Planning Ahead Nigel Slater's Simple Suppers

I'm Nigel Slater.

For me, life is all about keeping things simple.

In the garden, in the home, and especially in the kitchen.

When I look at my diary, I know some days of the week

are going to be hectic and I won't have the time or the energy

to cook a different meal every night.

As much as I love cooking, it's also great to come home

to find something ready-made,

and very often, that's something in the fridge from yesterday.

With a bit of forward planning, and by making that little bit extra,

I can create meals that spread across the week.

It means I don't have to start from scratch

and I can have something delicious very quickly.

I'm going to show you five delicious recipes

that are so versatile, they can be adapted throughout the week.

It's the same dish, but it's a completely different dish.

It's delicious.

One of the dishes that I tend to cook...

when I want to make something last several days

is a big vegetable stew.

This rustic chunky stew is perfect for my Monday supper,

but the trick is making enough to feed you later in the week.

I could just get all the vegetables out of the veg rack,

heat up some olive oil and bung them in.

What I much prefer to do

is to cook the vegetables individually.

That way, I don't end up with an anonymous stew.

The result is something much, much more special.

To begin, I'm lightly softening some aubergines and courgettes.

As they sizzle, move on to the firmer vegetables.

This is the sort of food that makes me feel good

and feel well just by looking at it.

Those vibrant colours, that slight crunchiness,

it just makes you feel good.

Remove the courgettes and aubergines,

once they've had a couple of minutes.

They'll go back in later to cook through.

So it's an hour or so's cooking today, but then tomorrow,

and maybe the next day, it's 20 minutes, if that.

With all our colourful vegetables softened,

we can now concentrate on the backbone of our stew.

Start with sliced onions and garlic.

Then use a robust herb, like thyme.

I'm going to put the whole sprigs of thyme in, stem and all,

and I can fish them out later, and that way,

you get lots more flavour.

Now I'm going to put some tomatoes in.

I want something that's going to turn this whole thing

into a big stew, it's going to bring the ingredients together.

And tomatoes are perfect for that,

because they squidge down into a sort of sauce.

It's so easy to think of vegetables

as just something on the side of the plate,

and I don't, I think of them, very often,

as the heart and soul of the meal, the stars of it.

So I love it when they get elevated to being...

something really very important.

Now reintroduce the stars of this dish. First in are the peppers.

Pour in a jar of passata

and a bit of seasoning,

cover and simmer.

So the peppers have had about 15 minutes or so

and they've started to soften.

I'm going to put in the aubergines.

I think it's also time to add a couple of bay leaves.

Finally, add the courgettes

and simmer for a little longer. But not too long.

You don't want to undo all of your hard work

by muddling the flavours together at the last minute.

So this has had...

a good 25 minutes, in which time, the vegetables have softened,

but have kept their individual character.

I'm after one last herb, basil.

It works beautifully with a rich, tomato-based stew like this.

You know, this is big family cooking.

It's a plate of huge flavours,

but it's lovely and juicy too,

and surprisingly rich,

considering the only thing in there is vegetables.

But they haven't all mushed into one big stew.

You can see the individual characteristics of each vegetable,

you know exactly what it is, and that's lovely.

I'd eat that just as it is,

with a big wodge of bread to scoop up that sauce.

What I don't eat today will go in the fridge,

and later, I'll make it into another delicious feast.

However organised we are in the kitchen,

in the garden, nature is definitely in charge.

But I quite like it that way.

Thank goodness it's rained.

The soil's been really parched

and I was beginning to wonder whether all the love and care

that I'd put into this garden was going to come to nothing.

We've had this heavenly rain, and it was gentle too,

and it's got right into the soil and right into the plants.

So we're all happy.

There'll be a point in the week

when I know that I've got a little bit of extra time to cook,

a time when I can make something, not just for that day,

but for the next couple of days as well.

I cooked a whole load of chicken breasts, so that I've got

the main bit of the next couple of days' meals already done.

I just need to add something exciting to them.

This chicken is going to be the heart of a warm rice salad,

mixed with Middle-Eastern flavours.

Two of the ingredients that I really love together are chicken and rice,

and particularly brown rice.

I always wash and drain the rice at least three times under cold water.

It's a bit excessive, but it keeps the grains separate as they cook.

Into the rice, I'm going to put some of my favourite spices,

partly because I like the flavour of them,

partly because I want to create that wonderful smell in the kitchen

of simmering brown rice and spices.

Dig deep into your larder.

Cinnamon sticks, cloves, and some cracked cardamom

will give you a real depth of flavour.

Also add a clove of garlic.

Keep them all whole, so you can remove them from the rice later.

I'm just going to cover that with water, just a centimetre, maybe two,

just above the top of the rice.

Once the rice starts to bubble,

turn the heat down to a putter and cover with a tight-fitting lid.

Don't meddle or fiddle with it.

I've got two great ingredients here.

I'll have cooked rice and roast chicken.

But that's a bit bland, a bit ordinary.

And now it's up to me to do whatever I like in the way of flavouring.

I'm taking my inspiration from the Middle East.

Golden sultanas and pistachios will give me sweetness and crunch.

Dried apricots add a sharp bite.

I want something bright tasting in there, and fresh.

If I'd got fresh peaches, they would be wonderful in there,

but I'm going to use some cherries, only because I've got them.

All these exotic fruits and nuts work beautifully together

to transform plain chicken and rice into something truly spectacular.

And I do want something a little bit green in here.

I'm going to use dill.

It's an underused herb, and it works beautifully with chicken.

Everyone thinks it's the fish herb

but, for me, it works with so many other things.

Some parsley will also help balance the sweetness of the fruit.

All the time I'm chopping this, I'm listening to the rice.

I'm listening for the water bubbling.

Once I can't hear it, it's well on its way to being cooked.

If I lift the lid,

there should be lots of holes in the rice.

And that smell's amazing, it's mildly spiced.

Take out the spices and gently mix everything with the rice.

The warmth of the grains will draw out the delicate flavours

of the dried and fresh fruits.

This dish can be on the dry side,

so I'm going to add a simple yoghurt dressing.

Put in some mint, with a pinch of cinnamon.

This will work really well with all the Middle-Eastern flavours.

Just a little bit of the yoghurt and mint on the side

and, as you eat, mix the yoghurt through the rice and the chicken

and you have a really exciting supper.

There's so many good things going on in here.

There's the crunchy nuts, then this roasted chicken,

then the sharpness of the cherries and the dried fruits,

and at the bottom of it,

there's all this background of a lovely soothing, comforting rice.

This really is a gorgeous mixture of ingredients,

far more exciting than nibbling on

a plain leftover chicken breast

with a few lettuce leaves.

Even in the hustle and bustle of the big city,

with food shops on every corner,

an increasing number of people are desperate to grow their own,

some in the most unlikely of places.

Moored in the shadow of Tower Bridge is a flotilla of houseboats.

Melissa and James bought theirs two years ago

and joined an eclectic and tight-knit group.

It's just really nice to have so many friends around you all the time.

You'd have to be friends with everybody. It's a close community.

Yeah, I mean, people are walking over each other's boats,

-but at the same time, it's great for gossip too.

-Yes.

You would get to know everybody well here, wouldn't you, really?

The barge owners have a collective plan

to be as self-sufficient as possible

and it's amazing what they're growing in pots and containers.

I just cannot believe you've got a plum tree on a boat!

You've got medlars.

-Or are they quinces?

-Yeah, they're medlars.

-Ah.

Melissa's pride and joy is a tomatillo plant.

They're like a little green or orangey tomato.

But it's not really a tomato inside.

The seeds are different and they're in these papery husks.

I've had them chopped up, but I've never seen them growing.

This twist on the tomato

would go perfectly with a freshly picked salad,

and what's so fantastic about living here

is that everyone shares their home-grown spoils.

You can just help yourself.

I'm just spotting all these little flowers

that I suspect are all edible.

I think we should pop them in our little salad.

Is that the marjoram there?

Would she mind if we took some tips from her broad beans?

And she's got some peas.

Little marigolds.

The variety and freshness of the leaves and herbs

will make a really intense salad,

especially with the tomatillo taking centre stage.

I want to try one of these.

Oh, that's good, isn't it?

They're totally different inside than tomatoes.

I don't need to put anything in the way of acidity in the dressing.

I don't need lemon, I don't need vinegar,

cos I think it'll come from these.

We can be so predictable with our salad -

pop a bag and chuck the leaves in a bowl.

But here, there is so much more choice and so many flavours.

It's about what you've picked

and what you've got, and you just let it do its own thing.

Tell me, I'm seeing this probably at the most perfect possible time.

-What's the winter like?

-You live on a boat, you count the winters.

The first winter exposes where the insulation is weakest.

But the people with finished boats,

they're lovely inside, nice and toasty warm.

Shall we just tuck in?

Yeah, my favourite part.

-Mm.

-Mm. There's so many things going on, isn't there?

-Mm.

-Oh, and you crunch the tomatillos

and it's like they've brought their own vinaigrette.

You have to think about it as you're chewing it,

there's so much going on there.

Thank you so much for letting me raid your larder.

Absolutely, it's been our pleasure.

If Melissa and James can grow their own here, then you can anywhere.

So if you've got the grow-your-own bug,

or you just fancy having a go, then check out my recipes

and hints at...

You know, I do love cooking, but I also love the idea of coming home...

knowing that my supper is already made

and waiting for me in the fridge.

That vegetable stew I cooked on Monday night

is going to become a slightly different treat.

This supper is real comfort food, and quick to make.

There's a lovely pudding called a cobbler.

It's an American pudding,

where you've got a thick layer of juicy fruit,

topped with what is effectively a scone mixture.

And I think you can make a savoury version of that.

Start with self-raising flour, half its weight in butter,

an egg and a wee bit of milk.

And I want this to have a really savoury element.

I don't want it to be scones.

So I'm going to add some Parmesan cheese to it.

I'm using a really strong cheese

because I don't want to add too much.

If I used a mild cheese, like a Cheddar,

I'd have to add quite a bit before I got that cheese flavour

and that would alter the texture.

Add some thyme.

Then to help the cobble stand tall, I'm going to make the mix lighter,

by adding a small tub of plain yoghurt.

I might need to add a bit of milk to that.

What I'm after is just a soft dough,

and there's no rolling, there's no fiddling around.

I just need to pat it gently into shape.

So then just cut out little rounds.

My plan is to turn the vegetable stew, which was light,

into something a little bit more substantial.

Cos what I'm really after is a sort of pastry dough, without the hassle.

By now, Monday night's supper

should be sizzling and ready to be reinvented.

And then, I'm just going to drop my little scones on.

They're like cobbles, and that's where the word cobbler comes from.

Because I want a good bite of cheese,

I'm going to grate in a little more Parmesan.

Ten minutes should be enough to get the crust golden brown.

This is proper filling fare.

Oh, and I've got just what I wanted,

which is a nice crisp, cheese-freckled crust

and then a lovely, light, almost like a scone mixture in the middle,

and then that gooey bit that's soaked up all the tomato sauce.

The flavours have changed.

It's richer, it's deeper, it's almost smoky,

which is from its time in the oven.

It's the same dish, but it's a completely different dish.

A small amount of effort really can make all the difference.

Making something today that I'm probably going to eat tomorrow

extends beyond the kitchen.

It goes as far as the things that I cook outdoors on my...

on my little barbecue, in a corner of the garden.

Outdoor cooking provides completely different flavours

from kitchen cooking, so I like to make the most of it.

If I've got the barbecue lit,

I'll make a quick supper

for today...

but then I'll always stick something extra on for tomorrow,

and I love doing it with just sticks of wood

that I've soaked in water for about an hour, if I remember.

It just stops them burning.

If I can, I find a flat skewer,

cos the round ones, when you go to turn them on the grill,

the meat just swivels round, whereas with a flat skewer, it stays put.

If I pop those in there...

..then just a bit of olive oil for them to sit in.

Lamb and garlic are barbecue soul mates.

I'm also going to add a few pungent peppercorns.

I leave them whole because

I don't want a really peppery flavour to this, I just want...

a mild aroma of it. I need something else,

something that is going to work with the lamb.

A few herbs, maybe.

Some oregano, it's fantastic with lamb,

and then a couple of bay leaves.

I just break them a little bit...

and that's when you get the smell of their oil.

And then I just turn the meat, just so that everything gets covered

in oil and garlic,

and everything gets a fair crack of the herbs as well.

Pop these down here.

Instantly, it smells like holiday.

It smells like I've gone on holiday, I'm somewhere really wonderful.

So the real point, for me,

of cooking on an open grill is simply the flavour of the smoke.

It really gets into the food,

and that's why it's so nice to do a bit extra,

so that you've got a lovely, smoky bit of lamb for tomorrow.

So when the lamb is crusty on the outside,

but inside, it's still pink,

then whip those off the grill...

..and all they need is a bit of lemon.

There's a little bit of smokiness there from the grill

and then just a back note of...

a little bit of garlic and the herbs.

It's very simple, it's very subtle,

and it's really rather good.

And that's great for now,

but then, for tomorrow, I've got all the rest for my sandwich.

These will go down very well in tomorrow's

pitta bread with tomato and mayonnaise.

If you can't grow your own, you can still pick your own.

There's thousands of farms all over the country

that are just asking us to turn up

with our little punnets and go picking.

And the great thing is, for me, that I can taste before I buy.

As long as you present at least something at the cash checkout,

you'll be welcome.

Tim Gilbert has worked on this pick-your-own farm

for over 25 years,

in the heart of Herefordshire.

Nobody can touch the quality at source.

It's so fresh, and you can't buy that freshness anywhere, really.

At every pick-your-own, strawberries are the big draw.

And they're around a lot longer than Wimbledon fortnight.

To pick strawberries in here is fantastic.

They're protected from the weather,

and we hope to pick strawberries in here until about November.

Also, we're growing on these table tops,

which allows us to get the strawberries off the ground,

and makes the picking so much easier.

When we pick strawberries,

we pinch them off behind the fruit, so you pick them off by the stem.

Don't touch it with your fingers.

They'll last longer in your refrigerator

if you pick them like this.

These are autumn raspberries, the variety is Himbo-Top.

Traditional raspberry taste, but a nice, firm fruit.

They're one of my favourites.

They're a very sort of aromatic, long-lasting flavour, these.

Also, raspberries are one of the best freezers,

so very little is wasted with raspberries.

As well as the traditional red fruits,

black fruits are also popular.

Blueberries do crop over quite a long period,

so they're suitable for pick your own.

You could be picking fruit off this bush for nearly two months.

Even old stalwarts like the blackberry are back in demand.

This variety's called Loch Ness. It's a lovely variety to use

because you'll notice it's thornless.

When you're picking it, you don't get so scratched.

Typical blackberry flavour,

only five times bigger than the ones you'd find in the hedgerow.

The flavour's just fantastic.

The key is to just pick them slightly under-ripe,

if you want to preserve them for a while,

but the best ones off the bush are the ripest ones

and you get the real sweet flavour.

Not like that one, ooh!

I've managed to come back from...

a pick-your-own expedition with some fruit,

and I've got blueberries and blackberries and blackcurrants.

It's good to have back-up plans that don't waste a single berry,

like a simple, delicious dish you can keep in the freezer.

I like to make a sort of stewed fruit.

It's an old-fashioned compote, really, of all the dark fruits.

Then either have it warm over sponge cake or a steamed pudding,

or refrigerate it.

And then the next day, I've got the base to make...

all sorts of things, really.

My black fruit compote

is going to be rippled into a luscious ice cream.

The compote is so easy.

A sprinkle of sugar, a splash of water,

and simmer for 15 minutes.

It's just fruit and sugar...

..and yet it can be so many things.

Today, it's the heart of an ice cream.

But make sure it's cool before you add it to the mix.

I'm not using an ice-cream maker for this, I don't need to.

All I need is a whisk and a big carton of double cream,

but take care not to over-whip it.

I'm going to put my fruit puree in that,

but I want some pieces of fruit as well

and I've got some ripe apricots.

Slice your fruit into small chunks.

If you don't have apricots,

peaches, nectarines, and even passion fruit work well.

I want some sugar in there,

but rather than adding sugar, I'm going to add in some meringue.

And what this does is to give some texture to the ice cream,

because you've got some nice soft ice cream,

you've got the ripe fruit and then you get this crisp meringue.

I need something to put this in, and I could use a cake tin

or a freezer box.

But I haven't got a freezer box.

I'm going to use one of the cartons the fruit came in.

I'm just going to line that with a bit of clingfilm.

It'll be easier to get out, that way.

So I'm just going to mix those three elements together -

the cream and the apricots and the meringue.

By now, I can add my delicious cooled mixture of black fruits.

I don't want a great deal of the juice,

but I do want all the fruit.

I'm just going to put that on there, and then a gentle stir,

so that rather than turning into a pink ice cream,

I've got a sort of rippled effect.

This ice cream freezes really well and lasts for ages.

But if, like me, you can't wait, it's ready in four hours.

I've got the ice cream there,

but then I've got the chunks of fruit

and I've got the berries and the meringue.

I'm going to have a little bit of this on my ice cream as well.

I love the textures.

I love the soft ice cream

and the sweet, sharp fruit

and then these crisp little bits of meringue,

all studded throughout it. This is bliss.

Total bliss.

Remember you can use any fruits that you like.

But don't blend the ingredients too much, or you'll lose

the chewy texture of the meringue

and the hits of different fruits.

I've made a week's worth of suppers,

which, with a bit of planning,

saves you time, without scrimping on the taste.

By cooking a little bit extra and using some imagination,

food you cook tonight really can taste even better tomorrow.

Over this series, I've created dozens of delicious suppers

with beautiful, fresh produce that are a joy to cook

and fabulous to eat.

It's a completely dazzling mouthful.

It's truly, truly wonderful.

Just remember to always keep it simple.

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