There are some excellent lists here and I don’t mean to disrespect their authors, but the correct answer is two bottles of champagne. If you have those, everything will turn out well. Also - FYI - Southerness is one of the three or four most difficult golf courses in Scotland. The last time I played it, I seriously…

Stews. Every single stew on the planet is improved by having dollops of creme fraiche mixed through before serving. It works with a surprising number of curries as well. Also crumbles - especially berry or rhubarb crumbles - are made for it.

Without wanting to sound internet-creepy, I sincerely wish I had someone like you in my real life whom I could direct my hippie parents to every time their deeply-felt beliefs about food crash into reality. Their latest logical marvel: make 1L of free or subsidised milk available every day to every child (which I’m…

Nasi goreng. Which I’m now craving...

This is magnificent! I would like someone to go backwards in time and hand this process guide to late-teenage me. (Also, an equally straightforward “how to career” guide, if poss.) I would only add two items to this list, one of which may not be popular. 1. Butter and toast your buns. If you’re about to serve up the…

Best advice I’ve heard in years.

Hand on heart, last summer I had a tooth cracked in half by the elbow of an Australian 13 year old who was, at that time, already 6'1". I made him promise to buy me a Flavor Flav all-gold tribute set if he ever made it to the NBA. Then I had to do a lot of explaining about the history of hip-hop...

I have recently become this guy! We’re like the Ghosts of Christmas Future for the next generation. I haven’t been asked “where’d you get those scars?” so often since I was dating...

I haven’t had that in so long! I need to find a Korean restaurant. No-one is meeting my bibimbap needs either...

To be fair, I’m in Montreal, where it’s cheaper than good fleur de sel.

If you substitute “cocaine” for “instant potato flakes” every time the latter phrase appears in a recipe (or in life itself), you’ll get something every bit as healthy and appetizing.

I would pay a shocking amount of money for someone to come and make me a bowl of this right now. An old neighbour had the largest and most overgrown herb garden I’ve ever seen. Her mother planted it in the 50's and operated on the theory that the plants were best left to fight it out with each other. It was basically…

Borage recommendations: my last house had a large wild borage patch so I can promise you these are the three best-tasting survivors of a two-year effort to find enjoyable ways to eat it.

I was given La Technique for Christmas during my second year at university. You can actually see the dip in my grades on my transcript through the next term. I have probably never used anything I got taught that term, or wished I’d paid attention to the stuff I ignored, but I’m using Pepin every other day. I’m calling…

It really was. Since the first time I marinated lamb in lemon, I don’t think I’ve ever cooked it any other way. They’re just perfect together.

The one that’s gone over best so far this summer was bbq lamb (a butterflied shoulder in a lemon, yuzu, garlic and parsley marinade), potato salad with some grilled asparagus mixed in, the elotes recipe I found on this site with a little Sichuan pepper mixed in, oak leaf lettuce vinaigrette and two ice-cold bottles of…

I did miss the meatloaf! Missing obvious posts was not one of the symptoms covered in the cold and flu meds disclaimer (nor was craving popcorn with chili flakes, so they’re clearly not even trying to be comprehensive...) For the black dal I will be eating tomorrow, use the recipe from here: http://maunikagowardhan.co.…

I can’t eat Steak Diane anymore for the same sorts of reasons that one night’s poor decision-making means some people can’t ever face tequila or Southern Comfort again. However, if you substitute 1tbsp Marsala and 1/2tbsp vodka (overproof if you really hate your kitchen ceiling) for the brandy, you get a version of…

Your hopes of achieving adequacy? The pets of your enemies? The American Dream? Certainly you don’t want to put in anything you might want to eat...

No crock pot recipe today? I’ve got a link to a really good black dal on a hair-trigger...