1. Kedgeree
Serves 4
Ingredients
60g unsalted butter
Large pinch of turmeric
1 clove
Seeds from 1 green cardamom pod
225g long-grain rice
600ml hot fish or chicken stock
2 eggs
300ml milk
1 onion, sliced
1 bay leaf
2 black peppercorns
400g smoked haddock (or a sustainable white fish such as coley, if your kids don’t like smoked fish)
Handful of parsley leaves, roughly chopped
Lemon wedges, to serve
Salt and pepper
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 6.
2. Put a large ovenproof pot (one that has a lid) over a medium heat. As it heats up, add the butter. Once that has melted, add the turmeric, clove and cardamom seeds. Stir in the rice, cook for 1 min, then add the hot stock and bring to the boil. Put the lid on and put the pot in the oven for 15–20 mins.
3. Bring a small pan of water to the boil, lower in the eggs, return to the boil and cook for 7 mins. Remove them from the pan and cover with cold water, to stop them cooking. When they’re cool enough to handle, peel them. Set aside.
4. Meanwhile, pour 600ml of water into a deep sauté or frying pan. Add the milk, onion, bay leaf and peppercorns. Bring to the boil, then slide in the fish, reduce the heat to a simmer and poach for 10 mins, or until the flesh is opaque and flakes easily from the skin. Remove the fish from the liquid with a fish slice, discard the skin and flake into large chunks, checking for bones and throwing them away as you find them.
5. Take the rice out of the oven; it should have absorbed all the stock and be perfectly cooked. Gently stir in the fish, being careful not to break it up.
6. Serve scattered with parsley, allowing everyone half a boiled egg and a wedge of lemon. Season to taste (a generous grind of pepper is good).
2. Virtuous Chilli
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 courgette, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
2 celery sticks, sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
Handful of mushrooms, roughly sliced
2 x 400g tins of whole plum tomatoes
400g tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tsp dried oregano
2 bay leaves
1 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp ground cumin
Salt
Method
1. This recipe demands a lot of chopping, so it’s unlikely you’ll prepare it in the morning before work or school. Do it the night before and/or delegate. Put the chopped and sliced vegetables in the slow cooker with the tomatoes, chickpeas, herbs, spices and ½ tsp of salt. Stir.
2. If you have prepared this the night before you need it, cover and pop the slow cooker bowl in the fridge overnight, then whip it out and place in the metal cooker in the morning.
3. Put the lid on your slow cooker. Cook it on high for four to 6 hours, or on low for 6 to 8 hours.
4. Season and serve with crème fraîche and grated cheese. And some rice if you’re really hungry
3. Bean Burgers
Makes 4 small or 2 large burgers
Ingredients
Glug of olive oil
½ onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
400g tin of cannellini beans, or any other beans you have in your cupboard, drained and rinsed
1 egg, lightly beaten
Handful of breadcrumbs (whizz up a crustless slice in the food processor)
½ tbsp pesto
Pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
Salt and pepper
Method
1. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and fry the onion for a couple of minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 2 or more mins, or until the onion is lightly browned.
2. In a mixing bowl, mash the beans with a fork or potato masher. Add the egg, breadcrumbs, pesto and chilli, if using, tip in the fried onions and garlic, season well and mix thoroughly. Chill for 10 mins.
3. When firm, shape into four satsuma-sized balls, or two larger patties. Heat some more oil in the frying pan over a medium heat and pop in the burgers. Flatten each one with a spatula into a burger shape. Cook for about 5 mins on each side, or until browned and cooked through.
4. Easy Frittata
Serves 4
Ingredients
Unsalted butter, for greasing the dish
2 large courgettes (375g total weight), grated
3 rashers of bacon, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
140g self-raising flour
115ml flavourless oil, such as vegetable oil
5 eggs, lightly beaten
80g cheese, grated (whatever type you prefer, or have in the fridge)
1 tsp thyme leaves
Pepper
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Lightly butter a round ovenproof dish, about 20cm in diameter.
2. In a large bowl, mix the courgettes with the bacon, onion, flour, oil, eggs, cheese and thyme, until the flour has been incorporated without any lumps. Season well with a hearty grind of black pepper.
3. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish and bake in the oven until golden on top. This will take about 50 mins.
4. Remove from the oven and serve. Or place the dish on a wire rack and wait until it has cooled, then slice into wedges each day to parcel out for lunches.
5. No-Stirring Risotto
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 tbsp unsalted butter, plus a large knob more to serve
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 leek, finely sliced
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
300g arborio rice
250g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
800ml hot vegetable or chicken stock
80g Parmesan or other hard cheese, grated
Salt and pepper
Method
1. Heat the butter and olive oil in a frying pan and fry the onion, leek and garlic for 5 or 6 mins, or until soft. Add the rice, stirring quickly so each grain is coated in the oil and butter. Cook the rice for 2 mins until it becomes slightly translucent.
2. Transfer the rice mixture to the slow cooker and stir in the mushrooms and stock. Put on the lid and cook on medium for 2 hours, or until the rice is cooked and the stock properly absorbed.
3. Stir in the cheese and the knob of butter, season with salt and pepper, and serve immediately.
6.Cowgirl Stew
Serves 4
Ingredients
3 large carrots, sliced
1 onion, chopped
6 good-quality sausages, each cut into three
2 Polish kabanos, or 2 small chorizos, sliced
Handful of red lentils, green lentils or pearl barley
400g tin of baked beans
2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
Couple of glugs of Worcestershire sauce
2 garlic cloves, sliced
Salt and pepper
400ml lager or vegetable or chicken stock, heated
Method
1. Arrange the carrots on the bottom of the slow cooker. Arrange the onion, sausages and kabanos or chorizos over them, then sprinkle the lentils or barley on top. Spoon out the baked beans in a layer, then do the same for the tinned tomatoes. Add the Worcestershire sauce and garlic and season fairly generously to taste.
2. Pour over the heated lager or stock (if the food is still not fully covered, top up with some water).
3. Put the lid on the slow cooker, set it to low and leave to cook all day, or for at least 8 hours.
7. Lumberjack stew
Serves 6
Ingredients
5 carrots
3 baking-type potatoes (about 600g in total)
2 parsnips
Glug of olive oil
800g–1kg stewing beef, chopped into chunky bite-sized pieces
1 onion, chopped
2 tbsp tomato purée
1 litre hot beef or chicken stock
½ tsp thyme leaves
½ tsp chopped rosemary leaves
2 bay leaves
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper
Large handful of frozen peas
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4.
2. Peel the carrots, potatoes and parsnips and chop them. They will cook more evenly if they are the same size. And besides, it looks nicer. Set them aside.
3. Take a large casserole dish that (ideally) has a lid, pour some oil in and, when it is hot, brown the beef in it. You may need to do this in batches; don’t crowd the pan, or the meat will stew and not brown properly. Remove the meat to a plate with a slotted spoon and repeat until it is all browned. In the same oil and leftover meat juices, fry the onion slowly until it has softened.
4. Stir in all the chopped root vegetables (carrots, potatoes and parsnips) and return the meat to the casserole dish.
5. Mix the tomato purée into the hot stock until it has dissolved. Pour it over the beef and vegetables before adding the herbs and cayenne pepper. Give it a good stir. Put a lid on the top. (If you don’t have one, just use foil.)
6. Cook in the oven for three to five hours, stirring every now and then.
7. Ten minutes before serving, season to taste and add the peas. Serve.
8. Pork and apple casserole
Serves 4
Ingredients
Glug of olive oil
4 pork steaks
1 onion, finely chopped
3 rashers of streaky bacon, finely chopped
1 large carrot, sliced
150g (a handful of) mushrooms, sliced
1 cooking apple, unpeeled, cored and chopped
200ml cider (optional but, if not using, add another 200ml stock)
450ml chicken stock
Pepper, to taste
1–2 sage leaves, chopped, plus more to serve
1 tbsp crème fraîche
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4.
2. You need to find a casserole dish that you can use on the hob as well as in the oven, so probably a cast-iron one. Put it over a medium heat.
3. Heat a splash or two of olive oil in the casserole dish and throw in the pork steaks. Brown them on each side, then remove them to a plate. Add a splash more oil to the casserole dish and, when it’s heated, start frying the onion, bacon and carrot, cooking them until the onion is just starting to colour.
4. Add the mushrooms and apple, and cook for another minute, then return the pork steaks to the dish. Slowly pour in the cider, if using, or 200ml of the stock if not, “deglazing” (or scraping) the base of the casserole dish with a wooden spoon, so the lovely crusty bits sticking to the bottom go back into the sauce.
5. Pour in the remaining stock and season, probably just with pepper as stock (especially if it is from cubes) can be quite salty. Add the sage, put the lid on and pop the dish in the oven for 90 mins.
6. Remove from the oven. Stir in the crème fraîche and sprinkle with chopped or whole sage leaves, if you like (be careful, sage is strong). Serve.
9. Totally inauthentic mexican chicken
Serves 4
Ingredients
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 red onion, chopped
5 tsp ground cumin
1 garlic clove, crushed
Juice of ½ lime
450g boneless chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces (thighs are cheaper and juicier than breasts)
340g tin of sweetcorn, drained and rinsed
400g tin of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
Method
1. Make the salsa: put the tomatoes, onion, cumin, garlic and lime juice in a bowl and stir. Spread half the salsa in the base of the slow cooker.
2. Drop the chicken into the cooker. Add the sweetcorn and kidney beans, then spread the rest of the salsa on the top.
3. Put the lid on and cook on low for 6 hours.
4. Serve with rice or tacos, tortilla chips, coriander leaves, sour cream or Greek yoghurt, guacamole, a spritz of lime or some grated cheese.
10. Chicken dippers
Serves 4
Ingredients
450g skinless chicken breasts, or the same weight of mini-fillets
150g crème fraîche
150g breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper
Flavourless oil, such as vegetable oil, to fry
Method
1. Slice the chicken breasts so the dippers are about 7cm long and 2cm wide. Do try to keep them vaguely equal so the cooking time is the same for all of them. (Mini-fillets can be left as they are.)
2. Place the crème fraîche in a shallow container and the breadcrumbs in another. Add salt and pepper to the breadcrumbs.
3. Make your children wash their hands really well. Give them a piece of chicken and let them dip it first into the crème fraîche, then into the crumbs. It’s very easy and quite satisfying. Place each finished dipper on a plate. Once the dippers have all been dipped, the children should wash their hands thoroughly again.
4. Heat enough oil to cover the base of a large frying pan. Place as many dippers in the frying pan as you can, without them touching each other. Cook for 5 mins, until golden brown, then turn and fry for another 4 or 5 mins. Cut the fattest one in half to check there is no trace of pink. If still pink, cook for another minute, then test again. When they are cooked through, remove the dippers from the pan on to kitchen paper and keep warm in an oven preheated to 150C/Gas 2 while you cook the rest. Repeat to cook all the dippers. You may have to increase or reduce the heat under the pan, especially for the subsequent batches, to get an even colour without scorching the dippers.
5. Serve up the rest of the meal — peas, mashed potato, ketchup — then divide up the dippers between the plates.
11. One-pot fruity buns
Serves 12
Ingredients
150g (small pot) of natural yoghurt
1 small yoghurt pot of caster sugar
3 small yoghurt pots of self-raising flour
1 small yoghurt pot of sunflower oil
3 eggs, lightly beaten
Finely grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
½ small yoghurt pot of sultanas
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Line a fairy cake tray with fairy cake cases.
2. Pour the pot of natural yoghurt into a bowl. Rinse and dry the pot and use it to measure out the sugar, flour and oil (in that order) into the bowl. Add the eggs and mix everything together until you have a light batter, then tip in the lemon zest and sultanas. Give it another good stir.
3. Spoon the batter into the cake cases and bake for 15 mins. When the buns are golden brown, they are done. Transfer them to a wire rack to cool and eat them up quickly.
12. Raspberry jam chicken
Serves 4
Ingredients
3 tbsp raspberry jam
1 tsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
½ tsp English mustard
1 garlic clove, crushed
4 skinless boneless chicken thighs
Ingredients
1. Mix the jam, vinegar, soy sauce and mustard with the garlic in a saucepan and bring to the boil (careful though: boiling jam is super-hot). Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the jam marinade to cool; it should be nice and gloopy.
2. When it is cool, tip the marinade into a non-metallic bowl (or into a sturdy freezer bag) and add the chicken pieces, rubbing in the marinade thoroughly. The longer you marinate it for, the tastier it will be, but don’t fret if you only have an hour or so. If you have longer, cover the bowl — or seal the bag and put it in a bowl in case of drips — and place in the fridge.
3. Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4 and return the chicken to room temperature if it has been in the fridge. Line a roasting tray with greaseproof paper and tip the chicken on to the tray. Bake for about 30 mins, turning once and watching closely towards the end of cooking time, as the pieces tend to burn if you are not careful.
13. Milk chocolate mousse
Makes 4 small mousses
Ingredients
75g milk chocolate, chopped or broken up
2 eggs, separated
25g unsalted butter, melted
2 tbsp caster sugar
Gingernut biscuits, chocolate curls, halved strawberries, and/or cocoa powder, to serve
Method
1. Put the chocolate in a bain-marie or the microwave and melt it very gently, in 30 second bursts, until it’s all melted apart from a few lumps, which will melt in the residual heat.
2. Wait a couple of minutes for the chocolate to cool slightly, then mix it with the egg yolks and butter, stirring all the time so the eggs don’t cook.
3. Whisk the egg whites lightly, then gradually whisk in the sugar until the mixture is shiny and stiff.
4. Fold the two mixtures together. Divide between four small glasses or espresso cups and chill until set.
5. Eat. Good with gingernut biscuits for dunking, or with chocolate curls on the top, or halved strawberries, or dusted with cocoa powder. Or all of the above
14. The perfect chocolate cake
Serves 4
Ingredients
For the cake
175g unsalted butter, well softened, plus more for the tins
1½ tbsp cocoa powder
175g self-raising flour
1½ tsp baking powder
175g caster sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
For the filling
3 tbsp raspberry or strawberry jam
Maltesers
For the decoration
75–100g milk chocolate
Sprinkles or sweets
You will need 2 x 18cm round cake tins
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Butter two 18cm sandwich tins and line the bases with greaseproof paper.
2. Using a spoon or fork, blend together the cocoa powder with 3 tbsp of hot water in a cup until there are no lumps. Once cool, beat the cocoa mixture into the remaining cake ingredients in a large bowl. If you have an electric mixer or a blender you can blitz everything in this instead.
3. Divide the mixture between the two prepared tins and bake in the oven for 25 mins. When the cakes are cooked, put them on a wire rack in their tins until they are cool enough to handle, then turn out of the tins on to the rack, peel off the papers and leave to cool completely.
4. Put the least nice-looking cake on a serving plate, flat-side up, spread on some jam and Maltesers and then put the other cake on top, flat side facing the ceiling.
5. Use the milk chocolate to make a batch of melted chocolate icing (melt it in a microwave, stirring regularly for 30 second bursts at a time, and stop when it is very, very nearly melted — the residual heat will melt the rest), then chill it for 10 mins.
6. And now for the fun part… decorating the cake. Spoon the icing over the cake, starting in the centre and allowing the chocolate to cascade down. Add sprinkles or sweets before it sets. If your kitchen is hot, put the cake in the fridge until the icing hardens.