Na is well-known in Norfolk for her cookery courses and also travels to showrooms around the country as an AGA demonstrator. And she's recently published her first book, the excellently-named A Little Bit Brilliant, a collection of 80 tasty recipes, plus clever kitchen tips and basic techniques.

We all get stuck in a cooking rut from time to time and the idea behind the book is to provide home cooks with the inspiration to expand their culinary repertoire and get people gathered around the table together.

While Na is a very confident cook today, it hasn't always been the case.

'I was always a bit of a rubbish cook,' she laughs.

'I grew up in the Borders in Scotland on a dairy farm and there was food everywhere, so I've got a really good sense of where food comes from - there were fields of cauliflowers in front of my bedroom window,' she says.

Na Hansell cooking. (Image: Contributed by Na Hansell)

'And I was surrounded by excellent aunts and there were always millions of cousins and fabulous Sunday lunches and food was definitely what brought people together. But like lots of my generation, we had to do maths, and physics and A levels and degrees and we never really learned how to cook - that wasn't what our parents' generation wanted us to be doing, so we just had this gap.

'When I got married and had my family, I followed recipes and they never quite tasted that great.'

Na trained as an accountant and went into commercial finance. Her career in food began when she moved into buying when she was working for Asda.

'I did fresh produce for quite a long time, and travelled loads and I loved that, it was like being the Man from Del Monte,' she says.

'In the summer you were in the UK in Lincolnshire and Devon and Cornwall and Norfolk and then in the winter you were in Tanzania, Peru, South America, Kenya, Spain, meeting all these amazing people whose life, like my parents, was just growing excellent food.'

But while she knew her produce, there was a missing ingredient - as was revealed very publicly when she went on the TV cooking competition MasterChef.

'I didn't last very long, because I actually couldn't really cook,' she says.

Na Hansell giving a baking demonstration. (Image: Kathryn Fell/contributed by Na Hansell)

'I'd never really learned anything about seasoning. I made a salad dressing that had no salt in it - doing that on national telly is just not a great thing to do.'

The experience proved to be a turning point for her.

'I wanted to be able to do what I'd seen my excellent aunts and family doing, which is creating this lovely hum around the table with excellent food. So I took a career break and I went to cookery school in Ireland, to Ballymaloe, just to learn to cook better,' she says.

'It was a real food education, it was like Norfolk upside down, so the south coast, Cork, has all the seafood and all the fish, then they also have really fertile ground for great pork, lamb, beef and cheese.

'I learned about seasoning,' she says. 'I really learned how to use just one little spice, we did this carrot pie with cumin one day and it tasted so delicious. It completely blew my mind, that simple food can be really delicious. I got a lot more confident with creating nice food.

'When I came home to Norfolk it was a very similar kind of feel, where people really cared about food and cared about where things came from and that was people's livelihoods.'

Having learned to cook better herself, Na wanted to share her knowledge with others and so started running courses, at locations around the county including at holiday lets she owned at Sculthorpe and East Rudham.

Na Hansell. (Image: Kathryn Fell/contributed by Na Hansell)

'If you have the confidence to just know you can make something tasty, then you can get people round the table,' she says.

Participants on the courses would go home with an A5 recipe booklet written by Na. And around this time last year, encouraged by numerous requests for a book, she started working on what became A Little Bit Brilliant.

'I went through all the little booklets and pulled out the recipes that people have loved the most,' she says. And there's one recipe in particular that definitely had to be included.

'I'll be in Fakenham Morrisons and somebody will be shouting across the till "Oh Na, I made the Asian broth last night, I make it all the time",' she says. 'Then my excellent editor said that we had some gaps, so I wrote some new recipes to make the chapters balanced.'

The book starts with a chapter called Brilliant Basics - the foundations for building a culinary repertoire, such as a simple Victoria sponge cake recipe, quantities for Yorkshire puddings and how to make a super quick curry.

Na Hansell giving a cookery demonstration. (Image: Kathryn Fell/contributed by Na Hansell)

'I wanted the Brilliant Basics section to be the page you turn to so that you don't get distracted by your phone when you're checking the quantities - you literally make Yorkshire puddings, you get them in the oven and then you can eat them,' says Na.

Another chapter is called What's For Supper? and is designed to provide inspiration, whether you just need to feed yourself or a crowd.

'Then there's a chapter that I wanted to call Sludges, but Jude my editor wouldn't let me call it that, she said I had to call it Sauces, Dressings and Toppings,' laughs Na.

'I have a friend who teaches Pilates, and she said that she loves coming on my courses because there's always a good sludge. And what she means is the sludges are kind of like the Rescue Remedies for a plain salmon fillet or a bit of roast chicken. There's a basil and thyme pesto, there's a Chimichurri, there's a zhoug, which is cardamom based. And then there's a Hollandaise and a Béarnaise because they can be slightly frightening, but they're not and they're the kind of things that are definitely worth mastering. They're the "Little Bit Brilliant". I really want people to find the confidence to have a go, even if things occasionally don't work - I burn lots of things.

'And Bowls, Bites and Small Plates is an absolute treasure trove of handy things for lunch, supper and in between. There are Thai Peanut sausage rolls, a smoked chilli and turmeric houmous, little chia seed crackers, a frittata, some simple griddled halloumi, there's a butternut squash sausage roll, a little chickpea salad, just the little handy things to have in tubs in the fridge for a couple of days.'

Inspired by the time when her mum suddenly had to cater for a vegetarian guest at Christmas, the book has a handy 'free from' index at the back which lists the recipes which are vegetarian, dairy free and vegan and gluten free.

And, keen to inspire the next generation of home cooks, the recipes are all packed with flavour.

Na Hansell with her book, A Little Bit Brilliant. (Image: Contributed by Na Hansell)

Na's Simple Chicken Cashew Satay

This is a handy chicken recipe that happens to be gluten and dairy free and can be ready in under 30 minutes. Serve with some rice or wraps (it's also great in a picnic or as a nibble). The sauce thickens just by the magic of the cashews and coconut cream and without any stodgy thickeners. Cook the chicken on wooden skewers, which makes them look pretty and makes them easy to eat.

200g roasted salted cashew nuts

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed

600g chicken breast, cut into 5mm slices, or mini fillets

1 red chilli, de-seeded unless you like it more spicy, to garnish

Few coriander leaves to garnish

You’ll also need some long skewers (see Tips) - if you’re cooking on a barbecue, use metal ones or soaked wooden ones. Individual wooden skewers are fun to make stand-up appetisers.

Whizz up the coconut cream, cashews, soy sauce and garlic in a food processor until smooth.

Put half into a small pan to make a sauce later (see Tips).

Thread the chicken on to skewers (see also Tips) and lay them on a tray or plate. Tip the remaining satay sauce over the chicken and gently turn the skewers to coat.

Cook the chicken either by grilling, in the oven, on an indoor griddle or barbecue.

To grill, place on an oven proof tray and grill for 5 minutes each side. Slice into one piece to check it is fully cooked.

To cook in the oven, heat the oven to 200C (180C fan) and cook on an ovenproof tray for 20 mins.

To griddle or barbecue, heat the griddle or barbecue until hot and place the skewers or chicken pieces on it. Cook for 5 mins without moving then turn over and cook the other side without moving.

To finish the sauce, add 100g water to the pan with the separated-out sauce. Place the pan on a medium heat and heat gently for 5 minutes, stirring, until the sauce becomes thick. Serve the chicken garnished with the chilli and coriander, and with the sauce on the side for dipping.

You can mix the coating in advance and chill it for up to three days until needed. The chicken can be coated in this mix up to three days in advance and chilled until needed. Once the chicken is cooked, you can keep it in the fridge for up to 48 hours. Finish the sauce just before serving.

A Little Bit Brilliant by Na Hansell is published by Jon Croft Editions and is available via nahansell.com

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