Go man, go.

I've been using a butternut squash as a doorstop for the past month now. The thought of peeling it is filling me with such a sense of ennui that I just stare at it existentially as it allows the breeze to pass through the kitchen, wafting a sense of unfulfilled potential with it.The temperatures the past week have been hotter than Lahore; possibly. And when the summer sun gets that hot in London, when we actually have to stop moaning that we never get decent summers anymore and the entire city is caught by surprise, as if we have never seen such weather, everything slows down to a glacier's progress. But for the icy chill that would bring.Still, never fear, Wimbledon is here and that means two weeks of solid rain. We can return to grumbling and complaining about the wet. It somehow seems more English. We just can't cope with anything outside the medium can we?But on those brief weeks when the sun shines, when people decide it's ok to walk half naked down the high street or blind innocent children with their pasty white legs and we need to spend most of our days in the supermarket because it's air conditioned, here is a cooling and indecently tasty snack that should cheer you up no end.My friend Anne tipped me off that Hassan in the shop round the corner was keeping boxes of Pakistani mangoes out the back for his 'special' customers. I made it that day's work to become one of them."They're expensive." he half whispered at me."How much?""four... pounds..." pause "a... box."After I had convinced him that I was prepared to stretch to meet his extortionate demands he quietly slipped out of sight. I stood on the pavement, like I was up to no good. He returned, box in hand and the deal was done. He slipped back into the shadows and I returned to my kitchen.If you can get hold of them, Pakistani and alphonse mangoes are the best. Once you've tasted them there really is no alternative. They are juicy and sweet beyond belief. Almost dirty in how good they taste. They may look a little wrinkly and past their best, but that is when they are at their best. Try them this way and I hope you'll be hooked enough to stand on street corners trying to score your hit.Ingredients1 mango per person.Zest and juice of half a lime per person.A pinch of chilli powder or sliced chillies, depending on how you like your spice. A pinch of chilli flakes is also good.MethodSlice the mango or squeeze it into a pulp in a glass. This is probably easier when they're as ripe as the ones I had, and it also makes it look fairly elegant, like a little dessert.Dress it with a good squeeze of lime juice, a pinch of zest and as much chilli as you like and find a quiet place to eat it.

Meringue, M'Lord?

Although I firmly believe sugar to be the devil, I will occasionally find myself face down in a cake or suchlike. And when I say occasionally, I probably mean more like once a week. Or twice if you count the new 'tradition' I've invented of sharing an entire tub of Magnum almond ice cream with Bee while watching Antiques Roadshow on Sunday evening. That is how we roll round these parts.And yesterday, all I had to eat was two slices of homemade sourdough with a couple of eggs and sliced ham topped with herb salt and pickled sliced cucumber, so today, a little sugar is hardly the end of the world. And really, meringues are mainly air, so I count this as breathing.I first made came up with this recipe on a recent shoot and we eat them with strawberries, a little lemon thyme and a lot of gentle noises, which to the outsider could have sounded pretty rude. Hazelnuts, toasted and sprinkled through and on top of the crisp meringues gently giving way in the mouth to a soft, chewy interior with the sweet and sharp fruitiness of proper balsamic is pretty much the actual best. And it's so easy to make; as long as your equipment is clean, you can almost let the machines do all the work. And sometimes, there's nothing wrong with making life a little easier, especially when the result is quicker and better.Ingredients3 egg whites120g icing sugar60g golden caster sugarGood quality balsamic vinegarA handful of chopped hazelnutsA handful of chopped pistachiosMethodClean your mixers bowl and whisk thoroughly before you start and just give the inside of the bowl a rub with half a lemon before drying it with kitchen paper. This will ensure there is no grease inside which will make your meringues mewrongs.Whisk the eggs until they start to form peaks, somewhere between soft and stiff. With the whisk running, add the sugar a tablespoon at a time until, incorporating well before adding the next one. You can make more mixture if you like, just remember the simple 60g of sugar per egg white and use a mix of icing and caster as I've done, or all caster or all icing. Up to you. Golden caster will give you a more caramel colour and flavour though, so choose wisely.Whisk until all the sugar is in and the meringue mixture is shiny, smooth and stiff. Heat the oven to 100c/gas 1.Using a spatula, gently fold in some balsamic vinegar until you have nice ripples through it then shape four beautiful dollops onto a lined baking sheet.Sprinkle with nuts and bake for about two hours, leaving to cool in the oven.Serve with coffee, or as I did, because there wasn't enough sugar going on some melted hazelnut and chocolate sauce. You can make this easily by melting together 2 large teaspoons of gianduja paste (you could use Nutella if you prefer), 1 tsp of honey and 2tsp of butter until smooth. This, however, is entirely optional and may lead to needing a little lie down.

Having a ball

Recently, before Christmas and in the throes of trying to establish a new world record for sugar consumption, I bought a box of gulab jamun from the local supermarket. I've eaten a few Indian sweets before on the mean streets of Tooting: kulfi on a stick, jalebis and so on,  each time suffering an immediate and swift ecstatic rush followed by an instant diabetic death., but these were in a league of their own. They came in a palatial bath of syrup, enough to upset even the most sweet toothed cake lover. Of course, I ate the whole box.So now, as life is slowly groaning back into gear and constantly attempting to violate our cosy January, I am as much as possible off the sugar. This, in part is an attempt to try and regain my Adonis-like figure*, which I seem to have misplaced somewhere in 1994, and also, because sugar is, really, the devil's work. However, we all need a little devil from time to time, so a little treat here and there is necessary to keep up morale.These are my version of the sugar soaked sponge, baked rather than fried and not as soaked in syrup as the original (they also don't have milk powder in them). You'll need a round mini cake sphere mould or a cake pop maker, both of which are pretty cheap and easy to find. If not, you could spoon the mix into mini fairy cake moulds. The children loved making and eating these, and it makes a nice change to the icing clad, mouth clagging fairy cakes they usually want and then give up on halfway through.I used a bought caramel sauce that I had leftover from a job, but feel free to make your own, it's not hard.*not even remotely Adonis-like, more just a lot slimmer than I am now.Ingredients100g butter100g golden caster sugar100g plain flour1tsp baking powder1 egg1tsp cinnamon powder1/2tsp ground cloves1/2tsp ground cardammonA small handful of chopped pistachio nutsSome dried rose petalsA little gold leaf and edible glitter if you fancyFor the syrup50g golden caster sugar1tbsp waterA few saffron strands2tsp ground cinnamonMethodHeat the oven to 180c or turn on the machine and preheat it.Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, then beat in the egg until smooth.Mix together the flour, spices and baking powder and add a little at a time to the butter mix, beating until smooth.Fill the moulds and bake for about seven minutes, until golden. Leave to cool a little.Make the syrup by bringing the sugar, cinnamon powder and water gently to the boil and then reducing it until syrupy, about five minutes.Pile the cake balls onto a plate, pour over the syrup and caramel sauce then sprinkle over the nuts, petals and gold. Serve slightly warm with coffee, or Thums Up! coke if you want a real rush, uncontrollable children and no teeth left. 

Strawberries in red wine: a French classic

Madame Suzy Ghirlando, my Great Aunt, is 95. She lives in a 1960s Paris apartment that she bought new, in which the furniture and wallpaper has probably never changed. I love sitting with her in the narrow galley kitchen drinking red wine, eating cheese, and talking.Contrary to the idea that all French people eat amazingly all of the time, Auntie Suzy’s ‘signature dish’ is spaghetti with butter and cheese. However, she did introduce me to this really easy yet delicious dessert. I’ve added thyme and black pepper to this recipe, but apart from that, it remains unchanged.  Serves:                 4 peoplePrep time:          10 mins, plus marinatingIngredients1 punnet strawberries150ml fresh orange juice150ml red wineA few thyme sprigsA pinch of mustard cress4 tbsp caster sugarA twist of black pepperMethod

1. Hull and slice the strawberries in half and put in a bowl.
2. Sprinkle them with sugar and leave to marinate for 20-25 minutes.
3. Add the orange juice and red wine, stir gently and taste. Add a little sugar if necessary.
4. Leave for a further five minutes and serve with the pepper, cress and thyme.