THE AEG PRO-COMBI STEAM OVEN

Already renowned for its unrivalled innovative ethos and design excellence, AEG continues to be 'perfect in form and function' with their electric Pro-Combi Steam oven where water is added to a reservoir inside the oven to generate steam and cook food with alluring flavours, crisp and golden on the outside and moist and succulent on the inside.

My job as a professional food writer means that I rarely leave the kitchen throughout the day, but, other than a tropical lsland in the Caribbean or a hilltop village in Provence, now that this multi-function steam powered oven has become the focal point of my working life, there's nowhere else I'd rather be.

A touch of a fingertip on the LCD touch control panel will access 18 cooking functions that consistently guarantee me a wide range of perfectly cooked food. These include a grill function which usually starts my day by toasting my morning croissants to a hot golden finish.

By 11o'clock I select the 'Moist Fan Baking Function' and into the oven goes a new batch of cupcakes I am baking. Then I will sit down and drink my mid morning cuppa while I watch them gently rise into golden peaks through the glazed safe- touch oven door. The interior lights inclined in the roof and sides of the oven focus 100 percent on the food to give me a perfect view of what's going on which helps me to resist opening the oven to check their progress.

My other favourite functions are 'Full Steam' ,which delivers a constant flow of steam using the AEG chrome- steel perforated container, to cook a medley of young vegetables, chicken pieces and fish portions (a joy for me who likes healthy eating), the ' Half Steam + Heat' for poaching salmon, making terrines and luscious silky creme caramels, (really any food that normally requires a bain marie - extra moisture - to help them cook) and the' Pizza' function with two settings, one for thin and crispy and another for well- laden toppings. What more could you ask for? Oh, perhaps the `Defrost' (which is fan controlled and ideal for delicate items like cream cakes), as well as a Keep Warm function, which I use for lightly warming savoury quiches or over-stored scones to give them that fresh baked appeal once again. We shouldn't forget the' Automatic' programme with weight input.

If you set the weight of a joint of meat or whole chicken for instance, the appliance automatically calculates the temperature and roasting time, which has proven to be spot on every time Happy days!

Finally, at the end of a particularly busy day of cooking, with just another touch of the LCD control panel the oven steam cleans itself allowing me to leave the kitchen behind and wind down with a nice glass of wine and a well-earned rest. Hallelujah to that.

See AEG recipes for Madeleine Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream, Steamed Buttermilk Scones, Steamed Baked Rice (Biryani Style) with Chicken, Tomato and Gruyere Quiche with Three Herbs, Steamed Summer Vegetables with Sea Salt, Fresh Mint and Other Herbs, on the Recipe Pages.

For more information click onto www.aeg.co.uk