Make an impression with burrata and blood orange salad, baked trout with tahini and peppers, and tinned peach tarte tatin topped with ice-cream to finish

What makes a good Valentine’s meal? Something to share, maybe, Lady and the Tramp-style? Or food to eat by hand, signalling informality and ease? For some, it’s a full-on steak and champagne feast, eaten under candlelight, while for others a baked potato eaten on the sofa while wearing PJs does the trick. All good meals are a relationship match of sorts. Some pairings are clearly going to work from the start, while others take a bit longer to persuade, not least because they seem an odd fit: trout and tahini, say, are hardly the most obvious couple but, once tried, they make so much sense. It’s tempting to force the analogies when it comes to food and love, so let’s leave the ingredients to do what they do best.

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A snowy coconut cake and an elegant pear dessert with chocolate sauce and cream

In the American south, coconut cakes are a Christmas tradition. There are myriad variations: some call for fresh coconut, some desiccated, some flaked, some toasted. I love the snowy appeal of a coconut cake in the winter, and it’s a welcome alternative to a rich fruit cake. Poire belle hélène, or poached pears with chocolate sauce, is both elegant and simple, not to mention refreshing after a large meal. These two desserts go surprisingly well together on the table – or even on the same plate.

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Hearty herby butter beans and a frangipane tart add fragrance to an autumn day

A quiet autumn afternoon with fig leaves falling outside the kitchen window and, far away, the scent of a neighbour’s bonfire. A golden autumn day lacking only the smell of a baking cake or tart. I immediately put the omission to rights with an almond frangipane.

A deliberately plain shortcrust, buttery but unsweetened, was rolled out and ushered into a tart tin, then filled with a mixture of almonds, dark chocolate and glossy prunes. It was just as toothsome the following day. A thick slice of tart shared its plate with a mound of ice-cream; vanilla would have been my first choice, but stracciatella was to hand, its gravelly nuggets of chocolate and creamy vanilla producing a marriage with the almonds and prunes that was so, so good.

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This baked French classic tempers the over-the-top sweetness of grapes

I love a grape, but they aren’t the easiest to bake with. They’re too sweet, you see; the sweetness of a batter will too often clash with that of the grapes, and I’m left feeling as if I’ve eaten an entire bag of Jelly Tots . The good news, however, is that, after a lot of trial and error, I’ve come up with something really special in this light yet indulgent grape clafoutis.

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As temperatures begin to fall, comfort and spice warm up the kitchen

I am not yet ready for the slow blip-blip of a simmering casserole or the puttering of a steamed sponge pudding on the hob. Full-on winter cooking can just back off for a few weeks. Yet there is no denying the season is marching on a pace and I find myself needing spicy, smoky notes in my main dishes and a level of comfort-cooking in my desserts that no seasonal fruit alone can offer.

This wet autumn – will it ever stop raining? – has given me a fancy for oily fish, its skin toasted and smoky from time spent under a hot grill. I can rarely resist a shining mackerel on the fishmonger’s ice, but a more sustainable choice, and just as delicious, is herring. The best of this week’s fish dinners (there have been a couple) were those where our catch had been grilled with a mustard and harissa paste, the fish taking on a glossy golden sheen from the dressing in the heat.

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Kufteh, or Iranian meatballs, in an Italian-American red sauce, and a California-style autumn fruit crumble

While I always loved food, it took many experiences to discover my own cooking and incorporate my Californian Iranian upbringing. I crave simple, delicious food, rather than anything overly complicated; I use what some may think is a ridiculous amount of herbs, have more vinegars than oils and prefer fruit-based desserts over chocolate. I want you to love these recipes, but what I really hope is that you take the nuggets of info and techniques, and integrate them into your own cooking routine.

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Take your tastebuds Stateside with these smashed potatoes with ranch dressing, sweet potato pie with whipped cream, and quick biscuits with sausage gravy

From Spain last week to the big old United States this, I think I’m still on some kind of imaginary summer holiday road trip. That’s the power of food, though: it can take you to places that life and logistics prevent you from actually ever getting to. In my mind, then, here are three deliciously dialled-up diner dishes for which I’d turn off any highway.

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Puff pastry is the perfect vessel for showing off the intense fruit in this elegant tart of peaches on a bed of frangipane with a basil-lime glaze

Summer fruit puddings, for me, are all about ratios. I want my tastebuds to be flooded with beautiful fruit first, then chased down with the merest hint of cream, pastry, crumble or whatever. The puff pastry tart boasts the largest surface area of all tarts, so lends itself perfectly to the job, in that you can cover every inch of the pastry with fruit. Stone fruits are best, and peaches are my favourite, especially when layered over a thin cardamom and almond frangipane, as they are in today’s recipe. When the peach roasts down, it tastes like a more intense and concentrated version of itself. Like summer, distilled.

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Pork stew with kimchi and sweet yeasted buns for exotic and unusual Easter treats

I could do with more fridge space. The shelf with yoghurt, skyr and kefir is now cluttered with ferments from kombucha to kimchi. Right now, there are two jars of the latter, a milder “wimp’s” version and a deep rust-red batch so hot your eyes water when you remove the lid. Both get my vote. There are two pots of different sauerkrauts, one fine and very juicy (good for sausages) and another coarse and spotted with juniper berries. There is a bottle of Willy’s drinking vinegar that I dilute with warm water. Refreshing and curiously uplifting, it’s like being woken from a deep slumber by a swift kick in the ribs and I love it.

I find some of the books on fermented foods too complex for my needs. Which is why I leapt upon Of Cabbages and Kimchi by James Read (Particular Books, £22), one of the most user-friendly books out there. I have made his kimchi stew twice now and will again for Easter. Imagine boned pork belly left to bake in a slow oven with Shaoxing wine, honey, miso and ginger, and with kimchi and tofu stirred in. It is hearty, sumptuous and deeply satisfying.

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