Loe raamatut: «Tana Ramsay’s Family Kitchen: Simple and Delicious Recipes for Every Family»
dedication
For my mum and dad.
I hope my children grow up with the same sense of love and comfort that you gave me. Thank you.
contents
cover
title page
dedication
introduction
breakfast
school-rush smoothies
fruit salad with oats and warm yoghurt
wholemeal pancakes with caramelized apples
porridge with blueberries
fruit gratin
boiled eggs with cheesy fingers
field mushrooms on toast
poached eggs on wholemeal toast
muesli
homemade baked beans
full english
herring roe on toast
smoked haddock kedgeree
lunch bites
ham and cheese muffins
danish pastry pizzas
coleslaw crunch
salami and rice salad medley
golden puff pastries
stuffed potato cakes
sandwich fillers
easy sausage rolls
omelette
chocolate chip cookies
oatmeal and cranberry crunch biscuits
chocolate nut temptations
date and hazelnut fingers
tea-time treats
banana and apple loaf
chocolate crunch brownies
orange sponge fingers with lemon icing
mini jam doughnuts
homemade jammy dodgers
peanut butter and raisin cookies
fresh ginger cake
real hot chocolate with baby marshmallows
apricot and oatbran muffins
shortbread
almond and apricot yoghurt-coated bites
trying new tastes
lettuce wraps and dippers
fool-proof houmous
crispy pancetta with mushrooms and spring onions
bulgar and mint salad
cherry tomato and mozzarella salad
classic prawn cocktail
soft-boiled eggs
home deli temptations
smooth soups
beetroot soup
pea and mint soup
roasted butternut squash soup
curried parsnip and ginger soup
roasted sweet tomato and sweet pepper soup
cooking from the cupboard
homemade fish fingers with buttery mash and peas
spaghetti carbonara
pea and parmesan risotto
corned beef hash
butter bean and chorizo stew
macaroni cheese with tomato and crispy bacon
tinned sardines with avocado on toast
prawns with chilli and cheese
pasta with tomato and egg sauce
rice pudding
peaches with cinnamon, cardamom and vanilla ice cream
after-school suppers
chicken and butter bean casserole with basmati rice
fish chowder
lime and ginger salmon fillets with noodles
chicken breast with red lentil sauce
baked pumpkin and fresh pea risotto
pasta sauces
pesto
sausage casserole with savoy cabbage and butter beans
king prawn and monkfish curry
plaice with chunky chips and pea purée
tagliatelle with veal, orange and thyme
cauliflower and broccoli cheese
chicken thighs with pasta, bacon and cherry tomatoes
cooking in advance
slow-cooked lamb with apricots, ginger and cinnamon
red pepper and apple meatballs with sweet and sour sauce
moroccan chicken with couscous
stew and dumplings
chilli con carne
ratatouille
lamb shanks with balsamic vinegar and red wine
gammon with cloves
pork with apple and juniper berries
fish pie
bolognaise
cassoulet
mutton daube
weekend lunches
minestrone
new york sandwich
chicken in a pot
steak burgers with roasted red pepper sauce
osso bucco
roast rib of beef
moussaka
paella with chicken and prawns
leek and bacon pie
steak and guinness pie
chicken and mango casserole
calves’ liver with bacon
aromatic lamb burgers
puddings
raspberry meringue bomb
mint ice cream with chocolate sauce
hot chocolate puddings
frozen yoghurt
crème brulée
trifle with real custard and mandarins
lemon and lime pots
lemon and cranberry baked cheesecake
meringues and chocolate
vanilla custard
baked apples with currants and brown sugar
rhubarb and peach crumble
really easy fruit tarts
party food
party survival tips
cheese straws
pitta pockets
pasta twist salad
potato skins
potato-skin fillings
spicy baked beans and cheese
cocktail sausages with honey and mustard
egg mayonnaise bruschetta
peppermint creams
fruit jellies
gingerbread lollies
milk jelly
chocolate peanut butter squares
cinnamon and apricot fairy cakes
mini pavlovas
boy’s birthday cake
girl’s birthday cake
playdough
a bit about vitamins and minerals
kitchen equipment
acknowledgements
index
copyright
about the publisher
introduction
I must admit that I hardly cooked until I had children. Gordon was always working until at least midnight and I was working all day and studying for my teaching course in the evening – I became a Montessori nursery teacher. I more or less lived on quick and easy foods like beans on toast or breakfast cereal. My interest in food only really started when we had children and our first, Megan, began solids. Suddenly I was responsible for everything that went into her tiny tummy. Gordon was working and it was up to me to cook for her. That was when I started to really care about what was in the fridge.
I learnt how to cook as Megan’s diet became more interesting than vegetable purées. The fact that she was a good eater and showed excitement in what she ate, as subsequently did the other three, meant I actually enjoyed experimenting, too. So that is how I started cooking – never seasoning or overcomplicating, just simple, family food. I believe home cooking never needs to be any more sophisticated than this.
I’ve tried to keep the recipes in this book as real and accessible as possible. I’ve included all of my favourites that I use to feed the family, which also means that they have been given the thumbs up by the children. Some of the recipes are more child-oriented – like fish fingers, for example – but most of them are for the whole family to enjoy.
I’ve also tried to include tips on how to adapt some of the recipes to make them more adult. A splash of wine or a bit of extra seasoning is often all it takes. Not only does this save you the time and effort of cooking two different meals, but it also makes eating, especially at weekends, as much about being together as a family as eating good food. That for me is just as important.
The recipes are organized with most people’s weekly routines in mind. In the Breakfasts section, for example, I’ve included a mixture of quick and easy options for weekdays when you are rushing to get the kids to school as well as a few more leisurely recipes for weekends and holidays. The most popular with my children is probably the fruit gratin, so if you can’t quite squeeze it into a busy weekday morning, do indulge at the weekend. I’ve organized main meals into After-school Suppers and Weekend Lunches for the same reason.
I also thought a section on Cooking from the Cupboard was essential. If you are anything like me, sometimes you are just too busy, tired or disorganized to get to the supermarket and you end up staring at the contents of the fridge and cupboards trying to figure out what to feed everybody. I do try to keep a few staples in the house at all times, a few of which I have outlined at the beginning of that chapter. If you can get into the habit of keeping all of these in stock then you’ll find it actually quite easy to rustle up something delicious.
I actually find cooking ad hoc makes me more creative as I match flavours and ingredients that I might not normally. With this chapter, if you don’t have a particular item you can often substitute it for something else. I have tried to include notes on how you could do this in a number of the recipes throughout the book. For example, I really enjoy cooking with pancetta, but if you can’t get hold of it, you can substitute unsmoked streaky bacon or bacon lardons. Don’t be afraid to experiment! It’s how we all learn and more often than not it’ll go down well.
This is also why I’ve included a section on Trying New Tastes. Children – and mine are no exception – can have very fixed ideas of what they think they like and dislike, when quite often they only need a food presented to them in a different way or just as a sneaky aside to other things they know they already love. The recipes in this section are designed to be made in combination with each other so you can end up with a wide variety of flavours on your plates. We tend to use our fingers for these informal pick and mix sessions and they always end up being great fun.
The section I found the most fun to write was Party Foods. I think the children enjoyed it most too as I was testing the recipes to make sure they would work when I wrote them down! I’ve tried to include ones that have worked well at my children’s parties. Most of them are very quick and easy to make and will help you cut as many corners as possible. There is always so much to think about when you have to organize a children’s party that I find every extra minute counts.
Above everything else, I really hope you enjoy using this book. From being a complete novice I’ve come to love cooking for my family – yes, even for Gordon! I also like to know that the children are getting all the nutrients they need. (I’ve included a chart with basic nutritional information at the back of the book as I always find them handy.) When I was little it was such a comfort coming home to my mum’s cooking. I hope that my children and yours will grow up with the same feelings of love, comfort and satisfaction around food.
breakfast
The most important meal of the day!
Weekday breakfasts are tough ones. Like most people with young children, my house is always completely chaotic between 7 and 8 a.m. on a weekday. The children are all still fast asleep at 7 and have to be literally dragged out of their nice warm beds. Then we have one hour to get dressed, eat, clean teeth, wash faces, do several sets of plaits/bunches/ponytails, persuade my son to introduce his hair to a hairbrush and get out the door. I also have to make sure the beds are made and curtains open if it is a work day, as I don’t want to come home to a mess in the evening. They do this themselves, but often need a reminder (or two or three!) – a little treat is always a good incentive!
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