Favourites Home Cooking Made Easy

I'm Lorraine Pascale and this is all about home cooking.

Comfort recipes that you can cook on crisp autumn days

and chilly winter evenings when you just crave food that nurtures.

I have loads of ideas - when you have time and when you haven't.

New twists on favourites, cosy classics and fresh ideas.

And inspiration from all over the globe brought right back home.

And of course I'll be showing you my know-how tricks and cheats.

This is relaxed and easy autumn home cooking.

One of life's great pleasures and it feels good.

If someone were to say to me,

"Lorraine, what are your favourite recipes,"

the list would be endless and changing all the time.

If I had to pick right now, then these would be right up there.

First, a home cooking classic.

A cheese and ham toastie goes upmarket with prosciutto and brie.

And, being a bit of a self-confessed chocolate lover,

this will come as no surprise.

No-cook chocolate digestive cheesecake with white icing.

And people go mad for it.

OK, salad.

I'm dishing up a hearty autumnal take with pan-fried pears,

pancetta and gorgonzola with a warm honey dressing.

For me, a salad is not just for summer.

And then, an apple, blackberry and cinnamon chutney,

one of my basic recipes with good reason

and something that's perfect to make when the nights are drawing in.

And finally, we have to talk Sunday lunch.

Quite possibly my favourite meal of the week.

Especially when its slow roast pork shoulder with crispy crackling,

garlic roast vegetables, gravy and serious benefits - the leftovers.

So we'd better get on with it before I change my mind again.

One of my all-time favourite snacks is a cheese and ham toastie.

Not a normal cheese and ham toastie, mine are a little bit different.

I like to cook them with prosciutto and brie.

So I'm just lying down in this hot oil three slices of prosciutto

and they're always quite fiddly to get out of the packet.

I'm going to lie them quite flat so they cook quickly.

Then, next to the prosciutto, a slice of white bread, well buttered.

Pop it down buttered side in...

..and then brie.

Squidge off some brie.

Just squash it down there to cover the bread.

You want to get as much brie on as possible

so it just oozes out of the side.

There.

Little bit more in the corner.

That prosciutto is exactly where I want it, just beginning to crisp up.

I'll just place that on top of the cheese.

See, the cheese is just beginning to melt.

It's going to be so, so good.

And then another slice of bread, well buttered.

And pepper.

This prosciutto really is quite salty

so I'm not going to add any more salt, just pepper.

Pop that on top of the cheese and prosciutto.

Squish it down with a fish slice so it all melts together.

And then scoop it up, flip it over -

look at that, golden brown.

Lovely and crispy.

Another squish and that is ready to go.

I have to eat this right now.

It's so simple and so delicious.

Finishing touch - a bit of brown sauce.

Delish.

I just love the prosciutto in my toasties.

It's one of my all-time favourite ingredients

and what I consider to be a favourite ingredient

is one that cranks up the flavour and transforms your dish into something

a little more special, or it could be a short cut.

I do love a short cut sometimes.

Now, my favourites change, but right now,

these are some of my favourite home cooking ingredients.

First, dried morels.

These are wild mushrooms and you need to rehydrate them in water.

They have a wonderful nutty, earthy flavour.

Then, talking about earthy, there's truffle oil.

It's olive oil infused with truffles and it smells and tastes incredible.

It's so great drizzled on things like pasta and risotto.

Up next is parmesan cheese.

I always have a block of it in my fridge. I just love its sharpness.

I use it on loads of things.

Grated over pasta, in soups, in sauces.

Then balsamic vinegar.

It gives a wonderful depth of flavour to cooked dishes and salads.

My rule of thumb is not to go crazy on price,

but I always look for aged balsamic and try and avoid the cheap stuff.

Another favourite is ready-made filo pastry.

Great for making almost instant sweet filo chips.

A quick crunchy treat.

You just lay out a sheet of filo, brush it with some melted butter,

lay another sheet on top

and brush it with a little more melted butter

and then sprinkle over about ten grams of caster sugar

if you're making sweet crisps,

or parmesan for savoury ones.

Then cut them into shapes - squares, triangles, whatever you like.

They get cooked on a lined baking sheet in a 180C oven

for six minutes until they're golden brown. That's it.

Then chorizo, that fabulous Spanish sausage.

Now, to be honest, I use it in as many dishes as I possibly can.

You can buy long thin ones, chunky little ones, mild or spicy.

They're all made with pork and flavoured with smoked paprika.

I love its meaty smokiness in Spanish dishes like paella

and I add it to salads, pastas, stews,

with fish or just sliced, sauteed and served as a tapas.

There are so many great dishes that you cook every day,

but sometimes you just want to push the boat out.

I've got something delicious up my sleeve.

When I was at primary school, I absolutely loved the puddings.

We had things like spotted dick, jam roly-poly and treacle tart.

One day, I went to my friend's house for tea.

When we walked in, her mum said we were going to have cheesecake

and I thought, cheesecake?

What, a bit of cheddar on sponge?

But when she gave it to us

I realised it wasn't a bit of cheddar on sponge

and I absolutely loved it.

I love a good chocolate cheesecake and when I say chocolate,

I mean triple chocolate.

Chocolate biscuit base, chocolate filling and then chocolate on top.

The good thing is I've got one waiting for me

in the fridge at home right now.

The base is made from a 400g pack of chocolate digestive biscuits,

ground really fine.

And 75g of melted butter that's cooled slightly.

The mixture then gets squeezed together

with the back of a wooden spoon until everything's incorporated.

Then it's tipped into a 21cm springform tin

and pressed down to make a nice flat even base.

I like a really thick base, but if you like a thinner one,

just use less biscuit and less butter.

Right, now the filling.

This is 800g of cream cheese

with four heaped tablespoons of icing sugar.

They get mixed together gently.

This will only take a few turns of the spoon.

Now the chocolate. It's 100g of dark chocolate

and 300g of milk chocolate

melted together and left to cool a little.

Pour off a quarter and set aside for later.

Start adding the sweet cream cheese to the chocolate dollop by dollop.

Keep adding dollops and mixing it in because I find that

if you add it all at once, the chocolate can go grainy.

Tip the rest of the cream cheese in and mix it

until it's completely uniform in colour.

The chocolatey mixture just gets poured all over the base

and pressed down to flatten it and to make sure there are no gaps.

And this needs to chill for a couple of hours.

So now the topping.

Chocolate, of course.

Just melt the chocolate mixture you kept back earlier

and pour it over the cream cheese layer.

Move the tin around so the chocolate spreads smoothly.

OK, the next task is to make a small paper piping cone.

You just get a triangle of paper and then shape it into a cone

and fold over the top to keep it together.

Fill the cone with 100g of melted white chocolate.

Fold over the top and snip a little bit off the bottom.

Then, pipe lines about 2cm apart

and you could use a regular piping bag or just drizzle on the lines.

Take a toothpick and drag it back and forth

across the lines you've already made,

again, about two centimetres apart.

And you get a type of grid pattern.

You want the chocolate to be runny, so this has to happen quite quickly.

OK, that's it.

Now, all I have to do is turn it out and eat it.

Well, someone's got to do it.

The trick is trying to get this off

and keeping the cheesecake whole.

If I give it a little wiggle...

And if it still won't come off,

I use a palette knife dipped in hot water.

And then down the side of the cheesecake,

just easing it all the way round.

I can feel it releasing.

Perfect.

I normally serve the cheesecake still on the base

because getting it off the base is really difficult.

Beautiful.

So, favourite home-cooked recipes.

They can be fast and easy, classic with a twist, like my cheesecake,

or I'm happy to make long, slow recipes, too.

What they all have in common is that they're tasty,

easy on the eye and simple to make.

So when the nights are getting colder, I make my food to suit.

And right now I'm craving comfort food with big, hearty flavours.

And there's even a warm cider on the menu.

There's this really great thing happening in cities at the moment.

People are growing fruit and veg wherever they can,

even on the rooftop of a supermarket, like this one.

How cool is that?

The locals grow the produce up here

and then sell it in the supermarket downstairs.

Right, I'm after some salad leaves.

When the weather gets colder,

of course I love making stews and soups and roasts.

But there's always room for a salad.

There are so many reasons why I love this salad, but the best one

is that I use my favourite autumn fruit in it - pears.

And there's pancetta involved, too.

I love pancetta.

I fry the pancetta for about two to three minutes

so it's nice and crisp.

And then just pour off this old pancetta oil.

Tip that away there.

And then into the pan,

a little bit more of new oil.

Then just a small knob of butter

and a couple of squidges of honey.

OK, sizzling away.

And the pears.

I just place those in there.

And I just want these to cook for about five minutes

and the honey will caramelise over the pears.

Smells really good.

Then a little bit of seasoning.

Then I'll leave those to cook away

whilst I get my leaves.

I love to serve the salad

on a big plate at the centre of the table.

I like to use mixed leaves.

Put some rocket or just spinach will work really well, too.

Pile it up high.

That should do it.

Save that for tomorrow.

Wow, these pears are looking amazing.

OK, these have been cooking for five minutes and they're lovely and soft.

So it just needs a splash of balsamic.

Just heat that through for a few seconds.

Just adds a little bit more flavour.

After a minute, most of the balsamic would've bubbled away.

And then they're ready.

I'm just going to place them on the salad.

Look at that wonderful, golden brown colour of the pears.

Tuck them underneath as well.

And I've used pears here, but you can use quince.

Quince is a brilliant fruit to use as well. Or apples.

OK.

The last pear on there.

Right,

now, that's beginning to look gorgeous.

And now,

I'm going to get on with my warm honey dressing.

OK, so I'm throwing a knob of butter into the pan

I cooked the pears in with the cooking juices,

with a few squidges of honey,

two tablespoons of balsamic vinegar,

a blob of Dijon mustard,

some salt,

black pepper

and a handful of toasted pine nuts.

Then, everything gets mixed together,

and when it's heated through, it's done.

OK, now I'm going to put the Gorgonzola on.

Just rip it up.

And these flavours, I just find, are beautiful.

You've got the saltiness of the pancetta,

and then the sweetness from the pears,

slightly bitterness of the leaves.

It's just one of my favourite combinations.

Any blue cheese works well with this. Roquefort, Stilton.

There you go.

And the pancetta...

Just sprinkle that over the top.

Just adds wonderful crunch.

All those flavours are just intense.

And finally, the dressing.

This warm dressing with its big flavours

makes the salad just the thing for autumn.

Just drizzle all over the top.

You've got those lovely toasted pine nuts.

Can't wait to get stuck into this.

And that is ready.

There you are.

My perfect autumn salad.

I never really considered myself a jam and chutney-making person,

but I started to make it recently and actually really enjoyed it.

This is one of my favourites.

Apple, blackberry and spicy cinnamon,

and it's so simple to make.

This is all you do.

Put a kilo of peeled, cored and cubed Bramley cooking apples

in a large pan with 300 grams of finely sliced onions,

275 grams of granulated sugar

and 150 ml of balsamic vinegar. I love this stuff.

Then spices.

Two teaspoons of ground cinnamon and two twists of black pepper.

Then get the heat on medium and stir everything together gently.

And slowly bring the mixture to the boil.

Then turn down the heat and leave the chutney to simmer,

stirring it occasionally.

After 35 minutes, throw in 300 grams of blackberries.

They don't need long to cook,

so give the chutney a further 10 to 15 minutes.

When the apple and onion are lovely and soft,

and the liquid thick and syrupy, it's done.

When the chutney is still warm,

fill up sterilised jars using a sterilised jug.

This is really important

as the chutney will keep for two to three months

and you don't want any bacteria getting in.

Some people boil their jars and equipment,

but the easiest way

is to put them in a dishwasher on the hottest cycle.

Only take them out when you're ready to use them

and don't touch the inside of the jars with your bare hands.

It's a perfect way of using up fruit that is almost out of season,

so this is a great time of year to make it.

Mmm.

This looks delicious.

This chutney goes with so many different things

but I just like it with a bit of cheese.

Mmm.

I'm a great fan of Sunday roast and I make one pretty much every week.

Beef, chicken, with veggies and gravy.

But I suppose if I had to pick out my favourite,

it would be slow-roast pork shoulder with crackling.

It takes six hours to cook but for most of that time

it's getting lovely and succulent in the oven, and it's so simple.

So, I start off with a rub.

So, about a handful of fennel seeds.

And then, sort of, half a handful of peppercorns.

Put those in there.

Good pinch of salt.

Sea salt, if possible.

And then just grind it up.

I've got this small pestle and mortar here

but you can use a mug and the end of a rolling pin,

works really well, too.

Just breaking up the seeds to release those aromas.

I got this pork from the supermarket

and they've slashed the rind here,

and that helps give it a wonderful crispy crackling.

Now, I'll just take this rub

and then just put it all over the meat, especially the rind.

Get it right into the slashes,

push it down...

And this is going to give it loads of flavour.

This is one of my favourite roasts.

Push it all the way in

And then any leftover,

literally just smush it all around the sides as well.

There, then onto a baking tray.

There you are.

Now, this goes into the oven at 160 degrees for six hours.

There's absolutely nothing to do for ages,

just relax and kick back or go back to sleep.

Then, with two hours to go, I add the potatoes.

These have been peeled and cut into plum sized chunks.

They go around the pork and under it too.

And that's it for an hour.

OK, so when the meat's looking tender, the potatoes are cooking

and there's one hour to go, it's time for the vegetables to go in.

Whole peeled shallots...

..then three peeled carrots, chopped into big pieces.

And five cloves of garlic, unpeeled.

Then, half an hour later, one more thing to add.

Two peeled and cored pears, cut into quarters.

I really have a big love affair going on with pears.

Now, this recipe is definitely not fast, but it's easy,

and the oven's doing all the work. OK, almost there.

This is ready.

And it smells beautiful.

Look at that crackling. Got to hear that.

Crunchy.

Now, the great thing about cooking the pork this way

is that the meat just flakes away with a fork.

Lovely.

OK, I'm just going to put the veggies around the meat.

And you know, one of the great things about this

is that you cook it all in one pan.

So, there's not much washing up.

OK, almost there.

Now, look at that.

Now, this needs to rest for about 10-15 minutes.

And I like to use baking parchment,

but you can use tinfoil, anything to keep it warm.

And cover it quite loosely...

so that the vegetables don't sweat and become soggy.

Resting meat is great

because it allows the joint to become more juicy

and the temperature evens out throughout the joint as well.

OK, so now I'm going to get on with my gravy.

This is a really classic gravy recipe.

Just a tablespoon of flour

and I'm going to mix it in with the remaining fat, there.

The reason I do it in the corner

is that I just make it into a paste, which stops it from going lumpy.

Just stir it in there.

Get some of the bits in.

Whack on the heat.

Then about a glass full of white wine.

And any wine will do -

if it's good enough to drink, then it's good enough for the gravy.

Just get that boiling

and what I'm looking for, is for the wine to reduce a little bit.

It will intensify the flavour

but it will drive off that strong alcoholic flavour.

OK, now that's nicely reduced and thickened.

So I'm just going to add some chicken stock.

Pour that in there.

It's about 300ml but it doesn't have to be exact.

And then just bubble it away again.

Just keep stirring,

getting all those delicious bits from the bottom of the pan

and then gradually, see, it's getting thicker and thicker.

OK, a little bit of seasoning.

Some salt.

A quick stir.

And that's ready to go.

Now, look at that gravy...

Beautiful.

And, you know, you can sieve this, too, if you want.

But I like to keep all the bits in. Beautiful.

There.

And the pork.

OK, just snip off that string, there.

There's the crackling, now, look at that.

Give it a snap.

Perfect, that's what you want to hear.

Put that down there.

And then, with pork, what I like to do rather than carve it,

with this pork shoulder, just get two forks

and then just flake it away, like that.

That is perfectly cooked for me.

You know, I love pork shoulder like this

and I also love a pulled pork sandwich, delicious.

Now, that looks gorgeous.

I love so many things about this Sunday lunch, the crackling,

garlicky roast vegetables,

the soft juicy meat, how easy it is.

And of course...

leftovers.

Mmm.

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