Hearty food for busy families in only 30 minutes
SPRING is upon us – and is a real treat for food fans because there is such an abundance of sumptuous seasonal produce to enjoy.
In this second instalment in our five-part series, Scotland’s Spring Kitchen, I look at easy-to-prepare meals that make the most of local ingredients.
Yesterday I shared recipes for al fresco dining, such as burgers and kebabs. Today the focus shifts to simple meals for midweek.
It’s tempting to reach for pizzas or ready meals – a quick fix when you are busy with commuting, work, school, kids’ clubs and catching up with Netflix.
But a short time spent in the kitchen can be a rewarding way to unwind at the end of the day – it’s even better if you have an outdoor space to use as a secondary kitchen while enjoying the lateevening sunshine.
For me, midweek cooking is about minimum ingredients and maximum speed. I don’t want to spend hours after work cooking, and then be eating too late.
Each of these dishes should take no more than 30 minutes to prepare. They largely use everyday ingredients, although some may take a bit more effort to find.
Some dishes can be made to last more than one night quite easily, while meatballs and chicken goujons lend themselves well to being made in larger batches and frozen for future meals.
One thing I love to do in finer weather is to recreate the flavours of past holidays. Aroma and taste are such evocative senses, so chorizo, ras el hanout and porcini feature heavily.
MEATBALLS are a great dish when you have to feed a lot of people, whether you cook with Moroccan spice and rice as in my recipe overleaf, or try a more herb-based dish alongside linguine. They are ready in the time it takes to cook the pasta or rice.
Pork fillet and lamb racks are also ideal for quick and simple cooking.
Pork is perfectly paired alongside the richness of mushrooms and Madeira wine. If you can get seasonal chanterelles all the better. If not, then dried porcini gives a deep flavour if not the buttery freshness.
Lamb rack is always a real treat and generally I’d season very simply and then serve the cutlets medium.
If you prefer fish, mackerel is a great and inexpensive choice. It’s packed full of flavour and traditionally lends itself to acidity, which I’ve included here with the pickled fennel.
Similarly, hake is often underrated, with cod and haddock generally favoured in Scotland.
In Spain it is revered and so I’ve pan-fried some with chorizo and a little rosemary to give that Mediterranean feel, while the sweet, smoky paprika matches beautifully with the firm, meaty fish. Crispy skin makes it perfect.
If you’re looking for a slightly more robust fish dish, smoked haddock and queen scallop chowder is ideal – especially if you can get Ayrshire potatoes to make it with. It’s the dish of New England with the flavours of Scotland.
Chicken is always a favourite and kievs bring back memories of childhood, especially when made with the rich, almost liquorice notes of black garlic. Herby goujons are the ideal way to feed a lot of people very quickly because they can easily be made in large batches, while the herbs and nutty oatmeal add an extra dimension to standard goujons.
Mackerel with braised pickled fennel
MACKEREL is a great value fish and the pickled fennel cuts through the oiliness with acidity. You can make this meal in ten minutes. Serve simply with fresh bread.
INGREDIENTS (SERVES 2, OR 4 AS A STARTER)
4 mackerel fillets
1 medium fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1 sprig rosemary
1 sprig thyme
1 bay leaf
¼ tsp ajwain seeds
½ tsp coriander seeds
½ tsp black peppercorns
½ tsp sea salt
4 tbsp cider vinegar
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
Olive oil
Arrange the fennel slices in a saucepan wide enough to accommodate three to four slices deep. Add the herbs, spices and salt, then pour over the vinegar.
Top up the liquid with enough water to just over half-cover the fennel. Bring to a simmer then cook over the lowest heat for five to seven minutes until the fennel is tender but still has a bite.
Slightly salt the mackerel and oil the skin side with a little olive oil. In a hot frying pan, add the fish skin-side down, reduce the heat to medium and cook for two minutes. Turn over and cook for one to two minutes, until cooked through but not dry.
Serve the mackerel with the drained fennel and a glass of very dry white wine.
Lamb rack
THE ideal roast meat for couples, giving three or four little chops each, the trick is to get the fat cooked through but keep the meat slightly pink. You can crust the meat with herbs and spices but I prefer to keep it simple and let the meat shine through.
INGREDIENTS (SERVES 2)
1 lamb rack (6-8 ribs)
Leaves from ½ sprig of thyme
Sea salt
Pepper
Butter and olive oil, for frying
Heat the oven to 180C (350F, gas mark 4). Season the lamb all over with salt, pepper and thyme leaves.
Heat the oil and butter in an ovenproof frying pan. Brown the lamb on the fatty side for three minutes then on the lean side for one minute.
Transfer to the oven and cook for eight to ten minutes, depending on how well done you prefer your lamb.
Remove from the oven and rest for ten minutes. Carve into individual cutlets and serve with rosemary sauté potatoes and rocket salad.
Pork fillet with porcini and Madeira
PORK fillet is one of my favourite midweek meats because it cooks quickly and soaks in a lot of flavour. Using dried porcini allows you to add a little of the liquor but replace with fresh chanterelle when available for an even better seasonal dish.
INGREDIENTS (SERVES 3-4)
500g pork fillet, cut into two pieces
10g porcini mushrooms
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
50g Madeira
Salt and pepper
Olive oil, for frying Rehydrate the porcini in 100ml boiling water. Chop the rehydrated mushrooms and retain the liquor. In a sauté pan with a lid, soften the shallots and garlic in the olive oil over a low heat. Remove from the pan and set aside. Season the pork all over with salt and pepper. Add to the pan and cook for two minutes each side to brown.
Add the mushrooms, shallots and garlic, then fry for 30 seconds.
Pour over the porcini liquid and Madeira and cover. Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer. Cook for a further ten to 12 minutes until the pork is cooked through. Remove from the pan and rest.
Turn the heat to medium high and reduce the cooking liquid to a sauce-like consistency. If you prefer you can add two tablespoons of crème fraiche to give a creamier
sauce. Carve the pork into 1in thick slices and then serve with the sweet mushroom sauce.
Smoked haddock and queen scallop chowder
SMOKED haddock is one of my favourite fish and it adds an abundance of flavour to any dish.
The sweetness of ‘queenies’ adds an extra dimension to this delicious dish.
INGREDIENTS (SERVES 2-3)
1 fillet smoked haddock
300ml whole milk
1 bay leaf
1 tsp fresh oregano leaves (optional)
1 banana shallot
Large knob butter, around 20g
1 tsp smoked paprika (hot or sweet according to preference)
4 new potatoes (1cm diced)
2 corn on the cob with niblets removed
100g queen scallops
Juice of half a lime
Over a low to medium heat, gently poach the haddock in the milk with the bay and oregano. When cooked, set aside the fish, reserving the milk with the herbs.
In a saucepan, sauté the shallot in the butter over a low heat until softened but not browned. Add the smoked paprika, stir through and cook for another minute. Add the potatoes and corn, and stir to coat.
Add the milk with the herbs to the pan and bring to a gentle simmer, then cook for six to eight minutes until the potatoes are cooked. Remove half the vegetables and the bay leaf from the pan, discarding the bay, and mash the remaining vegetables.
Add the scallops to the pan and gently simmer for three to four minutes, depending on their size. When cooked, add back the vegetables and haddock, breaking the fish up. Stir in the lime juice and serve. Hake with chorizo THIS evokes memories of Mediterranean holidays. The Spanish value hake in a way we don’t in Scotland and teamed with chorizo, it is a classic pairing.
You could serve this with sauted potatoes and a glass of rosé and dream of late nights by the sea.
INGREDIENTS
(SERVES 2)
2 fillets hake
100g chorizo, roughly chopped
Olive oil
Sea salt
In a frying pan, heat roughly one tablespoon of olive oil over a medium heat.
Add the chorizo and cook for two to three minutes until it starts to become a little crispy and the oil starts to colour.
Season the hake with a little salt, then remove the chorizo from the pan and set aside. Fry the hake, skin-side down, for four minutes. This should give you a crispy skin. Turn over and cook for two minutes.
Serve with the chorizo as a light meal, or with potato wedges as a more substantial dinner. Black garlic chicken kiev CHICKEN kiev is 1980s comfort food to me and it was the height of childhood sophistication.
Here, I use black garlic because it gives a wonderful, almost liquorice depth of flavour, but you can substitute this for ordinary garlic if you cannot find it.
INGREDIENTS
(SERVES 4)
4 chicken breasts
8 cloves black garlic
100g salted butter
2 eggs, whisked
100g breadcrumbs
Butterfly the chicken breasts. Slice into one side of the breast, starting at the thicker end and ending at the thin point. Do not cut all the way through. It should look like a butterfly when opened out. Flatten with a rolling pin, knife or mallet.
Finely slice the black garlic and mix well in a bowl with the butter. Place a quarter of
the butter in the middle of each chicken breast.
Fold the fillet over, tucking in the pointed end, then fold over the other side of the breast. Essentially you’re looking to make a tight parcel with no butter visible.
Dip all over in the egg and roll in the breadcrumbs.
Bake in the oven at 200C (400F, gas mark 6) for 20 to 25 minutes until cooked through.
Serve alongside mashed or baby potatoes and seasonal greens.
Goats cheese and dill frittata
I USE a lot of goats cheese because I love the citrusy tang of it, especially with eggs. The dill, freshly sprinkled, complements both elements.
Three ingredients and stunning in simplicity. I’d serve it alone but if you need a carb fix then add wedges.
INGREDIENTS (SERVES 2)
3 eggs
Oil and butter, for frying
100g goats cheese
Handful dill fronds
Sea salt
Whisk the eggs in a bowl and add a good pinch of salt. In an ovenproof frying pan, heat the butter and oil over a medium heat.
Add the eggs to the pan, coating the base, and cook for one minute.
Sprinkle the goats cheese and half the dill evenly. Cook for three to four minutes, then place under a hot grill for two minutes to finish cooking the top and melt the cheese a little more.
Remove and sprinkle with the remaining dill. Cut and serve with wedges or a green salad.
Meatballs with ras el hanout
RAS el hanout means ‘head of the shop’ and this spice blend, incorporating cinnamon, cardamom, allspice and mace, among many other ingredients, is generally the best that a spice seller will have to offer.
It gives a wonderful depth of flavour alongside good quality lamb mince.
INGREDIENTS (SERVES 2)
250g lamb mince
1½ tsp ras el hanout
1 red onion finely chopped
1 tin chopped tomatoes
½ tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
½ tsp black peppercorns
¼ tsp harissa paste
Olive oil for frying
To make the meatballs, mix the mince well with the ras el hanout and leave to let the flavour permeate.
In an sauté pan with a lid, heat one tablespoon of the olive oil over a medium heat and add the onions, cooking to soften.
Add the cumin, coriander and the black pepper, and then fry for 30 seconds.
Stir in the tomatoes and harissa and cook over a low heat until the sauce has thickened a little.
While the sauce is reducing, form the mince into little meatballs – each one should be a little smaller than the size of a golf ball.
In a separate frying pan, heat one tablespoon of oil and brown the meatballs all over.
Add them to the tomato sauce and stir well, making sure they are well covered.
Cook over a low heat for 15 to 20 minutes until the meatballs are cooked through.
Serve with boiled basmati rice, topped with a few coriander leaves.
Roast partridge on barley risotto
THE game season is finished by the time spring really appears, but frozen game should still be available.
Barley is a much lighter grain than you would imagine and the nuttiness complements the meat.
INGREDIENTS (SERVES 4)
2 partridges
2 echalion shallots
Sprig lemon thyme
1 garlic clove, crushed
100g pearl barley
100ml dry white wine
500ml chicken stock
Butter
Sea salt and black pepper
Olive oil
Heat the oven to 200C (400F, gas mark 6). Rub the breasts of the partridges with a knob of butter, salt and pepper.
Place in a roasting tray and put in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat a knob of butter and half a tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan over a low to medium heat, and soften the shallots and garlic with the leaves of the lemon thyme.
When softened, add in the barley and stir to coat for two minutes.
Pour in the wine and heat until it is fully evaporated. Add in the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the barley is cooked through but retains a bite, about 15 to 20 minutes.
When the partridge is cooked, rest it for ten minutes, then carve the breasts off and serve alongside the barley risotto.
Herby oatmeal chicken goujons
THESE are my eldest daughter’s favourite and I like to get the children to make these themselves. I taught them the ‘wet hand, dry hand’ breading technique – use one hand exclusively for wet ingredients (eggs) and your other hand for dry ingredients (breadcrumbs, flour) so the ingredients won’t mix together and form a sticky paste.
INGREDIENTS (SERVES 3-4)
2 chicken breasts, sliced in thin strips
100g medium oatmeal
Leaves from ½ sprig rosemary, finely chopped
Leaves from 1 sprig thyme
Salt and pepper
2 eggs, whisked
Set the oven to 180C (350, gas mark 4). Mix the oatmeal, salt, pepper and herbs on a flat plate.
Take the sliced chicken and dip into the egg, letting any excess drain off, then roll in the oatmeal until the chicken is well coated. Place on an oiled baking tray.
Repeat this with all the chicken pieces. Cook in the oven for ten to 12 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the oatmeal is nicely toasted. Serve with wedges or even on crusty bread.