Serves 4 Thai curries are amazingly simple and quick to cook; they taste fantastic, the coconut milk makes it creamy, sweet and very aromatic. So much of Thai food involves cooking with pastes. Pastes are normal ground up herbs, chillies, ginger, they contain so many flavours, and a good paste makes everything else si...

Serves 4 Tiramisu is one of Italy’s most famous desserts, coffee cream and a little splash of alcohol, usually amaretto, make tiramisu a very luxurious dessert full of rich flavours. Tiramisu translates as pick me up and what a wonderful pick me up it is, so if you need a little lift after a hard day’s wor...

Serves 4 Semifreddos are classic Italian deserts. A semifreddo is any type of half frozen Italian dessert, ice cream cake, semi-frozen yoghurt or gelato. This recipe is for a wonderfully delicious creamy amaretto and nougat flavoured semifreddo, but for those of you who aren’t amaretto fans, rum taste great too,...

Serves 6 Freshly made coffee fills the air with a wonderful deep rich smell that wafts gently through every room. Coffee is a wonderful start to the day, so for the perfect end to a day, that you deserve I suggest a coffee cheesecake. Coffee adds a touch of sophistication and lots of indulgences to an already delicio...

Serves 6 Pecan pie was first created by the French in New Orleans. It is a traditional American recipe cooked for Thanksgiving Day dinner; it is a warm comforting dessert to enjoy with family and friends. This great recipe is perfect for any family occasion it is sweet, gooey, delicious and full of tasty pecan nuts....

Serves 8 Mint choc chip is a childhood favourite, wonderful green minty ice cream filled with chocolate chips. Mint, chocolate and cream goes beautifully, so embrace these delicious flavours and make the most of them in a slightly more grown up way, mint choc chip cheesecake. A very yummy cake that the whole family co...

Serves 6-8 Raspberry Pavlova looks beautiful as well as tastes beautiful, and is a really simple dessert with very few ingredients. If you are rushed off your feet with party planning and want a spectacular final course that looks stunning, then look no further, Raspberry Pavlova is perfect.  The red of the raspb...

Serves 8  Strawberry meringue roulade is perfect for summer when there are lots of strawberries in season; after all English strawberries taste the best. Crisp meringues with juicy strawberries and cream go perfectly. Meringue roulade is an impressive looking desert, perfect for a relaxed dinner party outside, wi...

Serves 2 Chocolate fondant is a delicious chocolate dessert; it is heaven for any chocolate lover. The centre is gooey, runny chocolate, surrounded by a soft moist chocolate sponge. So next time the kids are out of the house and you have sometime alone, enjoy a romantic evening with a perfect chocolaty dessert and a g...

Serves 4 There are so many varieties of pancakes; most countries have their own traditional pancake. All equally as tasty and I very much advise trying to eat as many types of pancakes as possible. This banana pancake is a good start, for fans of banana bread, this pancake could quite easily become a pancake favourite...

Makes 50 small macarons French macarons are little dooms of cream filled meringues. Paris’s famous patisserie Ladurees is world renowned because of these delightful little round cakes, Ladurees is the height of sophistication and luxury. Macarons line the windows of patisseries all over Paris, they are stacked i...

Makes 12 Fluffy, long, thin pastries filled with fresh cream and topped with a soft delicious chocolate frosting. Eclairs are made from choux pastry, which is also used to make profiteroles and crullers. Éclairs as well as all other cream cakes are perfect with a cup of tea in your garden in the afternoon. Ec...

Serves 2 A quick easy roast dinner perfect for two. If you don’t have much time on your hands and want to cook to impress, honey glazed chicken is simple and delicious, so it is hard to go wrong. The soy sauce and honey soaks into the chicken, keeping it moist and tender while the honey glaze makes the skin cri...

Serves 2 A little squeeze of lemon can turn a meal from alright to amazing. Lemons can enhance all the flavours of a dish as well as add their own tangy flavour. Baked honey and sesame glazed chicken with a tangy sticky lemon sauce is a wonderful dinner for two. No one need know how simple this meal is to make. The s...

Serves 4 Ratatouille is a traditional French dish of roasted vegetables; this beautiful dish is full of fantastic colours it is a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach. Ratatouille has a wonderful sweet, rich, full flavour. A mix of garlic, onions, peppers, courgettes and aubergines roasted in olive oil. The tende...

Serves 4 This Chinese take-away classic is very fast food, even when cooked at home, and great for using up leftovers. If you have any rice from the day before great, fried rice is best when cooked with cold leftover rice straight from the fridge, and feel free to alter the recipe, sliced up left over sausages work we...

Serves 4 Pasta, spinach and ham in a luxury creamy white wine sauce. This delicious pasta dish is quick and easy but full of fantastic flavours; the spinach adds a wonderful texture to the sauce and the ham works beautifully with the cream.  If you are cooking for one, or rushed off your feet there is no excuse ...

Serves 4 Pasta alla carbonara, is a delicious Italian pasta dish, however the version we have here in England isn’t very authentic, a true Italian recipe has no cream and is very delicious. However cream adds a touch of luxury, goes perfectly with bacon and makes the sauce wonderfully smooth. Pasta carbonara i...

Serves 4 Toad in the hole is a British classic; you can’t go wrong with sausages in Yorkshire pudding. Sausages are good, tasty, hearty food and Yorkshire pudding is almost certainly the best part of a Sunday roast. Serve up with vegetables and mash potatoes and you have a great, easy, midweek meal, which your w...

Serves 6 Ribs always taste amazing, unfortunately many of us are never quite sure if we should order sticky BBQ ribs in a restaurant, it is far too messy but tastes so good. The question of how you should eat ribs in a restaurant, in front of people you don’t know, lingers over your choice. Do you risk getting s...