HOW TO FEED YOUR FAMILY AS A WHOLE

Natasha Corrett’s new cookbook, Family Kitchen, is said to be a great book to hold your hand through everyday family life, from starting your family to growing your brood.

With 100 tried and tested sanity saving recipes to make cooking for the family enjoyable and delicious. All the ingredients in the book are easy to find, the methods are simple with limited ingredients, and the recipes are interchangeable for allergies, preferences and various ages.

We caught up with Natasha recently to find out more and she kindly shared a couple of recipes with us too…


BEETROOT CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES
COOK TIME: 15 MINUTES
MAKES: 10 CUPCAKES

INGREDIENTS:

•​​ 120g butter
•​​ 200g cooked beetroot
•​​ 100g dates
•​​ 4 tbsp honey (or maple syrup for under ones)
•​​ 3 eggs​
•​​ 120g gluten-free self-raising flour (if you want to use self-raising wheat flour, the recipe works the same. Just omit the xanthan gum and use 20g more of the self- raising wheat flour)
•​​ 20g cacao powder
•​​ 1/2 tsp baking powder
•​​ 1/4 tsp salt

•​​ 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
•​​ buttercream icing or whipped cream, for decorating
•​​ blueberries and choc chips, chopped up a bit, for decoration

METHOD:

I originally made these for Rudy at Halloween, but they seem to have come out as a regular bake in our house. They also can be turned into a cake; just add about 10 minutes onto the bake time for a 2Ocm round cake.

1.
Preheat the oven to 18O°C Fan. Melt the butter in a saucepan on a low heat.

2.
Put the beetroot, dates and honey into a food processor and blend until smooth. Add in the butter and blend again.

3.
Add the eggs, flour, cacao powder, baking powder, salt and xanthan gum and blend again until fully combined.

4.
Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the mixture into each of ten cupcake cases so the mixture is just underneath the top of the case.

5.
Bake in the oven for l5 minutes. Take out and cool.

6.
Decorate the cupcakes with some buttercream or whipped cream and sprinkle with the blueberries and chocolate chips.

LENTIL LASAGNE

PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES
COOK TIME: 1 HOUR
SERVES: 2 ADULTS AND 2 KIDS

INGREDIENTS:

•​​ 2 tbsp olive oil
•​​ 2 garlic cloves, diced
•​​ 2 small white onions, diced
•​​ 2 tbsp ground cumin
•​​ 4 medium carrots, diced
•​​ 300g red split lentils
•​​ 2 x 400g tins tomatoes
•​​ 200g mushrooms, diced
•​​ 1 litre (4 cups) boiling water mixed with 1 tbsp vegetable stock powder

•​​ 8–10 lasagne sheets (you can get spelt, which is what I use)
WHITE SAUCE
•​​ 2 heaped tbsp butter or olive oil
•​​ 4 heaped tbsp plain flour (gluten-free, spelt or wheat)
•​​ 500ml (2 cups) milk (if you are using plant milk, use a creamy one like cashew, soya, oat or coconut)
•​​ 100g hard goat’s cheese or Cheddar

METHOD:

I love a good hearty lasagne – it reminds me of home. This is perfect for freezing. You just need to layer it in an ovenproof storage container (you can get Pyrex glass ones or use the foil ones you get from takeaways) and this way you can take it out of the freezer and pop it straight into the oven. If you are freezing it, layer as normal but don’t cook it in the oven – pop straight into the freezer.

1.
To a medium pan, add the olive oil, garlic, onion and cumin and sauté for 2 minutes over a medium heat. Add the carrots and cook for a further 2–3 minutes.

2.
Mix in the lentils, tinned tomatoes and chopped mushrooms and combine over a medium heat. Add half the stock and leave to simmer away for 15–20 minutes, stirring occasionally so the lentils don’t stick to the bottom. Add the remaining stock in intervals as the liquid is absorbed, so the lentils can cook slowly.

3.
While the sauce is cooking, make the white sauce. In a small pan add the butter and melt over a medium heat. Once it starts to bubble (don’t let it burn), add the flour and whisk fast. Once it is a paste, turn the heat down a little and slowly add the milk while whisking continuously so that no lumps appear. Once it’s at a nice, thick sauce stage, add the cheese to melt. Leave a little cheese behind to add to the top of the lasagne.

4.
Preheat the oven to 180°C Fan.

5.
Get a 30cm ovenproof dish and add a layer of lentil sauce to the bottom, then add a thin layer of white sauce followed by a sheet of raw lasagne. Add another layer of lentils, then another thin layer of white sauce. Repeat until you get to the top of the dish, with the last layer being the white sauce over the top of the lasagne sheets. Sprinkle with a little cheese and put into the oven for 30–40 minutes or until the top is golden and bubbling away.

6.
To reheat, put the frozen lasagne into a preheated 180°C Fan oven for 45–55 minutes or until warm and cooked through.


Can you tell us a bit about you and where your love affair with food began?
Most of my family is in the restaurant business on my father's side so I think I was pretty much brought up hanging out in restaurant kitchens as a child so it has always been in my blood. Eating good food and cooking has always been a part of daily life. I never thought I would go into food to be honest. I was obsessed with art and went to art college after school, so I think when I started cooking and seeing how food could be art it became a love affair. I love creating something that transports you to another place and time. Food can be the best memory you can have. People are so passionate about eating and I love that I can be a part of that enjoyment.

What can we expect from your new cookbook, Family Kitchen?
Simplicity! After becoming a mother my cooking changed dramatically. Fuss free, simple and delicious. If you can't cook it without a child hanging off your leg, the dog barking at you and someone screaming at you as their sock is soggy then it won't be in the book! Life is stressful and hard and I wanted to make Family kitchen a simple way of eating and enjoying food with everyone in the family whether it is when you are pregnant or weaning, a fussy toddler, hungry teen or making a feast for the whole family. There are plenty of quick and easy dishes, lots of one tray bakes and meals that you can cook 3 different ways depending on what member of the family wants what, as let's face it not everyone wants the same thing, so it's all about one dish for everyone.

You use Falcon enamelware within Family Kitchen. What’s your favourite product from our ranges and what do you use it for?
I love the Pie dishes and the tumbler glasses. They don't break if a child throws them on the floor and they are hard wearing for the endless dishwasher washes you have to do as a family!

You use our products specifically within the featured chocolate beetroot cupcakes and/or lasagne in the new book. They sound delicious- can you tell us about them?
The beetroot cupcakes were created for my son's halloween party, I like to add in as much veg into everything I make and baking is no different! Adding veggies into cakes and bakes is a great way to sneak in the veggies but also add moisture. The lasagna is one of our favourite dishes in the book it's an absolute fav with everyone I make it for. I often make it for a dinner party and it's nice to put a beautiful dish on the table straight from the oven, that's why I love Falcon dishes.

Is there anyone in the industry (or outside) you'd like to shoutout about in your local area at the moment? Anywhere you source ingredients, any particular restaurants and/or cafes doing interesting things etc?
We live in the cotswolds and since lockdown some of the restaurants have been doing great takeaways and deliveries. Lynwood cafe makes the most incredible sourdough bread (they also have Falcon in their shops!) The Stump does burger nights, rotisserie chicken and pizza nights for takeaway which are awesome. And we have the best pub ever called the Swan at Ascott that has the best food. I missed it so much when they closed!

How have you been keeping during this time? Do you have any tips as we all become accustomed to this 'new normal'?
The one thing that people have been doing during lockdown is cooking which is amazing to see how everyone has embraced it so much but cooking 3 meals a day every day can be exhausting so I would say batch cook and freeze as much as you can - in my book Family Kitchen there is a lot of batch cooking recipes so you can freeze and just defrost when you need a break. It makes life easier!

With each sale of the Family Kitchen 10% of profits will go to Fare Share UK providing four meals for vulnerable families in the UK.

Shop here: AMAZON , WATERSTONES, FOYLES


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