Five techniques to totally transform your cooking.

How to...roast vegetables the right way

Why?

Most vegetables roast well – the exceptions being courgettes and green peppers which go bitter and soggy, cucumber and lettuce (too watery), and podded peas (although the latter are great roasted in the pod to be sucked out like edamame beans).

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Don’t rule out chicory (halved lengthways) and fennel (in wedges) either. Their layers roast to a crisp-edged savoury perfection.

How?

The key is to separate the veg by type, so that you can whisk each out of the oven when perfectly done, and to give them space in the tin.

Cut into roughly even-sized pieces and toss in enough olive oil to coat, plus a fat pinch of salt and crushed garlic if you like (sprigs of rosemary and a scattering of olives also work well with a Mediterranean spread).

Spread out in a tin no more than one piece deep: crowd them and they’ll steam rather than brown. Roast at 200C/Gas 6 for 20 minutes. Stir, then return to the oven for 10 to 20 minutes if they are not cooked through and singed at the edges.

How to...make a crystal-clear, intensely flavoured stock

Why?

Proper stock makes the difference between a good soup (see below) or sauce and a great one, partly because of the flavour it gives, but also because bones add a subtle, lipsmacking gelatinous quality.

How?

Start with vegetables, roughly chopped – a carrot, two onions, some parsley stalks and fennel trimmings if you have them. Smash in a few peppercorns and add a bay leaf, a clove if you like, then chicken, beef or pork bones.

Cover with water and simmer very gently for three hours or more, skimming off any froth or solids that rise to the surface. Leave to cool, strain and chill in the fridge. Lift off any fat, then boil down the liquid to an intense flavour. Store frozen in ice cube trays in the fridge.

Too much faff? Chuck the bones plus water in a slow cooker, and cook on low overnight. Cool, strain and refrigerate: it’ll beat any stock cube.

How to...cook superior pork crackling

Why?

Crisp crackling is one of the great joys of a roast, but when flaccid it’s unforgivably disappointing.

How?

Five factors play into perfect crackling: fat, heat, scoring, salt, and moisture (or lack of it). Choose pork that has a decent amount of fat: it will taste better. Score the skin with a Stanley knife in lines no more than 1cm apart – much more narrow than most supermarkets do.

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Repeat at right angles to make a cross hatch. The cuts should go well into the fat but not reach the pink flesh. Rub in 1 tsp salt (for a 1kg joint; add another ½ tsp for each kg), twisting the meat to open up the cuts so the salt goes well in. Leave to stand for at least 30 minutes, uncovered. With a tea towel, rub away the excess salt.

Blot with kitchen paper then follow your recipe.

How to...avoid dry chicken breasts

Why?

The most popular meat cut of all, but all too often dry and dull.

How?

A simple answer: use chicken thighs instead, as the brown meat stays far more moist. If it has to be breasts, choose them with the skin on. You don’t have to eat it, but it will improve the meat no end.

Three rules: pre-salting the chicken will make it juicier; cutting the meat to an even thickness means it will cook more evenly; beware of cooking too long “just to be on the safe side”. That way dry, dull chicken lies. Use a probe to check it’s reached 74C or make a tiny cut in the middle to check it’s no longer pinkly translucent.

Before cooking, lay the breast skin-side down on a board. With a sharp knife, blade parallel to the board, cut through the breast horizontally at the thickest part (without cutting all the way through). Open the flap out and bash the chicken flat, aiming for an even thickness.

Sprinkle both sides with a pinch of salt and leave to rest for 30 minutes, then wipe dry with kitchen paper. Heat a pan and add 1 tsp butter and 1 tsp oil. Lay the chicken in skin-side down and sizzle gently for three minutes. Turn and cook for another minute on the other side. Leave to rest on a warm plate for five minutes. Eat with a squeeze of lemon and the pan juices.

How to...cook fish with a perfect crisp skin

Why?

A piece of fish with a golden crisp skin (see recipe, right) is a joy – but it is all too easy to leave the skin sadly stuck to the pan.

How?

The skin needs to be dry, so take the fish out of its wrapping and lay on a plate in the fridge, skin-side up, uncovered, for an hour or so before cooking. Failing that, blot well with kitchen paper – and if you are keen, give it a blast with a hair dryer to really chase the moisture away.

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Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan until shimmeringly hot. Don’t use a non-stick pan: non-stick coatings generally can’t tolerate this sort of heat. Sprinkle both sides of the fish with salt and lay skin-side down in the oil. Let it sizzle away, watching as the flesh slowly turns opaque.

When there is just a patch of translucent flesh left in the middle of the fish, slide a fish slice under the skin. Flip the fish over, give it a few seconds on the other side just to cook that last bit.

@mindhunter

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