Berry - Cooks: My Favourite Recipes for Family and Friends

In this brand-new official tie-in to Marys much-anticipated BBC2 series, the nations best-loved home cook invites you into her kitchen to share the secrets of her favourite dishes to make for family and friends.

Mary Berry Cooks features all the recipes from the show, along with Marys menus for each episode from a warming Kitchen Supper or a Sunday Roast to a Summer Buffet or an Afternoon Tea.

This all-new collection of 100 mouth-watering, simple recipes offers the perfect meal for any occasion. It includes dinner party staples such as Slow-Roast Shoulder of Lamb or Cottage Pie with Dauphinoise Potato Topping, special summer lunches such as Fiery Red Rice Salad and Summer Pudding, and of course, her trademark cakes and bakes.

Accompanied by Marys no-nonsense, no-fuss advice on preparing ahead, each fool-proof meal is made easy, so that you can cook with confidence.

Whether a family lunch or a simple one-pot supper for friends, Marys carefully tested recipes and comprehensive advice make Mary Berry Cooks the perfect kitchen companion.

Mary Berry is the nations favourite baker and the much-loved judge on the BBCs The Great British Bake Off. She has been teaching the nation to cook for over four decades and has over 70 books to her name, including Mary Berry At Home and Mary Berrys Baking Bible.

In 2009 Mary was awarded the highly coveted Guild of Food Writers Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2012 she was made a CBE in the Queens Birthday Honours list.

I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to be able to pass on my knowledge, through Mary Berry Cooks, not just on baking but on how to entertain family and friends through my love of good food.

No matter what I am cooking, I want it to be as simple and as fuss-free as possible. Everything must be absolutely delicious, of course, but whether you are entertaining a handful of close friends, cooking a family meal, or creating a buffet party for a summers day, the last thing you need is stress in the kitchen. This is why my dishes always contain elements that can be made in advance, or frozen to avoid any last-minute hassle.

As a working mother many years ago, it was essential that I had home-cooked dishes for my children when I finished work, and even now that they are older, I have kept the habit of making as much as I can in advance. In fact, over the past few years I have found myself busier than ever, so to come home and have a supper ready to defrost from the freezer is still a godsend!

It has been years since I presented my very own programme, but I was delighted to have the opportunity in Mary Berry Cooks to show how to entertain in a simple, stress-free way. This book includes all the recipes from the series, along with my wealth of experience on how to cook for special occasions without being a slave to the stove my mantra is prepare ahead at all times and this book will give you all the tools you need. There are plenty of tips on what you can and cant freeze ahead of time, as well as advice on how to present your dishes for maximum impact.

I love parties who doesnt? and several times a year we open the gardens for the National Garden Scheme charity, and host church plant sales in the garden. For these, I always provide tea, coffee, cakes and sandwiches, and have got calculating how much to serve each time down to a fine art!

As you can imagine, I have had many family celebrations over the years, too, as my children have grown up, married, and had children of their own so of course there have been numerous birthday parties, Christmas celebrations, and many other excuses for a jolly good time. I could never bring myself to buy ready-made party foods (although there is nothing wrong with cheating by using ready-made pastry and buying in some spare crisps and nibbles), so over the years, I have developed recipes that are easy to make, but guaranteed to please, and will allow you to cater for almost any occasion.

In this collection, I have included some of my tried and trusted favourites, such as my Roast Fillet of Beef with Roasted Garlic and Mustard Cream () both impressive contributions to a summer buffet, but effortless to prepare ahead.

For drinks parties, I like to serve light, delicious canaps and have developed some lovely new ideas for this book which are quick and easy for you to make and serve. My moreish Croque Monsieur Toasts () are all deceptively easy to make, but are certain to delight your party guests.

And for those winter nights when you just want to invite a few friends round for an intimate supper, there are plenty of recipes for hearty casseroles, bakes, and a fabulous Spiced Garden Vegetable Casserole () for vegetarians, all of which can easily be scaled up for bigger gatherings.

Of course, what dinner party would be complete without the pudding? Dessert can often feel like an afterthought, or another added stress to an already busy kitchen, but even simple puddings can provide a spectacular finish to a meal. Try my favourite, Warm Chocolate Fondant Tart (), which uses the best that the British hedgerows have to offer.

), but have also included some wonderful ideas for simple cut-and-come-again loaves to share over a cup of tea with a few friends, tray bakes that are perfect for a cake sale, and beautiful layer cakes for that special occasion.

A chapter on my Kitchen Wisdom gives you the tips and tricks that I have developed over the years. While it is not intended to be comprehensive, I hope that some of my suggestions on stocking your larder, meal planning, and catering for crowds, will be useful for you too.

Throughout the book, I have included the menus from the television show, so you can see my favourite meals to cook for each occasion, before embarking on your own. But all the recipes are suitable for entertaining, so I do hope that you will have fun experimenting with courses and combinations to find your own favourites among this collection, and that you enjoy the recipes as much as we have enjoyed creating them!

As you can imagine, I have a well-stocked larder full of ingredients to call on, which makes all the difference when you have to rustle up a last-minute dinner or want to make a whole new meal out of last nights leftovers. Here are some of the ingredients from the recipes in this book that I like to use and often have to hand, which would be a useful addition to your store cupboard too.

A nourishing, filling pulse that is full of protein and can be used to bulk out soups and stews or in couscous salads. Chickpeas are available dried or canned but I tend to opt for the latter for reasons of convenience as the dried variety needs lengthy soaking.