FOOD STYLING JOSS HERD
“ We are all time-poor. We may be able to wait while meals cook but we don’t have the hours or the energy (at least not midweek) to stand at the kitchen counter doing complicated stuff. I rarely make a casserole during the week (all that browning) and I can’t be bothered to chop much either. But I still want to eat something delicious every night. This isn’t difficult. What we need are ideas - ideas for how to turn the building blocks of meals (chops, fish fillets, chicken thighs, bags of red peppers or rice) into something that lifts your heart as you sit down at the table.
These recipes are from my new book, Simple, which is bigger and better than the one I first wrote (Cook Simple, published in 2007). That book was full of recipes for the kind of food I made after I had my first child. As a keen cook, I was shocked at how little I could manage while carrying a crying baby around (and suffering from sleep deprivation). But I realised that the dishes – and the approach – I came up with at the time weren’t just useful for new mothers.
This new book embraces all the ingredients we’ve taken to in the last decade, and it reflects our increasing love of vegetables and wholegrains too. The recipes also use a wider range of techniques; there are pots of simmering lentils and spiced griddled chicken thighs (to be eaten with relishes or sauces that are easy to knock up) as well as lots of ‘bung-it-in-the-oven’ dishes.
We’re more steeped in food now than we’ve ever been. We lap it up via TV cookery programmes and follow celebrity chefs on our smartphones. This doesn’t mean we are more confident in the kitchen; in fact it seems to make us feel less capable. But we have access to more interesting ingredients than ever before, and a world of culinary cultures to look to for inspiration.
I really believe anyone can cook great food. If you can stick a whole chicken or a trayful of red peppers into the oven, a decent meal isn’t far away. But we need ideas, and that’s what I’ve tried to give. Supper, even on a Wednesday night when you’re on the verge of ordering a takeaway, can be simple and good.“
Pork chops with mustard and capers
SERVES 4. HANDS-ON TIME 20 MIN, OVEN TIME 12 MIN
Pork chops with mustard and capers, p62
“ A classic, but none the worse for that. I love the way the richness of the creamy sauce is cut by the pickled capers.”
• 1 tbsp olive oil for frying
• 4 x 225-250g British free-range pork chops, preferably thick ones
• 275ml dry vermouth
• 250ml double cream
• 1½ tsp dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp capers in brine, drained and well rinsed
1 Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/ gas 6. Heat the oil in a large ovenproof frying pan over a high heat. Season the chops all over, then fry for 2 minutes on each side; you want them good and golden. Quickly brown the fat, too, by using tongs to pick up the chops and holding the fat against the pan for a minute or so. When you’ve browned them all, transfer the pan to the oven and cook for 12 minutes.
2 Wearing good oven gloves and being careful of the hot pan handle, pour the fat out of the pan (discard); put the chops on a warm plate and cover to keep warm. Add the vermouth to the pan. Bring to the boil on the hob, then bubble to reduce by half, stirring to pick up and dissolve all the browned savoury bits on the pan, then pour in the cream. Bubble until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Take it off the heat, whisk in the dijon mustard and stir in the capers. Taste: it’s a strong sauce but it works well with the pork. Serve the chops with the sauce spooned over the top.
PER SERVING 676kcals, 45g fat (24.3g saturated), 47.5g protein, 3.4g carbs (3.2g sugars), 0.5g salt, no fibre
WINE EDITOR’S CHOICE Choose a ripe white wine with a creamy, buttery edge, such as a Burgundian saint-véran or mâcon-villages.
Turkish pasta with feta, yogurt and dill
SERVES 2. HANDS-ON TIME 45 MIN
Turkish pasta with feta, yogurt and dill, p62
PHOTOGRAPHS LAURA EDWARDS
“ Turkish manti – lamb-filled pasta shapes – are served with yogurt sauce. They’re laborious to make, but I love the basic idea of pasta with yogurt and feta and so I came up with this instead. It takes a while for the onions to caramelise but you can pretty much leave them to cook.”
MAKE AHEAD