Some thoughts on cooking

Firstly, please don't take offence as the recipes here are really step-by-step - if you know how to cook, please just ignore the bits you already knew. But I have had feedback from children who have managed to cook following the recipes and I think that's well worth other people being a bit annoyed that I show how to chop up an onion...
I really don't want to exclude anyone and if by chance, someone who has never cooked will have a go at one of the recipes, then it was well worth it.

I love cooking - and I love preparing food from fresh ingredients. I admit to the odd slip of frozen pizza twice a year - but apart from that, I do prepare a meal a day - from fresh ingredients. There are some exceptions of tinned / frozen stuff I use:

Spring Greens

Tried and tested

I have also tried all recipes several times and the volumes, weights and cooking times given are accurate and work.

Apart from that, I try to get everything as fresh as I can - so I go food shopping on a daily basis. Not only does that provide the fresh stuff I want, but it also gives me the inspiration on what to cook on the day by looking at the available vegetables & meats.

Full Fat

Full fat yoghurt, milk and cheese - yes please! I don't use any reduced fat products in cooking - the stuff just doesn't taste right. Just eat a bit less.

Feedback and Rating

You can rate each recipe and leave feedback. I will only delete feedback if it contains unacceptable language - otherwise everything is left unmodified as submitted. I do have to take off a fair amount of postings and I find it hard to understand why people leave very insulting remarks - this is just a privately run site to share some recipes, no need to spill your bile here ...

Vegetarians & Vegans

I am not a vegetarian, neither am I a vegan. This site does not list any specifically vegetarian or vegan recipes. I absolutely love the veg boys leaving sour feedback on dishes like Spaghetti Bolognese because it contains meat. If you don't add meat, it's not the dish. Call it what you want, add tofu, but it won't be Bolognese. There are lots of sites for vegetarians, please just go there and don't leave silly feedback.

Religious Zealots

Alcohol has a boiling point of 72 degrees celsius ... that means if you cook the stuff, it evaporates. The only thing left is the taste of the red wine. Especially in my spaghetti bolognese recipe that simmers for 2 hours ;-) Let's calculate the alcohol content here. 2 hours simmering leaves about 5% of the alcohol in the dish. I add 1 glass of wine (0.15 litres), so we started off with 18 grams of alcohol, of which roughly 1 gram remains after simmering. The total mass of the cooked dish is around 1300 grams, so we will have an alcohol content of 0.07%. Fruit juice can have up to 0.1% of alcohol. Here is a link on the subject. If you feel that you still shouldn't use wine in cooking, how about just not adding the wine? This is not a web site for Halal cooking as much as it isn't a web site for vegan cooking. If you feel offended, how about searching google for Halal recipes?

Spaghetti Basil
Salt Spaghetti

Please leave some feedback by rating this page (1=worst 10=best)! If you have a question, please use the Contact Form to ask me directly via email as I will be able to reply to you if you use that.

Rating 8.95/10 with 47 individual rating(s) given. Minimum rating 2, maximum rating 10

Comments:

10I learnt how to cook via this website. The photos and the more 'obvious' bits like chopping onions were very helpful, and now I feel confident cooking less detailed recipes from other sites. Thanks!
10this is like sharing a recipe with an old friend, easy, casual and no pressure, well done! Could the idiots leaving abuse just choose another site?
2I thought you had a very good site. I liked the recipes much. I was just ignoring the pork and wine stuff and still admiring the great recipes. But, then I found a very unacceptable ingredient, calling others zealot when they have differences with you. Then I looked at the page title and I was not surprised to find "Christian" there. I know you guys can go to any extent to malign others to justify torturing them and killing them for money, race & religion. You are just a part of a supremacist, racist, intolerant and bigoted society. Are you guys given no lessons of tolerance, humility and humanity in those giant structures with crosses at the top?
10chicken
10Excellent site! Common sense and cooking go hand in hand.
10Just to clarify - when I say it's not a religious site, I was referring to the people that make the stupid comments, not the site author to whom I am grateful for taking the time to put up the recipes.
10It's a recipe site not a religious site. What is wrong with you? Kids come here for recipes. You don't like a recipe? Move on or adapt it to something you do. No place for religious zealotism here. Hell, the world would be a nicer place all round without religion.
10I just like this approach...if you have negative comments re the ingredients then go to a site that has exactly what YOU want
10This site is great for people with learning difficulties too. Good work
10It just goes to show you can't be too careful.
10ARE YOU ALL FUCKING RACISTS OR SUMTHING.... JUST BECUZ WE MUSLIMS LIKE TO EAT PURE HALAL FOOD U GO BEHIND WATEVER LOL ATLEAST WE DONT EAT FILTHY SHIT LIKE U DOO... SON OF THE BITCHES HALF U ALL DONT EVEN KNOW UR FATHERS WITH THE SOB STORIES OF CHECK THE DNA LOL FUCK U ALL
10great pizza dough - great recipes - I now have the children cooking for me - well done - thanks !
9Your comments are absolutely amazing!!! It's completely true what you say about vegetarian and Halal recipes.. there're tons of sites including every type of weird and extremist cooking... You cook as it really is... With meat, wine , full fat milk, salt and non preservatives... You're amazing.. Cheers!
8I think you should put some details about yourself up on the site, generally people love to know who is guiding them in preparing cuisine extravaganzas...
10I have just made your easy fish pie. I have never made one in my life before. Your photos and instructions were the business! You must rate 11 our of 10 for such a beginner like me (60+) who seems to keep all the chefs in Sainsburys, Tesco, M&S, Waitrose etc, in business. Well done to you, our thanks xxx
10I love this site having found your Homemade Pasta in answer to question. Good comments on Vegetarians etc. I am NOT vegetarian but eat that way about 1/2 the time and get bombarded by extremists who say it should be 100%. Your other recipies will be tried. Does anyone else have an interest in experimental breadmakingNULL I have been making my own for 50 years and try many other national types. Stu (jnpenrosestupart@hotmail.com)
10i love your site ,ive just found it ,will try most of your receipes ,plz add more ,soups would be good ,the piccys are great idea ,im of now to make your fish pie cheers x
10I cook a lot, and I love your site. I think step by step instructions are a great idea as a lot of chefs can be very vague with instructions.
10Hello - just found you and you've inspired me to do something with my new digital camera (whilst cooking I mean) thanks poppet!
10v.good site, I luv the recipes would like to see more. Thx and keep up the good work
10I am not a very experienced cook and I appreciate the way the recipes are spoon fed. A very well thought out site, your efforts are appreciated :O)
10Great site, love the step-step photos. Keep up the good work. - Richard.
10It IS a wonderful site! Curse you bile givers - get back under your rocks!! This is a great place to start, a great place to learn and a great place to find better ways. I, too, have bookmarked it and sent the link to my daughter. Thank you for sharing your recipes with us :)
10What an amazing site! I feel like I've found an online cooking school. Your recipes are wonderfully elegant and seemingly simple. You make me feel like I too can impress my family or even friends! Thank you for all of your efforts!
10hey there. I support people who have learninbg difficulties and I have found your site to be extremely useful for my client range. The step by step pictures make it so easy for them to cook. Thanks!!
10Excellent that someone has taken the time to write these down. Do you cook any Indian food aswell?
10I think you have done a wonderful job! Can't believe people would leave you negative feedback...how sad is that! Keep up the great work, have bookmarked your site!