Braised Lettuce – what a revelation! Move over cold salads – lettuce just got hot! Braised lettuce, specifically braised gem lettuce is incredibly easy to make and a really fun alternative to the usual boiled veg. Braised lettuce is a delicious autumnal or winter dish, packed…

Oven Dried Tomatoes – Made at Home and Stored in Olive Oil Oven dried tomatoes really do get better with age (well a day or two anyway). I store my oven dried tomatoes in olive oil for a couple of days to help enhance their…

Reveal Magazine feature Microwave Mug Meals cookbook by Theo Michaels (that’s meeee!).

Everyone needs a candied orange peel recipe. Candied orange peel is a great recipe to have under your belt; really easy, makes the house smell lovely and can be used in dozens of ways.. and you’re not confined to just oranges.. I woke up one morning…

Best Magazine are a lovely bunch of people and I’ve been lucky enough to have worked with them for a while. This time they’ve featured one of my recipes from my new book – Microwave Mug Meals!

The guys at the Hertfordshire Mercury Newspaper have always been super supportive and were lovely enough to feature a little article on my new cook book.

Grape Jam Recipe without pectin. My homemade grape jam recipe without pectin  is a wonderfully dark and seductive concoction. Oozing with flavour, really easy to make (without using pectin) and a great way to use up a glut of grapes. If you want something sweet,…

Microwave Mug Meals Cook Book – 50 incredibly tasty, home-made dishes – in an instant! Published by Lorenz Books You can order your signed copy here. Forget dodgy microwave meals, these are gourmet recipes cooked in a mug in the microwave – but don’t take my…

Pork souvlaki is one of my favourite meats to cook on the BBQ – I mean just watch my video on how to make pork souvlaki and tell me your mouth isn’t watering! I’ll be blunt; when it comes to BBQ’s and cooking over charcoal…

Halloween Recipes With Halloween fast approaching here are a few Halloween recipes for some Halloween food inspiration. It’s that time of year when the joy of having feral children dressed up as Elsa and Spiderman come knocking on your door demanding a handful of sweets…

“London’s Best Home Dining Services” by Evening Standard I won’t brag because anyone that knows me knows how humble and modest I am (anyone that knows me is shaking their head in disbelief about now). See a snippet of the article below! Not much to…

Fried Halloumi with honey and black sesame is so easy I feel a bit naughty even categorising this as a Halloumi recipe! Fried Halloumi is the famous Cypriot cheese is fabulous to cook with; its strong enough to hold up to some heat without melting…

Another great show on the BBC 3CR Weekend Kitchen programme with Nick Coffer, the amazing Justine Pattison and uber-talented Kim co-owner of the Cinnamon Travelling Cafe. This weeks BBC 3CR Weekend kitchen show had Kim making the most incredibly delicious jerk chicken curry that had…

I had a great day this weekend on the kitchen demo stage at the St. Albans Food Festival. I was on stage with Jonny Seabrook who’s a great compere and a thoroughly decent chap as well! I’ve done a few of the local food festivals…

Courgette Chips (or zucchini fries if you don’t live in the UK!) are delicious and this easy to follow recipe will show you exactly how to make courgette chips that are crispy, delicious and a great way to use up a glut of courgettes taking…

My China Travel Guide, or rather my alternative guide to travelling in China using a hi-jacked bus… I never intended to write a China Travel Guide and I haven’t, but I thought I’d share a little gem of knowledge that is, in hindsight, very funny,…

I was recently honored to be invited to judge at the Quality Food Awards 2016 UK. The judging panel is made up of industry experts and the head honcho’s for various businesses within the food industry. Whether that be big scale food suppliers, recipe developers…

Great article written by Naomi Rovnick for the Financial Times (FT Money) today (Sunday 18th Sept 2016). Lifestyle Consultants – Hire Your Own Chef featuring Theo Michaels (that’s me!) Check out more of my news here.

Padron Peppers are the famous grilled peppers from Spain, known as Pimientos de Padrón.  I was first introduced to these darling grilled peppers when in Majjorca on our family holiday and they are the epitome of a tapas. I first decided to cook these in the…

BBQ beer can chicken – I was first introduced to this Australian creation by my mate Adam who does a mean beer can bird on his BBQ and decided it was time for me to give it go…sort of… After receiving my lovely shiny new…

Grilled Zucchini recipe or Grilled Courgettes (if you live in the UK!) is one of the Michaels’ family staple BBQ vegetables. My grilled zucchini recipe (or grilled courgettes!) is served with a lemon, garlic and parsley dressing. Grilled zucchinis are a wonderful thing; charred exterior,…

Minted peas are lovely. Minted peas with chilli are awesome. Minted peas with chilli and feta! Boom!! You’ve just hit the pea jackpot! These are my Greek inspired minted peas with feta and chilli, and a couple of other bits of course… my Greek minted…

My Bulgur Wheat Salad – deliciously simple and healthy. I’ve got quite into bulgur wheat recently; something about the summer and wanting something light but not quintessentially a salad. Something fresh and filling but not heavy, potato salads are great, but sometimes I’m searching for that…

A Greek Potato Salad is incredibly easy to make and should be garlicky, lemony and fresh with mint! Use nice waxy potatoes that hold their shape when cooked and don’t turn to mush. To be honest, I was in two minds whether to post my…

What a great day! A whole day of cars, music and food at Carfest North!   I was up there as part of the Simply Good Food TV team performing a cooking demo to the crowd with one of my recipes from my new cook…

Bombay Potato Recipe – let me show you how to make Bombay potatoes at home. These are delicious, I mean really, really, delicious! Bombay potatoes are an old-school favorite and go with just about everything, especially with my homemade tandoori salmon! Want to make a curry…

My Raita recipe is really just an Indian style Tzatziki – OK – I’m being facetious.. 🙂 there are obvious similarities but sometimes only a raita will do; earthy notes of cumin, slightly salty but always satisfying and refreshing. My raita recipe is a little different…

My tandoori salmon recipe is basically an Indian inspired salmon marinade. I first made my tandoori salmon recipe a few years ago for a BBQ and it was a huge success – in fact it stole the show. I’ve wanted to post my tandoori salmon recipe for a…

My Keftedes recipe is a traditional Greek meze dish; in essence they are Greek meatballs and are loved by everyone – I have literally never met a single soul that didn’t devour a handful of keftedes at any given opportunity! Keftedes are delightful little morels…

How to cook octopus couldn’t be easier and my octopus recipe will show you how exactly how to cook tender octopus. Follow me on Instagram @theocooks – click here to see! When thinking about how to cook octopus I always start with a slow braise to…

A classic East London Stewed Eels recipe. Eel recipes? You heard! Eel recipes seem to be on the decline in the UK which is a shame – so here’s my stewed eels recipe for the old school amongst us. If you’re reading this from outside…

Every year I go back to Sheredes (my old school) and we hold an Annual (unofficial) Masterchef competition. It’s really good fun, we do a demo day a month before the competition day where I come into the school and demo a few dishes to…

Lamb flatbreads couldn’t be easier to make (literally done in 20 minutes including making your own flatbread dough!) Spicy minced lamb topping roasted in the oven for 5 minutes (yes, 5 minutes!) and you’re good to go! Lamb flatbreads fundamentally requires two important components –…

Gemista are the famous Greek stuffed peppers (pron. Yemista).  In fact, Gemista is Greek for any stuffed vegetable roasted whole, usually stuffed with rice. Typically stuffed peppers or beef tomatoes are the most popular.  Gemista (Greek stuffed peppers and tomatoes) work amazingly well as a…

Who knew there was a South African dish called Bobotie? Well, I didn’t. A funny moment on the Weekend Kitchen show in this episode; at my expense… So… here’s what happens when you mention a booty-call on BBC Radio… By the way, the picture is…

My Thai Salad, my Thai seafood salad to be exact! There’s something very cleansing and pure about this seafood salad. Lots of lovely seafood and vegetables tangled in thick rice noodles with a delectable hot, spicy, sweet, sour dressing that is very light but still…

My Coconut Prawn Curry (another wonderful coconut milk recipe!) is aromatic and mild – great for kids or grownups that are a little chilli adverse. My coconut prawn curry has a lovely balance of richness from the coconut milk and aromatic from the cumin. But still subtle enough…

Grilled Scallops with Garlic Butter is a wonderful thing. There’s no mucking about with this one – scallops in their shell, a dollop of garlic butter, straight on to the BBQ. I love barbecued scallops – simple, classic, utterly mouthwatering… Just be sure to have plenty…

Uchucuta is a traditional Peruvian salsa predominantly made with chilli, herbs and cheese – but I love using it as a marinade for my Peruvian Pork Chops cooked on the BBQ. Uchucuta is totally addictive, I use it as a marinade, a dressing and even…

Grilled Sardines with Chipotle dressing – awesome. Grilled sardines taste delicious (especially on the BBQ) and need nothing more than a light dressing. They’re cheap, like ridiculously cheap – I bought 5 the other day for a £1. They’re sustainable, they’re healthy and sardines always…

Grilled clams cooked on the BBQ with a Cambodian Ginger Dressing – I should stop writing now. Soft succulent morsels of shellfish steamed in their own little shells. Combine those grilled clams cooked on the l with my Cambodian influenced ginger dressing and the smokiness from the…

Melitzanosalata is a a deliciously moreish dip of smoky burnt aubergines, garlic, lots of olive oil and a touch of lemon.  Melitzanosalata is the famous Greek Eggplant Dip (Greek Aubergine Dip depending on where you live!) If there was a holy trinity of dips in Cyprus…

Chicken Gyro Recipe… nuf said. Watch how to make awesome Chicken Gyros – the ubiquitous Greek chicken wraps are found all over Greece and Cyprus. It is a culmination of soft chewy pita, tender grilled meat, refreshing salad, tzatziki (yogurt mint dip) and a handful of fries all wrapped up in…

How to make Jerk sauce is a good thing to know. Why? Because it tastes bloody magic that’s why! A good Jerk Sauce Recipe should set your taste-buds on fire and leave you salivating for more – enjoy my Jerk chicken marinade recipe. You’re getting…

Monkfish kebabs are perfect for a decadent BBQ – especially wrapped in pancetta with a little tapenade.. If you are looking for a monkfish recipe for the BBQ, then my Monkfish kebabs are perfect! Marinated monkfish in a light tapenade, wrapped in pancetta and skewered onto.…

Pork kebabs with Asian spice or known in my house as Chinese Souvlaki is an East meets West recipe. Tender pork belly kebabs marinated in an Oriental style marinade gives a nice twist on a traditional Cypriot cooking method. Using pork belly creates bite sized morsels…

Grilled Goats Cheese is a wonderful way to cook goats cheese on the BBQ. But add a few other simple ingredients and you go from good to great! There are a lot of grilled goats cheese recipes, but my grilled goats cheese parcels are a…

Welcome to my homemade churrasco with chimichurri sauce recipe. Think large cubes of succulent steak on a skewer, cooked fast over searing hot charcoal then dressed with the zesty sharp freshness of the famous Argentinian sauce; chimichurri.    You can cook churrasco (steak kebabs) on a regular…