut honey
• 2 tbs white wine vinegar
• 4 tbs olive oil

Method

Cook the lentil in stock or water for 12-15 minutes until cooked but still with bite. Set aside to cool.

Cut the ricotta into ½ cm slices and bake at 180 for 20 minutes until starting to brown.

Quarter the tomatoes, finely slice the red onion and chop the herbs. Mix these all together gently with the cress and season with salt and pepper. Add the cooled lentils and crumble in the cheese.

Whisk the ingredients for the dressing together and pour over the salad. Serve with crusty bread.

It's a joy heading out into the countryside with someone who is in the know. Foraging is as old as the hills and a great learning experience.

On a recent trip out to Gloucestershire a short walk led to a bumper harvest - wild plums, tiny, yellow, red and sweet as anything. Wild damsons with their soft, cloudy deep purple-blue hue and jet black elderberries, shining like tiny jewels. We staggered home laden down with nature's bounty.

Apart from stewing some of the fruit and turning yet more into jams, the name of the game was hedgerow cocktails.

A simple syrup (1 part sugar to 2 parts water, warmed together till the sugar dissolves) was the base for our fruit mixes. These were made with a handful of fruit cooked out in the syrup, blitzed and sieved to produce a richly coloured cordial.

This was poured over ice with vodka and fizzy water to form a fruity, boozy barbecue treat.
So next time you're heading out to the country, keep your eyes peeled or take someone in the know for an out of this world eating experience.

Spain is not a country renowned for its desserts - the buck usually stops at crème catalane, the Spanish version of the French classic crème caramel. Spanish food is so astoundingly good this seems markedly odd, but I guess we'll just have to accept it and satisfy ourselves more often with croquetas and jamon.

Interestingly though, Spanish chefs in this country have turned to desserts to satisfy our English love of all things sweet. This recipe for turrón mousse comes from my great friend Jose Pizarro, head chef at Brindisa in London's famous Borough Market. His book, Seasonal Spanish Food is due out soon and definitely one to look out for.

Turrón is widely available online or in Spanish shops. There are two basic types of turrón (almond candy): turrón de Jijona, or turrón blando, which is so soft it is almost like a paste and it sticks rather deliciously to the roof of one's mouth; and turrón de Alicante or turrón duro, which is hard but brittle. For this recipe, make sure that you buy the best quality - suprema - soft version, which contains a minimum of 60 per cent almonds.


Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 24 golden raisins
• 4 tablespoons PX sweet sherry
• 2 whole free-range eggs, separated
• 4 tablespoons double cream
• 150g soft turrón blando

Method

The day before you want to serve the mousse, put the raisins in a bowl with the PX sherry to marinate overnight. The next day, drain the fruit, reserving the sherry.

Use a food processor to cream together the egg yolks, double cream, sherry and turrón. Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks, then fold into the turrón mixture.

Put 4 raisins each into the bottom of four wine glasses. Divide the mixture between the glasses and chill for a minimum of 6 hours.

Decorate each glass with two raisins and serve with caramelised almonds if you wish.

Seasonal Spanish Food by Jose Pizarro, published by Kyle Cathie, £19.99

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.