How to get the best flavour into a caprese salad
My top tips for a really delicious caprese: Tomatoes and mozzarella must both be at room temperature. Tomatoes need salt. Season everything generously with…
Crispy fish skin without a non-stick pan
Fish skin sticks to anything that isn’t non-stick. Unless you use this trick: line your pan with baking paper! Season sea bass fillets on…
No buttermilk? Here’s the hack
One to file away in your memory bank. Your recipe needs buttermilk and the shops don’t have any. Stir about a tablespoon of lemon…
Soften raw onions with citrus
Raw onions can be a bit harsh, and as you get older they definitely repeat on you! So at least 20 minutes before you…
Good olive oil: use it or lose it
If you’ve treated yourself to really good cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil, perhaps a bottle brought home from holiday, don’t save it for months…
A game-changing way to cook steak: no shrinkage, no lost juices
Cooking a big piece of steak very slowly in a low oven gives you pink meat all the way through, no rawness and no…
How to poach eggs in advance
Poaching eggs for a crowd at breakfast? Do them the day before, when you’re calm and not panicking. Poach them the way you normally…
Pan sauce tip: always finish with cold butter
When you finish a pan sauce with butter, it must be cold, and there’s science behind it. Cold butter melts more slowly, which lets…
Salmon medallions – a cheffy dinner party trick
This is a really cheffy way to prepare salmon for a dinner party. One side of salmon serves six as a main. Skin the…
How I get runner beans so uniformly thin
Someone asked how I get my runner beans so thinly sliced. The secret is a runner bean stringer! You pull the bean through the…