Rosie Birkett - The Joyful Home Cook

Copyright COPYRIGHT DEDICATION INTRODUCTION 1 Brunch, Lunch and Bites 2 Memorable Mains 3 Special Suppers 4 Sunshine Feasts 5 Fermented, Pickled and Preserved 6 Comfort Cooking 7 Sides 8 Sweet Things 9 Secret Ingredients INDEX OF SEARCHABLE TERMS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

HarperCollins Publishers

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published by HarperCollins Publishers 2019

FIRST EDITION

© Rosie Birkett 2019

Cover layout design © HarperCollins Publishers 2019

Cover photograph © Helen Cathcart 2019

Food styling: Becks Wilkinson

Prop styling: Linda Berlin

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

Rosie Birkett asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Find out about HarperCollins and the environment at www.harpercollins.co.uk/green

Source ISBN: 9780008314279

Ebook Edition © May 2019 ISBN: 9780008314286

Version 2019-05-20

Dedication DEDICATION INTRODUCTION 1 Brunch, Lunch and Bites 2 Memorable Mains 3 Special Suppers 4 Sunshine Feasts 5 Fermented, Pickled and Preserved 6 Comfort Cooking 7 Sides 8 Sweet Things 9 Secret Ingredients INDEX OF SEARCHABLE TERMS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

For Chrissy – the original JHC

And for Otis: today’s treasure is creativity

Contents

COVER

TITLE PAGE

COPYRIGHT Copyright COPYRIGHT DEDICATION INTRODUCTION 1 Brunch, Lunch and Bites 2 Memorable Mains 3 Special Suppers 4 Sunshine Feasts 5 Fermented, Pickled and Preserved 6 Comfort Cooking 7 Sides 8 Sweet Things 9 Secret Ingredients INDEX OF SEARCHABLE TERMS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABOUT THE PUBLISHER HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk First published by HarperCollins Publishers 2019 FIRST EDITION © Rosie Birkett 2019 Cover layout design © HarperCollins Publishers 2019 Cover photograph © Helen Cathcart 2019 Food styling: Becks Wilkinson Prop styling: Linda Berlin A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library Rosie Birkett asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books. Find out about HarperCollins and the environment at www.harpercollins.co.uk/green Source ISBN: 9780008314279 Ebook Edition © May 2019 ISBN: 9780008314286 Version 2019-05-20

DEDICATION Dedication DEDICATION INTRODUCTION 1 Brunch, Lunch and Bites 2 Memorable Mains 3 Special Suppers 4 Sunshine Feasts 5 Fermented, Pickled and Preserved 6 Comfort Cooking 7 Sides 8 Sweet Things 9 Secret Ingredients INDEX OF SEARCHABLE TERMS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABOUT THE PUBLISHER For Chrissy – the original JHC And for Otis: today’s treasure is creativity

INTRODUCTION

1 Brunch, Lunch and Bites

2 Memorable Mains

3 Special Suppers

4 Sunshine Feasts

5 Fermented, Pickled and Preserved

6 Comfort Cooking

7 Sides

8 Sweet Things

9 Secret Ingredients

INDEX OF SEARCHABLE TERMS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

Introduction

Knowing how to cook and eat well is not only one of life’s most essential and great pleasures, it is a tonic for daily life. Engaging your senses, working with your hands and letting your mind unwind as you gently caramelise onions in butter until they smell so good you’re compelled to eat them straight from the pan: this is the magic of home cooking. And it should be fun, too. Where there’s cooking there’s often – delete as appropriate – lovers/friends/family/kids/dogs/wine/music. There’s discussion and debate, sometimes drama. The kitchen fills with the scent of good food, the windows steam up, the glasses brim, and the warm, fuzzy mess of our lives unfolds over plates of food greedily scraped clean.

Cooking is one of the most enriching and creative things we can do for ourselves and for those we love, and as something that we have to do most days, it should be joyful. For me, that means food prepared with a little thought and care. It could be as simple as a thick slice of homemade toast, soaking with really good butter and topped with a couple of excellent preserved anchovies; or clouds of golden meringue deep with the molasses kick of muscovado sugar. First and foremost, it’s about flavour.

As a food and cookery writer, it’s my job to obsess over food, write about it, create recipes, and I care immensely about every morsel I pop into my greedy, not-so-little mouth and the mouths of those in my vicinity. This book celebrates the possibilities and pleasures that homemade food can bring us when we take the time to prepare and cook good things.

Whether you’re planning a weekend slow-cooking project or have hurriedly squirrelled a few ingredients into your post-work shopping basket, here are recipes to enliven your cooking. Across these pages you’ll find ideas, tips, stories, simple seasonal suggestions and – most importantly – inspiring but achievable recipes that will help you coax the most flavour you possibly can out of everyday ingredients. As well as showing you how to make simple, celebratory springtime lunches, lazy summer picnics, special suppers, comforting soul food and sumptuous seasonal desserts, I want to arm you with fun and satisfying skills that will ultimately help you become a more creative, intuitive and resourceful cook.

I’ve included some gratifying and straightforward DIY techniques that will allow you, should you wish, to be a bit more self-sufficient at home. I show how methods like smoking, curing and brining can bring the best out in meat and fish in recipes like the Cured Smoked Sea Trout (see here) and the Whole Brined, Spatchcocked Barbecue Chicken (see here). You’ll find recipes for flavourful pastries, fresh pasta and slow-fermentation doughs for breads and pizza, that can form the basis of so many fantastic meals, as well as homemade condiments, crispy breadcrumbs and flavoured butters and fresh cheeses that can be adapted throughout the year.