Learn to cook.
Home made English dishes are so easy and so much better if you know a few principles.
Cooking techniques: the best way to fry, bake, roast, braise etc etc.
Produce: learn the characteristics of produce and the best way to treat them. If you see something with which you are unfamiliar, buy it and try it, you may be surprised. You can always look up a recipe or two on that interweb thing.
Sauces are a must to master, they enhance so many dishes and are easy to learn. Home made brown stock will improve almost any meat sauce and is imperative for gravy. No granules allowed. Use the Italian ‘Holy trinity’, that is onion, celery and carrot chopped very small as the basis for many sauces. Shepard’s pie is twice as good with it. If you can’t be bothered to chop, get a food processor or manual chopping system.
I find cooking both satisfying and maddening in equal measure, but I love it and cook every day.
The internet is awash with recipes, techniques, a mine of information. Utube is good, so is BBC. You’ll soon be expanding your repertoire to Asian, Italian and others.
I wouldn’t claim to be cordon bleu, more a cross between Delia Smith and Jamie Oliver. (The mind boggles) So, LET’s BE HAVING YOU.
PS. Oh, get to know a decent butcher.
PPS Grow some herbs in the garden or in pots on a window sill.I find mint and Basil most useful but Mrs KS grows a wide range. Today I’ll be using mint, chives, and rosemary fresh from our patch.
