A first look inside
This book helps you make everyday breakfasts, lunches and dinners from familiar ingredients. It contains 24 standalone recipes: choose a dish, read it all the way through and only then get out the ingredients. There is no need to cook everything in order. For a first dinner, one main dish and a simple side are enough. Each recipe states its number of portions. Vegetable and fruit weights, except whole apples for baking, refer to the peeled edible part; grains and pasta are weighed dry, and canned foods are weighed after draining. A teaspoon is 5 ml and a tablespoon is 15 ml; use level spoonfuls of spices. Times are approximate: the size of the pieces, cookware and hob power affect the result. Check the signs of doneness as well. Oven temperatures are given for conventional heat and separately for fan ovens. Wash your hands, vegetables and herbs, and keep raw meat separate from cooked food. Thaw meat and fish in the fridge. Do not taste raw dough or batter. Use pasteurised dairy products and check substitution ingredients if you have an allergy. Measure the centres of meat, fish and egg dishes with a clean food thermometer, following the recipe targets [1]. Divide leftovers into small, shallow containers and refrigerate within 2 hours of cooking, or within an hour in heat above 32 °C. Keep the fridge at 4 °C or below and reheat hot dishes to 74 °C [2]. For this book’s meal planning, use cooked food within 2 days and dishes with raw components within one day [3]. Do not try to make poorly stored food safe by reheating it. The text and translations were prepared with AI assistance and proofread for recipe consistency. These recipes have not been kitchen-tested. References [1]–[3] concern official food safety guidance, rather than the origins of the recipes.
Apple and Cinnamon Porridge
Serves 2 · preparation 5 minutes · total 20 minutes.
Ingredients: rolled oats, not instant, 120 g; milk 400 ml; water 200 ml; apple 180 g; ground cinnamon ½ tsp; a pinch of salt.
1. Wash the apple, remove its core and cut the flesh into roughly 1 cm cubes. Leave the skin on if you like: it helps the pieces keep their shape.
2. Bring the milk and water to a gentle simmer in a small saucepan. Add the oats, apple and salt, then lower the heat. Cook for 7–10 minutes, stirring frequently, or follow the cooking time on the oat packet.
3. When the oats are soft, take the pan off the heat. Stir in the cinnamon, cover and leave for 2 minutes; the porridge will thicken a little more.
4. Divide between bowls. For a looser consistency, add 30–50 ml hot water. Allow the porridge to cool to a comfortable eating temperature.
Substitution: use 180 g ripe pear instead of apple. Replace the milk with the same volume of an unsweetened plant drink; check its ingredients if you have an allergy.
This is a free excerpt. The complete PDF includes all the sections listed above.