1. Rice is filling, healthy and delicious and is a traditional side dish in almost all oriental dishes.. 2. If you can find THAI JASMINE OR THAI FRAGRANT RICE the better..unfortunately not all shops have it in store, alternatively, you can use the more common BASMATI RICE..why? Because these 2 varieties have a distinct aroma (as the name implies, it is indeed fragrant) and in cooking you have to satisfy the 3 senses..smell, sight and taste.. 3. If you have a rice cooker everything is easy .. ratio is usually 1:1, 1 cup of rice to 1 cup of water , press cook and voila! perfect steamed rice everytime! But of course we dont have it! We are students, we are skint duh!:) 4. So..using a traditional pan with lid (I know mismatched socks are cooooolll but mismatched pan and lid are soooo not! naggy? little bit yeah!) a. Measure the right amount of rice and water (1:1) b. Bring to boil c. Take off the lid (careful..dont burn your fingers) d. Lower the heat to the lowest possible temperature, when the froth has subsided, put the lid back on. e. Wait 10 mins or so without opening the lid and you get a rice cooker perfect steamed rice! 5. Contrary to the instructions usually found in the packet..where you have to boil rice until soft, use a colander to throw away the water, this method is traditionally done in most Oriental countries..sure a bit more complicated but I believe the logic behind this is to keep in more nutrients as possible (some is in the water that you have thrown away)..and plus you dont have to use a colander!! What do you reckon brilliant young minds? Is there logic in this method or plain old school? Your call..you are the one cooking and most importantly, you will be the one eating xxxxxx

As a rule, I use 1 tablespoon of cornflour to thicken every ½ litre of liquid. I mix the cornflour with a little cold water, and then stir it into the hot food during the final stage of cooking. It must be brought to boiling point before thickening begins. At that point, it usually thickens fairly quickly and the sauce turns from opaque to transparent. However, sauces will thin if cooked too long or boiled too vigorously.

Cabbage and bacon, great with Coq au Vin!

A traditional peasants dish from France. So many people make the mistake of adding tomatoes, to which any respectable French person will scold you for!

The best way to buy vanilla is the little pod, but at around £1.50 each they are only for special occasions! Always try and buy Vanilla EXTRACT as opposed to vanilla ESSENCE. Extract may cost a little more but it’s the real deal as 'essence' is just a bunch of chemicals made to taste of vanilla.

Here’s a few to get you started! Baby spinach and goats cheese, tomato and cheddar, mushroom and blue cheese…...

Ham hocks are really cheap at around £1.50 each, but may require a trip to the butcher as you probably won’t find them in the supermarket! By cooking the meat this way the end result is tender meat that falls from the bone.

You could try other nuts like almonds, macadamia, Brazil or why not a mix of them all!

One from the first day at catering collage! They taste great, warmed with a scoop vanilla ice cream!

By flattening the chicken, you decrease the time needed to cook. A quick and easy BBQ treat!