Mary Berry - The Complete AGA Cookbook

Copyright 2015 Mary Berry and Lucy Young

The right of Mary Berry and Lucy Young to be identified as the Authors of the Work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.

First published as an Ebook in the UK by Headline Publishing Group in 2014

Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library.

eISBN: 978 1 4722 2265 7

Designed by Smith & Gilmour

Photography: Georgia Glynn Smith

Food styling: Lizzie Kamenetzky

Editor: Jo Roberts Miller

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Whether you are an AGA aficionado or have never cooked on an AGA before, Mary Berry and Lucy Youngs new AGA cookbook is just what you need by your side. It is 30 years since AGA first got in touch with Mary Berry about producing the AGA handbook and 15 since she followed it up with Mary Berrys New Aga Cookbook now she has combined, improved, updated and revamped those books with Lucys help to produce The Complete Aga Cookbook, which deserves its place on all 21st-century kitchen shelves. There have been many new trends in cooking in the intervening years, and a plethora of new ingredients, and Mary explores them in new recipes, adapting many ideas to the Aga way of cooking.

As Mary herself says, an Aga rapidly becomes the centre attraction of the kitchen, acting as a warm focus for family, friends and animals. And cooking on an Aga is a joy: its spacious ovens produce perfectly cooked dishes, time after time. But we havent forgotten those who still cook on conventional cookers and instructions are supplied on each recipe.

Complete with all the AGA user information, Mary and Lucy help you get the most out of your AGA as they guide the reader through time- and energy-saving tips - from melting chocolate on the back shelf, to frying drop scones on the Boiling Plate and slow roasting overnight in your Simmering Oven. A few recipes will be familiar (adapted old favourites, which she just couldnt bear to leave out) but, whether new or old, all have been cooked to perfection in the Aga, showing how versatile it really is.

Mary Berry, the much-loved judge on The Great British Bake Off, is the author of more than 70 cookbooks with total sales of over 5 million. Mary is loved for her practical and unfussy approach to cooking. She gives many demonstrations around the country, but when she is at home, she loves to be with her family and tending her garden her other great passion.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF AGA, A BRITISH ICONIC CAST IRON RANGE COOKER INVENTED IN THE 1920S.

TODAYS AGA COOKERS

There is a wide choice of Aga cookers available today, to suit a variety of lifestyles, whether you want a cooker on all the time to provide background heat or one you can turn on and off as you need to use it; or indeed if you want something that sits between the two. They all work on the same principle of storing heat in the cast iron and each cooking area is pre-set to a different heat.

This book, its recipes and instructions, are generic to all models, so it should be used in conjunction with the users guide supplied with your own cooker.

THE TRADITIONAL AGA COOKER

These models were originally solid fuel, but are now only available powered by gas, oil or electricity. Once they are commissioned they take around 712 hours to gain the full saturation of heat in their castings and are designed to run continuously. The single, relatively small, heat source means that the hotplates and ovens are all on together and there is constant warmth in the kitchen. Selected gas and electric models may have a programming facility.

THE AGA TOTAL CONTROL AND CITY60 COOKERS

Our latest models combine the design and values of the traditional Aga cooker with the ability to turn each cooking area off and on as your needs require, adjusting to your lifestyle. The ovens and hotplate(s) have individual controls. You can use the hotplate(s) independently of the ovens, or together with 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 ovens, depending on the model, as your cooking requires. You must allow enough time for the castings to become saturated in heat though, do not be tempted to cook as soon as it is turned on!

THE AGA DUAL CONTROL

This model is powered by gas or electricity and has ovens which are permanently all on, as with the traditional models, and there is always gentle warmth in the kitchen. The hotplates have elements embedded underneath so can be independently operated and used together, or individually, as needed.

THE SECRET OF AGA COOKING HOW YOUR AGA cooker WORKS

The principle of using cast iron to accumulate and store heat is the basis on which the Aga works.

The Aga cooker is an outstandingly efficient energy store, steadily transferring the heat from its core, or from elements embedded in the cast iron, into its ovens and hotplates. Heat is transferred into the cast iron ovens and released steadily from all the inner surfaces simultaneously. Radiant energy, an infra-red heat, is produced from a heated mass and doesnt depend on hot oven air for transmission. In cooking, the absorption of the radiant heat seals the surface of the food, holding in the flavours and moisture. In an Aga cooker, the oven is the heat source. The cast iron sides, back, top and bottom, provide constant heat.

The ovens are large, able to take a 13kg (28 lb) turkey. Seven Aga saucepans, with flat lids, can be stacked in the Simmering Oven.

The Aga also emits gentle warmth and is often used as a heat source in the kitchen, as well as for cooking, where it is somewhat of a people magnet let alone a comforter for pets.

No matter which Aga cooker you have, it will produce great tasting food cooked with the radiant heat of cast iron. With all Aga cookers there are often several ways of producing the same results, as any meeting of Aga owners will confirm. The Total Control and City60 may cook some dishes slightly differently from the other models but the end result will ultimately look and taste the same.

KNOWING YOUR AGA

THE HOTPLATES

There are two cooking hotplates on all Aga cookers one at a high heat, called the Boiling Plate, the other at a gentler heat, the Simmering Plate (apart from the Aga City60 which has one hotplate with a variable heat setting making it either a Boiling or Simmering Plate).

As the whole of the traditional Aga cooker is heated by a single heat source, the 80:20 rule applies cook 20 per cent of the time on the hotplates and carry out most of the cooking in the ovens, such as steaming root vegetables or starting off a casserole or curry on the top then placing it in the Simmering Oven to cook. That way you ensure the most efficient use of the stored heat.