Master it: How to cook today

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French mustard

Anchovies, salted or in oil

Capers

Dried chillies

Lentils

Chickpeas

Local honey

Chocolate, best quality, 62% and 70% cocoa solids

Dried fruit: prunes, raisins, sultanas and cherries

A pot of raspberry jam

Flour: plain, self-raising, strong white

Small quantities of regularly used whole spices, such as cumin, coriander, cardamom, nutmeg

Ground turmeric

Basmati rice

Risotto rice

Couscous

Olives

Chicken stock (in freezer)

Fish sauce (nam pla)

Parmesan and Cheddar cheese (in the fridge)

Chorizo

The freezer

I find the freezer very useful for preserving certain foods, cutting down on waste and generally as an organisational aid. However, the bigger your freezer is, the more likely you are to have it packed with food that you may not get to use quickly enough. The most important thing to remember when freezing foods is that the sooner you use the food, the better it will taste.

Only freeze food that is in perfect condition.

Freeze foods in suitable containers such as freezer bags. Recycled food containers such as those used for yoghurt or milk can be perfect, providing you have remembered to save the lids.

Freeze foods in small quantities, so that you will not have to defrost more than you need.

Put a clear label listing the food and the date of freezing on each item.

Be careful when defrosting certain raw foods such as chicken and pork to ensure that the food is completely defrosted before cooking. I usually remove chicken and pork from the freezer the evening before use, sit them in the fridge overnight and finish defrosting them at room temperature the next day.

I buy fruit during the local growing season to ensure best quality and value, and freeze it in tightly sealed bags or punnets. Raspberries, loganberries, tayberries and blackberries, black, white and redcurrants freeze well. Cranberries and blueberries are also worth the effort. Bitter Seville oranges for marmalade freeze surprisingly well and after defrosting the rind softens easily during the cooking. This means you don’t have to make all your marmalade for the year during the oranges’ short winter season.

Basil is the only herb I freeze. I freeze a little basil in August to use straight from the freezer later in the year, but only in sauces. The trick with basil is not to remove the container it has been frozen in from the freezer when you are retrieving some for a sauce. If the container is removed from the freezer, the basil defrosts and oxidizes instantly and when refrozen will be bitter, disappointing and a pointless exercise. When carefully handled as suggested, this frozen basil is surprisingly good and is perfect for perking up a winter tomato sauce of tinned, bottled or frozen tomatoes. The basil needs no preparation before freezing. Just make sure the leaves are fresh and unblemished.

Tomatoes are the only vegetable I freeze. Like basil, tomatoes need no preparation before freezing. They should be as ripe as possible, and will when defrosted be suitable only for cooked sauces, soups and purées. Freeze them when at their best and in season. If you have frozen the basil as well as the tomatoes, it is possible to make an excellent preserved tomato sauce during the winter months. This is a prime example of how to use your freezer to maximum effect. You have trapped the summer’s flavours for releasing during the winter. If you achieve this, bravo you.

Firm-textured fish such as salmon, turbot, brill and monkfish freeze well, but only when impeccably fresh. Before freezing, wash the fish well and make sure no trace of blood remains on the flesh or near the bones.

All poultry freezes well, either on the bone or jointed. I occasionally freeze cooked chicken bones to use for stock. That is the only case in which I freeze cooked meat. Poultry should be perfectly fresh and lightly dried with kitchen paper before freezing.

I rarely freeze meat, but if I have to save an ingredient, such as a steak or a few lamb chops, I will wrap it carefully and try to use it as soon as possible after freezing. Minced meat is really not worth freezing and will be dull and watery when defrosted.

Most soups freeze well. I don’t freeze green soups, though, as they lose their colour and delicate flavour. Freeze soups in small tightly sealed containers.

When puff or shortcrust pastry is frozen on the day it is made, it is quite successful. These are the only pastries that I feel are worth freezing. Freeze the pastry, well wrapped, in blocks close to the weight you use for your specific recipes.

I freeze white sourdough bread while still fresh to save it being wasted and then use the defrosted bread for breadcrumbs and pangrattata. The bread can of course be crumbed before freezing. Soda breads do not freeze successfully.

Clearly, freezing is an essential part of the process of making and serving ice creams, sorbets and granitas. Sorbets and granitas need to be used as soon as possible after freezing, ideally within a couple of days, as they become more icy over time and lose flavour quite quickly. Ice creams are more robust, but they too will be better the sooner they are eaten.

All meat, poultry and fish stocks freeze well, as do meat juices left from a roast.

I occasionally freeze nuts if I have overbought. They lose some of their texture as a result of freezing, but the flavour is preserved and they will not go rancid, which is what will happen to them if you store them for too long at room temperature. They are perfectly acceptable for using in pesto, pralines and cakes. Pine nuts, hazelnuts and Brazil nuts are the ones I freeze. I generally buy walnuts in the shell, so the necessity to freeze them does not arise; however, shelled walnuts can be frozen.

Egg whites freeze perfectly and will be wonderful for meringues and soufflés when defrosted. They defrost in an hour. Organised cooks will freeze the whites in ice-cube trays and pop them out individually as needed. Otherwise, drop the defrosted whites on to a scale, allowing 25g per individual white.

Kit (#ulink_33051b75-233d-5681-a993-960caa788219)

You must have equipment that will work. A knife that is not sharp will blunt your enthusiasm. A saucepan that is so light that it would burn water will spoil your food and drive you mad. None of us would go out for a game of football and kick a burst ball around, and so it is in the kitchen – you need the proper bits of kit to make it work properly. Have a look at my suggested list.

Knives

Chopping knife

Flexible filleting knife

Vegetable or fruit knife

Carving knife and fork

Steel, for keeping your knives sharp

Chopping boards

2 heavy wooden chopping boards (use the different sides for specific tasks, i.e. raw meat, cooked foods, fruit and vegetables, and fish)

Small board, for garlic

Measuring

Scales (I find the battery-operated or electric modern scales to be the most accurate)

Measuring jugs (I use heavy Pyrex jugs)

Measuring spoons: teaspoon, dessertspoon and tablespoon

Tools

Wooden spoons, a selection with round and flat bottoms (make sure the handles are not too thin, otherwise they will just swivel in your hand when you are stirring a heavy mixture)

2 flexible heatproof rubber spatulas, 1 small and 1 large

2 fish slices, 1 metal and 1 heavy plastic

Flexible palette knife

Balloon whisk

Sharp vegetable peeler

Microplane grater and protective covering

Stainless steel box grater

Japanese mandoline and safety guard

Set of thin meat skewers

2 stainless steel sieves, 1 large and 1 medium

Large straining colander

Potato masher with a medium fine mesh, or mouli-légumes with 3 different-sized grating discs

Ladles, 1 large and 1 small

2 large stainless steel serving spoons, 1 perforated

Rolling pin

2 pastry brushes

Pots and pans

Heavy-based stainless steel saucepans: at least 1 large, medium and small, with lids (I have some glass saucepan lids that I find really useful)

Small low-sided heavy-based stainless steel saucepan, with lid – this is like a cross between a saucepan and a sauté pan

Medium low-sided heavy-based stainless steel saucepan, with lid

Large and wide low-sided heavy-based stainless steel saucepan, with lid

Casseroles: ideally 1 large, medium and small, with lids

Cast-iron grill pan

Cast-iron frying pan

Heavy-based non-stick frying pan

Bowls

Selection of stainless steel and Pyrex bowls

Selection of plastic bowls

Extra large light stainless steel or plastic bowl for mixing bread and dressing salad leaves

Tins

Heavy-quality, rustproof tins to suit the sizes as specified in your recipes

Heavy-quality baking trays or sheets of various sizes

Machines

Food processor

Food mixer

Hand-held blender

Other essentials

Pestle and mortar

Pepper mill

Baking parchment

Using a Microplane is a really good way to crush garlic to a paste