Chile en nogada
Devilish dish: Poblano chillies stuffed with spiced, minced meat and then topped with a walnut sauce and pomegranate seeds.
Techn-eeek: Chile en nogada is a slow process. Traditionally, Mexican cooks started roasting peppers, washing nuts and infusing meat days in advance.
Neat cheat: Fry pork mince with onion, garlic, chilli and cinnamon. Spoon into halved red capsicums, top with raisins and almonds and bake slowly.
Baked alaska
Devilish dish: Ice-cream coated with sponge, topped with delicate meringue and baked.
Techn-eeek: The trick of this dish is placing it in a very hot oven for long enough to ensure that the meringue is firm but the ice cream inside is not melted.
Neat cheat: Make your own sponge cake, take out of the oven and top with vanilla ice-cream and crushed meringue pieces.
Béarnaise sauce
Devilish dish: A tarragon-flavoured French sauce made from clarified butter, vinegar, shallots, egg yolks and herbs, often served with steak.
Techn-eeek: This sauce is made in a bain-marie (a glass bowl over a pan of boiling water), but if it gets too hot, the eggs will scramble and there is no turning back.
Neat cheat: Soften chopped shallots and garlic in butter, add peppercorns, fresh tarragon and a dash of white wine vinegar. Take off the heat and stir in 2 tablespoons of crème fraiche.
Turducken
Devilish dish: A whole turkey stuffed with duck, stuffed with chicken, hence the name tur(key)duck(chick)en.
Techn-eeek: Preparation is key, as smaller bones have to be removed without damaging the appearance of the birds. You also have to ensure the chicken is cooked but the turkey is not dry.
Neat cheat: Stuff a chicken with a mixture of turkey mince, sausage meat, breadcrumbs and fresh herbs, rub the skin with a little bit of duck fat and roast as normal.
Consommé
Devilish dish: A clear soup made from meat, tomato, egg whites and stock, slowly simmered to bring impurities to the surface for skimming.
Techn-eeek: Even some of the most experienced chefs cannot master the complex clarification process required to make consommé.
Neat cheat: Simmer beef stock with celery, carrot and onion, strain and pour over seared sirloin steak, carrot ribbons and sliced shallots.