I’ve been enjoying BBC’s The Good Cook over the last couple of weeks.

I first came across Simon Hopkinson a couple of years ago when I’d noticed his book ‘Roast Chicken and other Stories’ kept appearing at the top of  lists of  chefs’ favourite books or best cookbooks.

At the time I’d never heard of it, but there’s now a well-thumbed copy of it on my shelf too – I like his focus on ingredients and simplicity – something that comes through strongly on TV. Despite the director’s attempts to cram in every camera trick and lens effect available, which is a bit of a distraction.

The point of which is that his very simple risotto alla parmigiana was a reminder that risotto’s a dish that doesn’t need to be over complicated. Inspired, I made this light fresh vegetable version.

I just followed the usual method- there’s no better way as far as I’m concerned to banish the stresses and strains of the day than with the methodical, constant stirring of a risotto pan.

So I made a plain risotto – onion, rice, stock – and about five minutes before it was done added peas, chopped french beans and fresh broad beans from the garden. I had some prawns in the fridge so they went in too, but it was lovely with just the veg.

Finish with parmesan and butter.

I’ve been experimenting with different rices of late – currently using Carluccio’s carnaroli rice which is lovely and creamy.

With a bag of prawns in the freezer I’m never more than 10 or 20 minutes away from something that feels fairly celebratory for tea. And more often than not, that’s a midweek curry, normally korma or something a bit Thai.

I spotted this recipe for Kerolan prawns in a recent Olive magazine. I found the original a bit bland so I’ve tweaked it with a bit more spice. So here’s my now totally inauthentic “Kerolan” prawn curry.

Fry a diced onion until translucent then add smooshed up garlic and ginger. Stir in a teaspoon of turmeric and (this is where I go off piste) two teaspoons of garam masarla and a pinch of chilli flakes. Let the spices toast a bit then add a tin of tomatoes.

Pop a pan of rice on.

Let the sauce reduce until thickened for about five minutes or so. Put the cooked prawns in for another three or four minutes to warm through.

Midweek curry in less than 15 minutes.

Salad with bacon, chicken and croutons

My heart sinks at the thought of ‘just a salad’ for tea – I’m too much of a carnivore. But I don’t want to end up the size of a hippo so I’m always on the lookout for ideas to make a meal of more exciting salads.

The best lesson I learnt came from Jamie at Home – never eat an undressed salad and make sure every leaf is coated. Simple, really, but it makes a hell of a difference to dress the leaves in a big bowl rather than pouring dressing over a salad once it’s on the plate.

My regular dressing mix is an easy one – a teaspoon of vinegar (balsamic, cider, white wine or lemon juice), six teaspoons of olive oil, a quarter teaspoon of mustard (English mustard powder or Dijon) and salt and pepper. Whisk this or shake together in a jam jar until it’s thick and emulsified.

Then there’s what to add to a mix of lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, spring onions, red onion, baby spinach and radishes.

Roasted chicken thighs cook quickly and if you blast the oven up there’s the benefit of salty, crispy skin on top. Cooked prawns are good, maybe warmed through in a frying pan with a bit of spice or some crispy streaky bacon or pancetta lardons.

I’ll often add thin slices of parmesan for a savoury kick in place of meat or goats cheese, particularly with a lemon dressing.

But my favourite has to be slices of chorizo fried until they release their oil and start to go crispy on the edges. Then, very naughtily, fry torn up chunks of bread in the chorizo oil to make the most amazing croutons.

Just realised I’ve spent a lot of time coming up with ideas to add calories and additional fat to a selection of otherwise harmless leaves and things. Bugger it – life’s too short to count calories.

Pesto pasta with prawns and bacon

I’d never made pesto before – always seemed like too much hassle when the stuff in jars is so convenient. But I bought a huge bunch of basil from the market recently, did nothing with it for a week and couldn’t think of anything else.

In a mini-chopper I blitzed up a half a handful of cashew nuts (I’ve subsequently done it again with the more traditional pine nuts), a clove of garlic went in next followed by a thumb-sized piece of parmesan, with a mix as each ingredient is added.

It needs a little olive oil now to loosen it, then the basil (about the amount that comes in a supermarket packet) can go in for a final mix. Add enough olive oil to loosen it to pesto consistency. Pop it in a jar and pour a layer of oil over the surface of the pesto to seal it – it’s kept quite happily for two weeks in my fridge. It’s a lot fresher than shop-bought and you get a better flavour from the individual ingredients.

It’s lovely to use as a kind of garlic bread substitute – slice a part-baked baguette and spread the pesto into the slices before baking. We’ve also used it simply stirred through a pan of warm pasta then cooled for a lunchtime salad.

Or it makes a great warm sauce for pasta. I had some large prawns and bacon in the freezer so while a pan of pasta was cooking I fried the diced bacon then the prawns in a small frying pan. Once done, four or five good teaspoons of pesto went in until warmed then i added a couple of spoons of creme fraiche. The drained pasta goes into the pan with the sauce for a quick stir before serving.

The result is a lovely creamy, light, basil infused sauce and all done in the time it takes to cook a pan of pasta.

For me fish pie is comfort food and a midweek treat all rolled into one. Creamy sauce, smoked fish and the crispy bits on the top of the mash…love it.

There’s lots of quick fish pie recipes out there, but you’ve got to wait for a pan of spuds to boil and it’s easy enough to poach some fish and knock up a quick fish sauce in that time.

I think you’ve got to have a smoked fish – something that will flake well like undyed cod or haddock – along with an unsmoked fish like a salmon fillet and some prawns. I like a few hard-boiled eggs but my better half doesn’t so they stay out – belting in a curry too, a hard boiled egg or two. Don’t knock it til you’ve tried it.

So, while a pan of spuds (enough to make a mash topping for your chosen dish) is boiling away, put the fish into a wide bottomed pan with a bay leaf, half an onion and some peppercorns. Add enough milk to just cover the fish and bring up to not-quite-boiling and simmer very gently for about five minutes – just long enough for you to be able to flake the fish. Take the fish out and strain the milk into the jug as it’s going into the cheese sauce next.

Easy cheese sauce with no measuring or weighing next – I’ve been making this for lasagnes since student days and it’s never failed me yet. It does need a strong cheese like an extra mature Welsh cheddar or add parmesan if you’ve got a milder cheese. If you’re doing it from scratch, it helps to warm about half a pint of milk in the microwave (with a bay leaf in it) before you start.

Using a teaspoon as if it were an ice scream scoop, scrape out a rough ball of butter and pop it into a small pan to melt. Whisking the butter, add a tablespoon of plain flour and whisk together for about a minute over a medium heat. Now add the still warm milk very gradually at first, whisking as you go. About half a pint of milk is about right. Let this come up to boiling while stirring and then turn the heat down. Add the cheese and stir until it melts through and the sauce is smooth and creamy. Add a scrape of nutmeg, black pepper and some chopped parsley – or don’t if you haven’t got them to hand, it’s fine without it. The whole process takes about 10 minutes.

Spuds should be done by now so make up the mash. Flake the fish into the dish with prawns and mix it up without breaking up the fish too much. Pour over the cheese sauce, add eggs or peas if you want to and top with mash. Rough up the top with a fork to get good crispy bits.

Into an oven at about 180 degC for 20-30 minutes until the mash has browned and you’re away. For me, it always needs some good crusty bread on the side

A very good friend of mine also does a mean Jamie Oliver Fantastic Fish Pie recipe which we spent a happy (and quite drunken) few hours making recently on a weekend in West Wales. Worth a look too as it uses a creme fraiche cheese sauce – not sure which book it’s in though, sorry!

This is currently the most visited post on easyteas – if you give it a try, please let me know what you think in the comments. If you’re looking for more quick and easy ideas, you can search recipes or subscribe to updates through the menus on the right. Thanks, Matt.

I’m using cooked leftover chicken for this but lamb and prawns (cooked) both work well too. If you want to use raw meat/prawns, cook them in a separate pan while the sauce is cooking.

First make the spice mix. Either use pre-ground or toast whole seeds and grind yourself. You need a good teaspoon of: cumin, coriander, black pepper, chilli flakes, garum masala, mustard seeds, turmeric and cardamom seeds (the black seeds, taken out of the green husk). Obviously, vary the heat by adding more/less of the chilli to suit you.

Creamed coconut needs to be reconstituted with boiling water. For this, though, use stock instead for better flavour. Make up a pint of stock and stir in chopped up creamed coconut until it’s thick and creamy. Add a squirt of tomato puree – the mix will go an alarming pink colour, but that’s normal.

In a wide frying pan, fry and onion until soft then add garlic and ginger (if you don’t have fresh, use some ground ginger in the spice mix) and fry for another minute or so. Now add the spice mix and give it another minute. Your whole house should now smell fantastic.

Pour in the coconut stock and give it a good stir to mix with the spices. The turmeric will bring the colour back to normal. Add the cooked meat and simmer for about 20 minutes to reduce and thicken.

Serve with basmati rice and a few home-cooked poppadoms.

Spark up the barbie

Mid September and we’re having our second BBQ of the year. It’s not been a good summer. Quite taken aback when I popped into M&S for some fish to BBQ and the first thing I saw was a rack of advent calendars. Something screwy with that.

You can knock up some pretty impressive stuff for a barbie in about 10 mins and cook it in about the same time – even quicker if you forget the BBQ and do them for a quick indoor tea. I cooked these three yesterday – did the prep then lit the BBQ while the stuff marinated in the fridge. Really easy and very tasty with a simple salad on the side.

Salmon and soy; chicken with lemon and thyme

Salmon steaks with garlic, soy and maple syrup

Got to give credit to Matt, the chef at the Carpenters’ Arms for this idea. He does his steaks in something similar and they’re awesome. Mix a smooshed up glove of garlic with about two table spoons of soy sauce and one of maple syrup (or honey would be good too). Pop the salmon or whatever else you fancy as this goes well with beef and pork chops into the marinade and give it half and hour in the fridge. Then cook on the barbie or if you live in Wales, more likely indoors on the griddle pan.

Chicken with lemon, thyme and sesame seeds

Can’t remember where this came from; been doing it for years with either chicken or prawns.

Cut up some chicken into roughly 1 inch cubes. Mix a splash of olive oil with the juice of half a lemon and a good shake of sesame seeds (or sesame oil if it’s easier to find – you can leave both out and it’s still really tasty). Now add a good shake of dried or fresh thyme. That’s it, pop the chicken in and into the fridge for half an hour tops – much more and the lemon juice starts to make the chicken go a bit mushy. Skewer onto kebabs and BBQ. I’ve also done this and fried the chicken cubes or prawns to go onto a big salad or used the marinade on whole chicken breasts and roasted them.

Very beefy burgers

Once you make your own, there’s no going back. Proper meaty deliciousness and a piece of cake to make.

Take lamb or beef mince and pop in into a bowl with a shake of salt and pepper and a few teaspoons of ground cumin and coriander if you have them. Mint and rosemary are good alternatives for lamb. If not, a good grinding of black pepper. If you like onions in your burger, chop some finely and fry them. Let them cool before adding them to the meat or you’ll burn your hands. Because the next thing you do is get your hands in and mix everything together well. Form the mix into a ball then divide into two. Divide each half into two again and shape up the four balls into patties. If you barbie them, rub a little oil into the outsides of them to stop them sticking. They work just as well griddled, grilled or on the George Formby grill. The simpler, the better.

Garlic BBQ bread

I said three recipes but I couldn’t resist this too. They’re just too good not to. Cut some nice bread into thick slices – ciabatta or something tidy like that – cut a clove of garlic in half and rub the cut side over the bread. Pour olive oil on both sides and rub that in too then toast on the BBQ or griddle. Watch them like a hawk though. One second they’re raw, the next they’re burnt. Bloody lovely though.