• Leo on August 26, 2020

  I am cooking from this book for a whole fortnight. A couple of us are trying to eat more healthily but we also need to feed bigger groups over the English Bank Holidays. What I am finding is that there are a few cheffy touches which can be ignored but otherwise the recipes are tasty and reliable also easy to shop for and cook. This book is definitely worth a look.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Homemade granola

  • MichelleWoods on September 27, 2019

    I made this without the dried fruit to reduce the sugar a bit. It smelt amazing while it was cooking and crisped up beautifully after cooling. Will definitely make again.

• Asian-style glazed chicken thighs

  • etcjm on April 05, 2020

    Slightly adapted. Marinated for a few hours with skin on. Cooked in a tin on the BBQ until nearly done then finished off on the grill. Served with egg fried rice. Really very good indeed and very easy with store cupboard ingredients.

  • Beth891 on November 27, 2024

    I just made the chicken (without the chilli and 3tbsp of the soy, honey and black rice vinegar) but it was delicious and definitely one I'd make again. My chicken was skin on so I scored it - started at 190fan for 25 mins then 200fan for 10 baste, then another 10. Crispy skin and juicy chicken with lots of flavour!

• Rib-eye with broccoli and salsa verde

  • Leo on August 26, 2020

    Barely a recipe but a lovely meal. We enjoyed the salsa verde as a change and the broccoli cooked in the steak juices was really good.

• Pork chops with peperonata

  • Leo on August 16, 2020

    Extremely tasty with beautiful local pork chops. If I make this again I will make sure that the peppers are cooked until very soft.

• Gremolata fish with posh tartare sauce

  • Leo on August 26, 2020

    Brilliant recipe. We did this with halibut as the storms meant no plaice to be had. I guess the recipe would work with any flat fish. A lovely way of feeding the family a bit more healthily.

• Chicken and coleslaw tray bake

  • Leo on August 26, 2020

    Why has nobody cooked this? We pan fried the chicken briefly before grilling and rather than chicken skin we added some toasted pumpkin seeds for crunch. With some bread for the men this was an extremely tasty, easy and satisfying dinner. Thanks Tom!!

• Beef biriyani

  • Sue21 on March 09, 2019

    I wasn’t keen on the texture of the oven-cooked mince - I would fry it in the usual way in future.

• Greek-style roast lamb and potatoes

  • joanne761994 on February 16, 2026

    Excellent salad. The potatoes were a very nice- I was surprised at how well they turned out. The lamb was good but nothing amazing. I'd pick other roast lamb dishes over this one but it's still pretty good.

• Italian slow-cooked lamb ragu

  • joanne761994 on March 13, 2026

    I've made this so many times- absolute legend of a dish. It's a huge favourite in our house and when we cook for others. Freezes well too!

• Spanish hake bake

  • Leo on September 03, 2020

    Delicious one pot dish. However for next time I may try a firmer potato. We used Maris Piper which does tend to break up. The other point to note is that the flavours are so delicate that my standard marigold veg stock was too strong and made it slightly unbalanced. Will try a weaker stock next time. A really straight forward dish, appetising to look at but just needs a bit of tweaking to make it perfect.

• Chocolate beetroot cake

  • peterward on November 18, 2020

    Deliciously moist chocolate cake... already a firm family favourite, with a request for it to be our daughters 4th birthday cake. We leave out the cardamom and it is not detrimental to the overall flavour.