While the delicious.team are testing recipes, they’re often debating the best ways to do things, as well as answering cooking questions that arise in the test kitchen. What’s the best way to prepare globe artichokes? How do you make the perfect meringue? Can you rescue an over-proved dough? It’s the kind of information you won’t find anywhere else, and it will help take your cooking to the next level.

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MAKE THE BOUNTY LAST

ROCKET

BY XANTHE CLAY

True to its name, rocket hurtles up over the summer months. Keeping up with the abundance of peppery leaves can be a challenge.

FREEZE…ROCKET SOUP You can’t freeze the leaves on their own, so make a vivid green soup for freezing instead. Fry 1 sliced leek in 2 tbsp butter until tender, then stir in 200g chopped potato. Add 600ml chicken or vegetable stock and, if you’ve grown your own rocket, add any chopped stems now, then simmer until the potatoes are tender. Stir in 75g rocket leaves, then whizz with a stick blender. Cool, then freeze for up to 3 months in a sealed container. Serve with crème fraîche and a scattering of rocket flowers if you have them.

PRESERVE…ROCKET PESTO It keeps for a week or more in the fridge, and you can freeze it for a month. Here’s how: Crush ½ garlic clove with 1 tsp sea salt flakes. In a small blender, blend the garlic, 75g rocket, 125ml olive oil and 50g blanched hazelnuts. Add a squeeze of lemon – and 1 tsp hot English mustard if you want to turn up the heat. Store in a sealed jar in the fridge.

To find more recipes that make a hero of rocket go to deliciousmagazine.co.uk and search ‘rocket’

DON’T

THROW IT

SHELLFISH SHELLS AND HEADS

Got shells and peelings left over from crabs, lobsters, langoustines and prawns? Use everything, including prawn heads, as the starting point for bisques and broths. These take not much effort to make and the reward is a gloriously rich flavour. Freeze shells until you have enough for a batch of stock.

FOR SHELLFISH STOCK Bash the shells, legs, pincers and heads into small pieces in a solid metal saucepan with the end of a rolling pin. Add a little chopped leek and onion, fennel, carrots and celery, a bay leaf, whole peppercorns and a few fennel seeds, if you want. Add a glass of white wine, cover with water and bring to a low simmer. Crustacean shells need a long simmer (2-3 hours at least) to extract flavour; top up with a splash more water if necessary.