Six sharp pieces of advice

Whether you’re whipping up a quick dinner for one or throwing a dinner party for 15, here are some simple kitchen tips that will make your life easier.

1)   When cooking with cream, you must always season it very well. Then season it some more. And some more. Cream neutralizes flavours so the key to a delicious cream sauce is plenty of seasoning. (I should stress this doesn’t count for when making puddings..!)

2)   When cooking with a non-stick pan don’t plunge it straight into cold water, although that loud sizzling sound might make you feel like a pro (it’s so satisfying), it actually takes off the ‘non-stick’ from the pan and ruins it.

3)   All eggs must be cooked low and slow. Yes it will make the process slower, but this is necessary for the eggs to cook through without some of them burning.

4)   DO NOT PUT SHARP KNIVES IN THE DISHWASHER. Even my mum gets this one wrong. This is such an important one for me because it will blunt your sharp knives and cooking without sufficient equipment makes everything so much more time consuming and harder.  I know it’s quicker to just throw them in the dishwasher but taking care of your equipment is crucial for a smooth time in the kitchen.

5)   If you leave cream to come to room temperature it will whip up by hand within 20-30 seconds. This is a particularly useful tip if you’re hosting a dinner party and you don’t have time to pre-whip the cream.
6)   Lastly, putting bananas in a fruit bowl will cause the other fruit in the bowl to ripen faster. So if you have some stubborn plums that are refusing to ripen put them in a bag with bananas and that should quicken the process. Otherwise, I would suggest storing your bananas in a separate bowl.

Editor’s note, when not at University Sarah works as a Private chef in Scotland.