James Martin - Fast cooking

JAMES MARTIN fastCOOKINGPHOTOGRAPHY BY TARA FISHERTo my mother you are the inspiration for everything I do.Publishing director: Jane OShea
Creative director: Helen Lewis
Project editor: Laura Gladwin
Art direction & design: Gabriella Le Grazie
Photographer: Tara Fisher
Food stylists: Chris Start, Sam Head
Props stylist: Liz Belton
Production: Vincent Smith, James FinanThis edition published in 2013 by
Quadrille Publishing Limited
Alhambra House
2731 Charing Cross Road
London WC2H 0LS
www.quadrille.co.ukText 2013 James Martin
Photography 2013 Tara Fisher
Design and layout 2013 Quadrille Publishing LimitedThe rights of the author have been asserted.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
the prior permission in writing of the publisher.Cataloguing in Publication Data: a catalogue record for
this book is available from the British Library.978 1 84949 434 2Doing a show like Saturday Kitchen means that Ive
quickly got used to fast cooking. Most dishes have to
be cooked within 7 or 8 minutes, and the pressure is
really on. So when I was asked to do a book on fast food
I jumped at the chance, and of course it made a great
partner for my last one, Slow Cooking.As you probably know, I grew up a farmers kid, and
because of that, British food and its seasons are central
to my ethos of cooking. Its so important to get not only
the best flavour, but also the best value, and buying
food in season means that its at its most abundant, and
therefore at its cheapest. We can look forward to the
arrival of seasonal foods such as Jersey Royal potatoes
and asparagus, and many others can be added to the
long list of tasty treats.But its not all about waiting for the best produce: the
dishes in this book make good use of the vast array of
good-quality ready-made food available on supermarket
shelves.

What Ive tried to do is to give you clever
shortcuts to ease the burden of cooking. Shop-bought
stocks are great, ready-made custard can be made into
a simple passion fruit souffl that takes just minutes
(page 191), and instant mashed potatoes transform
smoked haddock fish cakes (page 86) into a fast supper.
We all do it, and chefs who say they make everything
at home and simmer beef bones for 48 hours to make
stock arent telling the truth! Spending 18 hours a day
in a restaurant kitchen teaches you a thing or two about
not cooking that kind of food at the end of your long
day. Lets face it, were all leading busy lives, and if Im
honest, this is the food I really cook at home.FAST COOKING 7Many of the dishes have been inspired by my trips
away. One of the great joys of this job is being able to
travel and discover food scenes and recipes to bring
back to the UK. There are a few dishes I came across in
the US, such as the Whoopie Cakes on page 203 from
Dumbo in New York City (its an acronym for Down Under
the Manhattan Bridge Overpass), and the Ice Box Cake
on page 164 from the bakery that features in the TV
show Sex and the City. We have much to learn from our
friends across the water when it comes to fast cooking
its not just doughnuts and burgers! Further afield, I
had one of the best street food dishes Ive ever tasted in
Singapore: the chilli crab on page 76, a dish thats really
worth trying.

In the middle of the Indian Ocean I had a
lunch of seared tuna with coconut chilli chutney (page
106) that was so good I went back to the same place to
eat it more than half a dozen times! Closer to home,
there are dishes I picked up during the time I spent
training in France when I was younger. Using sorrel in
a quick sauce was one of the first things I learned, even
before learning to say oui or non.Other dishes are inspired by the time Ive spent
presenting Saturday Kitchen, which I think has to be the
best job in any kitchen. I get a small insight into all the
great chefs of the world, a peek into their kitchens and
a good look at the way food is heading. Thomas Keller,
Michel Roux Snr and Daniel Boulud are just a few of the
chefs Ive been commis chef for on the show over the
years. The ingredients they bring are inspiring too, such
as fantastic maple syrup, or new cheeses Ive never
tried before, like the Ogleshield cheese thats made from
Jersey cows milk on a small farm in Somerset. Hints,
techniques and dishes from them and other chefs are
dotted around the book for you to enjoy as well as my
own of course! And for that I want to thank the team who
make the show, the chefs from around the world who
continue to join me on it, and the great guests whove
come along too. 8 FAST COOKINGBut cooking at home is what this book is all about:
simple suppers made in minutes, without compromising
flavour.

Whether youve got people coming for dinner
and not much time to cook, or just need a quick and
tasty after-work supper, there are plenty of ideas here.
Theyre all simple dishes that are achievable by every
home cook. Speaking of home, all these dishes were
cooked and the photographs taken at my house, along
with my small team of merry helpers. Well, I say merry
they started off that way, but by the end we all looked
a bit harrassed, mainly because of all the washing up!
But we did it without using fancy equipment; theres no
liquid nitrogen, foams or gels here. Ill leave that for
other books this is just quick, honest grub. Its not
going to cost a fortune to get the ingredients, nor will
you have to trawl the internet in search of ingredients
from far-flung places. There are more than 100 dishes
here for you to enjoy: all of them can be cooked in less
than 20 minutes, and they all taste far, far better than
the convenience food that many of us have become
used to.

Theyre all adaptable, too: in Starters youll find
lots of ideas for light meals and lunches, and in Mains