We are in a period of uncertainty, that much is certain. However, with every change there comes opportunity, and right now that opportunity is to evolve your cooking skills and try new things.
Now you would be forgiven for thinking that cooking good food and meals takes a long time, but our Executive Chef Dave Ashton (@chefdave14 on Instagram) shares his tips for cooking while working, or isolating, from home. It needn’t mean constantly slaving over a hot stove, cooking smart can help dramatically reduce your time.
Breakfast
Arguably the most important meal of the day, trying your hand at poached eggs at home for the first time? Use our simple tricks:
- Add white wine vinegar to your water to make sure your eggs don’t stick to the bottom of the pan
- The trick is to use a big sized pan, the bigger the better. More room for your eggs to breathe.
- Keep the water moving, but you don’t need to create a whirlpool.
Lunch
A winning meal to break up your day, sometimes Lunch is a meal which many of us take for granted, usually by grabbing a quick snack and getting back to work, but it is important to let your food digest properly, utilising leftovers from the day before is a no-nonsense way to ensure you are getting the required nutrients:
- Cut your cooking times in half by making a dish which can be used for lunch and dinners on various days, a perfect option for this is chicken tikka, use it for a salad and then cook rice as an accompaniment to dinner.
- Chicken Tikka can be made using any cut of the chicken that you want and marinated overnight, usually utilising the spices that most of us have in our cupboards ordinarily, allowing you to tailor the spice level to suit your taste buds.
- Make sure that if you are working from home during your isolation that you are taking this time away from your work station to help break up the day, sit on your balcony or in the garden whilst enjoying your meal to help get your creative juices flowing.
Dinner
A dinner to make you smile, be stress-free and eat with glee:
- Utilise our tip of preparing the main part of your meal for lunch and dinner, leftovers are the perfect surprise when you’re feeling de-motivated to start making a fresh dish. If you have children this is the perfect tip for stopping them from snacking on everything unhealthy in sight, you can quickly work out whether a child is actually hungry or bored when the choice is between eating a packet of crisps or a bowl of Spaghetti Bolognese.
- This is the perfect time to move out of your comfort zone, if the meat you wanted isn’t in the shop, do not despair! Why not pick a different poultry item, or better yet why not try the meal without the meat, you might enjoy it all the same!
- And finally, if you’re all out of leftovers then why not ring one of your local restaurants and see if they have introduced a delivery service, supporting local businesses right now can make a world of difference.