Fast Ed Halmagyi - The everyday kitchen: easy, healthy & hearty meals for every week of the year

Relax. Take a deep breath. Its just food. That said, hopefully its delicious, fantastic and achievable food. Food that makes you and your family smile; food that impresses your guests; food that makes you feel like a champion; and food that winds back the stress levels. These are the reasons Ive written this book.

Its jam-packed with a new collection of my favourite easy recipes, brimming with flavour, but low on the difficulty scale, and designed with one purpose in mind to help you and your gang eat better and love life more. After all, isnt that sense of joy the whole reason for getting people together around a table? Today, what we eat seems to have transformed from being simply food to an implied expression of art, while our understanding of what the act of cooking entails has changed from a simple process to a kind of ritualistic pressure test. I blame the media those damned TV chefs! But, really, for all the glamour of fine fare, the vast majority of meals eaten around the world are humble things, shared between family and friends. Its the meal that matters, the meal and the relationships, not the pretense and display. Ive never been comfortable with the idea of the Chef, ruling the kitchen with an iron fist. Im sure you know the kind of character Im talking about loud, slightly angry, obsessive and unpredictable.

Trust me, Ive known a few, and worked with more than my fair share. But while they might make for entertaining television, theyre not a whole lot of fun to be around, particularly when you end up working 18-hour days. Im a lover not a fighter! For me, cooking food comes down to a really simple piece of logic that I learned as a result of spending a long time thinking about what food means, and an even longer time crafting it for others: food is a language, a means of communication, an edible construct through which we convey emotions and intent.

Most people only have seven recipes in their repertoire at any one time. As a result, we fall into a cycle of cooking the same dishes time and time again because we know them off by heart, or because theyve become family favourites. But there are good reasons to expand your go-to recipe collection: a varied diet is absolutely the best diet you can have and gives you a wonderful balance of nutrients.

Mixing it up will also prevent members of your family becoming bored with your go-to dishes, so you can keep them on-hand for when you need to whip up something quick and easy. The more recipes you learn, the more you will also learn about flavours and techniques, giving you the confidence to create your own dishes and impress your friends and family with your new-found talents! So, with this mind, I have a challenge for you. Cook one new dish from this book every week for a year. Just one. Or maybe two if youre an over-achiever. To help you accept this challenge, Ive divided the book into 52 menus, each with four components.

Some go together to make one meal, while others are simply dishes that complement one another. Feel free to mix and match after all, its your adventure. Within a month you will start to come up with new ideas for what to cook more easily. Within three months youll be preparing ingredients faster than ever, and at six months youll be cooking new dishes effortlessly. Hopefully, you will look forward to time spent in the kitchen, either indulging in your own company or surrounded by friends. And after a year, maybe you will have forgotten about this book entirely! Then my job is done.

As much as I want you to love this book and enjoy the recipes I have created, my ultimate hope is that it provides a stepping-stone to discovering your inner intuitive cook that loosens you from the restraints of printed words. The greatest happiness youll ever find in the kitchen comes at that moment when you cook from instinct and craft a new dish, entirely of your own concoction, and it makes another human being happy. So, lets get cooking and see where it will take us. Ed

Get in. Get out. Get fed.

BAM! I always feel a bit nervous about promising easy recipes. After all, we each have different skill levels, interests and priorities when it comes to cooking. Ask yourself, what are you really looking for in an easy recipe? To save time? Use fewer ingredients or less equipment? Harness simpler techniques or utilise the flavours you already know and love? In this chapter, you will find a little of all of these things, from dinners that takes less than 20 minutes from start to serve, to clever dishes using exciting ingredients that can all be done in one pot. Theres even tasty new takes on classic recipes that may already be part of your repertoire, allowing you to grow as a cook without feeling all that pressure. Along the way youll learn some ingenious little tricks that will help you craft your own style, and thats when cooking really does become easy. Easy

PREPARATION TIME: 5 MINUTES COOKING TIME: 20 MINUTES SERVES: 4 1 brown onion, diced 1/2 head fennel, diced 2 bay leaves 4 cloves garlic, sliced 2 tsp dried Greek oregano 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil 2 Tbsp tomato paste 2 cups dry white wine 1/2 cup ouzo 1L chicken stock 400g can diced tomatoes 2 x 400g cans butter beans Sea salt flakes and freshly milled black pepper 1/2 cup crumbled feta Saut the onion, fennel, bay leaves, garlic and oregano in the olive oil in a large saucepan over moderate heat for 5 minutes.

Mix in the tomato paste and cook until it begins to stick to the bottom of the saucepan. Pour in the wine and ouzo, boil briefly, then add the stock and tomatoes then bring to a simmer. Mix in the beans, season with salt and pepper, then top with crumbled feta. GREEK OREGANO is earthier and more aromatic than its Italian cousin. Find it at delis.

PREPARATION TIME: 5 MINUTES COOKING TIME: 10 MINUTES SERVES: 4 4 Greek flatbreads 12 cloves garlic, minced 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 bunch tarragon, finely chopped 1/2 tsp ground coriander seeds Preheat oven to 200C.

Split the breads in half. Combine the garlic, oil, half the tarragon and ground coriander, then season generously with salt and pepper. Spread half onto the bread bases and the remainder on the tops, then stack up again and arrange on an oven tray. Bake for 10 minutes, until crunchy, then scatter with the remaining tarragon.

PREPARATION TIME: 5 MINUTES COOKING TIME: 20 MINUTES MAKES: 700ML 15 small red chillies, split 2 tsp Szechuan peppercorns 2 sprigs rosemary 1 tsp cumin seeds thickly sliced zest of 1 orange 700ml extra virgin olive oil Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and set over a low heat. Cook very gently for 20 minutes, until the bubbles subside and the oil has become medium-red.

Allow to cool slightly, then strain into sterilised bottles and seal while hot.

PREPARATION TIME: 5 MINUTES COOKING TIME: 20 MINUTES SERVES: 4 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 Tbsp plain flour 1 cup dry white wine 1 red onion, finely sliced 4cm piece ginger, cut into fine batons 2 x 400g cans chickpeas, drained Sea salt flakes and freshly milled black pepper 2 cups baby spinach leaves 1/2 cup almonds, toasted and chopped 1 bunch dill sprigs Combine the oil and flour in a large saucepan over a moderate heat and cook for 1 minute, until thickened. Add the wine and simmer until a sauce consistency forms. Mix in the onion, ginger and chickpeas. Once warm, crush lightly with a fork.