KITCHEN ESSENTIALS

For me cooking means simplifying everything as much as humanly possible.  Preparation is an absolute must.  No one can turn out a beautiful meal amidst chaos.  So read your recipe and have all your ingredients to hand. 

When I first began cooking it was all very haphazard and onions which were meant to be sauteed would invariably end up on the wrong side of opaque whilst I searched for spices or prepared additional ingredients, that's why the guys on tv make it look so easy!

There a few gadgets in my kitchen that I turn to on a daily basis and are worth investing in if you plan to be cooking on a regular basis.  For a catering course (many moons ago, which was thwarted by youth and a placement, in which I thought was a fantastic restaurant but brought about my educational demise) I was told to purchase a set of chef's knives.  I still have the same knives today.  All I'll say is that they're older than my kids and are almost as cherished.

While we're on the subject of knives, there's also my mezzaluna.  I swear to God, use this to chop your herbs and chillies and I promise you'll never use a standard knife again!  You could pop them in your mini chopper, but it's so much easier just to grab and clean this.

Garlic is used in such a variety of cuisines, I go through ridiculous amounts of it.  Treat yourself to a decent crusher with removable plate,  again for easy cleaning.  I'm not averse to using Lazy garlic and ginger from time to time but my preference is always fresh.

And to get rid of all those garlicky, fishy and onion odours?  A wee steel egg.  Although to be fair, they can be banished by rubbing your hands over a piece of cutlery or steel utensil under cold water to the same end.

 happy cooking.xxx