Here, top chefs tell FEMAIL their tips on how to be a chef in your own kitchen.
COOK UP A CURRY
Masterchef winner Simon Wood told FEMAIL a great way to use stocked up food that’s perishable is to do cook up food with lots of vegetables.
He said: ‘A great way to use up essential food is a curry. We’ve seen lots of bulk buying and I except a lot of homes have a fridge full of vegetables that are going past their best.
‘A great big one pot curry is an easy way to feed all of the family, its freezable and it goes with a lot of store cupboard staples like, rice, chips, jacket potatoes or even my simple four ingredient flatbreads.’
Masterchef winner Simon Wood told FEMAIL a great way to use stocked up food that’s perishable is to do cook up food with lots of vegetables (stock image)
Vivek Singh, the founder of The Cinnamon Club, an upmarket Indian restaurant that’s popular with MPs added: ‘I love tempering onions and tinned tomatoes with cumin, garlic and chilli, then tipping in a can of chickpeas into it to make a flavoursome chickpea curry.
‘The flavour is great and chickpeas are great to bulk up the quantity.’
BE OPEN TO SUBSTITUTES
Simon added: ‘Another way to use up stock is simple snacks like my Zucchini Fritti and my easy aioli. You don’t have to use courgette you can use any veg such as sugarsaps or baby corn.
‘My biggest tip is to work with what you’ve got. If you need to tweak a recipe and leave out a small ingredient then so be it. We shouldn’t venture out just to make a recipe perfect.
Helen Carey, Chef Tutor at Waitrose Cookery School also said being flexible was key.
She said: ‘If you don’t have the exact ingredients for a recipe, think about what the ingredient is offering to the dish and how you can substitute it.
‘For example, if a recipe calls for lemon it is probably needed for its acidity. You could substitute this for white wine vinegar, regular white wine, limes if you have them or even a bit of tomato paste, depending on the recipe.
‘If a recipe calls for anchovies, other options for adding salty umami flavours are; parmesan, cured meats, mushrooms, soy sauce, marmite or even tomato ketchup (yes, really).
BATCH COOK
Simon added that taking your time to cook bigger meals is also a great thing to do in lockdown.
He said: ‘One pot cooking is also a great way to feed the family. Use your perishable ingredients first, meat and vegetables. It’s one pot so uses less gas/electric and you can make a big batch and freeze some down for another day.
‘A big batch of pasta sauce is also easy to make and, again, will make you a large amount of meals. It is freezable, it goes great over a chicken breast or piece of fish.
‘You can reheat some frozen prawns in it and serve with crusty bread or rice.’
Pierre Koffmann, who runs the three-starred La Tante Claire in London, said his go-to meal in potato gratin, which he likes to cook in batches, and then spruce up the dish with flavours.
He revealed: ‘Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been trying my best to cook in batches.
‘For example this past weekend, I made a large potato gratin to go with a piece of meat.
‘For dinner the next day I took a leftover piece, made a hollow in the centre, cracked in a couple of eggs and baked it, simple!
‘You could also add a bit of chopped up bacon or cheese, or whatever you have lying around.
‘Many of us have more time on our hands to cook slightly more complicated things like gratin / dauphinois, and it’s great to be able to reinvent it and stretch it out to the next day.’
KEEP IT SIMPLE
Theo Randall, who runs the Michelin starred River Cafe in London, recommends making soups so you don’t get bored of meals.
He told FEMAIL: ‘Soup is a great way to feed lots of people and very easy to make and serve.
‘Start with celery onion and carrots and cook in olive oil with a pinch of salt for 20 mins. Add some tinned tomatoes white beans and some blanched chopped greens.
‘Cook for 10 mins and purée half and mix together. Serve with a dash of olive oil.’
USE LEFTOVERS
Robin Gill of Darby’s London, who is also a former judge on Masterchef Ireland, said it’s a great idea to whip up leftovers into a new dish.
He told FEMAIL: ‘My French onion soup is a great fix for these times.
‘It uses leftover stock from a Sunday roast and is perfect for using up onions – not to mention it’s very easy to put together.’