How do I make soup creamy without cream?
Six ways to get a silky texture from the ingredients already in the pan, and which suits which soup.
beginner15 min3 min read
Cooking Basics
The handful of things that make everything else easier.
92 guides in Food & Cooking
How do I make yoghurt at home?
How to make yoghurt with no special equipment, why the temperature matters, and how to keep a culture going indefinitely.
beginner10 hr3 min readIs pink lamb safe to eat?
Why whole cuts of lamb follow the same rule as beef, which lamb products do not, and the temperatures for rare, pink and well-done.
beginner8 min3 min readWhat is the difference between simmering and boiling?
What each looks like in the pan, the temperature ranges, and why using the wrong one toughens meat and clouds stock.
beginner5 min3 min readWhat should I do when a recipe is vague or confusing?
Decoding vague instructions like 'season to taste', 'medium heat' and 'until golden' into decisions you can actually make.
beginner10 min2 min readWhy does a recipe always take longer than it says?
Recipe timings assume a professional's pan, hob and preparation. Here is the gap between the page and your kitchen, and how to read a timing so you are not caught out.
beginner7 min4 min readWhy is my rice crunchy or hard in the middle?
Not enough water, a lid that leaks, heat too high, or the lid lifted too often — how to tell which one you have, and how to rescue the pan without turning it to mush.
beginner10 min4 min readHow do I brown butter without burning it?
The four stages butter passes through, what to listen for, and why a light-coloured pan is essential.
beginner10 min3 min readHow do I make gravy granules taste like proper gravy?
What granules actually contain, what they are missing, and the five additions that close most of the gap in under ten minutes.
beginner10 min3 min readWhy is there a green-grey ring around my hard-boiled egg yolk?
The green ring is iron sulphide, formed when an egg is boiled too long. It is harmless, it is entirely preventable, and the same conditions that cause it also cause the sulphur smell.
beginner3 min3 min readHow do I get the fat off a stock or a stew?
The chilling method that lifts it off in one piece, and the three quick methods for when you cannot wait.
beginner10 min3 min readHow do I stop a sauce or custard forming a skin?
The evaporation and protein coagulation that produce a skin, and the three reliable ways to stop it.
beginner5 min3 min readHow do I make clarified butter or ghee?
Removing the water and milk solids so butter stops burning, the difference between clarified butter and ghee, and how long each keeps.
beginner25 min3 min readHow do I cook new potatoes properly?
New potatoes are a different ingredient from maincrop, not a small version of one. How to cook them so the skins stay on, the flesh stays firm and they taste of something.
beginner20 min3 min readHow do I cook asparagus properly?
Where to break the stem, whether to peel, and the four methods with their times — griddling, roasting, boiling and steaming — ranked by what each does to the flavour.
beginner10 min3 min readHow do I cook corn on the cob?
Boiling, griddling, roasting in the husk and the microwave method, with the times for each — plus the salt rule that is worth knowing and the freshness that matters more than any of it.
beginner15 min3 min readHow do I make overnight oats that are not slimy?
The ratio, the oat type and the two additions that change the texture completely — plus why the jar you made on Sunday is inedible by Thursday.
beginner5 min3 min readWhy did my potato salad go dry, claggy or greasy?
The variety, the temperature at which you dress it and the acid step almost nobody does — the three things that separate a good potato salad from a bowl of paste.
beginner15 min3 min readHow do I cook green beans so they stay squeaky?
Fast, hot and salty, then stopped dead. Why the squeak disappears, and how to have bright green beans ready before a meal rather than during it.
beginner10 min3 min readHow do I cook pasta for a pasta salad?
Cold pasta tastes blander and feels firmer than hot pasta, so both the cooking and the dressing have to change. What to do differently, and which shapes actually work.
beginner15 min3 min read
Going deeper: PizzaHQ
Dough hydration and fermentation schedules, flour selection, oven types and bake profiles.