I have to say, the first time I did this recipe, I poured vermouth into the hot pan and the liquor erupted into flames half a metre high, almost scorching my cabinets. Although... I'm still not quite sure how it happened (was it because of wayward flames licking up the sides of the skillet?), and while I didn't manage to replicate the event again (thank goodness!), I have to say it instilled a little extra bit of wariness into me whenever...

Waddling into another cuisine is always a little of a minefield, especially when attempting a dish iconic of the cuisine. Case in point: the paella. There's a lot of debate regarding what goes into a traditional paella, and adding something non-traditional can send quite a few people into an apoplexy. It can be daunting trying a dish for the first time, but this recipe from J. Kenji López-Alt couldn't be more simple to follow. This is the...

The first time I made this almond tart, it was in a dingy muffin pan. It was small and shapeless, and part of the sides had collapsed inwards. It was with no small amount of persuasion that I managed to convince my visiting sister, who viewed the misshapen almond tart with great suspicion, to have a taste of the almond tart. (I have no idea why she mistrusts my baked goods so much. It's not like I have a history of fobbing my failed experiments onto...