| How to Boil a Ham by Michael Sheridan |
| Boiling meat has largely gone out of fashion, mainly I think because a number of the cuts of meat associated with it are no longer all that popular either. One meat that is still traditionally boiled, especially for festivals such as Christmas, is ham and my method for preparing this is as basic as you can get |
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| Seven Essential Things You Need to Know About Eggs by Michael Sheridan |
| Why are eggs so important? Because they appear in just about every type of cooking and if you can handle them successfully you can deal with anything the kitchen throws at you. |
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| How to Sharpen a Knife by Michael Sheridan |
| All chefs who go to a western-style catering college, and most butcher's apprentices, are taught to sharpen their knives by swiping the cutting edge several times on a steel towards the hand that is holding that implement. I used to do it that way as well, many years ago. |
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| How to Choose a Barbecue by Michael Sheridan |
| Barbecues come in a bewildering array of different shapes and sizes, and they all cost money, so it makes sense to sort out which type is best for you before paying for anything |
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| Terrorism: Does it Achieve Anything? by Michael Sheridan |
| It can be argued that there are two separate ways of using terror as a weapon; one is to maintain the status quo and the other is to change something, usually in terms of a political and/or economic regime |
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| Mutton Dressed as Lamb by Michael Sheridan |
| One of the more shady practices of unscrupulous butchers, including those to be found in many supermarkets, is to label young mutton as 'prime lamb' |
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| How To Cook Rice by Michael Sheridan |
| You could spend a small fortune on a rice cooker, or struggle with burnt saucepans and soggy rice, or follow the recipe below and get it right every time |
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| How To Fillet Salmon by Michael Sheridan |
| I learned to fillet fish, including salmon, in a very busy restaurant in Cherbourg, Normandy, where the required rate was something like one whole fish every 10 seconds, including gutting and cleaning |
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| A Chef's Guide To Buying A Barbecue by Michael Sheridan |
| Walk into any store specializing in barbecues for sale and one is immediately faced with an astonishing and bewildering display of different models at widely differing prices How do you choose the one that is right for you |
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| How To Poach Eggs by Michael Sheridan |
| Poaching eggs is a skill that is rapidly disappearing from the kitchens of the world, thanks to those awful patent cookers that produce something with the appearance, and consistency, of a plastic amoeba. |
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| The Cool Cook's Guide to Balsamic Vinegar by Michael Sheridan |
| Balsamic vinegar is the 'wine' of Modena, Italy. It is rich, thick, expensive and marries up beautifully with food such as steak to produce an unusual finish |
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| A Chef's Guide To Buying A Barbecue by Michael Sheridan |
| Walk into any store specializing in barbecues for sale and one is immediately faced with an astonishing and bewildering display of different models at widely differing prices. How do you choose the one that is right for you? |
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| Hoggett Dressed As Lamb by Michael Sheridan |
One of the more shady practices of unscrupulous butchers, including those to be found in many supermarkets, is to present hoggett as 'prime lamb'
It's not just that there is a difference in flavor, succulence and tenderness, there is also a considerable price difference at market as any struggling sheep farmer will tell you |
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| Can Vinegar Really Nuke Heartburn? by Michael Sheridan |
| Can you think of anything more paradoxical? Here you have a burning sensation caused by acid and the suggested remedy is to swallow yet more acid. |
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| Yes You Can Write a Cookbook by Michael Sheridan |
| You don't need to be a top chef to write and publish a cookbook on the internet. You just need the will, some great recipes and the occasional helping hand. |
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| How to Cook a Stockpot Chicken by Michael Sheridan |
| Any hen had a pretty good time of it living in the freedom of our farmyard, the envy of their sisters in batteries and barns. Until, that is, the eggs stopped coming and the speckled hen became the stockpot chicken. |
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| How to Stuff a Chicken by Michael Sheridan |
| Before going into detail on how to stuff a chicken, let's look at why we do it in the first place. It is by no means a universal thing and there's a reason for that. |
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| How to Use Whole Spices by Michael Sheridan |
| Using ground spices may be quick and convenient, but for that special occasion nothing beats whole spice that you grind yourself. Not only will you get a better flavor, you will save money as well |
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| How to Clean a Microwave by Michael Sheridan |
| One of the big advantages a microwave has over a conventional oven is that it is so easy to keep clean, especially if you keep food covered when you cook it |
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| Recipes Are Guides, Not Formulas by Michael Sheridan |
| Judging by the comments in some cookbooks, you would think recipes are chemical formulas to be measured out and carefully mixed. It just ain't so. |
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| How to Roast a Chicken in 30 Minutes by Michael Sheridan |
| Every now and then cooks run out of time and suddenly find themselves under pressure, with a meal looming and a hungry family impatient for their baked chicken dinner. |
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| All About Steak by Michael Sheridan |
| At the last count there were 14 different cuts of steak, many of which have more than one name. So the first job is to list the more popular ones and the appropriate methods of cooking them |
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| Mastering the Tricks of the Trade by Michael Sheridan |
| Every now and then, nightly in some cases, something will happen to test a cook’s mettle. Good ones will rise to the occasion, mediocrity will sink others without trace |
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| Planning the Perfect Party by Michael Sheridan |
| Dinner parties are fun, but they can also be a source of stress and disappointment for the cook. The way to avoid this is through careful planning |
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| Bicarbonate of Soda: The Magic Ingredient? by Michael Sheridan |
| For well over a century professional cooks have known that adding bicarbonate of soda to cooking vegetables enhances their color; greens turn bright green and old carrots look like new |
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