No. No I don’t know why it’s called that, and I don’t care – google it if you care.

but whether or not you ever find out why it’s called that, just make it: It’s astonishingly tasty Thai Surf’n’Turf!

Made it up before I knew it had a name. Not authentic but it went down well

I couldn't anything I fancied in the Mexican cookbook - seems like all the veg had cheese and/or bread of some sort so I thought about ratatouille with Mexican flavours instead. The Spanish do something called Pisto but it's very tomato-ey and I wanted it a bit less gloopy

Eggs Benedict in a crispy edible bowl

This is taken from a recipe by Rachel Khoo and is lovely. It looked a bit easier when she did it using french sliced loaf which looked a but bigger but it works.

Don’t use cheap Lager, Not just for this, it's a general rule.

Beef in beer, Guinness works well or anything brown. You can adapt it with Pork and Cider for a nice change

Beef in loads of soy sauce. It’s lovely.

But, do as I say, not as I do!

Fried leftovers! Fantastic!

Crispy skin is what this is all about

Dead easy. You can buy “Baking Potatoes” now and they are fine – they are just big spuds. It’s just a marketing thing – you can use any spud. The fluffier the better – King Edward are ideal.

Ahem, sorry about that

Having listened to this two part report from the food programme, we’ve been eating a lot more beans at home.

There’s a chemistry...

So this is about using the acid in lemons or limes to cook the fish. It’s not new – soused herrings (vinegar), ceviche, escabeche, actually the whole process is just pickling really. The trick is not to keep it in there too long.

Fish on toast is the best thing in the world

Well, you know...but this is fabulous!

I said a hip-hop, the hippie, the hippie to the hip, hip-hop…

Ok, that’s enough of that!

To do this properly, 1lb of spuds to 1lb of butter. Not healthy but who cares?

Seems silly even putting this is in – how hard can it be, right? Just boil the potatoes – it doesn’t really matter what type but, again, floury makes your job easier.

Vinegary rabbit is not everyone’s thing

Umbrian Rabbit is from The Classic Food of Northern Italy (Anna del Conte). I love it but the vinegar hit, and the rabbit for that matter, are not to everyone’s taste so I’ve adapted it by using chicken instead of rabbit and wine instead of vinegar. It’s worth trying the original though.

"Pan" on anything pisses me off quite a lot: What else would you fry in? Bucket-fried? Even the colonel fries the chicken separately from the bucket he puts it in

Anyway, you can just cook the salmon in the pan on the hob (fry it) or start it in the pan and then put the pan in the oven (pan-roasted). Pan-roasted is fair enough I suppose

Potatoes and bacon with wine, cream and cheese. And not just any old cheese - it's Reblochon!

You can make this as a side dish (this recipe) or you can beef it up a bit with chicken and make it almost like a fish pie (a bit more wine and cream) with the potatoes on the top of a creamy chicken and bacon base

Sunny Sunday in Frigiliana

This is a nice bean stew that may or may not be “authentic” but uses Spanish flavours and since I’m in Spain cooking it with things I bought here, I’m claiming its authenticity.

Chicken and wine - them Frenchies know what they're about!

Not the best picture in the world I'll grant you but a lovely thing

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck . . . fry it!

Duck is fatty but only really in a single thick layer between the skin and flesh – the meat itself is rich but lean. Get the fat out and use it for something else (Roasties)

This is a truly beautiful thing.

Look at the previous recipe (salt beef) about a week before you want a sandwich. Yeah, I know.

Crazy, mixed-up squid

Yep, you normally cook squid for a short amount of time and when you go over it's like an inner-tube. Squid is like a lot of other ingredients; lots of people don't like it but that's because a lot of people including restaurants don't know how to cook it.

Taazi Khumben Alu Mattar Kar - or curried mushrooms, potatoes and peas to you and me.

This is slightly adapted from a recipe in Charmaine Solomon's Complete Asian Cookbook

Named after one of Meg's school friends, its a bit like coq au vin but tarragon gives it a lovely fresh lift

Do this in a heavy-bottomed casserole and if you can get chicken with skin on so you can roast it and get it lovely and crispy on the outside and gives the stock a lovely flavour. Whole legs are good but if you don't like bones then skin-on breasts are ok

My grandson’s favourite thing in the world!

Heads and tails, heads and tails…

Super-easy, even if it does take a week.

Make a brine, put some brisket in it, forget for a week and then simmer it. How hard can it be?

I'm not a great fan of Salmon but this recipe just works!

Like every fish recipe it's easy to lose your nerve and keep it in for too long. You'll learn how you like it after you've done it a couple of times but this really works