Articles written by The Cool Cook

What is Helium

About me - The Cool Cook

I'm a retired head chef and a published writer on cooking matters. With over forty years experience of cooking, kitchens and training would-be chefs, I still find myself discovering new things about this most universal of activities. When I do, I like to pass

+ more bio information

RSS Feed

Food & Drink > Food & Drink (Other) Tips for throwing a party: 2 of 30
Dinner parties are fun, but they can also be a source of stress and disappointment for the cook. The way to avoid this is through careful planning.Obviously you will give careful consideration to your guests, their likes, dislikes and even any allergies they may have. But it's just as important to consider your own needs, wha... More..
Health & Fitness > Nutrition & Health Issues Advice for avoiding food poisoning: 1 of 9
Most food poisoning occurs in the home, simply because that's where we spend most of our time and eat most of our food. It's usually not very severe and is often put down as a mild case of 'flu or a tummy bug that's 'going round'. Unfortunately, it's probably going round your kitchen.Prepare Your DefensesThe plain truth is th... More..
Food & Drink > Cookware & Cutlery Cookware choices: Stainless steel vs.nonstick: 2 of 14
For over 40 years scientists have known that the fumes from hot non-stick surfaces can kill birds such as canaries. So just how dangerous are they to humans?Several studies have been conducted into health concerns surrounding Teflon, the coating invented and patented by DuPont. The results have been disturbing, if somewhat in... More..
Food & Drink > Cooking Eggs & Dairy Products How to poach the perfect egg: 1 of 7
Poaching eggs is a skill that is rapidly disappearing from the kitchens of the world, thanks to those awful patent cookers that produce something with the appearance, and consistency, of a plastic amoeba.I'm not exaggerating when I say it's a skill. Poaching an egg in such a way that it retains its shape and texture is someth... More..
Food & Drink > Cooking with Spices & Herbs Tools cooks need for working with spices and herbs: 1 of 6
Herbs and spices form the backbone of my favorite subject, flavor. In any number of cookbooks you will find advice on which herbs go with what. I'm not going to take that route.While there certainly are marriages that are tried and tested, such as tomatoes and basil or lamb and rosemary, the reality is that the use of herbs i... More..
Food & Drink > Cooking (Other) The benefits of crockpot cooking: 2 of 10
Hay-box cookery.You may know this type of cooking as crock-pot cookery, but it has a history behind it.When I was a small boy and living on a farm, there were days when the men were out working in the fields with only a short break for lunch (which we called dinner). On those occasions they needed something hot and filling to... More..
Food & Drink > Cookware & Cutlery Cookware: Choosing the best pots and pans: 2 of 9
Walk into the kitchen department of any department store and what do you get? Rows and rows of gleaming pots and pans in every conceivable color, size, weight and heat resistant material. No wonder we get confused.Let's get rid of the confusion right away - in the main, use stainless steel. No ifs, no buts, no 'but I read som... More..
Food & Drink > Poultry Recipes Recipes: Chicken and stuffing: 2 of 8
Before going into detail about how to stuff a chicken, let's look at why we do it in the first place. It is by no means a universal thing and there's a reason for that.In countries where there is traditionally a large rural population and chicken has always been part of the staple diet, stuffing is practically unheard of. Tha... More..
Entertainment > Celebrity Commentary New celebrities: Assessing the rise of Food Network hosts to celebrity status: 3 of 11
In the late Sixties and early Seventies London was a mecca for young Australians like me. So much so that one part of it, Earls Court, came to be known as 'Kangaroo Valley'It was there, in 1973, that I came across a small cookbook called 'How to Cheat at Cooking' by one Delia Smith. She was, at the time, a food writer for the... More..
Food & Drink > Spices, Herbs & Condiments What are marinades and what do they do: 1 of 3
It's a sad fact that these days it has become almost essential to marinade most cuts of meat, unless you intend to casserole them.I'll go into why that is the case a bit later on, but for the time being let's just examine why we use marinades at all.Principally there are two reasons. One is to add flavor, and the other is to ... More..