Hello you beautiful bastards! Please may I introduce an absolute legend and a real life super hero! You think I’m joking?! Read on. This is Kate, and I spent my entire childhood growing up with her and her older brothers having THE best time! Like unbelievable Christmas’s and discovering cheese in France good times. I call her my cousin as we are that close and in the last decade she has been through the ringer. I hope she’ll correct me, but in 2011 Kate was diagnosed with breast cancer and beat it like a warrior. Unfortunately, the motherfucking, unforgiving, ravaging bastard came back in 2018 to have a go at other parts of her body and she was put on palliative care. (I had to Google that too). I love her to bits and if you read this you should friend her on Facebook and see how unbelievably positive a human can be whilst dealing with an absolute Wanker of an opponent! Things you should know: - she has continued to work her job and support colleagues throughout - summoned the strength to come and see me, my wife and my son (over 100 miles away) - that journey West was made in a 6L Ford Mustang, because she doesn’t fuck about - She will always be my superhero! I could go on for days about how this woman. However, I’ve decided to show her how much I love and respect her by doing 100km in a weekend with no pubs. Link in bio. Thanks for listening! Coops

#noFNL #throwback So no live tonight on that there book of faces so instead I’m gonna trial my first edit of a classic #fakeaway from last year! If you wanna see more then check out the YouTube channel - link in bio. Wagamamas Chicken Katsu Curry for the win on this Bank Holiday weekend! Have a great one, Coops #cookingwithcoops #fridaynightlive #lockdownlives #goodthingsforgoodpeople #dealinreal #homecooking #creatingkitchenconfidence #learnbydoing #clickandcook #rantandrave #linkinbio #beerfodder #chickenkatsu #wagamamas #throwback

#FRIDAYNIGHTLIVE #FNL #BBQ I don’t know about you guys but more and more people that are coming to BBQ’s are opting out of meat. While I get the irony of shirking the traditional meatopia, I also embrace trying all things different/off piste, it’s more fun. So I’ve thrown together 3 ludicrously easy yet insanely tasty veggie alternatives that you can do on your BBQ. Have them as a main or a side, whatever suits. Mushrooms: 2 tbsp Olive oil 2 garlic cloves, crushed 1 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme leaves 1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves 4 large flat mushrooms Lemon wedges, to serve Courgettes: 4 courgettes 2 cloves garlic 1 onion fresh mozzarella, sliced Corn Cobs: 100g soft butter 1 tbsp runny honey 1 tbsp tomato ketchup 2 garlic cloves , crushed 2 tbsp harissa 6 corn cobettes Taste, texture, charring, flavour and easy as! See you Friday @ 7pm! Coops #cookingwithcoops #fridaynightlive #lockdownlives #goodthingsforgoodpeople #dealinreal #homecooking #creatingkitchenconfidence #learnbydoing #clickandcook #rantandrave #linkinbio #beerfodder #bbqveggies #FNL #grilltime

#FRIDAYNIGHTLIVE #FNL May is here and so it’s the month that kicks off the Bank Holidays BBQ’s! I’m gonna be doing a BBQ dish every Friday night and as we always get started with fish, get this salmon dish on for something a little different. There are so many ways to show this versatile fish some love and flavour but this week will be super simple, with some extras if you wanna get creative. Ingredients: (serves 2-4) 400-500g piece fresh salmon fillet 2 tablespoons butter, unsalted 1 lemon, zested and juiced 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 1 teaspoon smoked paprika 2 tablespoons each fresh dill and tarragon, or other herbs, finely chopped You can add to this a soy/honey glaze or any herbs and spices to crust your fish and get the blackened finish that’s pretty popular at the moment! So add something to your grill that’s not your run of the mill burger/sausage/chicken/ribs and get some of that healthy, summer fish on there! Coops #cookingwithcoops #fridaynightlive #lockdownlives #goodthingsforgoodpeople #dealinreal #homecooking #creatingkitchenconfidence #learnbydoing #clickandcook #rantandrave #linkinbio #notyouraveragebbqgrub #bbqsalmon #fireupthegrill #FNL

#FRIDAYNIGHTLIVE #FNL #NOTSOLOCKEDDOWNLIVE Yo yo yo! It’s by far the most popular #FNL week, dessert! Going super simple this week with cheesecake in a jar, set in the fridge, take to your mates BBQ, look good and receive great feedback for half an hour of your time. I’m gonna be doing strawberry, but change the ingredients as you see fit. Lemon, blueberry, peach, whatever! Ingredients: (makes 4) 8 digestive biscuits, finely crushed 40g unsalted butter, melted 200g full fat soft cheese (Philli) 75g caster sugar juice and zest of 1/2 lemon 200ml double cream, whipped 200g small strawberries 2 tbsp strawberry jam No messing guys these will be done so quick for you to chill and serve as and when. To create kitchen confidence you need to start off simple and basic and then get a bit more flamboyant as you gain confidence. Kinda like sex really. See you Friday. Coops #cookingwithcoops #fridaynightlive #lockdownlives #goodthingsforgoodpeople #dealinreal #homecooking #creatingkitchenconfidence #learnbydoing #clickandcook #rantandrave #linkinbio #bbqfodder #cheesecake #startsimple

#FRIDAYNIGHTLIVE #FNL #NOTSOLOCKEDDOWNLIVE Like a blast from past and I can not believe I haven’t done this awesome dish on a #FRIDAYNIGHTLIVE yet! Think breaded chicken breast, melted cheese and a tangy tomato based Italian sauce. Honestly, it’s super simple, you can’t get it wrong and it’s an absolute taste sensation perfect for a Friday night. I managed to knock out 100’s of these when working as a chef in Melbourne in 1999 as part of my gap yaah. They absolutely flew out and so my hatred of pané was born, flattening and breadcrumbing for hours everyday was back breaking but the customers loved them and just wouldn’t stop eating the bloody things 😂. Now the below serves 6 because that’s what I’m doing but change the quantities as you see fit, it’s worth it! Ingredients: (serves 6) 2 large eggs 1 tbsp minced garlic fresh chopped parsley 3 large chicken breasts 250g Panko breadcrumbs 100g regular/Italian breadcrumbs 100g fresh grated parmesan cheese 1 tspn garlic or onion powder Veg/sunflower/rapeseed/olive oil for frying 250g Mozzarella 75g grated parmesan For the sauce: 1 tbsp olive oil 1 large onion chopped 2 tspn minced garlic 400g Passata 1 tspn dried Italian herbs 1 tspn sugar It’s not tricky, it tastes amazing, you can prep it in advance if you’re having people over and you can cook along on Friday night @ 7pm on my Facebook page and ask me all about my time in Australia. Get involved! Coops #cookingwithcoops #fridaynightlive #lockdownlives #goodthingsforgoodpeople #dealinreal #homecooking #creatingkitchenconfidence #learnbydoing #clickandcook #rantandrave #linkinbio #beerfodder #chickenparm

#FRIDAYNIGHTLIVE #FNL #NOLONGERLOCKEDDOWNLIVE Right then you gorgeous set of meat freaks, pulled pork/slow cooked pork shoulder from your oven. Now I know I’m gonna spanned for this by a LOT of my BBQ brethren but Cooking with Coops is about installing #kitchenconfidence at home and not every bugger is lucky enough to own a smoker so for now just button it! So we’re gonna rub our meat and then bang it in the oven covered in foil overnight on Friday night so you can smash it Saturday night with a nice slaw in a soft roll, gert lush! Ingredients (serves 8) 2-3kg pork shoulder (bone in) ½ cup brown sugar firmly packed 2 tbsp chilli powder 2 tbsp smoked paprika 2 tbsp cumin 1 tspn garlic powder 1 tspn onion powder 2 tspn dried thyme 1 tspn dried oregano 2 tspn salt 1 tspn cracked black pepper Pack of soft brown rolls Half a red cabbage 1 carrot 1 apple Half a red onion Red wine vinegar Olive oil So listen up, combine all the ingredients tomorrow (Thursday), score the pork shoulder and rub it in to the meat, cover and leave in the fridge until Friday night. Friday morning/lunchtime is fine too. Get in touch if you have any questions. Coops #cookingwithcoops #fridaynightlive #lockdownlives #goodthingsforgoodpeople #dealinreal #homecooking #creatingkitchenconfidence #learnbydoing #clickandcook #rantandrave #linkinbio #beerfodder #rubyourmeat #pulledpork

Don’t worry @stephenterrychef I’ve put you in with good company @midsummerchef et al. Time for some spring cleaning but can’t wait to get these back out and remind myself of the dishes I’ve tried and yet to conquer. Recipe books that are autobiographical have to be my absolute favourite and the two tagged above have some colourful tails. See you soon boys.