Food & Drink
Get your tribe eating together with practical recipes they will all enjoy, writes Jo Pratt
Family favourite recipes from Jo Pratt, plus Rose Murray Brown on the rise of wine boxes
Eating together as a family is such an important occasion. When you eat together, it’s the perfect opportunity to catch up, relax, get things off your chest and generally have a good time. It is crucial, especially with all the pressures that our children are put under these days that there’s a window to chat together and put things into perspective. I’m not saying we should be eating together for every meal of the day of course – one would be ideal, or even just a few times during a week, be that a Sunday lunch, Friday night or even a Saturday brunch.
So, what I want to bring to you through this book is a variety of family friendly recipes that can be used for cooking balanced, nutritious meals to suit a variety of requirements. Recipes that include a number of flexible options so they’re suitable for everyone to eat together. Think of it as the Swiss army knife of cookbooks. A multi- tool to provide practical recipe solutions for the demands and challenges of modern family life. You’ll see that I’ve given a fairly healthy approach to many of the recipes, maximising the use of fresh and beneficial ingredients. I’ve also cut down on sugars where possible and used good fats and oils. But, I hasten to add, this is not a typical ‘ healthy eating’ book. There are many ‘ naughty but nice’ recipes in here. I am a believer in eating everything in moderation.
The Flexible Family Cookbook by Jo Pratt, £ 20, Frances Lincoln. Photography: Malou Burger
Popcorn cauliflower bites
Dipping anything in breadcrumbs and frying until golden is always going to be a winner, and for anyone telling you they don’t like cauliflower, they may well change their minds if they try this. They’re a brilliant party food snack, or a starter when entertaining. To avoid last- minute rushing around, coat the cauliflower florets in the crumbs and keep chilled, in a single layer on a tray. Then all you need to do is fry them and serve with garlic mayonnaise, ketchup, chilli mayonnaise or just a squeeze of lemon.
Serves eight as a snack
200g chickpea flour or plain flour
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp garlic salt
350ml milk of choice
1 cauliflower, broken into bize- size florets
150g panko breadcrumbs sunflower oil, for frying garlic mayonnaise, to serve
1 Whisk the flour, paprika, oregano, garlic salt and milk together until you have a smooth batter.
2 Dip the cauliflower florets in the batter, allowing excess to drip off and then roll them in the breadcrumbs to evenly coat.
3 Fill a wok or deep frying pan with about 5cm/ 2 inches sunflower oil and place over a medium- high heat. When the oil is shimmering, working in a few batches, carefully add the cauliflower florets. They should start to instantly sizzle when hitting the hot oil.
4 Fry for about 2- 3 minutes until nicely golden and crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Repeat with the remaining cauliflower florets. Serve with the garlic mayonnaise to dip into.
Mango and coconut chicken
I started to make this recipe when the kids were little and I was trying to introduce more spice in their diet. The addition of mango brings a mellow sweetness to the curry, balancing out the spices perfectly.
For more heat, I like to scatter some chopped fresh chilli on mine at the end. Or for a hotter curry for everyone, you can add chilli flakes at the start. You can also cook veggies in the sauce to bulk it out.
Serves six
2 tbsp coconut, sunflower or rapeseed oil
1 large onion, finely diced
2 tsp grated ginger
5 tbsp Korma or a mild curry paste
1 tbsp tomato purée
800g boneless chicken pieces( thigh or breast), cut into bite- size chunks. 1 x 400ml tin coconut milk
1 large ripe mango, peeled and chopped into small pieces ( and another ½ - 1 mango, peeled and sliced, to serve)
75g ground almonds flaked sea salt handful of toasted coconut flakes steamed basmati rice
1 Heat the oil in a large wide saucepan over a medium- high heat. Add the onion and ginger. Sauté for about 8 minutes until the onion is softened and becoming golden. Add the curry paste and tomato purée, stir for around 30 seconds or so before mixing in the chicken.
2 Stir to coat in the paste and cook until the chicken has started to brown all over.
3 Mix in the coconut milk, mango and ground almonds. Bring to a simmer and cook uncovered for 30 minutes for the sauce to thicken and the chicken to cook through.
4 Season to taste and serve with sliced mango, coconut flakes, and coriander on top alongside the basmati rice.
Lemon and raspberry loaf
Think of this as a modern- day lemon drizzle cake. It’s ideal for anyone who can’t have dairy and is totally vegan friendly. What I really want to make clear is that it tastes soooo good. The sponge is light, fluffy and exceptionally lemony, and the topping is wonderfully vibrant in colour. But it’s the intense raspberry flavour that’s the real showstopper. So, move over lemon drizzle, there’s a new cake in town.
Serves 12
275g self- raising flour
200g caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder grated zest and juice of 2 large lemons
75ml soya milk
100ml sunflower or rapeseed oil, plus extra for oiling
50g fresh or frozen raspberries
100g icing sugar, sifted
1 tbsp freeze- dried raspberry pieces
1 Preheat the oven to 200C/ Gas Mark 6.
2 Brush a 450g/ 1lb loaf tin with a little oil and line the base with baking parchment.
3 Mix together the flour, caster sugar, baking powder and lemon zest. Put the lemon juice in a jug and top up with milk to 175ml.
4 Pour into the dry ingredients along with the oil. Mix to a smooth batter and pour into the prepared tin. Bake for 40 minutes, until the top is light golden, firm to touch and a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the middle.
5 Cool the cake for 10 minutes in the tin before removing and cooling completely on a wire rack.
6 To make the icing, blend the raspberries to a purée then sieve to remove the seeds. Pour the raspberry purée into the icing sugar in stages, mixing well after each addition until you reach a thick pouring consistency. Slowly spoon the icing on top of the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides, and scatter with freeze- dried raspberries to finish.