Wendy Hobson - Meals in a Mug: 100 Delicious Recipes Ready to Eat in Minutes

Wendy Hobson has spent a career in creative publishing, both as author and commissioning editor. She has worked for a range of top international publishers and with chefs as respected as Ken Hom, Gary Rhodes and Mary Berry. With cookery a particular speciality, her published books include Everyday Cooking for One, Home Baking series, Classic 1000 Recipes, Classic 1000 Cake & Bake Recipes as well as Simply Feng Shui and Silver Surfers Colour Guide to Word Processing. Wendy has edited thousands of books, from Daniel Galmiches Revolutionary French Cooking to the best-selling UK travel guide Brit Guide Orlando. Also available from Constable & Robinson Everyday Cooking For One Everyday Thai Cooking How To Cook Your Favourite Takeaways At Home Healthy Eating for Life The No-Waste Meal Planner Making the Most of Your Food Processor Making the Most of Your Pressure Cooker

Constable & Robinson Ltd 5556 Russell Square London WC1B 4HP www.constablerobinson.com First published in the UK by Right Way, an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd, 2014 Text copyright Wendy Hobson 2014 Illustrations Firecatcher Creative, www.firecatcher.co.uk The right of Wendy Hobson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library ISBN: 978-0-7160-2392-0 (paperback) ISBN: 978-0-7160-2393-7 (ebook) 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 Printed and bound in the EU

While a mug and a microwave may not conjure up visions of cordon bleu restaurants, the reality is that there are times when we all need something quick and easy to eat, just for one. How often do you come in late from work and just fancy something hot and nutritious but cant be bothered to go to the trouble of cooking a meal? If you have teenage children coming home from school, theres no way they can wait until dinner to have something to eat. Or perhaps your family has days when your schedules just dont coincide and someone ends up hungry and in a rush to be somewhere else. If you work in an office, you may have wondered why they bother to put a microwave in the kitchen when most people resort to their box of sandwiches, or complain how much they have to pay to buy a sandwich from the shop down the road. Well, now you know! That under-used microwave is just waiting for you to ditch those dull sandwiches and conjure up a neat little meal all for yourself.

And how could we forget the cash incentive? We have all been feeling the pinch of late, so saving your sandwich money will soon add up. So whether you are a busy mum trying to juggle family schedules, a student strapped for cash, an office worker keen to consign that boring lunch box to the bin, a teenager coming home hungry from school, a shift worker out of sync with the familys mealtimes, a young or old person living alone and not always keen to go to the trouble of cooking a meal read on. All these recipes are quick, simple to follow and make a meal in a mug. (Well, sometimes youll find a big cappuccino cup works better, but I think thats fair.) This may not be a sustainable diet for every day, but there are days when everyone will find these recipes not only useful and tasty but also surprisingly good. And it must be better to cook from scratch so you know exactly what you are eating than to constantly reach for the dehydrated packet or the cheap ready meal. Plus they do include fresh ingredients and there are some interesting salads too.

You will find that for some recipes notably those made with pasta and rice there is a slight problem to overcome. It is much easier to cook the first stage in a larger bowl because there is not enough room in a mug for the ingredients to boil and rise up: they just overflow and make a mess. The recipes all take this into account, but do be wary of this when you are trying out your own recipes. So dip in and try a few recipes and youll soon see that, with a little imagination, you can, indeed, make a tasty, fun and enjoyable meal in a mug . in a microwave. P.S.

And did I mention that in just a few minutes you can rustle up a little cake or dessert to satisfy an unexpected guest, give a child a special treat or feed that sweet tooth? Or that the imaginative dinner-party hostess can serve a quirky, individual starter or dessert to impress the new neighbours?

A mug, a microwave and a spoon are really all you need for most of the recipes in this book. Add a knife and fork and a small whisk and you can expand your repertoire still more. Some recipes seem to work better or are just easier to eat if you make them in a wider mug or a cappuccino cup, but thats simply a matter of choice. It sounds obvious, but dont forget to choose a mug or cup that is suitable for the microwave so that means no precious china or mugs with gold decorations. I used a 400 ml (14 fl oz) mug or an outsize cup for most recipes, which is what I call a large mug. If your mug is a little larger than a standard mug, and a little wider at the top, it makes it easier to mix ingredients and is generally more convenient to use.

For some recipes mainly those cooking pasta or rice it is easier (but not essential) to use a microwave-safe bowl large enough for the liquid to bubble up when cooking, but Ill explain why when we start cooking rice dishes. There is no weighing involved in the recipes, so all you need to prepare your ingredients are the usual things you have to hand in the kitchen knife, whisk, spoons, sharp knife and chopping board. If you have a set of measuring spoons, then you can measure more accurately, but ordinary spoons will do. I also use a set of US cup measures to make things more convenient. If you dont have cup measures, select an ordinary cup that takes 250 ml (8 fl oz) and use that instead.

Some people and I confess to being one of them always have a cupboard full of basic stocks so they dont have to go to the shops with a plan for every meal. Some people and I confess to being one of them always have a cupboard full of basic stocks so they dont have to go to the shops with a plan for every meal.

Others prefer to shop only when they need something. For these recipes, a few store-cupboard items will prove particularly useful as they will make it possible for you to rustle up a simple but tasty mug-meal at a moments notice. With everyday meals and snacks like these that use such small quantities, you dont want to have to go out shopping every time you need a bite to eat for a start, it makes a nonsense of the whole idea of quick and easy. And you cant afford to use little bits of all kinds of ingredients and waste the rest. So a little advance planning is pretty much essential so that you can take full advantage of the recipes. Buy some frozen free-flow vegetables You can take out a spoonful as and when you need them and use them straight from frozen. Buy some frozen free-flow vegetables You can take out a spoonful as and when you need them and use them straight from frozen.

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