Humphries - Cheat your way to gourmet eating

Are you, like most of us, too busy to cook but tired of cook-chill meals, bored with takeaways and fed-up with frozen microwave menus? Do you worry that your diet is downright unhealthy and in need of a boost? If your answers are yes, the solutions are right here. Clever, classy cheating that not only makes huge short cuts on effort but also saves so much time youll be able to do all the things you used to do while your ready meals were heating up! Not only that, youll use a brilliant combination of fresh, nutritious ingredients alongside the best convenience foods, so your diet will be much improved.

Everyone will be hugely impressed with your new-found culinary genius too, because most of them will be equally uninspired by supermarket suppers and these dishes will look as if youve slaved over a hot stove for hours. Little will they know they were thrown together in minutes! Some serve four and others six but most can be divided or multiplied, if necessary, to feed as many or as few as you need them to. Dip into this book for everything from a quick snack to a complete three-course dinner. From now on youll have time to cook and chill out, rather than endure the cook-chill phenomenon.

A hygienic cook is a healthy cook so please bear the following in mind when youre preparing food.

• Always wash your hands before preparing food.
• Always wash and dry fresh produce before use.
• Dont lick your fingers.
• Dont keep tasting and stirring with the same spoon. Use a clean spoon every time you taste the food.
• Dont put raw and cooked meat on the same shelf in the fridge. Store raw meat on the bottom shelf, so its juices cant drip over other foods. Keep all perishable foods wrapped separately. Dont overfill the fridge or it will become too warm.
• Never use a cloth to wipe down a chopping board you have been using for cutting meat, for instance, then use the same one to wipe down your work surfaces you will simply spread germs. Always wash your cloth well between uses in hot, soapy water and, ideally, use an anti-bacterial kitchen cleaner on all surfaces too.
• Always transfer leftovers to a clean container and cover with a lid, clingfilm (plastic wrap) or foil. Leave until completely cold, then store in the fridge. Never put any warm food in the fridge and always cool food as quickly as possible dont leave it lying around all day!
• When reheating food, always make sure it is piping hot throughout, never just lukewarm. To test made-up dishes, such as lasagne or a pie, insert a knife down through the centre. Leave for 5 seconds and remove. The blade should feel extremely hot. If it isnt, heat the dish for a little longer.
• Dont re-freeze foods that have defrosted unless you cook them first. Never reheat previously cooked food more than once.

A well-stocked kitchen will mean you can cook any of the recipes whenever you feel like it. Obviously this is just a guide that you can tailor to your own requirements.

Packets and jars

• baking powder
• bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• bulgar (cracked wheat)
• caviare avruga or lumpfish roe
• chocolate spread
• cocoa (unsweetened chocolate) powder
• cornflour (cornstarch)
• couscous
• cranberry sauce
• dried fruits apricots, mixed (fruit cake mix), raisins, sultanas (golden raisins)
• dried milk powder (non-fat dry milk)
• dried minced onion
• flour plain (all-purpose), self-raising (rising), wholemeal
• garlic pure (paste) in a tube or jar if you cant be bothered to crush the cloves. Use about 5 ml/1 tsp in place of one large garlic clove or to taste
• golden (light corn) syrup
• herbs: dried basil, bay leaves, bouquet garni sachets, chives, mint, mixed, oregano, parsley, sage, thyme
• herbs: jars, minced coriander (cilantro), garden mint, lemon grass, parsley
• honey clear is best for cooking
• horseradish relish
• instant coffee
• instant drinking (sweetened) chocolate powder (one you just add boiling water to)
• jelly (jello)
• lemon curd
• lemon/lime juice a bottle of each will keep in the fridge for ages
• marmalade and other conserves
• Marmite or other yeast extract
• marshmallows
• mayonnaise
• mustard Dijon, made English, wholegrain
• nuts ground almonds, flaked (slivered) almonds, cashews, peanuts, pine, walnuts
• oils corn or groundnut (peanut), sunflower, olive, speciality oils such as sesame and walnut for flavouring
• olives
• passata (sieved tomatoes)
• pasta lasagne sheets, macaroni and/or other shapes, spaghetti, stuffed tortellini
• pepper black peppercorns in a mill, ground white
• pesto
• pickled quails eggs
• redcurrant jelly (clear conserve)
• rice long-grain, microwave, mushroom risotto and other savoury packets, round-grain (pudding), wild
• salt celery, garlic, onion, plain
• sauces for cooking such as Bolognese, curry, hoi sin, oyster, teryiaki, tomato and basil
• seeds caraway, poppy, sesame, sunflower
• spices cayenne, chilli powder, Chinese five-spice, cinnamon, cloves, coriander (cilantro), cumin, curry powder, mixed (apple pie), nutmeg, sweet paprika, pimentn, turmeric
• stock cubes beef, chicken, vegetable
• sugar dark brown, light brown, caster (superfine), granulated, icing (confectioners)
• table sauces barbecue, brown, ketchup (catsup), soy, Tabasco, Worcestershire. Chilli and Worcestershire and tomato table sauces are great too
• tapenade
• tomato pure (paste)
• vinegar balsamic, malt, red or white wine or cider

Canny cans

• baby clams
• Chinese mixed vegetables
• coconut milk
• condensed soups celery, mushroom, tomato (ideal for sauces)
• crab white meat, dressed
• custard
• evaporated milk
• fruit apricots, grapefruit, melon balls, mixed berries, peaches, pears, pineapple, raspberries
• mushrooms creamed, sliced, whole button
• pulses borlotti, cannellini, flageolet, haricot (navy), red kidney and soya beans, chick peas (garbanzos), lentils, mixed pulses
• salmon
• smoked oysters
• steak minced, stewed
• sweetcorn (corn)
• tomatoes chopped are quickest
• tuna (check the label for dolphin friendly)
• vegetables asparagus, carrots, French (green) beans, peas, pimientos, potatoes (useful for some of the recipes and for quick accompaniments)

Perishables