Eat the food you buy
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
Words by Martyn Odell aka The Lagom Chef
Championing a no-waste food philosophy, Martyn Odell – aka The Lagom Chef – gives home cooks the knowledge and confidence to make delicious food from what you have in.
Whole Cauliflower Curry
I have been cooking this very British curry for years and it’s always a winner. It’s a super easy one-pan wonder with no fuss and no frills, just a well-balanced, mild curry.
And 90% of the ingredients are from the dry store, so I can normally whip this up with minimal fuss. It’s a great gateway recipe for eating the whole cauliflower if you still find it weird.
Serves: 2
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
1 cauliflower
1 onion
4 garlic cloves
1 thumb-sized piece of fresh root ginger
Veg oil (or any neutral oil)
1 x 400ml tin of full-fat coconut milk
2 tbsp curry powder
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 stick of lemongrass (optional)
Juice of 1 lemon or lime
Pinch of caster sugar
1 x 400g tin of chickpeas
To garnish:
Fresh coriander leaves
To serve:
Boiled basmati rice
Lime juice
WHY IT WORKS
Coconut milk is rich and creamy, and weirdly the onion–garlic– ginger combo can be a little sweet but have a bitter aftertaste if it’s not cooked out properly. So, when you start to balance the flavours, the salt ramps up the taste levels, the lemon knocks out the bitter notes and lifts the flabby notes of the coconut milk, and the sugar just makes everything feel rounder in your mouth. It’s a fine balance but a lovely one!
Method
Break your cauliflower into florets, cut the stem into rough small shapes (rangiri cut is the best way to do this – see page 81) and shred the leaves.
To start your sauce, wazz your chopped onion, garlic and ginger in a blender. Heat a little oil in a deep pan on a medium heat, then add the onion paste and gently fry for 2–3 minutes, until the rawness has cooked out.
Stir in the coconut milk, curry powder and peanut butter.
Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Add your lemongrass if you’re using it.
Now TASTE. It will taste rank – watery, bitter and naff. But that’s cool!
I want you to taste the change. Add a pinch of salt – TASTE. Stir in half of the lemon juice – TASTE. Add a pinch of sugar – TASTE. Things are happening! Slowly tweak the balance by adding a touch more salt, more lemon and/or more sugar. You will taste the change and like me again!
Now that the sauce is banging, add the drained and rinsed chickpeas and the cauliflower florets and stem. Simmer for 6–8 minutes, until the cauliflower is tender.
Heat a splash of oil in a separate frying pan on a high heat. Add the leaves that you shredded and sauté for 1–2 minutes, until they are just starting to wilt.
Now all you need to do is cook yourself some rice, then remove the lemongrass, load your curry and the sautéed leaves into a bowl and top it with everyone’s favourite, coriander!
Finish with a squeeze of lime.
A British Cassoulet
This is about to get me banned from France! Take a deep breath, Frenchies – your food is great, I’m just taking inspiration from it here. My old head chef Bob used to make an incredible cassoulet and even did a Spanish version. Is this a cassoulet? Sort of?
It just sounds better than sausage stew and isn’t too far off. It’s such a hearty dish that uses up whatever veg you’ve got lying around, is marginally healthier than other porky dinners with the addition of beans, can be done in the slow cooker and looks impressive when serving.
Serves: 4
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 60 minutes
Ingredients:
Olive oil
8 slices of smoked bacon
1 onion
2 carrots
4 celery sticks
4 garlic cloves
3 x 400g tins of whole plum tomatoes
Few sprigs of hard herbs (thyme, rosemary, bay leaves)
2 x 400g tins of haricot beans
8 sausages
For the garlic breadcrumbs:
Splash of olive oil
100g panko breadcrumbs (or make your own using the technique on page 60)
1 garlic clove
To garnish:
Fresh flat-leaf parsley
WHY IT WORKS
Traditionally this is such a rich dish with all the fat, but I have scaled it back so you have an almost sweet acidity from the tomatoes and smoky goodness from the bacon.
Method
Heat a good glug of oil in a large saucepan on a medium heat. Dice the bacon, then add it to the pan and cook for a couple of minutes, until it’s nice and crispy.
Now dice the onion, carrots and celery (or whatever you have to hand), add them to the pan and cook for 3–5 minutes, until the veggies are nice and soft. Slice and add the garlic and gently cook for 1–2 minutes, until fragrant.
Chuck in the tomatoes and squish them to break them up, then add any hard herbs you have and your drained and rinsed beans. Lower the heat and simmer the sauce for 20–30 minutes to combine all the flavours. TASTE. Add a good pinch of salt and a good twist of black pepper and TASTE again. It should be glorious.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas 7.
Heat a splash of oil in a separate frying pan on a medium heat. Add the breadcrumbs, grate in the garlic and cook until the breadcrumbs are golden brown. TASTE, then season with a good pinch of salt and TASTE again. Take the pan off the heat and set aside.
Fry your sausages in a little oil just to get some nice colour on them. They will finish cooking all the way through in the sauce, so just focus on the colour here.
Pop the sausages into a large baking dish and cover with the sauce, then sprinkle over the breadcrumbs. Bake the whole thing in the preheated oven for 10–15 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling. Finely chop some fresh parsley and scatter over to garnish.
That’s it! Just be careful eating, as it will be ripping hot.
Middle of the table banger
Serving things big with minimal effort is one of the greatest joys of cooking for me. I don’t know if I was the first to discover this, but I was making a ravioli filling once
and mixed mascarpone and miso together, and it ended up tasting like Parmesan cheese. It was glorious and easy! Make this belter and people will think you’re a legend.
Serves: 2-3
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
1 head of broccoli
Olive oil
Parmesan cheese
1 tsp smoked paprika
For the sauce:
4 big tbsp mascarpone or double cream
1 tsp miso
Aleppo chilli flakes (any chilli flakes will do)
WHY IT WORKS
Umami, umami, umami. The Parmesan cheese and miso are top-tier umami ingredients and they work so well with the creamy mascarpone. Charring makes a basic ingredient epic. The broccoli can go a little bitter, but you can balance it with this tangy sauce. Please make this one, even just for the sauce!
Method
Preheat the grill.
Cut the head of broccoli, stem and all, into quarters. Drizzle with oil and season with salt, then put the quarters in an ovenproof frying pan on a high heat. Put another pan on top of the broccoli and weigh it down to get some deep char on the broccoli. Be patient and flip only when ready.
Now don’t be shy with the Parmesan! Grate loads of it over the broccoli. I’m not going to give you measurements, as you’re an adult and can make your own decisions about cheese.
Slide the broccoli under the grill and cook it to the point of burning, then dust with a little smoked paprika.
Now for the sauce. If using mascarpone, plop it in a bowl and mix in ½ teaspoon of miso. TASTE, then season with salt and add more miso little by little, TASTING as you go. If using double cream, whisk it to stiff peaks, then add the miso and TASTE it the same way.
To serve, I like to spread the sauce on a plate and pile the broccoli on top with a few chilli flakes and any other sprinkles you have.