I'm Steve Harley.
A head chef with over fifteen years in professional kitchens, including two-rosette level, based in Southampton. PlatefulChef is where I write down what I actually do.
Not restaurant food made complicated for the sake of it — the techniques that make ordinary cooking better, explained properly. What to do, why it works, and what to look for when it's going right.
Most of what makes cooking feel difficult is fear. Of the pan being too hot, of undercooking chicken, of the caramel burning, of the risotto going wrong. Nearly all of it goes away once you understand what's actually happening in the pan. That's the thing I try to teach.
It's also why the methods here are written the way they are. A recipe tells you what to do; I'd rather you understood it well enough that you didn't need the recipe next time. Learn how a pan sauce works once and you'll make a different one every week.
One of my earliest food memories is my mum making rice pudding in a coal-fired Rayburn. I've spent my working life in professional kitchens since, but I still think the best cooking is the calm, unhurried kind — and that a good kitchen, at home or at work, is a calm one.
New videos go up every other Thursday on YouTube, and every method is written out in full on this site.
If you'd like to work together — recipe development, product-led recipes, or writing for trade — that's here.