Undercover chef tip - Weigh the sides

Undercover Chef Tip – Weigh the Sides for Success

Ever have friends over and you start to serve up the sides and realise that everyone’s plates looks, well a little sparse? How do you avoid this dinner party faux paux? Whilst most recipes give serving size guides, check what they define as a portion size to make sure that you have the same idea …

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backyard party

Hints and tips for dinner party success

Have you ever read a lovely cookbook or foodie magazine and thought, “If Only”. If only I could make that food for friends, if only I could create a lovely table setting, if only if only. Well, what if having a dinner party is easier than you think? About three weeks ago it was my …

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Undercover Chef Tip Potatoes

Undercover Chef Tip – You say potato, i say keep it fresh

Do you ever wonder how restaurants have the time to make mashed potatoes, fries, wedges, frittata’s and all forms of potatoey goodness in one day? Well here’s a little secret. We get the potatoes ready ahead of time. Peeling and cutting them and storing them in water allows potatoes to retain their clean white colour. …

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Undercover chef - Hot plate

Undercover Chef Tip – Keeping food warm

Nothing is worse than creating a nice meal and have it go cold because the weather outside is a bit chilly. So how do you keep your food as warm whilst you eat? Warming plates under a low grill before you put your food on allows the food to stay warm whilst you eat without …

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Undercover Chef Tip – Measuring sticky ingredients

Honey, treacle, golden syrup, glucose….all a bit of a pain to measure out for a recipe without making a sticky mess or losing half of it to the sides of your cups. So how do you make sure you have all your measured ingredients into the mix without fuss? Running the cup or spoon under …

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Undercover chef tip - Cut cheese

Undercover Chef Tip – Cutting the Cheese

Cheese boards are a lovely way to end a meal, especially with a great glass of wine and some crackers. So how do you cut soft cheese neatly and cleanly for a board when it is nice and ripe and oozy? Our good friend dental floss (unscented as minty cheese isn’t a new trend) can …

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A Carpaccio by any other name would be raw beef…

Following my last post of the translations for pasta in Italian, I started looking into food history and origins a little further. One of the anedotes I have heard in passing before is that of the origin of the word Carpaccio. It’s definition is thin slices of raw beef but the word itself does not …

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Food Blogging Inspiration

I’ll admit it, I am a sporadic blogger. Sometimes the ideas just aren’t there. So of course that for me began to beg the question, why write at all? What do you want to say? What would you like to share? When I read something wherein the author shares a glimpse of a truth, a …

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pasta-types

A penne for your thoughts

I’ll admit it, I’m a food nerd. I love learning the background of food names, history and the whys of food preparation. The names of pasta and their meanings has always amused me with their logical translation. More often than not the words are just simple meanings such as snail or butterfly but something about …

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My Top Five Cooking Fails or Anecdotes from In My Kitchen

Have you ever followed a recipe to the t thinking, yes, this will be a winner…then it happens…it falls on the floor, it flops, it burns, its just not right. Yep…me too. Contrary to popular belief I haven’t always executed amazing dishes. Hard to believe I know (tongue is firmly in cheek by the way). …

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undercover-chef-me

Of all the jobs you could choose! Food for thought as to why chefs do what they do

I love reading. Nothing scandalous about that but I can become lost in the words and world printed on a page to the point where reading about food makes my tummy grumble. I was reading the newish Jodi Piccoult book “The Story Teller” which tells the story of a concentration camp survivor, her granddaughter and an …

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A little bit of fun – What do Robots Eat?!

Sometimes I like to take a break from cooking and have fun contemplating what would certain things eat? I mean, if you were a robot what would you eat? Below is my take on it all – enjoy! 🙂 What do robots eat? With a  whiz and a whir, A clank and a stir, I …

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