Some cooks have a fear of making pastry; others say they can't bake a cake. When I was learning to cook, my secret food fear was cooking rice. Not your fancy risotto or paella (they always made sense to me) - no, it was basic steamed rice that I went out of my way to avoid. Such a simple thing, but to me, the potential for error was huge. Eventually, I overcame the fear and taught myself to cook fluffy, ungluggy rice. It was so incredibly rewarding to master a new technique that I looked back and wondered what all the fuss had been about. The point is, sometimes it is great to be taken out of your comfort zone.

I have always had an avid interest in food, and because of this passion I taught myself to cook from books and magazines. I started by finding a good, simple recipe by a trusted writer (Anna del Conte for risotto or Margaret Fulton for baking) and followed their instructions to the letter. After practising it a few times and trying it out on friends (always good for the confidence), I began to vary the recipe and play with the flavours. Essentially, I started to cook more instinctively, often to the point of not following a recipe at all.

With The Really Useful Cookbook, I have attempted to write a cookbook that follows my own experience. It is full of great basic recipes that work every time (I have tested them all at least twice), with lots of really useful tips and tricks that I have learned along the way. My aim is to hold your hand and help take the guesswork out of cooking, giving you a new confidence in the kitchen. But this is more than a book for beginners; this is a book for anyone interested in cooking delicious food. The basic recipes are followed by lots of variations and new ideas to encourage you to branch out and experiment. All you need is here: from my granny's golden syrup pudding to perfect steamed rice, from pistachio and white chocolate friands to prawn fattouche. Face those cooking fears, try some new recipes and have fun!