Michel Roux

1. Make oysters less scary

Serving oysters can seem a bit terrifying, which puts people off buying them. A simple way to make them easy to open is to pop them into the freezer for 15 minutes before you want to open them, which puts them to sleep: they relax and are easier to prise open with an oyster knife and you're less likely to slip and stab yourself in the hand.

2. Chill your worktop

Whether you are using shop-bought pastry or home-made pastry, when you're rolling it out, it's a good idea to take ice-cube trays out of the freezer and sit them on your work surface for four or five minutes so that it chills down. The pastry will be easier to work, and will cook better.

3. Make flavoured butter

You can liven up a steak by having a stash of flavoured butters in the freezer, which we do at the restaurant. Mix half a pack of butter with crushed green peppercorns, or parsley, garlic or any other herb or spice you fancy, roll into a log shape 4cm thick and wrap in clingfilm. Keep in the freezer, and it will be ready to serve whenever you want it. Also good on roasts or hot vegetables.

4. Use pasteurised egg whites

If you want to make easy soufflés or meringues, buy pasteurised egg white, which you can get in the supermarket. It holds its shape much better than normal egg white, so your meringues and soufflés won't collapse. Plus, it's much safer to use than fresh eggs.

5. Make frozen berry coulis

There's no point buying out-of-season fresh fruits that taste of nothing when you can get bags of perfectly good frozen fruit. Thaw and whizz up the fruit with a little sugar in the blender for a perfectly good coulis.

Eric Chavot

1. Easy chicken cordon-bleu

I don't want to cook two-Michelin-starred food at home for my kids after a hard day at work! I do a fantastic chicken cordon bleu at home. Get a nice chicken breast per person, and butterfly it. Next get a good quality piece of smoked ham and some garlic Boursin and wrap the ham round the cheese in the shape of a cigar. Then tuck the cigar inside the chicken and pull the meat around it. Then sear it in a pan until the chicken is golden, about two minutes either side, and then pop the whole thing in a hot oven until the chicken is cooked through.

2. Laughing Cow cheese sauce

The best, quickest cheese sauce is incredibly easy and doesn't require a roux. I can't believe I'm saying this, but it involves Laughing Cow cheese triangles. For a very simple macaroni cheese for the kids, just cook pasta, drain and retain a splash of the cooking water. Add a little olive oil to the pan with the hot pasta and water, some grated mozzarella (the kind you buy in a bag), some cheddar cheese and some triangles of Laughing Cow. Mix and warm it up and you've got the most amazing, tasty cheese sauce. Often I add some broccoli which I cook in the microwave with a splash of water, olive oil, salt and pepper, for two minutes.

3. Smash fish pie

It is also very easy to make a really fast fish pie. First, turn the oven on full. Then get a piece of smoked haddock and poach it for two or three minutes covered in milk, with a bay leaf and a little olive oil. When it's cooked, grab a packet of instant mash, but rather than using water, make it with the poaching milk instead. Microwave some frozen peas. Flake the fish. Put it in an oven-proof dish with the peas, then cover it with the mash and a sprinkling of cheese. Brown it in the hot oven. You can add a little butter if you prefer it a bit richer - without it then this is really pretty healthy.

4. Marie Rose sauce

Great for serving with crudités, I make it with mayo, a splash of ketchup, a little HP sauce and some tomato Worcestershire sauce, which makes it taste brilliant.

5. Twix and banana cake

In France we have a cake which is similar to your pound cake, called the 'quatre quart' cake, made with the same amount of all four ingredients. So if you have three eggs, weigh them and then use the same weights of butter, sugar and flour. Cream the butter and sugar, add the eggs and sifted flour (or if you have time separate the eggs and beat the whites until stiff). Then take an old banana and lightly caramelise it in a hot pan. Add to the mixture. Finally crumble a Twix and mix in. Cook the cake for about 45 mins at 108ºC. The finished cake will have lovely biscuity, toffee and chocolate chunks in it.

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