Comfort food is like a big warm hug
THE LATEST COOKBOOK FROM THE NEWLY HONOURED DAME MARY BERRY IS EXACTLY WHAT WE NEED NOW, SAYS JANE HAASE
MANY of us are turning to comfort eating as lockdown restrictions start to bite again, and Mary’s Berry’s latest TV and cook book is just the thing for inspiration.
The former Great British Bake Off judge, who was made a dame in the recent Queen’s Birthday Honours, has been showing us how to make delicious dishes like twice-baked mushroom souffles in her BBC series
Mary Berry’s Simple Comforts.
She says: “The very words ‘comfort food’ are like a big warm hug for most of us.
“Comfort food means different things to different people.
“For many, it will be a roast Sunday dinner that says family and togetherness. For others, it may be a perfect tomato salad that gives you the feeling of being in a sunlit Mediterranean cafe, or a home-made cake that fills the house with tempting aromas as it bakes in the oven.”
Dame Mary’s new book, also called Simple Comforts, features all the dishes from the series, plus many more.
Among the 120 recipes is heartwarming food like chicken noodle soup, mac ‘n’ cheese, and French slow-roast lamb with ratatouille.
“I know that for many people baking is therapeutic and cheering,” adds Dame Mary. “I am one of them.
“Whipping up a cake, a loaf of bread or some biscuits can lift the spirits no end – even before you eat the results.”
The 85-year-old said she was “thrilled to bits” when she was made a dame earlier this month.
“I was overwhelmed, and what a sheer honour,” she said.
“I am immensely proud to be a dame but I don’t mind what people call me.”
Whipping up a cake, a loaf of bread or some biscuits can lift the spirits no end - even before you eat the results Dame Mary Berry
Simple Comforts by Mary Berry is published by BBC Books, priced £26. Photography Laura Edwards.
1. Ingredients:
2. (Makes 6)
3. 75g butter, plus extra for greasing
4. 200g chestnut mushrooms, finely diced
5. 50g plain flour
6. 300ml hot full-fat milk
7. 50g Gruyere cheese, grated
8. 50g Parmesan cheese, grated
9. 3 eggs, separated
10. Salt and freshly ground black pepper
11. For the sauce:
12. 300ml pouring double cream
13. 50g baby spinach, roughly chopped
14. 2tsp Dijon mustard
15. Method:
16. You will need 6 x size 1 (100ml) ramekins. Preheat the oven to 220˚C/200˚C fan/Gas 7 and butter the ramekins generously. Lay a piece of kitchen paper in the base of a roasting tin – the paper stops the ramekins for slipping in the tin.
17. Melt 25g of the butter in a large, non-stick frying pan, add the mushrooms and fry them over high heat for a few minutes. Cover the pan with a lid, lower the heat and cook for another four minutes, then remove the lid and fry over a high heat to evaporate the liquid. Remove the mushrooms with a slotted spoon and set them aside.
18. To make the soufflé base, melt the remaining butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour to make a roux and cook for a minute.
Gradually add the hot milk and whisk over a high heat until you have a thickened, smooth sauce.
19. Remove the pan from the heat and beat in the egg yolks, one at a time, until the sauce is smooth. Add the mushrooms and the cheese and season, then set aside to cool a little.
20. Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. Stir about a tablespoon of egg whites into the egg and mushroom mixture and carefully fold it in, keeping everything light and airy. Continue doing this until you’ve folded in all of the egg whites.
21. Divide the soufflé mixture evenly between the ramekins and sit them on the paper in the roasting tin. Pour enough boiling water into the tin to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake the souffles for about 15 minutes until risen and lightly golden.
22. To make the sauce, pour the cream into a jug and add the spinach and mustard. Season with salt and pepper and stir to combine.
23. To serve, preheat the oven to 220˚C/200˚C fan/Gas 7. Carefully run a knife around the edge of each ramekin and remove the souffles. Sit the souffles, browned side up, in an ovenproof dish, then spoon the sauce around them. Reheat for about 12 minutes until piping hot. Serve with dressed leaves or some brown bread.