At the age of nine, I started compiling my first recipe book and I haven’t stopped food writing ever since (the photo below shows me looking pretty proud of myself after spending several days developing a recipe for a banana sponge cake).
You might have seen my book Freeze or perhaps some of the Without The Calories series of healthy eating cookbooks. I’ve also co-authored the Fast800 Recipe Books and written many other best-selling titles. I occasionally appear on TV, pop up on the radio regularly and contribute to several online food sites, national magazines and newspapers.
There are some fantastic food books out there, but mine are always aimed at people who are looking for everyday inspiration. I write recipes that fit into normal life, for food that you can cook in the middle of a busy week rather than saving for high days and holidays. It’s often food that the whole family can enjoy together.
I use ingredients that are easy to find and try to write my recipes really clearly, so even the most inexperienced cook will get great results. For me, there is no point creating a book, however beautiful, if nobody cooks from it. My books are practical and packed with recipes and tips, including lots of information on freezing for when you’re cooking for one or two, or need to prepare ahead. All my recipes are created by me and tested by me – with lots of help prepping and tasting from the amazing team in my Test Kitchen!
TV, Websites, Magazines and Newspapers
With a career spanning over 20 years, I have created content for some of the UK’s most popular magazines, newspapers and websites; including BBC Food, BBC Good Food, the Daily Mail, Olive magazine, the Guardian and the Daily Telegraph.
As well as appearing regularly on ITV This Morning, I have coached and consulted on a range of television series and helped celebrity chefs and TV presenters develop recipes for their own projects – important work if they aren’t known for their writing or cooking skills! My TV credits range from BBC 2’s Ready Steady Cook, Masterchef USA, Channel 4 hits such as The F Word and You Are What You Eat to the BBC’s What To Eat Now and Hairy Bikers series; foodie favourites like Clarissa and the King’s Cookbook and Raymond Blanc: How To Cook Well; plus kids’ shows Gastronuts and Matilda and the Ramsay Bunch. My most recent work even took me to the set of the new TV dramatisation of Great Expectations.
