Kerryann Dunlop - Jamies Food Tube: The Family Cookbook

Im really proud to introduce you to the illustrious Kerryann Dunlop. As one of my ex-students at Fifteen, Ive had the pleasure of cooking beside Kerryann for many years now, and boy this girl can cook. Since her stint at Fifteen, shes honed her cooking skills, had a family, become a super-mum, and now shes got this beautiful book of 50 signature dishes from her busy household. As a mum on a tight budget, Kerryanns recipes are all about food thatll make you feel like youve had a big old hug, from comforting dinners and easy breakfasts to clever batch-cooking and naughty treats.

This little book is one of the first in a collection of no-nonsense, beautiful cookbooks, inspired by the incredible cooks, chefs and artisans on my Food Tube channel. If you dont know the channel already, hunt us out on YouTube, where myself and a bunch of super-talented people, including Kerryann, are uploading exclusive videos every week, with plenty of clever tips, tricks and methods thatll transform your cooking. Were a community of food lovers and experts, who simply want to share our passion with you guys, so if you have any questions, please leave a comment and well be happy to answer.

Kerryann is such a friendly character with a tone and style that are super-warm, motherly and gentle so armed with the recipes in this book and the thrifty family tips and tricks from her Food Tube videos, youre guaranteed a bunch of homely recipes that youll keep going back to time and again. Thats enough from me, over to the wonderful Kerryann.

Big love,

Ive always loved cooking. Ever since I was little, Id watch any kind of cooking programme on TV (Delia was always my favourite!) and when Food Network started, it was like Christmas. Id always be in the kitchen, looking at what my Mum and Nan were cooking, and its from them that I learnt how to cook. I grew up on good home-cooked food and it was my Mum and Nan who showed me that its more than possible to make good food on a tight budget. Moneys a big thing (Im not rich!), but people are under the illusion that to eat well you need lots of it. You dont you just need to be clever about how you shop and how you cook.

A lot of the recipes in this book are versions of my Mums and Nans, who passed down their knowledge to me. Since having kids, my cooking has become much more family-orientated I dont want to feed them ready-meals and processed food, I want to feed them like my Mum fed me.

Even if you think you cant cook, its not that difficult to learn once youve got five recipes down, youre good. After that, youll have the confidence to play around with those five recipes and make them your own, then who knows what youll make next (my hidden vegetable pasta sauce (see ) is my favourite I use that sauce in so many recipes, from chilli and lasagne to pizza and meatballs).

I hope that you find your five recipes somewhere in this book, then you can do exactly what I did and make them your own.

Good luck and happy cooking!

DEDICATED TO
Mr Jolly this one's for you matey! xx
For Cory-Jay and Aliyah the best things I ever made. xx

When I got accepted onto Jamies Fifteen Apprentice Programme all those years ago, my life changed forever, and I can honestly say its been a home from home ever since. When I was sixteen, I went to chefs school, but it closed down halfway through my course and I ended up disheartened and disappointed by the whole idea I thought my career as a chef just wasnt meant to be. Then one day, I got an application letter to sign up for the first year of Jamies Fifteen programme and I filled it out immediately. We had to go through loads of rounds of interviews and I still remember having to taste test Jamies butternut squash tortellini as part of that process and telling him I thought it was bland! To be fair, I was suffering from bronchitis at the time and Id lost my sense of taste. I probably didnt make the best first impression!

When I was lucky enough to be selected, it was really daunting. I wasnt the best behaved apprentice and I dont think Id have got away with a lot of things if I was on the course now, but Jamie saw something in me that I didnt. I just thought I was a good cook, but he had total faith in me. I remember at the end of one of the shows we did for Jamies Kitchen on Channel 4, he said, Kerryann will be a chef, I dont care what anyone says, and for that Ill love him forever.

Since leaving Fifteen, Ive worked as a chef all over the place as a pastry chef for Baker and Spice, in gastro pubs and now at a brilliant childrens nursery, but the Fifteen family has stayed there with me all along the way. Even though its been 11 years since I was first an apprentice, the team have supported me through thick and thin and I know Ill never ever experience that same support anywhere else. If it wasnt for Fifteen and for Jamie seeing my potential, I wouldnt have Food Tube and I wouldnt have had the chance to create this beautiful book, so for that, Ill always be grateful.

To find out more about Fifteen and the Apprentice Programme, go to:
jamieoliver.com/the-fifteen-apprentice-programme

GET THE KIDS INVOLVED

Ask your kids to help you make the dinner get them to taste and mix ingredients and pick any herbs. The more theyre involved in the whole process, the more theyll enjoy the food that ends up on their plates.

Take them shopping (I know it can be stressful!) and give them their own list of ingredients to look for. My kids get excited when they see that the food they helped to buy has ended up on their plates. If you can, take them to different farmers markets too get them to ask for ingredients and, if possible, let them taste different bits and pieces. Itll give them a better understanding of where food comes from too.