Jack will still post as Wendy takes a break – –

I’m not sure when I got interested in cooking – maybe around when Wendy and I got married.

Growing up in a Northern European country meant food was just fuel to keep you going. So it wasn’t until I first traveled to Southern Europe with my band that I really discovered what a meal could be, the varieties of food to be savored and dinner as a social gathering.

I had already, though, discovered curries as Indian restaurants multiplied throughout Scotland.

All of that got me interested in discovering discovering new dishes and re-discovering old ones.

Some of the old ones –

• Fish n’ Chips – The secret is to fry in lard and to fry the chips three times at ever increasing temperatures.
• Steak pie – boil the steak for a long time and put Bisto in the gravy.
• Steak bridie – same as the steak pie.
• Sausage rolls – the secret is to make your own sausage filling and use real breadcrumbs.
• Shepherd’s pie – try to get fresh peas.

Some of the new ones –

• I discovered how Indian restaurants make a big batch of basic curry sauce and I do that all the time now.
• Finding by trial and error the different roasting times for vegetables.
• Baking fish in foil.
• Experimenting with overnight marinades, particularly for chicken tikka.
• Using an outdoors charcoal grill.

Wendy is the baker, and her specialties are cookies, breads and desserts.

Just some of the things we get up to during lock-down!