WHEN it comes to staple, family friendly recipes that can be relied upon every single time, Mary Berry is queen. The former Great British Bake Off judge and recipe writer extraordinaire is a legend of the cookbook world, and at 83, a culinary authority.
However, the Bath-born telly presenter's latest cookbook, Mary Berry's Quick Cooking, sees her take a slightly different direction, and delve into the world of speedy midweek suppers, 15-minute dinners and rapid desserts.
It makes sense, we're all time poor – but can Berry's methodical, traditional style of food work in moments of haste? We thought we'd put some of her new dishes to the test.
Here's what happened...
STIR-FRY
Lauren Taylor tested: King prawn and broccoli stir-fry
As someone who would prefer to spend as little time in the kitchen during the week as possible, I'm in need of a few more go-to quick recipes up my sleeve. Don't get me wrong, I love an opportunity to cook for other people on the weekends, a glass of wine perched next to the oven, or learning how to make a new dish with all the time in the world on a Sunday, but weekdays? No, they are not for kitchen stress.
So will Mary Berry, who I, perhaps mistakenly, always associate with complicated baking fit for Sundays, have the answer for my time-poor, mid-week meals?
I tried out her king prawn and broccoli stir-fry with black bean sauce. It sounds like a student classic, with some added sophistication thanks to using raw prawns and oyster mushrooms, and who doesn't like a stir-fry?
I was optimistically sceptical about the 10-minute prep time. Unless you have knife skills like Jamie Oliver and can peel and de-vein two packs of prawns by magic, it's likely to take much more (25 minutes for me, by the time I'd chopped, weighed and measured).
The cooking time of eight minutes was more realistic, but I found the order of the recipe a bit strange. Berry says to put the prawns in near the beginning, and add the broccoli florets later. The result was a tasty dish (black bean sauce, soy sauce and lemon is such a quick, simple and effective combination) but my prawns were slightly overcooked and my broccoli a bit hard.
PASTA
Sam Priddy tested: Romano pepper and herb penne
As someone with a habit of getting stressed in the kitchen, I took on Mary Berry's romano pepper and herb penne recipe with some trepidation.
To add to the panic, I had to make a couple of slight adjustments to the recipe due to food intolerances (spring onions) and widespread shop shortages (basil!). And I swapped penne for rigatoni, as it's what I had in the cupboard.
I need not have worried however, this really is a very simple recipe that packs a real punch – even without a couple of ingredients.
The instructions were true to form and it only took about 10 minutes to prep. Deciding I had to get stressed about something though, I took it out on the Parma ham, in particular how hard it is to remove each individual slice from the corresponding piece of plastic – this recipe is not one for fans of Blue Planet. Otherwise it is pretty much a case of chucking everything in a frying pan, waiting for the Parma ham to sizzle and the creme fraiche to bubble.
Sure, it's not as speedy to put together as a classic Italian pasta dish (my usual go-to, olio e peperoncino – spaghetti, olive oil, garlic and chilli – takes seven minutes total), but once served it's a really salty and creamy, with just enough fresh parsley sprinkled on top to give it a bit of bite.
If I were making it again (and I plan to), I'd add a few more roasted peppers – they felt a little lost amongst the other strong flavours.
CAKE
Prudence Wade tested: Apple and lemon sandwich cake
I jumped at the opportunity to make Mary's apple and lemon sponge. The combination is classic and the recipe looked speedy, plus I really just wanted an excuse to bake a cake.
The recipe is as easy as Berry suggests – all you need to do is beat the ingredients together, fold through grated apple and then pop two tins in the oven.
The cake itself was definitely tasty – the lemon curd and cream mixture sandwiching the cake together gives it a much-needed zing. Berry doesn't give you a recipe to make the curd, but I whipped up some of my own as my local supermarket doesn't sell any.
However, what I would say is, you couldn't taste any apple in the cake, and the sponge itself could have been much lighter and fluffier. If you're new to baking, this is a good recipe to try as it is simple, speedy and hard to mess up. Although, I'm not sure I'll be returning to it – maybe my expectations for the queen of baking doing her thing at pace were just too high.
:: Mary Berry's Quick Cooking by Mary Berry is published by BBC Books, priced £22. Photography by Georgia Glynn Smith. Below are three recipes from the book for you to try.
ROMANO PEPPER AND HERB PENNE
(Serves 4)
275g penne pasta
6-7 slices Parma ham, snipped into small pieces
1tbsp olive oil
4 spring onions, chopped
150g roasted red peppers in oil (from a jar), drained and chopped
1 large garlic clove, crushed
200g full-fat creme fraiche
1 x 30g packet of flat-leaf parsley, leaves roughly chopped
1 x 30g packet of basil, leaves roughly chopped
30g Parmesan, finely grated
Salt and pepper
Method:
Cook the pasta in boiling salted water according to the packet instructions, then drain, reserving some of the cooking water. Meanwhile, place a large frying pan over a high heat. Fry the Parma ham for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Add the oil to the pan, along with the spring onions, peppers and garlic and fry, stirring occasionally, for two minutes. Add the creme fraiche and bring to the boil, then add the drained pasta with half the crispy ham, most of the herbs and some salt and pepper. Toss over the heat for a few minutes.
Add the cheese and a splash of the reserved cooking water if the sauce seems too thick, and sprinkle over the remaining crispy ham and herbs to serve.
KING PRAWN AND BROCCOLI STIR-FRY WITH BLACK BEAN SAUCE
(Serves 4)
2tbsp sunflower oil
2 large shallots, very thinly sliced
2cm knob of fresh root ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced
350g peeled raw king prawns, deveined
250g broccoli, broken into tiny florets
150g oyster mushrooms, thickly sliced
6tbsp black bean sauce
2tbsp dark soy sauce
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt and pepper
Method:
Heat a large frying pan or wok until very hot. Add the oil, shallots, ginger and chilli and stir-fry over a high heat for 30 seconds. Push the vegetables to one side of the pan, then season the prawns with salt and pepper and add them to the centre of the pan. Fry for about two minutes until starting to turn pink.
Tip in the broccoli and mushrooms, toss together using two spatulas and fry for two to three minutes. Mix the black bean sauce, soy sauce and lemon juice together in a bowl. Add to the pan and toss everything together well. Stir-fry for another two minutes until the prawns are cooked and the broccoli is just tender but still crunchy.
Serve piping hot on its own or with rice or noodles.
APPLE AND LEMON SANDWICH CAKE
(Serves 6-8)
For the sponge:
225g baking spread, straight from the fridge, plus extra for greasing
225g caster sugar
225g self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
4 large eggs, beaten
2 eating apples, peeled, cored and grated
Icing sugar, for dusting
For the lemon filling:
150ml double cream
3 tbsp lemon curd
Method:
You will need two 20cm round, loose-bottomed sandwich tins. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4, then grease each tin and line the base with a disc of baking paper.
Measure all the sponge ingredients except the apple and icing sugar into a large bowl and beat with an electric hand whisk until combined. Fold the grated apple into the mixture, then divide between the tins and level the tops. Bake in the oven for about 25-30 minutes until golden, well risen and coming away from the sides of the tins. Allow to cool in the tins.
Meanwhile, make the filling. Whip the cream into soft peaks, then lightly swirl in the lemon curd. Invert the tins to remove the cakes and then peel away the paper. Sit one cake upside down on a serving plate. Spread the lemon cream to the edge of the sponge, place the other cake gently on top to sandwich the cakes together. Dust the top with icing sugar to serve.
