Get a top grade in gastronomy with a little help on those tricky challenges from our favourite culinary experts...

Marco Pierre White
Grill a steak

Tip: Start with a great cut of meat

• Invest in good kitchenware – big chopping boards, sharp knives and good quality pans.
• A George Foreman grill is a great thing to have at home. You can just throw a piece of steak onto it – perfect for the average person or amateur cook.
• Know your steak. Rib-eyes require a higher heat than fillets, for example.
• Never season your steak before you cook it.
• Cook it for six minutes – three minutes on each side. This will give you a medium-rare steak.
• Allow the steak to rest for 5-10 minutes.
• Serve it with whatever you want. I believe if you want a bit of HP sauce with your steak, you should have it. It’s your choice.

Check out ‘Cooking with Marco Pierre White’ on www.youtube.com.

Delia Smith
Butterfly a prawn

Tip: Larger prawns are easier to devein

• Pull off the heads and legs of the prawns with your fingers.  
• Peel away the shells, which should come away very easily. Leaving the tails attached makes them look prettier.  
• To butterfly and ‘devein’ the prawns, turn each one on its back and, with the point of a sharp knife, make a cut down the centre of each prawn, but do not cut through.
• Ease the prawn open with your thumb like a book, and remove the brownish-black thread, scraping it away with the point of the knife. Although it’s not harmful to eat this intestinal tract, it can be a bit gritty and the prawn looks better without it, so it’s worth taking the time to remove.
• Rinse the prawns and pat them dry with kitchen paper.

Go to www.deliaonline.com.

Nigella Lawson
Stop a cake from sinking

Tip: Avoid opening the oven door early to sneak a peek

• Most cakes will sink back slightly as they cool but if the cake is sinking dramatically on cooling and leaving a crater in the centre of the cake, there are two likely causes.
• The first is that the cake isn’t fully baked in the centre. As the middle hasn’t set properly, it collapses as the cake cools.
• When checking to see if a cake is properly done, carefully and lightly press the top of the cake. It should feel firm to
• the touch and not squashy. Next, insert a skewer, cake tester, cocktail stick or the tip of a thin knife into the centre of the cake. When you pull it out, it should be clean.
• The other possibility is there may be too much leavening (baking powder or bicarbonate of soda) in the cake, causing it to rise too much in the oven. This stretches the glutens in the flour too far and they can’t hold as the warm air trapped inside them cools down.
• Measure out baking powder and bicarbonate of soda with proper kitchen measuring spoons, and make sure the spoonfuls are level.

Go to www.nigella.com.

Gary Rhodes
Poach an egg

Tip: If the eggs are not fresh, add vinegar to the water

• Use a deep saucepan.
• Crack the eggs into cups and whisk the simmering water vigourously in a circular motion.
• Pour each egg into the middle of the spinning water to pull and set the white around the yolk, and poach for 3 minutes until the white of the egg has set but the yolk still has a soft, runny and warm consistency.
• Carefully lift the eggs out with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.

Go to www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/368813/Gary-Rhodes--perfect-poached-eggs.

Jamie Oliver
Make the perfect Yorkshire pudding

Tip: Resting the batter in the fridge improves flavour

• Pre-heat your oven to 230°C/Gas 8.
• Mix together 285ml milk, 115g all-purpose flour, a pinch of salt and three eggs. Let the batter rest for 10 minutes.
• Pre-heat a Yorkshire pudding tray or muffin tin with 1cm vegetable oil in each section.
• After 10 minutes in the oven, divide the batter between the sections of the tray.
• Cook in the oven for 15-20 minutes until crisp and puffy. Don’t open the oven door before then or the Yorkshire puddings won’t rise properly.

Go to www.jamieoliver.com.

John Torode
Joint a bird

Tip: Use your sharpest knife for easy cutting

• Place the bird, breast up, on a board. Pull one wing out and slice through the joint halfway down the wing. Repeat on the other side.
• Take each leg and remove the knuckle by cutting clean through the joint. Take a leg in each hand. Pull them away from the bird so they stretch out. Use a knife to cut the skin.
• Pinch the skin together at the cavity end. Make a cut above the pinch but beneath the point of the breastbone. Follow the breast line to meet the cut you made above the leg. Repeat on the other side.
• Hold the breast firmly from above with one hand. Pick the chicken up and rest it back on the wings and with the other hand, pull the legs down, snapping the backbone. You now have a crown plus legs and thighs attached to the backbone.
• Sit the crown so the wing joints face you. Cut the flesh and remove the wishbone. Run the knife along the bone, helping the breast to fall off. Once off, hold it with the wing down and cut through the wing joint. Repeat on the other side.

Recipe from John Torode’s Chicken And Other Birds (£20, Quadrille Publishing).

Anjum Anand
Cook perfect rice

Tip: The longer you soak the rice, the quicker it cooks

• Rinse 200g basmati rice in several washes of water until the water runs clear.
• Soak the rice in fresh, cold water for 30 minutes.
• Drain and tip into a thick-bottomed pan, to ensure the rice is evenly cooked. Add water and bring to a good boil.
• Add ½tsp lemon juice (optional) and stir thoroughly.
• Cover the pan tightly, turn the heat right down and cook for 7-8 minutes. Check after 7 minutes – the grains should be cooked but, if not, cover and test after another minute.
• Allow any excess moisture to evaporate from the pan for 5 minutes, then fluff up with a fork. Serve.

Go to www.bbc.co.uk/food/chefs/anjum_anand.

 Images: Getty