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A Few Tips On How To Be A Better Cook Than All Your Mates, From The Girl That’s A Better Cook Than Us All

Dinner at yours?

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by Jess Commons |
Published on

Fancy being a bit of a showoff in the kitchen? Sure you’ve got a couple of dishes under your belt you can rock out at your dinner parties but people are going to get wise to the fact that it is only a few dishes when they slurp their way through your Thai veggie curry for the third time.

Luckily help is at hand. Sophie Gordon is a young cool chef lady who – at 28(!) – is about to open her own restaurant, Villiers. She’s also the granddaughter of Luis Gordon – the man who made Gordon’s Wine Bar – the cult drinking and dining hole underneath Charing Cross station which – if you’re a Londoner – you’ve absolutely frequented, the place that it is today. PS, if you're not a Londoner, pencil a trip in you do visit, it's basically spooky dungeon, filled with delicious wine.

Anyways, we asked Sophie for some tips on how to take your kitchen skills from bumbling novice to those of the gal that can out-chef your mates – because that’s what it’s all about really. So here we go...

The 5 ingredients you absolutely need in your kitchen

  1. 'Extra Virgin Olive Oil: This is probably the single most used ingredient in my kitchen. I cook with it, use it on salads, drizzle it on toast or very simply dress a meal before serving it. It has a beautiful robust taste which becomes more than just the oil, but actually becomes part of the dish- it also has huge health benefits.'

  2. 'Maldon Sea Salt : In my opinion, Maldon Sea Salt is the best. It comes as beautiful large salt crystals, is free from chemicals and has a strong flavour (so you need less). Not only do I cook with mine, but I keep a small bowl on the table so that people can pinch and sprinkle to their hearts contents.'

  3. 'Anchovy Fillets: Anchovies are little flavour bombs. Apart from the obvious addition to salads and on top of pizzas, I put them in pasta sauces, stews and use them to season and flavour a joint - they work really well with meat, completely loosing their fishiness.'

  4. 'Lemons: They are so versatile and add a wonderfully fresh flavour to food. You can make dressings, marinades, marmalades, tarts, puddings… the list goes on and on. And on top of that, nutritionally they are very good for you, packed full of vitamin C and potassium, they are also very cleansing.'

  5. 'Dark Chocolate (minimum 70% Cocoa Solids)- There is nothing more delicious than chocolate. I always make sure I have dark chocolate in my store cupboard. If friends drop in unannounced, I want to impress someone or a late night craving takes hold I know I can whip up a chocolate delight at the drop of a hat- and even better, it can appear effortless.'

The dish you can serve to your mates that'll have them doing this in your general direction

'For me, this ticks every box. It is a dark, gooey, decadent chocolate pudding. It has very few ingredients, is easy to assemble and can wait in the fridge until you are ready to cook it. When your date plunges his spoon in to the middle and warm chocolate comes spilling out over the edges, you will be known forever more, as the Goddess of Goo!'

*This will make four individual ramekins.
*

Ingredients

100g Dark Chocolate

50g Golden Brown Caster Sugar

2 Large Eggs
40g Butter

1 Tbsp. Chocolate Spread

1/2 Espresso Shot

1 Heaped Tbsp. Self Raising Flour

**Method
**

  1. Preheat the oven to 200° / gas mark 6.
2. In a saucepan, melt the chocolate, butter and sugar on a low temperature, stirring occasionally. When it is almost completely melted stir the chocolate spread in too. Then turn off the heat and leave to cool for a few minutes.
3. Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk them until they have doubled in size- this should only take a couple of minutes.

  2. Whisk the chocolate mixture into the Eggs.

  3. After the mixture is combined, use a large metal spoon to fold in the flour.
6. Spoon the mixture evenly between the ramekins. Only fill ¾ of the way up as they will rise whilst cooking.
7. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. They need to just start to have a shell forming, but have a definite wobble still to them.

  4. Serve immediately, with a dusting of icing sugar and a spoonful of ice cream or a jug of double cream.

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The one fail-safe product you can't live without

'I love chillies. Obviously they don’t work with everything, but they add texture and a bit of excitement to even the blandest of dishes. I always keep a selection in my fridge - and even sprinkle them on my avocado on toast in the morning!'

Follow Jess on Twitter @jess_commons

This article originally appeared on The Debrief.

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