... And what's the best food you've ever cooked yourself?

According to my son my chicken curry has surpassed that made by my mum. She was a superb cook! My BLT is the best my husband has ever had. My lovely DiL asks for my chicken curry or my stuffed parathas whenever she craves them.

*star

Another one I forgot. I LOVE poached pears and had a few over ripe ones a while ago. Poached them in vanilla with a sta anise in the water. Delicious! But not many people seem to like them so I ate them all.

People always say I cook the nicest cauliflower cheese they have ever tasted which is bizarre as I can't eat cauliflower!

My chicken curry always seems to go down well. I’ve been making it since we started our married life in Singapore where a lovely Indian grocer gave me the recipe and sold me the spices to go with it. I’ve tweaked it a bit over the years but have written it out for people many times.

I cooked this curry with star anise in it on the advice of a Malaysian friend. Just chicken and veggies and the usual curry mix (coriander, cumin, onion, mustard seeds). The star anise made all the difference and I also put some sweet potato in. Trouble is they are different each time because I just chuck things in without weighing anything.

The meals I enjoy cooking most and eating most are my very traditional Sunday roasts and I am told I do a good one .
My roast potatoes, cooked in beef dripping are crispy and full of flavour, Yorkshire puds never fail to rise, steamed veg are tasty and crunchy and my meat is tender.
Ask me to make pastry and you wouldn’t ask again, no good at it so I stick to what I do best, simple English food.

My chicken curry is spoken highly of. Many years ago - back in the 70s - I wanted to make a curry so went through all my cook books for curry recipes and selected all the ingredients I liked and, of course, had. My curry was born! It has changed a lot through the years - the original one had diced apple in it and sultanas. They got left out through the years. To be honest, for reasons I don't understand, I haven't made it in ages. However writing this has made me fancy it so it will be on the menu very soon

My beef in red wine is very nice...Delia again.

A large part of my career in publishing involved writing cookbooks. I tested the recipes and, if necessary, adjusted them. I feel pretty positive about the many cookbooks I have written.

However, the dishes of which I am proudest are the ones when suddenly, late in the evening, I was presented with half a dozen – or more– hungry teenage friends of my daughter. I would make pancakes and a fresh vegetable mix, sprinkle it all with grated cheese and, perhaps, a béchamel sauce and feed what seemed like the 5,000. It was never the same again and again and again and….

I make a wonderful butter chicken, time do consuming but worth the effort.
Every Christmas I have to make a pavlova with some sort of fruit filling. I even get requests to make them for others.
And yesterday my husband said that the mushroom gravy I made at lunch time was the best he'd ever tasted.

DH does nearly all the cooking these days, but my Creole Christmas Cake, sticky gingerbread and rice/bread puddings are spoken of in hushed tones round here (I’m guessing that’s a good thing ). I make my own stuffings and cranberry sauce at Christmas and a rather moreish bread sauce, if I do say so myself. Credit to the sainted Delia for all the above.

Christmas cakes. And a decent Victoria sponge too.

I learned to make stuffing when I lived in the USA and didn't like their version.

They're not my cup of tea, but my grandson loves my sweet potato chips. I can't cook them fast enough to fill him up.

My Christmas cakes always used to be great, but for some reason (lack of practise) I've lost the knack of them.

Eggs , any way you like . Fluffy soft omelettes, creamy scrambled , perfectly poached , coddled , fried , boiled ...all delicious and quick.

Curries, I went to night school taught by an Indian man in his sixties, I was about 34, as well as learning about spices and technique, he gave me confidence. They require loads of spices, a lot of time and my days of making curries for 10 people + are slowly waning. That and an ancient Delia recipe for a baked cheesecake.

According to my SIL I make the best steak and kidney pudding he’s ever tasted.

My bread sauce is in huge demand. I make about 6 pints every Christmas.

hazel93

Stopped making bread sauce once MIL died - she loved it but noone else did !
Always make my own stuffing , simple sage and onion or whatever is at hand. Do love chestnut stuffing for Christmas though, a tad expensive to make these days but the smell takes me back to my childhood and unlike bread sauce everyone likes it .

The two people who didn’t like bread sauce was my daughter’s Australian boyfriend and a Kiwi friend. They weren’t really sure what it was and couldn’t understand why it should be part of a meal! I love it.

Stopped making bread sauce once MIL died - she loved it but noone else did !
Always make my own stuffing , simple sage and onion or whatever is at hand. Do love chestnut stuffing for Christmas though, a tad expensive to make these days but the smell takes me back to my childhood and unlike bread sauce everyone likes it .

I make the original Coronation chicken recipe from the Constance Spry cookery book. It is always popular. I also make a chocolate cheesecake (uncooked) which I have made for over 40 years. Delicious. I am known for my cakes - mainly chocolate. I am the only person I know who makes their own bread sauce and stuffing - does anyone else?

I make the most amazing vegan lentil and vegetable curry, it has been spoken about around our close and a lady knocked my door to ask if I would make some for a vegan friend who was visiting the following day. I can’t cook anything else, just that. DH does all the rest of the cooking!!!

While I'm a pretty rubbish cook I do have a 'master dish' - a sea food risotto called Molly Malone's risotto from a Tesco recipe book in the 1980's. It's always gone down really well if family or friends have come round for a meal.

I used to make Cumberland Courting Cakes. They all disappeared in a few minutes at the local fete with people saying how good they were. I was so chuffed.

Apple cake from Farmhouse Kitchen cookbook.
Victoria sponges.
Yorkshire puddings.
Scones.
Crustless quiche.

Total failure at pastry.