Angela Hartnett - A Taste of Home: 200 Quick and Easy Recipes

CONTENTS ABOUT THE BOOK Angela Hartnett, the best-loved and most successful female chef in the UK today, brings her informal, grounded style of cooking into our kitchens with this gorgeous book. Drawing inspiration from her childhood experiences of accessible home cooking with her Italian grandmother, she mixes Mediterranean influences with British to create delectable recipes that are straightforward, quick and easy to make. Angela captures the essence of rustic home cooking with starters like Lamb broth and Puy lentils, spinach and goats curd salad; and in main meals such as Beef stew with butternut squash and Rigatoni with fennel and sausage. The sweet-toothed can indulge in meltingly delicious desserts, like Fried figs with honey and Chocolate pecan tart. With over two hundred recipes and mouthwatering photography by Jonathan Lovekin, this is an indispensable addition to any home cooking enthusiasts shelves. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Angela Hartnetts rise from her early days training at Gordon Ramsays restaurants Fleur, Petrus and Amaryllis, has been justly swift and dazzling.

She now owns Murano restaurant in London and was awarded an MBE for Services to the Hospitality Industry in 2007. In Autumn 2010 she was appointed judge of the BBC Food and Farming Awards. LIST OF RECIPES INTRODUCTION For me, home cooking is more about sharing good meals with friends than showing off cheffy skills. If youre having people over for a meal you want to spend time with them, not chained to the kitchen, so you need recipes that are easy and enjoyable to cook. Cooking should be fun, not stressful, so dont get too anxious about it all. Mistakes happen to the best of us me included and as my mum says, you can always go and get a curry if you overcook the meat and burn the apple tart! The recipes in this book are for the kind of food I like to eat at home simple, tasty and not too complicated to make at the end of a working day.

These are dishes I enjoy cooking for friends and include some of my favourite foods Macaroni cheese, Steak salad, Figs with vanilla ice cream and Chicken noodle soup. You wont need to spend precious time hunting down exotic ingredients. Nearly everything is readily available at supermarkets and farmers markets. There are recipes you can make from leftovers, too, and many are very easily adapted to suit the contents of your larder. Of course my inherited love of Italian food is evident so there has to be a chapter on pasta and risotto. No cookbook is complete without these in my opinion! But Ive included some slightly different variations that you may not have come across before, such as Spaghetti with mussels and Chestnut and truffle risotto.

Im lucky in having friends who are great cooks and Ive begged and borrowed recipes Ive enjoyed at their houses. Theres my neighbours Beef with butternut squash and my friend Lizs fantastic Banana bread to name just a couple of these fantastic dishes. Ive included quite a few cakes, too, as home baking is always hugely popular theres nothing like a home-made cake. When my mum hears about some great chef she often remarks: All very well, but can he bake a cake? So I hope you enjoy these recipes and have fun trying something different. And feel free to adapt and change to suit your taste thats always when the best dishes happen. 200g cornflour 100g rice flour 40g garlic powder good pinch of salt pinch of cayenne pepper pinch of Szechuan pepper 300g baby squid, cleaned and cut into rings vegetable or sunflower oil, for deep-frying squeeze of fresh lemon juice SERVES 4 MIX THE CORNFLOUR with the rest of the dry ingredients in a large bowl. 200g cornflour 100g rice flour 40g garlic powder good pinch of salt pinch of cayenne pepper pinch of Szechuan pepper 300g baby squid, cleaned and cut into rings vegetable or sunflower oil, for deep-frying squeeze of fresh lemon juice SERVES 4 MIX THE CORNFLOUR with the rest of the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

TOSS THE SQUID in the flour mixture until evenly coated, shaking off any excess. HEAT THE OIL to 180C in a deep-fat fryer or heavy-based pan and fry the baby squid for 23 minutes, until golden brown. Drain well on kitchen paper and serve immediately with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. MARINATED SEA BREAM An economical alternative to sea bass, bream is a versatile fish and can be served as carpaccio, pan-fried or oven-baked. 4 sea bream fillets, skinned and pin-boned 3 blood oranges 3 tbsp olive oil soy sauce (optional) 4 breakfast radishes, sliced bunch watercress, leaves picked from the stems small bunch of coriander, leaves picked from the stems 1 tsp sesame seeds salt and freshly ground black pepper SERVES 4 SLICE THE SEA BREAM at an angle into thick slices. Peel 2 of the blood oranges and divide them into segments.

Cut the third orange in half and squeeze out the juice. MIX 2 TABLESPOONS of blood orange juice with the olive oil to make a vinaigrette and add a dash of soy sauce if desired. PUT A LITTLE OF THE BLOOD ORANGE MIXTURE on a plate, add the bream and season. Then pour on the rest of the juice mixture and leave the fish for 34 minutes. GARNISH with the orange segments, radish slices, watercress, coriander and sesame seeds, then serve immediately. 2 tbsp olive oil 500g clams, washed splash of white wine 1 garlic clove, sliced 1 thyme sprig 2 baby shallots, sliced into rings 100g chorizo 1 bag of rocket leaves 1 tbsp chopped flatleaf parsley salt and freshly ground black pepper SERVES 4 HEAT A HEAVY-BASED PAN over a medium heat and add the olive oil. 2 tbsp olive oil 500g clams, washed splash of white wine 1 garlic clove, sliced 1 thyme sprig 2 baby shallots, sliced into rings 100g chorizo 1 bag of rocket leaves 1 tbsp chopped flatleaf parsley salt and freshly ground black pepper SERVES 4 HEAT A HEAVY-BASED PAN over a medium heat and add the olive oil.

Throw in the clams with the white wine, garlic, thyme and shallots. Put a lid on the pan and steam until the clams are cooked about 5 minutes. STRAIN everything into a big bowl, discarding any clams that dont open. Keep the cooking juices and serve them with the salad. SLICE THE CHORIZO and fry in a little olive oil for 1 minute, then add to the clams. Finish with the rocket and parsley and season to taste.

Good served with some toasted sourdough bread. CRAB FRITTERS These are a delicious starter and a perfect way of using British crab. 1 egg 50g self-raising flour vegetable oil, for deep-frying tsp finely chopped red chilli 1 spring onion, chopped 200g white crabmeat 1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander 1 lime, cut into wedges, for serving salt and freshly ground black pepper SERVES 24 BEAT THE EGG AND FLOUR together to make a batter. Heat a little of the vegetable oil in a frying pan and fry the chilli and spring onion until softened. Tip them into a bowl and leave to cool. ADD THE CRABMEAT to the cooled chilli and spring onion, season and add the coriander.

Stir in the egg and flour, then if the mixture seems a little dry, add a tablespoon of water to bind everything together. SHAPE THE MIXTURE into fritters each about the size of a golf ball. Heat the oil in a large pan or deep-fat fryer to 180C. Fry the fritters in batches until golden and drain on kitchen paper. SERVE THE FRITTERS with lime wedges or some yoghurt mixed with a little chopped dill.