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At FMB, we're all about taking care of your finances to free up your time to do better things. Right now everyone has a little more time on their hands including our resident chef Roger Jackson who shares his culinary adventures in Lockdown land!

Tuesday 23rd March 2020, Lockdown – day 1.

I ordered a Sous Vide precision cooker on the advice of a friend and fellow parent at my eldest child’s swimming class. So glad I did!

I knew the lockdown was going to be tough with my wife working in the NHS and me being left to hold the fort at home with two high intensity children. However, being a foodie, I knew that there was one way to maintaining a happy house… Top quality food.

For those of you who don’t know, sous vide (under vacuum in French), is a way of cooking basically anything. The sous vide wand heats a water bath (or pan of water) to a precise temperature and keeps it at that temperature continuously. You then cook your food in a plastic bag (doesn’t sound too appetising, but bear with me!) This differs from conventional cooking, whereby you heat the outside of an item at high heat with the heat penetrating to the centre to ensure it’s cooked. The sous vide method maintains a moderate temperate, say 140F / 60C for beef. This way the beef is never over cooked because it’s been cooked in a sealed unit, maintains it’s juicy flavour!

Anyway, enough rambling about the cooker. I’m fairly sure my efforts in the kitchen have kept most of the house sane, and if not sane, certainly well fed. So, if anyone is into their food and wants something to try out over the next three weeks, possibly with a little more time at home, I would highly recommend it! Feel free to fire over questions, or tips. I have a full leg of lamb in it at present, I’ve cooked honied carrots, steaks and here’s a picture of my Pork Tenderloin on a wholegrain mustard mash with asparagus served with a port, brie and mushroom sauce.