Prepare ahead - most professional chefs would do this...

If dishes can be prepared in advance, do this to save time on the day; most can safely be kept in the fridge for 24 hours.

Try not to be over elaborate, simple is not dull!

Use different cooking processes for the dishes you are preparing, as you can often run out of space to cook items if they all use the same part of the cooker!

Make sure you have the correct tools for the job - no professional chef would ever use a blunt knife or use a pan that was too small to allow the ingredients to cook evenly!

Choose the best ingredients you can find.

Use fresh ingredients whenever possible, the flavours will be more pronounced in your final dish.

Be selective when shopping for ingredients - it can make all the difference to your finished meal. For example using virgin olive oil, as opposed to blended olive oil, gives a far better flavour for many dishes.

Be adventurous! New, exciting ingredients from around the world are arriving in our shops all the time - don't be shy in getting to know how these ingredients can give a delicious new twist to your favourite recipes - or even lead you to experiment with exciting dishes from whole new culinary traditions - go on, tickle your taste buds!

If your recipe needs herbs, you can now buy delicious fresh herbs - if you have any left over, just chop them finely, place into the compartments of an ice cube tray & top up with water - next time you cook you'll have instant portions of herbs!

Cooking to perfection!
Pre-heating it key to successful cooking! Always pre-heat your oven - many people don't realise it can take up to 20 minutes for your oven to get up to the temperature to which you have set it! Equally any frying pan should be thoroughly heated before you seal meat in it.

When frying, grilling or griddling meat, season before cooking with pepper and olive oil, but add salt after cooking as it can make the meat tough during cooking.

Joints of meat should be rolled and tied neatly - make sure not to pierce the joint, as this will cause loss of moisture through cooking.

Heating your plates before serving, can make all the difference to the enjoyment of the meal!

Enjoy yourself!

Eating great food is one of life's pleasures & cooking it can be just as much fun - so just relax & enjoy yourself!!