Michael Sheridan
Michael Sheridan - The Cool Cook - is a former head chef and an acknowledged authority and published writer on cooking matters. His website at All About Cooking contains a wealth of information, hints, tips and recipes for busy home cooks, including video based how-to guides.
Articles by this Author
How to Boil a Ham
- By Michael Sheridan
- Published 07/11/2008
- Recipes
- Unrated
Boiling meat has largely gone out of fashion, mainly I think because a number of the cuts of meat associated with it are no longer all that popular either. One meat that is still traditionally boiled, especially for festivals such as Christmas, is ham and my method for preparing this is as basic as you can get
Seven Essential Things You Need to Know About Eggs
- By Michael Sheridan
- Published 07/3/2008
- Food and Drink
- Unrated
Why are eggs so important? Because they appear in just about every type of cooking and if you can handle them successfully you can deal with anything the kitchen throws at you.
How to Sharpen a Knife
- By Michael Sheridan
- Published 06/24/2008
- Food and Drink
- Unrated
All chefs who go to a western-style catering college, and most butcher's apprentices, are taught to sharpen their knives by swiping the cutting edge several times on a steel towards the hand that is holding that implement. I used to do it that way as well, many years ago.
How to Choose a Barbecue
- By Michael Sheridan
- Published 06/2/2008
- Food and Drink
- Unrated
Barbecues come in a bewildering array of different shapes and sizes, and they all cost money, so it makes sense to sort out which type is best for you before paying for anything
Terrorism: Does it Achieve Anything?
- By Michael Sheridan
- Published 05/20/2008
- Social Issues
- Unrated
It can be argued that there are two separate ways of using terror as a weapon; one is to maintain the status quo and the other is to change something, usually in terms of a political and/or economic regime
Mutton Dressed as Lamb
- By Michael Sheridan
- Published 05/11/2008
- Food and Drink
- Unrated
One of the more shady practices of unscrupulous butchers, including those to be found in many supermarkets, is to label young mutton as 'prime lamb'
How To Cook Rice
- By Michael Sheridan
- Published 04/24/2008
- Recipes
- Unrated
You could spend a small fortune on a rice cooker, or struggle with burnt saucepans and soggy rice, or follow the recipe below and get it right every time
How To Fillet Salmon
- By Michael Sheridan
- Published 04/19/2008
- Food and Drink
- Unrated
I learned to fillet fish, including salmon, in a very busy restaurant in Cherbourg, Normandy, where the required rate was something like one whole fish every 10 seconds, including gutting and cleaning
How To Poach Eggs
- By Michael Sheridan
- Published 04/17/2008
- Recipes
- Unrated
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.
The Cool Cook's Guide to Balsamic Vinegar
- By Michael Sheridan
- Published 04/11/2008
- Gourmet
- Unrated
Balsamic vinegar is the 'wine' of Modena, Italy. It is rich, thick, expensive and marries up beautifully with food such as steak to produce an unusual finish