There are lots of good places to look for inspiration if you want to develop your cooking further. Try:
- the BBC online recipe collection – a huge searchable collection for every occasion and budget.
- Good Housekeeping – similar to the BBC: an enormous searchable collection of tried-and-tested recipes.
- Sam Stern – Sam’s Cooking up a Storm – the Teen Survival Handbook was written when he was a teenager himself and is a very useful starter cookbook.
- cookbooks designed for students (who need lots of cheap and easy meals); some recent examples are reviewed here.
- Donal Skehan’s YouTube channel – Donal is an Irish television personality,former boyband singer, and judge on Junior Masterchef.
- Baking Martha – the blog of Martha Collison, the 2014 Great British Bake Off contestant; packed with baking recipes.
- The Foodie Teen – blog by Alessandra Peters. Gluten-free recipes.
- Green Kitchen Stories – masses of great vegetarian recipes from vloggers and authors David Frenkiel and Luise Vindahl.
- Top With Cinnamon – teenage food blogger and author Izy Hossack.
- SORTEDfood – a blog, loads of recipes and the twice-weekly FridgeCam Show from a group of friends passionate about food.
- Cooking On A Bootstrap – resourceful, creative Jack Monroe’s recipes are perfect for anyone on a tight budget.
- Pea Soup – vegan recipes (and some lifestyle chat) by Aine Carlin.
- Resource Lab’s Ultimate Cooking Resources – clearly explained links to a wide range of resources which can help to improve and develop your cooking.
Classic cookery books
There are too many great cookery books to list but here are a few of our favourites. These books have been around for a long time because they’re full of great advice, inspiration and recipes that work.
‘Delia Smith’s Complete Illustrated Cookery Course‘ – full of practical, thorough advice on getting the best results from your cooking. Want to know the difference between a Victoria sponge made with butter or with margarine? Delia tell’s you (there are pictures). She also has many recipes online here.
‘Mary Berry’s Ultimate Cake Book‘ and ‘Mary Berry’s Complete Cookbook‘ – since she began presenting The Great British Bake Off (when it was on the BBC), many of Mary’s recipes have been repackaged into numerous ‘new’ books but these are two of her best. Her recipes are fuss-free, easy to follow and they work. Her website is here.
‘How to Eat‘ – Nigella Lawson has written several great cookbooks, but this is the one that has the best chocolate cake recipe ever (on page 28!). Nigella’s website is also hugely popular.
‘A Book of Mediterranean Food‘ – this is Elizabeth David’s first book originally published in 1950. She went on to write many others but this one established her as a great cookery writer. Read more about the impact she had here.
