Alan Rosenthal - Ultimate one-pot dishes: a feast of simple, delicious one-pot wonders for the whole year round

FEIJOADA BRAZILIAN BLACK BEAN STEW
with chorizo and smoked pork

SECO DE CORDERO PERUVIAN LAMB STEW
with coriander and beer

TOMATICAN
Pork stewed in tomatoes, oregano and cumin with fresh sweetcorn

SUCCOTASH
of sweetcorn, butternut squash and broad beans

CHICKEN STEW
with cider, tarragon and asparagus

GAME STEW
with red wine, cranberries and rhubarb

POT ROAST PHEASANT
with sausages, cabbage and ale

SPICED DUCK POT ROAST
with red cabbage and grapes

BEEF IN ALE
with horseradish and Stilton dumplings

PORK
with apples and prunes

VENISON
with chestnuts, port and orange

CATAPLANA
Portuguese seafood stew

POLLO AL AJILLO
Chicken cooked with garlic, bay leaves and white wine

DUCK BRAISED IN RED WINE
with raspberries

MARINATED ZESTY LAMB SALAD
with pine nuts and raisins

SLOW-ROAST LAMB SHOULDER
with red wine, garlic, rosemary and haricot beans

LAMB STEW
with lemon, potatoes and feta

KLEFTIKO
Slow-baked shoulder of lamb with lemon, garlic and oregano

MUSHROOM STEW
with thyme and feta

AROMATIC THAI CHICKEN STEW
with broccoli and shitake mushrooms

TONJIRU
Japanese pork and miso soup

KASHMIRI LAMB
with yogurt and ginger

FISH STEW
with chilli, spinach and red peppers

SWEET POTATO DHAL
with cherry tomatoes and coriander

PERSIAN CHICKEN STEW
with sour cherries and walnuts

TUNISIAN CHICKEN STEW
with harissa and caraway

FISH TAGINE
with olives and preserved lemons

LAMB TAGINE
with apricots, raisins and honey

ULTIMATE ONE-POT DISHES is a funky cookbook of stews and one-pot meals, with imaginative ingredient combinations and simple, straightforward recipes that anyone can make at home.

Here are 80 delicious, one-pot recipes from all over the world, including Chicken and Seafood Paella, Brazilian Black Bean and Pork Stew, Catalan Fish Stew with Almonds and Peppers, Chickpea and Sweet Potato Tagine, and Kashmiri Lamb with Yoghurt and Ginger. Economical, tasty and comforting, this fantastic collection of dishes will appeal to all generations of stew-lovers.

Ever since he can remember, Alan Rosenthal has loved cooking. In 2007 he decided to quit his day job in DVD product management, and took a course at Leiths School of Food and Wine to brush up on his culinary skills. Several months later, after working as a chef both abroad and on the London restaurant scene, he started selling pots of stew at his local farmers market. After an overwhelmingly positive response to his creations, Alan started compiling a catalogue of recipes that became his inspiration for Ultimate One-Pot Dishes.

When I organised my first one-pot cooking class at Leiths School of Food and Wine back in 2011, I only expected a handful of students to book a place. I mean, really, who would pay good money to learn one-pot cooking from me? So it came as a complete surprise when not only was the course completely sold out, but it boasted a lengthy waiting list to boot. Clearly, one-pot was the way forward!

Ever since I can remember, I have always loved cooking; like so many chefs, food is in my blood. However, Ive not always cooked for a living. In fact it was only in 2007 that I packed in my day job and embarked on a 3-month course at Leiths (where I now, ironically, spend a lot of time on the other side of the fence). It was there that I brushed up on my culinary skills and immersed myself in the world that Id always yearned to be a part of.

Several months later, after some private cheffing jobs abroad and a brief baptism of fire on the London restaurant scene, I started selling pots of stew at my local farmers market. The decision to sell stew wasnt exactly the result of a particular penchant, it was more the sense that nobody else was doing it!

So, influenced by my travels and stints living abroad, I unleashed my dishes on the general public and began to build a catalogue of recipes. This book is the result!

I always find theres something incredibly satisfying about preparing and eating a stew; a medley of raw ingredients cooked together in a single pot to create a delicious symphony of flavours and textures. They also add theatre to mealtimes; a great big steaming cauldron taking centre stage for people to dig in to. Were talking communal food that works just as well for dinner parties as it does for casual lunches. More importantly, because most can be made ahead of schedule, you, the cook, can sit back and enjoy the occasion rather than worrying about a complicated dish that needs your undivided attention at the last minute.

In the UK, we associate stews and one-pot dishes with winter; food to warm us up on a cold day. But in reality, these kinds of dishes exist all over the world, in hot climates as well as cold; slow-cooked curries from India, beef rendang from Malaysia, aromatic lamb tagine from Morocco, as well as European classics like boeuf Bourguignon, Irish stew, paella the list is endless.

The recipes in this book are designed to give you a flavour of a range of stews and one-pot dishes from around the world and theres quite a mix. Although the majority are pretty simple to make, there are a few things to be aware of and Ive summarised them below.

Cooking pots

Finished dishes vary a little depending on the size of pot you use. If you use a wide pot, your dish is likely to be thicker since it will have lost more liquid through evaporation, while if you use a narrow pot, your sauce is likely to be thinner. Do bear this in mind when cooking these recipes; you may find that you need to cook dishes for slightly longer until you get the desired consistency, or add a touch more liquid if you think your sauce is a little thick.

Regardless of this, do always use heavy based saucepans and flameproof casserole dishes for the recipes in this book. Several require a lid, so be sure to check this before you start.

Choosing your meat

The joy of stews and one-pot dishes is that you can often get away with using cheaper cuts of meat, as the slow cooking will tenderise them beautifully and bring out their flavour. That being said, those cheaper cuts of chicken and beef can cause some confusion, so heres a little advice:

Chicken

I suggest using chicken thighs in the majority of recipes in this book. Thigh meat stays much more moist during long, slow cooking so is perfect for stews and casseroles. To be honest, though, I think thighs taste so much better than breast anyway, even when only cooked for a short time. Breast is definitely not best in my book!

Beef

Avoid braising steak and go for chuck steak instead. Braising steak tends to be quite a dense grain, which gives the meat a dry and grainy texture. Chuck steak, however, has more of an open structure thanks to its fat and connective tissue. Once its trimmed of any excess fat and cooked for a couple of hours, itll be meltingly tender and soft with none of the graininess of braising steak.