Berry - Mary Berrys Quick Cooking

We lead such busy lives these days that its all too easy to become reliant on convenience foods. Finding time to cook a meal yourself can seem daunting so much easier to pop something in the microwave or buy a takeaway. But making a dish from scratch doesnt have to be time-consuming and nothing beats good home cooking in terms of flavour or nutritional value. For this book, Ive assembled a range of delicious, easy dishes that can be put together as quickly as possible using a mixture of fresh ingredients and store-cupboard staples.

Youll find weeknight dishes that can be on the table in under 30 minutes; recipes that can be made ahead of time and then cooked or assembled when youre ready; wonderful quick roasts and satisfying stews that can be on the table much faster than traditional options but without any loss of flavour; simple fresh salads and vegetable dishes; and easy-to-prepare meals that cook while you do something else.

To achieve great flavour with no fuss, first and foremost you need quality ingredients. Try to buy the best that you can afford, as this will actually save you time. When something is fresh and in season, it will be full of flavour and will need only a few other ingredients to set it off, making it quicker to prepare. Think of tender asparagus or pink-stemmed rhubarb in early spring or locally grown strawberries and raspberries in the summer. Buy local if you can if you know where your food comes from, it tastes even better! Fresh ingredients dont have to be costly go to your local market or farm shop to hunt out bargains and buy whatever is in season. If a particular ingredient isnt available, you can easily swap it for another one, as I suggest in many of my recipes. And always check in your fridge, to see what you have already and might be able to use. This can help save you time as well as money. Leftover mashed potato can be made into potato cakes in a variety of flavours (see ).

Salads are perfect for putting together a range of complementary flavours, textures and colours and are so quick to make. Youll find a lovely selection to choose from here, from delicious crunchy slaws to more sustaining dishes using grains such as bulgur wheat or quinoa. On cooler days, soups always go down well and Ive included a good selection here, from the easy, no-blend Everyday Vegetable Soup on so simple to knock up with a tin of cannellini beans.

People are often wary about cooking fish, yet its one of the quickest foods to prepare. One of the simplest ways is to oven-bake it in a foil parcel with a few flavourings see my Sea Bass en Papillote with Courgette Ribbons on .

When it comes to cooking, bear in mind that the size of the ingredients makes a difference to how long it will take. A smaller cut of meat will cook in a fraction of the time of a large joint, for example, but is just as tasty. Take the Marinated Rosemary Lamb Steaks with Red Peppers on are brimming with tangy flavour and take only 510 minutes to cook. Here, as in other dishes in the book, the meat is marinated quickly first, which is such an effective way to add instant flavour to a dish.

How you cook is as important as what you cook when it comes to speed. Cooking on the hob or under the grill generally takes less time than cooking in the oven stir-frying in particular. Youll see that Ive included a number of delicious stir-fry dishes, taking inspiration from Chinese and Thai cooking. For the TV series that accompanies this book, I visited Londons Chinatown and watched chefs at work as they chopped up vegetables at lightning speed and stir-fried them in huge woks over a fiery heat. While I wouldnt advise cooking in this way at home (even if you are in a hurry!), chopping vegetables into small pieces and stir-frying them over a high heat in a non-stick pan does help them to cook more quickly and ensures they stay crisp and full of flavour.

When it comes to quick cooking, Italy is hard to beat. I visited Rome for the TV programme and have included a number of Italian-inspired recipes in this book. Pasta is such a great store-cupboard stand-by its so fast to cook and can be paired with a whole range of delicious sauces. It goes beautifully with seafood and fish or with vegetables of different kinds. You could try the Spaghetti with Salmon, Chilli and White Wine on , for example, can be enjoyed on their own or served together Spanish-style for a casual meal with friends.

While stews generally rely on slow cooking, Ive included a few speedier versions here, such as the Burgundy Chicken on . They still take some time to cook, but they are worth the effort. For Quick Cooking, I visited Marrakech, where I watched a family prepare a tagine in the traditional time-honoured way, each ingredient added to the dish in exactly the same order as it had been done for generations. Full of flavour from all the spices and other ingredients, my version can be cooked in much less time and still tastes delicious.

Classic dishes from around the world tend to incorporate lots of different spices, but Ive discovered that you really dont need them all. Just buy a few key spices and stick to them youll find you use them again and again. That goes for other store-cupboard basics, too. There are certain items that are ideal for adding flavour quickly, such as roasted red peppers in oil, which provide a tasty alternative to roasting red peppers from scratch, or richly savoury miso paste perfect for Asian-style soups and glazes.

When it comes to making tarts and pies, shop-bought filo and puff pastry are so convenient and simple to use. Among the sweet dishes here, Ive used filo for the Blackberry and Custard Money Bags on is made without gelatine and also takes only 15 minutes to prepare.

As with savoury dishes, splitting things up into smaller quantities helps if youre in a hurry. The no-churn Rum and Raisin Ice Cream on , which looks impressive but is so quick to cook (1012 minutes in the oven) and perfect to serve a crowd.

Throughout the recipes, Ive given tips on how to save time or make the preparation of a recipe more straightforward. Ive also included advice on preparing ahead and freezing dishes where possible. For the TV series I visited a wide range of restaurants and eating places, but what struck me about all of them was how well organised they were. Thinking ahead is something of a mantra of mine as I strongly believe that it can really help, especially when youre busy. A little bit of forward planning makes all the difference.

Researching and putting together the dishes for this book has been a great pleasure. I do hope you enjoy making them and that you discover in the process that one is never too busy to knock up a nourishing and delicious meal. Once you get into the swing of it, you wont look back I guarantee it. Youll soon be rustling up your own flatbreads, dips and speedy curries much tastier and more satisfying than any convenience foods or takeaways!