Stew. Slow cooking. The bringing together of compatible flavours in liquid of some sort. Rich broth, tasty liquor. Meat edging towards tenderness hour by hour. Comforting. Healing. Safe. Yes, all that and more. But we can have a stew on a weekday when time is against us, though we might have to rethink the word a little.
I make a great little stew, a fricassée, I suppose, with rabbit and tarragon, another with onions cooked till soft with black beans, and yet another with aubergines. They have all the qualities of slow-cooked food, yet mostly are made in less than an hour. In all fairness, not many use the bone-heavy, cheap cuts this method of cooking was designed for, but the essence of the stew is still there. The deep flavours, the aromatic liquid, the tender meat and vegetables. What isn't there is the hours of waiting.
Of course, nothing will quite beat the time-honoured Irish stew, left to sort itself out in a low oven for a couple of hours. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have a lamb shank pot-roasted with plenty of liquid and root vegetables on the table in about an hour. We can also have chicken cooked on the bone with melting vegetables, a rich broth and crisp skin.
There is much comfort in food that has been cooked in a casserole. For the most part, it is winter cooking, the food that warms our soul. Initially saddened that it could never be part of a book about fast food, I took a long, hard look at how such recipes could be worked in order to fit in with the premise of having something good on the table within an hour or so of coming home on a
| working day. So here they are: a lamb dish with asparagus; a creamy, piquant chicken fricassée; a casserole of red cabbage and blue cheese; and a silky vegetable stew. Quick, warming dinners for cool days.
A few favourites
Crush 2 large, juicy cloves of garlic and mash them with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a good pinch of salt. Add 450g cubed lamb, rolling it round until the meat is well seasoned with the paste. Peel and roughly chop a medium onion and let it soften and lightly brown in a little oil over a moderate heat. Add the meat to the pan, letting it brown here and there, tossing occasionally. Tip in two 400g cans of chopped tomatoes and half a teaspoon of smoked paprika. Leave to simmer for 25 minutes over a low heat. Just before eating, stir in about 120g young spinach leaves and a handful of chopped coriander and check the seasoning. Let the leaves wilt briefly, then eat. Thick chunks of bread are probably the most appropriate accompaniment.
Slice 4 chicken breasts into thick strips, toss them in sizzling butter, and when golden add the leaves from 8 sprigs of tarragon, then, a minute later, 250ml double cream. Bring it to life with 2-3 teaspoons of tarragon vinegar.
Let 4 chicken thighs, skin on and nicely seasoned, cock in a generous slice of butter in a shallow pan till their skin is crisp and golden. Pour in a glass of white wine, a medium dry Riesling perhaps, then scrape at the crusted sediment with a wooden spoon, stirring it into the bubbling wine. Finish with chopped herbs: parsley, chervil, tarragon, dill — one or two only. Stir in the juice of a lemon, and a last slice of butter, whisking it into the juices.
Cut 400g boned rabbit meat into small pieces. Heat 40g butter in a shallow pan, add the rabbit and cook over a moderate heat till delicately browned in patches. Add a bunch of asparagus, cut into short lengths, and a small bunch of chopped tarragon. Pour in a glass of white vermouth or white wine and continue cooking for a few minutes, till the asparagus is tender. Boil about 250g wide ribbon pasta in salted water and drain. Add a little cream or créme fraiche to the rabbit, check the seasoning, then drop in the drained pasta and toss gently. For 2-3.
For a pure, almost humble, meal, I like to poach a couple of rabbit joints — the meaty leg or saddle — in vegetable stock with a few new season's cariots, sliced lengthways, the most diminutive new potatoes I can find, a sprig of rosemary and a couple of thyme sprigs, bay and black pepper. I let it simmer for as long as I have (30-40 minutes is about the minimum), then I scatter a couple of spoonfuls of orzo pasta into the broth. Ten minutes later, you have a blissfully calming, almost soporific dish, Check the seasoning — it usually needs quite a bit of salt— and serve in a shallow bowl.
rabbit, rosemary, thyme, tarragon, onions, wheat beer, double cream
You will need 500g rabbit, jointed by the butcher. Peel and roughly chop 2 onions, then cook them in a thick slice of butter over a moderate heat till they are translucent and pale gold. Season the pieces of rabbit all over with salt and black pepper. Push the onions to one side of the pan if there is room, or transfer them to a bowl if not, then add the rabbit pieces to the pan. Cook for 5 minutes, till appetisingly browned, turning as necessary, then mix the onions in.
Finely chop the needles from 2 small sprigs of rosemary and add to the pan with 4 thyme sprigs, a litre of wheat beer and some salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat so the liquid continues cooking at a low simmer. Partially cover with a lid and leave to putter away on the stove for a couple of hours, till the rabbit is tender. The exact timing will depend on the age and provenance of your rabbit, but it is ready when you can remove the flesh from the bones with a decent table knife.
The liquid in the pan will still be quite thin and plentiful, so turn up the heat for a few minutes until it has reduced by about half (this is not a thick sauce, and will always be the sort to eat with a spoon).
Pour in 100ml double cream and stir in the leaves from 4 lush sprigs of tarragon, chopped if they are very long. Continue simmering for 5-10 minutes, then check the seasoning. For 2.
Season 450g cubed lamb, brown it in a little oil and remove from the pan. Lightly fry some roughly chopped unsmoked bacon. Add a crushed clove of garlic, a little chopped rosemary, then some vegetable stock. Return the lamb to the pan, partially cover and leave to simmer till the meat is tender. Stir in enough soured cream or creme fraiche to give thin, but richly flavoured juices.
cubed lamb, asparagus, small onions, white wine, stock, créme fraiche, chervil
Melt 40g butter in a deep casserole, add 450g cubed lamb (a tender cut, such as leg or fillet) and leave it to colour lightly for a few minutes over a moderate to high heat. Tossing it from time to time will help it colour evenly on all sides. Remove the meat from the pan and set aside on a plate.
Peel 250g small onions or large shallots, keeping them whole but halving any that are bigger than an unshelled walnut. Add them to the casserole and let them brown lightly, tossing them occasionally so they colour fairly evenly.
Return the lamb and any of its juices that have escaped to the pan. Dust 2 tablespoons of plain flour over the meat and onions and cook for a minute or two, stirring from time to time. Turn up the heat and pour in 150ml white wine. Leave the wine to bubble away till reduced by half, scraping at the crusty bits on the base of the pan with a wooden spatula as you go. Pour in 8oom! hot stock (can be vegetable, lamb or even chicken) and bring to the boil, then lower the heat and leave to simmer, partly covered, for about 30 minutes, until the meat is tender but still has plenty of bite.
Slice 300g asparagus spears into 2 or 3 short lengths and add to the pan with salt and pepper. Continue cooking for about § minutes, till the asparagus is tender. Stir in 200ml créme fraiche and a handful of chervil leaves. Check the seasoning and serve.
For 4. Calm cooking for a spring day.
Roast 4 chicken thighs with olive oil, lemon, thyme and a few whole cloves of garlic in an oven set at 200°C/Gas 6. Let the skin darken and caramelise nicely. Make a herb mayonnaise, either from scratch (2 egg yolks, a squeeze of lemon, 150ml groundnut oil, 100ml olive oil) or using a good shop-bought mayo. Stir in a small handful of chopped tarragon, a few chopped basil leaves and just a couple of chopped chives. Remove the chicken meat from the bones, tear into jagged pieces, then tuck them amongst watercress and small, crisp lettuce heart leaves. Eat with French bread and the herb mayonnaise. (The garlic can be squeezed from its skin and stirred into the herb mayo, if you wish.)
Boil or steam 500g new potatoes, in their skins or peeled as you wish. Mix together 4 tablespoons of creme fraiche, a tablespoon of lemon juice and 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard. Remove the meat from the bones of the 4 roasted chicken thighs above, then toss gently with the créme fraiche dressing. Drain the potatoes and cut them in half, then toss them with the chicken and dressing. Eat as it is, or stuffed into a baguette.
chicken legs, soured cream, gherkins, Riesling, button mushrooms, shallots
Put 12 small shallots in a bowl and pour boiling water from the kettle over them. Set aside for 10 minutes to soften the skins and make them easier to peel. Season 2 large, free-range chicken legs, then brown them lightly on either side in a little butter over a moderate heat. Peel the shallots, add them to the pan and let them colour nicely all over.
Halve 250g button mushrooms and add them to the chicken and shallots, letting them colour lightly. Thickly slice 6 gherkins, then add to the pan together with 500ml Riesling. Let the wine come to the boil, continue cooking at an enthusiastic bubble for 3 or 4 minutes, then lower the heat to a gentle simmer.
Cook for about 20 minutes, then stir in 150ml soured cream, keeping the heat quite low. Allow to warm through. Check the seasoning and serve with potatoes, noodles or rice.
For 2. Smooth and a little piquant.
Chickpeas can be used to make a curry go further. A couple of cans, drained and rinsed, can be added to the recipe opposite. Stir them in after the tomatoes. Alternatively, cook and serve the chickpeas separately: pour a little oil into a shallow pan, toast a teaspoon of cumin seeds in it, then add a peeled and finely chopped onion. Cook until soft, then add a little grated ginger, a teaspoon of ground coriander and a pinch of turmeric. Stir in a can of drained chickpeas. Finish with a little garam masala, salt and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Warm 2 tablespoons of oil in a saucepan, add a chopped onion, cook until softened, then stir in half a teaspoon of turmeric and half a teaspoon of garam masala, a little ground chilli and a couple of crushed garlic cloves. Add 4 tomatoes, roughly chopped, and 2 red chillies, then enough water to make a loose sauce. In a separate pan, cook the aubergine as opposite, letting it colour lightly in the oil.
Stir the aubergine into the tomatoes, then continue cooking for 20 minutes. Turn the heat up to boil off any excess liquid and stir in a handful of coriander leaves. Eat with rice.
aubergines, onions, tomatoes, garlic, curry powder, garam masala, ginger, coriander, yoghurt
Peel 2 medium onions and roughly chop them. Thickly slice 2 medium aubergines. Cook the onions and aubergines in 6 tablespoons of oil in a large, deep pan. As they soften, peel and thinly slice 2 cloves of garlic and add to the pan with a tablespoon of finely chopped fresh ginger. Stir in 2 tablespoons of mild curry powder and fry briefly. Chop 700g tomatoes, add to the pan and leave to simmer for 25 minutes, till the curry has thickened.
Season with salt, pepper and a tablespoon of garam masala. Finish with a little fresh coriander and offer yoghurt at the table. Eat with steamed rice or warm flatbread.
For 4-6. Satisfying, curiously refreshing.
A few thoughts
You can mix your own masala, toasting and grinding spices to suit your taste, or you can use any of the ready-made spice mixes and curry powders available. When I am in the mood, I will toast cumin seeds and coriander, adding dried chilli and turmeric. I will use cayenne and black pepper or occasionally a little ground clove, Often, I will finish a dish with garam masala. But on a weekday, when I'm quickly putting together a curry for dinner, I use my favourite curry powder.
black beans, pancetta, onion, rosemary, vegetable stock, basil
Roughly chop a large onion. Melt a thick slice of butter in a deep pan and cook the onion in it till soft and pale gold. Cut a thick slice of pancetta (about 100g) into cubes and add to the onion, cooking the pancetta till the fat becomes translucent.
Tip in a 400g can of black or black-eyed beans, add a bushy rosemary sprig, 8ooml vegetable stock then simmer for 15-20 minutes. Season generously, add a handful of whole basil leaves, then serve.
For 4. Sweet. Silky. Restoring.
Peel 1kg squash, cut into large cubes and steam for 15 minutes till tender to the point of a knife. Finely chop a medium-hot red chilli without removing the seeds. In a bowl, mix the chopped chilli, the finely grated zest of an orange, a little salt and black pepper and 5 tablespoons of panko breadcrumbs. Toss the squash in the crumbs, then fry in a shallow layer of oil in a non-stick pan. When the crumbs are golden, lift out and serve. If you have a little tomato sauce knocking around, then all the better. For 4.
For when the tomatoes are at their best
Set the oven to 180°C/Gas 4. Pour 7 tablespoons of olive oil into a blender. Tear up 20g basil and add it to the oil, then blitz to a smooth green purée. Cut 100g good crusty bread into large cubes, put in a baking tin, then pour over the basil oil. Toss the bread till it is coated in the basi oil, then bake for 15 minutes till lightly crisp on the outside but still soft in the centre.
Halve 400g juicy, perfectly-ripe tomatoes of various colours and toss with 150g sliced, marinated artichokes (the sort they have in a bowl at the deli counter or in jars at the supermarket). Tuck them in amongst the hot croutons and eat whilst the croutons are still warm. For 2.
chicory, grapes, honey, grain mustard
Trim 3 heads of chicory and cut them in half from tip to root. Halve 200g grapes and deseed them. Melt 40g butter in a wide, shallow pan for which you have a lid, add the chicory, cut-side down and cook over a moderate heat for 3 or 4 minutes, covered with the lid, till the underside is taking on a little colour and there is a little translucency to the leaves, then turn. Add the grapes to the pan, continue cooking briefly till they soften, then remove the chicory and grapes to a serving dish. Stir 1 tablespoon of grain mustard and 2 tablespoons of honey into the butter, heat for a minute or so, then pour over the chicory and grapes.
For 2. Soft, slightly bitter leaves, sweet honey. Light lunch. A side for air-dried ham.
Use a light and fruity red wine instead of stock. Try adding rosemary sprigs or a strip of orange peel to the pan. Remove the root vegetables with a draining spoon and beat to a smooth and silky purée with some of the cooking liquor.
Use half port, half stock. Add soft prunes and a few raisins. Serve with red cabbage that you have cooked in a lidded pot with coriander seeds, red wine vinegar, a finely chopped red chilli and a little vegetable stock.
lamb shanks, carrots, parsnips, stock, thyme
Peel 500g large carrots and 500g parsnips and cut into rough chunks, then brown them lightly all over in a little olive oil over a moderate heat in an ovenproof dish. Place 2 small lamb shanks on top of the vegetables, pour over sooml stock (lamb, chicken or vegetable), tuck in a bunch of thyme, season with salt and pepper, then cover the dish tightly with a lid. Bake in an oven set at 180°C/Gas 4 for 1%2 hours, then remove the shanks, thyme and most of the liquid to a warm place.
Using the small amount of liquid in the dish, roughly crush the roots with a potato masher or fork and serve with the shanks and the reserved juices.
For 2, generously. A hearty, untroublesome roast.
A few thoughts
Lamb shanks take a long time to cook, but they need minimal preparation (which is why they have found a place in this book). Just a bit of chopping and stirring, then the oven does most of the work. Choose small shanks so that they will cook in an hour and a half. Save larger ones from older animals for the weekend. It is not strictly necessary to brown the shanks before adding the stock, but if you do there will be even more flavour in the juices.
Use large, winter carrots so they don't collapse into the cooking liquor.
Keep the mash rough and ready.
Dice a little onion, carrot and celery to the size of Dolly Mixtures, then toss them in a bowl with 4 crushed cloves of garlic, the leaves from
3 or 4 bushy sprigs of thyme and a couple of glasses of sweet Muscat wine. Add 4 chicken breasts or thighs and leave to marinate for a good hour or more. Place the chicken under a hot overhead grill, 10-12cm from the heat, spooning over the marinade as it cooks. It is ready when the juices run clear when the meat is pierced with a skewer.
Remove the skin from 2 chicken legs or 4 thighs or drumsticks. Lay it on a baking tray, season lightly, then bake or grill till crisp and deep gold. Drain on kitchen paper and break it into small pieces. Dress 2 handfuls of soft butterhead lettuce with olive oil, Dijon mustard and lemon. Generously season the crisp chicken skin with sea salt flakes, then tuck it amongst the soft leaves. French bread. Cold butter.
chicken thighs, dry cider, chestnut mushrooms, onions, potatoes, rosemary, black peppercorns, bay leaves
Remove and reserve the skin from 6 large chicken thighs, then fry the thighs in alittle oil in a large, shallow pan. Halve 100g chestnut mushrooms. Peel and roughly chop 2 medium onions and add them to the pan together with the mushrooms. Cut 2 baking-size potatoes into 4 pieces each and tuck them into the pan.
Add the leaves from 2 sprigs of rosemary, 6 whole black peppercorns and a couple of bay leaves and then pour in 750ml English dry cider. Bring to the boil, lower the heat and simmer for 40 minutes.
Salt and generously pepper the reserved chicken skin, then put it under a hot grill until crisp. Using a fork, crush half the potato pieces into the sauce, leaving the others whole. Serve the meat, sauce and potatoes in a shallow bowl, topped with the crisped chicken skin, with a spoon for the sauce. Lightly cooked shredded green cabbage on the side.
For 3. Crisp skin, crisp cider, plump chicken.
Split and lightly toast an English muffin. Mash together some soft blue cheese (Cashel blue, Gorgonzola, Picos, Roquefort, whatever) and a few spoonfuls of butter. Spread generously on to the toasted muffin halves and grill till sizzling lightly.
Boil new potatoes, or at least small potatoes, in deep, lightly salted water, then drain. While they are still hot, slice them in half and place in a heatproof dish. Generously crumble over blue cheese such as Stichelton or Stilton, then place under a hot grill or in the oven till the cheese has melted.
Ripe figs, soft blue cheese. You have a magical marriage of flavours and textures there. Even more so if you add some roughly torn shards of slightly burned, shatteringly crisp baguette.
red cabbage, blue cheese, Cox's apples, white wine vinegar, sourdough bread
Finely shred 250g red cabbage. Cut 2 Cox's apples into segments. Warm 2 tablespoons of groundnut oil in a deep pan, add the cabbage and apples and cook, stirring from time to time, till the cabbage starts to wilt and the apples have softened a little. Pour in 100ml white wine vinegar and let it sizzle.
Tear a thick slice of sourdough bread into rough croutons and fry in a little oil or butter till golden and crisp. Drain briefly on kitchen paper.
Divide the cabbage and apple between 2 plates. Dice 175g blue cheese and add it to the plates, together with the sourdough croutons.
For 2. Piquant, crisp. The rich luxury of blue cheese.
chicken thighs, fennel, leeks, chicken or vegetable stock, lemon, parsley
Season 6 bone-in chicken thighs with salt and pepper, then brown them lightly in a shallow pan in a little oil and melted butter. Cut 2 medium-sized leeks into cork-sized lengths, wash thoroughly then add to the pan. Separate 2 fennel bulbs into layers then add them to the chicken and leeks and leave to soften for about 10 minutes, covering with a lid. Grate in the zest from a lemon and continue cooking for a minute or so.
Scatter over 2 tablespoons of flour, then cook for a few minutes before pouring in a litre of chicken or vegetable stock. Bring to the boil, season, then lower the heat to a simmer and leave to cook for 35 minutes, covered with a lid, giving the occasional stir.
Finish the dish with the juice of the lemon and a handful of chopped parsley. We have leeks and fennel already, so just floury potatoes, steamed in their skins, to soak up the parsley-freckled chicken juices.
For 3. Familiar flavours. A meal to nourish.