Easy Entertaining Lorraine's Fast, Fresh and Easy Food

I'm Lorraine Pascale, and this is all about fast, fresh and easy food.

Delicious meals don't have to take a long time to make

and, for me, cooking from fresh ingredients is the way to go.

Great food can be fast and delicious

with these effortless recipes and a few simple shortcuts.

Follow my tips

and hopefully you'll never want to reach for a ready made meal again!

Making quick, tasty food

for everyday meals and last-minute entertaining,

it can all be so easy.

When the family or mates come round for a special meal,

I just want food that's quick, tasty

and with minimal time in the kitchen.

So here's some recipe ideas for making entertainment easy.

I'll show you a really fuss free

and impressive meal bursting with fresh flavours,

Tin Foil Thai Trout.

And I knock up one of the simplest breads you can make,

an Australian version of soda bread.

My dad joins me to fire up the barbecue

for some seriously good old-fashioned burgers

and crispy halloumi sticks.

-Cheers!

-Cheers!

I serve up a tangy mango, feta and avocado salad.

And make a show-stopping chocolate, orange and vanilla sponge

that I call Crouching Tiger, Hidden Zebra cake!

I'll also be picking up some top tips from the people serving up

the freshest and fastest food on the streets.

There are plenty of dishes to choose from

and, believe me, they're all really simple to make

and perfect for some last minute easy entertaining.

First, a twist on a party favourite,

a great looking jelly with a kick,

perfect for when your mates are round for a few drinks.

Now, this recipe is super quick, super tasty and super easy.

It starts with boiling water.

I've got 135g of jelly in here.

I just need to add 350ml of boiling water.

I'll just put a plate on top to keep all the heat in.

I've got seven leaves of leaf gelatine in here

and I'm just going to cover those with some cold water

and they'll go nice and soft and that should take about

five or six minutes.

While that's dissolving and that's softening,

I'm going to get on with my lemons.

So, just cut it in half.

I'm going to scoop out the flesh and the juice.

You know, you can freeze this or use it to make lemonade

or something like that.

For this I just need the skin.

So this has dissolved nicely.

And the gelatine has gone lovely and soft.

I'm just going to squeeze it out.

There.

Get rid of that water and then add it to the jelly liquid.

It needs a little bit of stirring in and this is going to give

the limoncello shots a lovely firm set.

OK. Now, limoncello, 200ml of this.

Limoncello is an Italian lemon flavoured liqueur,

so to make this one for the kiddies,

just replace the limoncello with water instead.

I just find the best way to keep these from wobbling around

all over the place is by putting them in a cupcake tray like this.

Now, these go into the freezer for 15 minutes to set.

Look at those. Awesome!

So, I'm just going to cut these in half.

These are just brilliant when you've got friends around

or family, really quick and easy to do.

Beautiful.

I've done some little ones with limes here

and I've just used strawberry jelly with some passion fruit seeds

and they look like little watermelon slices. Brilliant.

Nothing quite beats that satisfied feeling you get

when mates tuck in happily to something you've made yourself,

especially if it's been easy to do!

And it doesn't get much simpler than this delicious Aussie Damper Bread.

So, this next recipe is called Damper Bread.

It's an Australian bread, apparently from the outback.

What they do is, they bung all the ingredients together,

shape it into a ball and then cook it in a campfire, in the cinders,

and I thought, what can I add to it to give it a little twist?

And I had this huge amount of rosemary on my balcony

and I thought, I'm going to add that to it and add olives also.

And it starts with 450g of self-raising flour.

To the flour, add half a teaspoon of salt

and a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.

Then my rosemary.

I'm going to take about three of these branches

and then just finely chop them.

Once you realise how simple this bread is to make

you can just add whatever you want to it.

I've measured out 225ml of warm water.

Make a hole in the middle and pour in the water

and just stir it all together.

This bread literally takes minutes. Minutes to make.

It starts to come together in a nice big ball,

and then just sort of squish it together.

You don't have to wait for hours for it to rise and all that,

which is nice sometimes,

but sometimes you just want a bread in a hurry.

Just a gentle bringing it all together, really,

it's not kneading.

Then shape it into a kind of flat patty.

Now grab about 75g of olives.

So, we just really roughly chop those.

Drain them as well. You don't want them to be too wet.

Then they go into the centre and just kind of squish them down.

Then just fold the edges.

The olives will be flying around all over the shop,

but just keep going and prod them back in if they escape.

It just doesn't have to be perfect, this bread, that's the beauty of it.

Be as rough as you like with it.

Then you've got a little ball here.

Then the last thing, just before it goes in the oven,

you push it down, down again

and then two more so it looks like a clock face.

And then that really is it.

It goes into the oven at 200 degrees for about half an hour.

For me, it's just the simplicity of this bread that makes it so special.

You take a few store cupboard ingredients

and in under a hour, you've got this incredible bread.

Mmm. Really good.

If the sun ever stays out long enough,

I love eating outside.

One of my favourite guilty pleasures

is a delicious meaty burger with all the trimmings.

You just can't beat it.

I've got a great recipe for a delicious home-cooked burger.

Perfect for outside on a summer evening.

Making it is easy, but as we all know,

cooking outside can be a little bit hit and miss with the old weather.

To be honest, I'm not really very good at barbecues,

-so I've brought in my dad.

-Well, I'll do my best.

So, Dad, today I know all of the things that you love,

so I want to make big American burgers with rocket,

red onion, cheese.

I'm going to get you started on the potato wedges.

Uh-huh. How do you want me to do that?

Just kind of cut them in half that way

and then cut each half into four or five pieces.

-Right.

-Then just chuck them in there.

-Right.

-How do you make your burgers?

-I usually buy them.

OK, well, I'm making them today. I've got 500g of beef mince

and 50g of natural breadcrumbs.

Add a big squirt of ketchup.

Very useful ingredient.

Mustard, Worcestershire sauce,

half a bunch of spring onions.

Some fresh thyme, and one clove of chopped garlic.

The potato wedges get garlic as well.

Just crush them and then just put them in whole.

You use salt, I'll use pepper and then we'll swap.

-Swapsies.

-Yep.

Lastly add one egg to the mince mix.

That just binds it all together.

So you really have to smoosh it together to get it in.

OK, so that's the mix.

-Could you roll those into four burger balls for me?

-OK, yes.

While Dad shapes the burgers,

I'll make the halloumi sticks.

Halloumi is a firm, slightly springy white Mediterranean cheese,

and it's absolutely delicious grilled.

So I'll pop those in there like that.

Just cover them all over with the flour.

Flipping heck, that was quick!

THEY LAUGH I'm a fast lad!

I nominate Dad to get the barbecue going. He's a real barbecue master

and has given me some fantastic tips.

Always start the barbecue early,

it takes a good 45 minutes to get the coals ready for cooking.

Get the meat out of the fridge early.

It means it will cook much more evenly if it's at room temperature

before you put it on the heat.

The grill will be hottest in the middle,

so once you've got that lovely colour on the meat,

just slide the food to the side to cook through.

It's great to mix things up and throw on some veg sometimes.

Chargrilled peppers and sweetcorn both taste amazing.

To go with my old-fashioned burgers,

I'm knocking up a quick and simple harissa hummus.

It starts with a can of chickpeas.

100g of creme fraiche.

So, harissa is this really spicy, tomatoey, garlicky paste.

About four tablespoons, probably most of the pot, to be honest.

Then just a little bit of extra virgin olive oil.

And then garlic.

And then blitz.

And that's my harissa hummus, ready to go.

Now, the weather's looking a little bit iffy,

but Dad and I are not going to quit now.

Right, let's get these flattened, shall we?

-Yes. Just squidge them down.

-Yes.

Pop the burgers onto a hot barbecue.

They'll take around five to eight minutes each side to cook.

-The other one down there.

-Thank you.

-That's right, yes.

'The halloumi sticks will only take minutes to grill...'

Wah!

'..till they're nice and golden brown.'

-Are you going to have a little taste?

-Yes.

Mmm, yes, that's nice.

Burgers, right, OK.

I think they're probably done, yes. Yes, yes, yes.

OK. I'll put these on here for a minute.

-Right, do you want to sample your own burger?

-Yes, OK.

-Yeah!

I'm just going to use my fingers, I hope you don't mind.

-A bit of cheese, a bit of rocket. Excuse me.

-Oh, yes, I love rocket.

Ketchup. and I've got the wedges here too.

Wow, that's a burger and a half, isn't it?

-Cheers!

-Cheers!

Burgers are a scrummy thing indeed,

and I've got plenty more easy, simple ideas

for entertaining still to come.

For instance, this really simple

fresh mango, feta and avocado salad can be made in minutes.

First, prep your ingredients.

Gently wash the pea shoots

and place a generous handful in a serving bowl.

I like to use pre-cut mango cubes,

and then cut them up a little bit more,

much quicker than tackling a whole mango.

Prepare the avocado

and sprinkle onto the pea shoots along with the mango.

Then slice the radishes as finely as you can.

Sprinkle them over the salad.

Crumble over some feta cheese.

Add a good drizzle of olive oil.

Squeeze over the juice of half a lime.

And finish with a sprig of basil.

Ready in super quick time.

Fast, fresh, easy and absolutely perfect for last minute visitors.

Great things are happening at the moment with outdoor dining.

Britain's having a street food revolution.

I just love eating outside when the weather is finally good.

And at the moment, I'm in Whitecross Market.

I'm going to find out more about the great food on offer

from chefs Claude and Jan.

Do you see that green bus with the Union Jack in the window?

That is where I'm headed.

-Hi.

-How are you doing?

-Good. I'm Lorraine.

-Yes, nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

-Would you like to come inside?

-I'd like to come inside.

-What have we got today, then?

-I'll run you through it.

We've got some beautiful Cornish fish just in today.

All caught yesterday.

We've got mackerel, so we're going to make a mackerel burger

with some lovely British chorizo from Yorkshire.

Sounds good to me, let's go.

'What's brilliant about these guys

'is that you can get chef-cooked food,

'fast, fresh and easy on the street.'

-We get all our fish from Cornwall.

-Right.

There's a dealer and he uses predominantly small boat fishermen

and if not, everything is ethically sourced,

so we aim to get it in one day from water to mouth.

-One day.

-Well, we try. It's probably one and a half.

It's pretty much the freshest fish in London, I reckon.

Absolutely beautiful.

Now, because they only use sustainable fish,

their menu changes, depending on the catch of the day.

So we phone this morning, we order for tomorrow.

That way, that's the most sustainable way of shopping for fish.

'This standard would keep anyone on their toes,

'but these boys have a background

'working in top Michelin-starred restaurants.'

What made you want to start this?

I think both of us felt that we wanted to get cracking

on something that we could do that we could put our own influences,

our own menus, and it was important for us to get sustainability going.

So many people just order in the cheapest product.

And I just love the fact that you love massive flavours.

You've got to be quite bold.

Street food's all about all delicious, no pretentious.

For a fiver, you have got to get something that goes, "Uh!"

With street food, you really want it filling your mouth

with a banging flavour, really.

Every mouthful has got to count. So we try to get bold stuff there.

To put mackerel with chorizo, I think is really bold and brilliant.

So I do have a chorizo habit. I love this stuff.

It is in many of my recipes.

-Gorgeous.

-How are you getting on?

-You are falling behind a bit here.

-Me?

I'm falling behind, apparently.

Just the pressure.

I used to sell my cakes on markets down in Battersea, so I can relate.

-Come and get your burger.

-Thanking you.

Enjoy!

Look at that. That is what you call food.

-Fresh...fast...

-And delicious!

-..and easy.

It's wonderful to see how the public are appreciating

just how great good street food can be.

-That will be ready.

-Ready to go on top.

A little bit there.

That's a banging chorizo and mackerel burger.

That is a banging chorizo and mackerel burger. Here goes.

Mm-mmm!

My God, that is good!

That is seriously, seriously good. Well done, boys.

-Thank you very much. You made it.

-I'm impressed.

That was just such a brilliant experience.

I think the great thing for me is

that you've got these boys who have set up on their own.

They used to work in some amazing Michelin-starred restaurants

and now they are bringing this fabulous food to the street.

Perfect.

The boys' spicy chorizo and fish combo is brilliant,

and perfect for a really simple entertaining dish.

So now I'm off to Brixton market,

in search of another fishy ingredient.

The thing I love about this dish

is that it's ready in under half an hour

and it's great for an everyday dinner, but also beautiful

for entertaining because you serve these wonderful parcels of tinfoil,

open them up to reveal this colourful, vibrant, tasty fish.

But first, there's a little bit of veggy prep.

Chop spring onions.

Slice fresh ginger into strips.

Slice up red chilli.

Cut one celery stick and one carrot into matchsticks.

Throw in a clove of garlic.

Tear up some coriander.

And you're ready to assemble.

Right, I'm going to lay all my squares out together.

Perfect, like that.

I've got my trout here.

It's a really delicious fish, I think it's quite underused.

If you don't want to use trout, you can use salmon or sea bass,

and now just put the veggies on top.

Spring onions for a bit of bite.

Chilli and ginger give it a bit of spice.

And garlic, of course.

Right, now the coriander.

I'm just using the stems here,

and they are a slightly different flavour to the leaves.

Plus a squeeze of lime.

Soy sauce.

And sesame oil.

And this is just such a quick, simple, easy, tasty dish.

Just wrap up the parcels.

Just scrunch it together

so you get this sort of tinfoil Cornish pasty.

And that's it! Ready for the oven.

The trout goes into the oven for 12 minutes at 200 degrees.

I'm serving this with some tasty noodles.

So in goes some sesame oil.

One sliced red pepper and stir fry for one minute.

Then add 300g of medium egg noodles.

Stir fry until piping hot.

Add a little bit of soy sauce to taste.

Right, these are ready now and they smell incredible.

Take them out.

OK.

So, I like to serve these really simply.

I've got my plate here,

just a nice piece of slate.

Noodles and then you just serve them so that guests

can just open them up at the table themselves.

And just reveal those wonderful colours, look at that!

And finish off with the coriander,

sprinkle on the leaves

and serve like that.

And I'm going to dig in.

Mmm!

Good.

For me, easy entertaining is all about keeping things simple.

I like to use big, bold flavours for maximum impact

and minimum effort. And if you can,

rope a few of the guests in to help with the food prep as well.

Whenever my mates come round to see me, they always expect a cake.

Here's a recipe that takes a little time to prep,

but it's well worth the effort.

So this is my Crouching Tiger, Hidden Zebra Cake.

I got the idea late one night in the kitchen

when I was making a cake.

It's a really simple way of making cake look incredible.

When my friends first saw this cake

they thought, "How did you make that?"

And when I showed them they couldn't believe how easy and simple it was.

For this cake, I start with one mixture which I split into two.

First, there's 250ml of vegetable oil or sunflower oil,

followed by 250g of caster sugar.

100ml of semi-skimmed milk.

A couple of drops of vanilla extract.

Four medium-sized eggs.

And then just beat it all together.

The beauty of this cake is that

you don't have to cream together butter and sugar and all of that.

It's a liquid cake mix, so you just put everything in the bowl

and the next stage is to split it into two.

OK, so I'm going to pour half of this mix into another bowl.

You'll see a method to my madness very shortly.

Right, so this cake has two parts, a vanilla part and a chocolate part.

So, for the vanilla bit, it's 175g of self-raising flour.

And a little bit of baking powder.

About half a teaspoon. Then just mix it all together.

Just make sure you get rid of all the lumps and bumps.

There you go. It's so easy.

That's the vanilla mix done.

And for the chocolate mix, I've got 25g of cocoa powder.

And 125g of self-raising flour,

and of course a bit of baking powder.

Then that gets mixed together.

Now, I wanted to make it a little bit zingy as well,

so to the chocolate mix goes in the zest of half an orange.

Then mix it together.

Make sure you get all the flour from underneath.

And now to put the cake together.

So I've put the cake mix in piping bags.

I find it easiest to do this in piping bags,

but you can put the mix in jugs as well.

So just snip off the very end of the piping bag.

And then...

I'm just going to put a dollop in the centre of the cake tin,

like that.

Then inside the vanilla dollop, you put a chocolate dollop.

Just squeeze it, like that.

And you keep on doing that,

alternating between cake mixes to give you this

wonderful target.

It takes a few minutes, but it's really simple.

It doesn't matter if the cake mix splodges here, there and everywhere

or if the circle's not right in the middle,

because the magic comes when the cake is baked

and you cut in and see these incredible vertical layers.

As I continue to pipe the two different fillings

into the centre of the cake tin,

the mixture gets pushed out to the edges,

forming the stripy pattern that makes this cake so distinctive.

And then this little beauty goes into the oven

for about 35 minutes at 180 degrees.

And that is my Crouching Tiger, Hidden Zebra Cake.

Mmmm.

I created all these recipes to make cooking simple

so I could spend a little time in the kitchen,

and more time with my family and friends.

So, I hope with these recipes entertaining will be

a lot less faff and a lot more fun.

-Right, who wants a slice?

-Oh, yes!

A cup of tea... A nice hot cup of tea and a sit down.

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