30 March - prawn noodle soup

After using up the last of the chilli on a jacket potato for lunch, I fancied something a bit lighter for supper. There was some pak choi in the fridge, so I went for a prawn version of the Asian-inspired noodle soup that I often cook.

• Bring about 500ml vegetable stock to a gentle boil, add some chopped red chilli and a smashed stick of lemongrass.
• Add some raw prawns and simmer until they turn pink, then some chopped pak choi and a sprinkling of fresh coriander.
• Season with a dash of soy sauce, fish sauce and fresh lime juice.
• Served spooned over some cooked noodles.
  
  

It came out with a great zingy flavour - really tasty, but fresh and light too. It must've been good because Tris couldn't resist slurping up the last dribbles in the pan!

18-21 February - Miami

Our Miami culinary experiences were a mix of traditional and trendy. We started to tick off our list of US must-haves by ordering "pastrami on rye" in a deli (Jerry's Famous Deli) - how much meat can you fit between two slices of bread?!

We had lunch at the 11th Street Diner - Caesar salad, potato skins and the best banana milkshakes.

We tried out a bit of Cuban fusion cuisine at YUCA (Young Urban Cuban American); a cool spot with great food. I had pork shanks with mojo sauce and arroz congri (rice with black beans) - really delicious. Then we had a seafood blow-out at Grillfish; fried calamari to start then a huge dish of shrimp scampi (huge prawns) with linguine in a fantastic creamy tomato and garlic sauce. There was a great crabcake salad with sweet potato fries at Serendipity 3 for lunch. And we finished off with sushi at the supercool BondSt Lounge - part of the Townhouse Hotel where we were staying. I'm still not really a convert to sushi, but I did really like the tuna tarts; slivers of raw tuna served on a kind of thin crispy cracker and drizzled with truffle oil.

22 January - not fish pie

We were out again for lunch today, making the most of a bit of brief sunshine at Mud Dock. I was feeling a bit sicky after painkillers for a really sore back, so I didn't really appreciate my scrambled egg with smoked salmon, but it was a still a nice place to hang out on a Sunday lunchtime.

I'd got the ingredients to cook fish pie for supper, but I was feeling too pained and horrible to be bothered with the faff. Instead I used the prawns I'd got to go in the pie with some mushrooms in a simple creamy sauce with linguine. Easy and tasty and a good base for more painkillers.

18 January - prawns in the sun

Today I drove to Marsaxlokk, a picturesque fishing village known for its colourful fishing boats and its seafood restaurants. I went with the recommendation of the flat owner for lunch on the harbourside in the on-off sun at Carrubia. My prawns were very good, if a bit messy, but the accompaniments - a dry salad of lettuce and unripe tomatoes and a pile of frozen veg - went uneaten. It was a great spot to soak up some rays though and wander along the front with my camera snapping away.

As this is my last night here, supper this evening involved using up what was left in the fridge - a sort of tomato bruschetta with mozzarella and the last of the parma ham. I have to say that whilst I have had some memorable meals while I've been here, I am looking forward to getting back to my own kitchen and familiar shops.

17 December - singapore noodles

After a couple of days of eating out, we go for something simple and a bit lighter for dinner with some singapore noodles. Tonight's ingredients include; prawns, spring onions, a red pepper, a handful of mushrooms and some pak choi, along with ginger, chilli, turmeric, oyster sauce, soy sauce and rice vinegar ... oh yes, and the noodles. I find cooking with chilli a constant balancing act and today, I went a bit over-the-top and the heat rather drowned out all the other lovely flavours - d'oh!

3 October - turkish figs and singapore noodles

There are lots of lovely big Turkish figs in the shops at the moment, so it was a favourite for lunch today of figs and goats cheese with a few boiled potatoes on the side.

For dinner I fancied something tasty with lots of veg, so went for a version of Singapore noodles (roughly from Ching-He Huang's Chinese Food Made Easy) - stir-frying the following:

• a blob of grated ginger
• chopped red chilli (homegrown!)
• spring onions
• chestnut mushrooms
• a tsp turmeric
• a sliced leek
• a sliced red pepper
• a few bits of chopped bacon
• large raw prawns
• a few chilli flakes
• cooked noodles
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar

It's a long list of ingredients, but very easy as you just throw them all in a pan and you end up with a yummy bowl of yellowy noodles in a few minutes.

23 August - thai prawn green curry

Another Tuesday and Tris's turn to cook - tonight he did a Thai prawn green curry, with the paste made from scratch. The result was really nice if a bit milder than intended - my fault as I cautioned him to go easy on the chilli.

28 June - Thai green prawn curry with noodles

Tris is working late quite a bit at the moment, so my challenge is to come up with dinners that I can cook and eat at the normal time (before I fade away!), but can then sit happily for him to reheat when he gets in. Last night's pasta worked well and tonight I decided to go for a Thai green curry. The mangetout are growing by the day, so I wanted to include some, but didn't want to overcook them. So I made the curry, adding half of the picked mangetout right at the end. When I served up my half, I fished out all of the cooked mangetout, leaving the remaining uncooked ones in a bowl for Tris to add to the rest when he heated it up. A bit of a palaver, but worth it to appreciate precious home-grown veg at its best!

The recipe I use for the curry is based on one from Nigel Slater's Appetite. When I was buying some of the ingredients for the paste, the girl behind me in the queue commented on what exciting shopping I had. I explained that I was making Thai green curry, to which she exclaimed "What! You make the paste from scratch?!". It's actually really not that difficult, you just bung everything in a blender and I think it tastes so much better than ready-made paste. being a bit of a chilli-wimp, it also means I can control the heat - a bit less chilli, lots of other lovely flavours coming through.

Thai Green Prawn curry
For the paste, blend together:

• two cloves of garlic
• a knob of peeled fresh ginger
• a stick of lemongrass (soft centre bit only)
• some fresh red chilli (I used about 1/3 a big one)
• a big handful of fresh coriander leaves
• a few coriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• a little groundnut oil (1-2 tbsp) - enough to make a paste

1. I fry a few chopped spring onions in a little oil in a big wok-like pan, the add the paste and stir it about a bit.
2. Add about 100ml chicken stock and a tin of coconut milk. Simmer gently for about 5 mins.
3. Add a handful of fresh peas - simmer another 5 mins.
4. Cook the noodles (50g per person) in boiling water (according to the packet) and drain under cold water.
5. Add the prawns and the mangetout to the sauce and cook for just a couple of minutes till the prawns turn pink.
6. Season with a squeeze of fresh lime juice, a pinch of salt, a tsp of Thai fish sauce and some fresh mint leaves.
7. I pile the noodles in a deep bowl and pour over the curry.
8. Eat carefully without flicking the sauce because of the bright yellow turmeric!!

12 June - a hotdog at the airport

A day of travelling today with snatched food; a prawn sandwich in Bergen for lunch, then a hotdog and a beer at the airport while we waited for the flight home. Looking forward to getting back to my own bed and my kitchen too.

10 April - Thai prawn curry

I make variations on several different Thai curry recipes, mostly from Nigel Slater. This one is based on his Thai noodles recipe from Appetite ... but without the noodles!

For the spice paste:
one red chilli
one large clove of garlic
fresh ginger - about the same amount as the garlic
fresh lemongrass - the soft bit in the middle of two stalks
fresh coriander leaves - a good handful
half teaspoon of turmeric
grated lime zest
groundnut oil

shiitake mushrooms
spring onions
raw king prawns
125 ml vegetable stock
coconut milk - most of a tin
lime juice
fish sauce

I chop and whizz all the spice paste ingredients together using a hand blender. Add the spice paste to a hot wok, stir it about and add the chopped shiitake mushrooms and sliced spring onions. Fry for a few minutes adding a little more oil if they look dry.

Next I add the stock and the coconut milk, stir and turn down to a gentle simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Add the prawns and simmer until they turn pink, just a couple of minutes. Then season with a squeeze of lime juice and a few drops of fish sauce.

Today I served it in dishes with plain steamed basmati rice, plus a bit more fresh coriander and a couple of leaves of Thai basil scattered over the top. It didn't come out very spicy this time, perhaps because it was a rather elderly chilli from the bottom of the fridge, but it was wonderfully fragrant and herby nonetheless.