Louise Kenney - Dinners in the Bag: 60 Easy Oven Recipes, All Wrapped Up

CONTENTS Dinners ready and its in the (oven) bag, or parchment or foil parcel If you have any of these three items in your kitchen, and if you lack the time and energy to slave over a hot stove every day, then this book is definitely for you. I am an impatient cook and my guess is there are lots of you out there just like me, so throughout the following pages you will find recipes that are tasty, unfussy, require no stove preparation and produce very little washing up. Cooking in this way means you can prepare your meal, bung it in the oven, set the timer and then wander off to do something else. This is the ultimate in lazy cooking (and my favourite method when I am tired during a hectic week). It means you can put your feet up to watch some telly or get back to finishing off your work, or entertain your guests as they arrive, safe in the knowledge that something delicious is cooking away. If you havent cooked in this way before then I would suggest you start with the following recipes to build up your confidence.

I have chosen them because they are fast, very easy to prepare and look impressive when dished up. The term en papillotte is traditionally used to describe food that is cooked and served in parchment paper or foil. The paper is wrapped around the food then tightly sealed, so all the ingredients are completely enclosed. This method is fantastic for keeping moisture inside the parcel, thereby retaining the natural juices of the ingredients. Its also great for those who loathe washing up! Its an ideal method for busy families, housemates and singles who just want a nice dinner without the faff. Almost all of the recipes can be reduced to serve one, or doubled, to suit your needs.

Each recipe requires parchment, foil or an oven or , and the best method is indicated in the photo and text, but youll see from the handy illustrations at the bottom of each recipe that the materials are interchangeable, so fear not if you only have foil or parchment to hand youll still be able to cook most of the recipes hassle- and mess-free. Now, how on earth do you make a parchment parcel? There are several ways to wrap up food for cooking but the scrunch and twist method is my preferred way mostly because its not too fiddly. See the have individual parcels for each guest. Next, place the parchment in a baking tray this makes it easier to transfer in and out of the oven then pile on the ingredients. Bring the short sides of the paper together and fold over two or three times, making sure you leave some space above the food for the air to circulate. You will have a hollow tube-like structure.

Next, twist one end of the paper tightly and repeat with the other end to completely seal the food inside. Once the food is cooked, take good care when opening up your parcel as lots of steam can escape and has the potential to burn you. I like to use compostable parchment and greaseproof paper, which are available to buy online and in whole food stores also look out for unbleached greaseproof or parchment paper. Siliconised baking paper is not compostable so bear that in mind if youd like to be zero waste in the kitchen. You can also buy reusable parchment sealed with cooking clips but none of these recipes have been tested using this method. If you have a go, let me know how you get on! A foil parcel is almost the same as using parchment but it is much easier to close.

Follow the steps as for parchment paper but simply scrunch the ends together instead of twisting them. When a recipe calls for the parcel to be opened up then sealed again, take care to not to rip the foil, as it tends to be more fragile than paper and harder to close back up tightly. Oven bags are a cinch. I used Bacofoil and Reynolds oven bags when I was writing this book, and they are so easy to use, but other brands are available. Each packet comes with instructions on the back. If you run out of the ties, you can happily use cooks string instead.

When using bags, unlike with parchment or foil, make sure you cut 46 little slits in the top of the bag (under the tie) to allow the steam to escape during cooking. Oven bags are excellent for the recipes with lots of stock or water in them and, being transparent, you can see what is happening to your food as it cooks mesmerising! An alternative to all of the above is a Stasher bag. These are washable, reusable oven and freezer pockets, and they are fantastic if you want to cook small amounts of food definitely a good purchase if there are 12 of you to cook for and perfect if you want to reduce what you chuck in the bin. I bought mine online but you can find them in most good kitchen shops. One last thing to remember baking trays are essential for this type of cooking. They make transferring your parcels in and out of the oven a breeze.

Some trays will need to be deep-sided and others simply flat. I have indicated what is best for each recipe but use your own judgement based on what you are cooking. Happy lazy cooking and eating! Ratatouille This is a chunky version of the traditional ratatouille but requires minimal effort. Its lovely served with crispy baked potatoes and lashings of butter or olive oil. This recipe is vegan but is also yummy served with grated Parmesan. 1 medium aubergine (eggplant) cut into 2-cm (-in) chunks 6 medium sized ripe tomatoes 1 large red onion, cut into 1-cm (-in) wedges 1 medium courgette (zucchini) cut into 2-cm (-in) chunks 1 red (bell) pepper, deseeded and cut into thick strips 8 large sun-blush tomatoes, chopped into pieces 2 garlic cloves, finely sliced 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar 2 sprigs of thyme 2 sprigs of rosemary salt and freshly ground black pepper To serve 1 small bunch of basil, leaves chopped or left whole Serves 46 Preheat the oven to 180C fan (400F/Gas 6).

Line a baking dish with a sheet of parchment, two sheets of foil, or a large oven bag. Put the aubergine pieces into a colander. Sprinkle with salt and set aside. Score a cross into each tomato, pop them into a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave for 10 minutes then peel away the skin and slice each tomato in half. Add the tomatoes, onion, courgette, pepper, sun-blush tomatoes and garlic to the lined baking dish.