#comfort

Recipes

• dessert

  Apple Crumble

  Bramleys tossed with a little cornflour so the juices thicken instead of flooding, under a lumpy oat topping that is never pressed down.

  Time

  1h 15m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Easy

• soup

  Borscht

  Grated beetroot sweated with the aromatics, cabbage in late, and vinegar at the very end to hold the colour.

  Time

  1h 15m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Moderate

• dessert

  Bread and Butter Pudding

  Day-old bread buttered, layered with tea-soaked sultanas and left to drink a vanilla custard for half an hour before it goes in the water bath.

  Time

  1h 45m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Easy

• side

  Cauliflower Cheese

  The florets boiled briefly and drained hard, under a mustard-sharp sauce built on a properly cooked roux.

  Time

  55m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Moderate

• soup

  Chicken Noodle Soup

  Poach the chicken to make the stock, then use both. Noodles cooked apart so day two is still soup.

  Time

  1h 50m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Easy

• breakfast

  Congee

  One cup of rice, twelve of stock, and an hour of low heat until the grains dissolve. The toppings are the meal; the base is a canvas.

  Time

  1h 25m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• soup

  French Onion Soup

  Ninety minutes of onions and about six of everything else. There is no shortcut and the shortcut versions taste like it.

  Time

  2h 10m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Moderate

• side

  Gratin Dauphinois

  Thin potato slices simmered in cream before they go anywhere near the oven. No cheese, no stock, nothing to hide behind.

  Time

  1h 50m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Moderate

• indian

  Khichdi

  Rice and moong dal cooked together to a soft, savoury porridge. The dish people make when they are ill, and eat when they are not.

  Time

  45m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• indian

  Kadhi Pakora

  A yoghurt and gram flour sauce simmered for an hour, with onion fritters dropped in at the end. The flour is what stops the yoghurt splitting.

  Time

  1h 35m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Moderate

• pasta

  Lasagne

  Two sauces, assembled in thin layers and rested before cutting. The béchamel is what stops it collapsing on the plate.

  Time

  1h 55m

  Serves

  8

  Effort

  Involved

• soup

  Leek and Potato Soup

  Leeks sweated under a lid until they give up their sugar, then potato and stock. Three ingredients, no browning anywhere.

  Time

  50m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• pasta

  Baked Macaroni Cheese

  A béchamel base, cheese off the heat, and pasta pulled early because it keeps cooking in the oven.

  Time

  55m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Easy

• indian

  Malai Kofta

  Paneer and potato dumplings in a smooth cashew gravy. Bind them properly and fry them hot, or they disintegrate in the oil.

  Time

  1h 40m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Involved

• soup

  Minestrone

  A soffritto, whatever vegetables you have, and a parmesan rind in the pot. The pasta is cooked separately for a reason.

  Time

  1h 10m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Easy

• weeknight

  Mushroom Stroganoff

  Mushrooms browned hard in two batches, not steamed in one crowded pan. The soured cream goes in off the heat.

  Time

  40m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• indian

  Paneer Butter Masala

  A smooth cashew and tomato gravy, strained for silkiness. Sweet, mild and finished with crushed fenugreek leaves.

  Time

  1h

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Moderate

• indian

  Pav Bhaji

  Vegetables cooked to collapse, mashed on the griddle with butter and spice, and served with soft rolls fried in the same pan.

  Time

  1h 5m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• side

  Soft Polenta

  Coarse polenta, forty-five minutes at a bare blip, and butter and cheese beaten in at the very end. Instant is a different food.

  Time

  1h

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Easy

• braise

  Pot Roast

  One large piece of beef, a covered pot and four hours. Vegetables added late so they are not baby food by the end.

  Time

  4h 45m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Easy

• indian

  Rajma

  Kidney beans in a thick onion and tomato gravy. Cook the masala until the oil separates, then let the beans thicken it themselves.

  Time

  9h 30m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• dessert

  Rice Pudding

  Two hours at 140°C in a shallow dish, which is what builds the brown skin and gives the grains time to collapse into the milk.

  Time

  2h 30m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Easy