Berry - Love to Cook: 120 Joyful Recipes From My New BBC Series

Love to Cook

Mary Berry

Contents

About the Author

Dame Mary Berry is the nations favourite baker and author of over 70 books, including the bestselling Mary Berry Cooks , Mary Berrys Absolute Favourites , Mary Berry At Home and Mary Berrys Baking Bible . She was the much-loved judge on the BBCs The Great British Bake Off and has been teaching the nation to cook for over four decades.

Cordon Bleu trained in Paris, Mary began her career as a magazine cookery editor before publishing her first cookery book in 1966. Mary is also an AGA expert and taught AGA masterclasses for many years from her home with Lucy Young.

In 2009 Mary was awarded the highly coveted Guild of Food Writers Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2012 she was made a CBE in the Queens Birthday Honours list.

Introduction

I really do love to cook. For me, cooking is never a chore I find it relaxing after a busy day to potter in the kitchen, putting together something delicious to eat. And its always wonderful to share food with friends and family, even if, as has happened during this last year of lockdown, you have to leave it on their doorstep! Making this book has been a joy. Its so good to be able to include some of my favourite dishes, things I go back to time and time again, plus new recipes I wanted to try and fresh discoveries Ive made. We began this project just before the first lockdown, so we had to adjust to a very different way of working. Of course, we all had to be cooking in our own homes and so we delivered dishes to each other to taste and discuss on Zoom. Strange though it was, we did have much more time than usual to spend on each recipe all the time in the world, in fact, as there wasnt much else to do! Somehow or other we managed, and I actually did more cooking than ever. Being able to freeze food was a great help and made me doubly keen to get plenty of advice on freezing into this book. We all have busy lives and being able to get ahead and batch cook is such a time saver. Ive added a note to every recipe as to whether it can be frozen or not. For instance, Ive included a range of different burgers not just beef, but pork, lamb, salmon and even a vegan burger. All freeze beautifully; just wrap them individually and you can pop one out of the freezer for a speedy supper. Sometimes, though, you want an easy meal that you can prepare quickly and serve up at once, and some of my Asian-inspired recipes are perfect for these moments dishes such as Prawn and Wild Mushroom Stir Fry on can be ready with very little effort.

Enjoying cooking means avoiding stress in the kitchen, so I do like to do some preparation ahead of time. When I have people coming round to eat, I am particularly keen to get as much done in advance as possible so I can enjoy their company later on. Youll find lots of suggestions for getting ahead and great ideas like my Magical Prepare Ahead Platter of Vegetables on .

I always encourage people to take my recipes and experiment with them. Perhaps youve made the Salmon and Dill Burgers on and thought how lovely they would be as tiny fish cakes to dip into the caper mayo and serve with drinks? Dont be afraid to try out your ideas. And when you have made something successfully, think about putting one of those little sticky notes on that page of the book, saying how the quantity fitted perfectly in the brown earthenware dish you got for Christmas, for example, or how a certain recipe was particularly popular with a favourite friend.

I am increasingly conscious of environmental concerns and do my best to cut down on waste. When I make a Sunday roast, I am careful never to throw away leftover gravy instead, I stash it in the freezer to serve with sausages or to incorporate in a shepherds pie. I find that having a plan for the weeks meals helps avoid food waste. Keep a regular check on your fridge and stock cupboard and see what needs using up. If, for example, you have some veg that are starting to look a bit tired, make a delicious vegetable curry, such as the Roasted Vegetable and Coconut Curry on , or soup for a quick lunch. Im also eating meat less often nowadays, and making sure I choose good meat when I do serve it, preferably from a butcher or farm shop. I reuse plastic containers and I love those beeswax wraps for covering leftovers.

In this book you will find For the Love of sections, with tips and advice on some of my favourite things. Wonderful fresh ingredients, like fruit, herbs and vegetables, are such an important part of my recipes and it is lovely to grow a few things yourself if you possibly can. I nearly always use fresh herbs, as they are so much better than dried in most instances, and I have pots by the kitchen door. Even if you dont have a garden, herbs are the easiest things to grow on a balcony or windowsill and they add so much flavour and freshness to your cooking. And dont stop with herbs! You can grow many kinds of vegetables in pots, growbags, even dustbins, if you have a little outside space. It is so satisfying to pick your own tomatoes, beans or berries and cook them for supper.

As always, Ive kept my recipes as simple as possible, not too many ingredients, no special equipment and no complicated techniques. I cant see the point of including extra processes when you can do something quickly and easily. And youll find a glorious photo of every single recipe to whet your appetite and see the presentation we like. I very much hope that this book helps you enjoy your time in the kitchen. I believe that if you love to cook, everyone will love your cooking!

For the Love of a Store Cupboard

My larder at home is a treasure trove of essential ingredients that can be used either as the building blocks of a bake, like flour, or as the small but critical flavourings in a dish, like my jars of whole spices and pastes. There are certain items I would never be without, like sunflower and olive oil, and others that are far too useful to miss out, such as dried pasta or puy lentils. With these ingredients at hand, and a few fresh ones from the fridge, you will be able to turn a simple vegetable or main ingredient into a sensational supper, conjure up a tray of biscuits, or transform something ordinary into something special.

Baking

Almond extract

Baking powder and bicarbonate of soda

Chocolate good-quality dark and white

Cocoa powder

Cornflour

Flour plain and self-raising

Sugar caster, demerara, icing and light muscovado

Vanilla extract

Grains

Couscous

Lentils puy and red

Oats

Panko breadcrumbs

Pasta penne and linguine or spaghetti

Pearl barley

Quinoa

Noodles egg and rice

Rice basmati, jasmine and risotto