3 Scrummy Recipes From The New Annabel Karmel ‘Busy Mum’s Cookbook’

Easy recipes to keep the family happy and full

Annabel Karmel’s latest book is all about family cooking made easy and we love it! From ’20-Minute Recipes’ to ‘ Six ingredients’, ‘Lunchboxes And Snacks’ and ‘Entertaining’ plus loads more, each of the 100 recipes has been put together with the simple aim of making mealtimes healthy, yummy and stress-free. There aren’t endless lists of complicated ingredients or baffling cooking methods (hooray) and the photographs are so good that you’ll be desperate to get in the kitchen (honestly). We’ve picked out 3 of our fave recipes to share with you… Prepare for rumbling tummies.

One Pot Chicken With Spring Vegetables

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Makes 6 portions

Ingredients
1.5-1.6kg chicken
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp runny honey
1 tsp lemon juice
300g baby new potatoes, scrubbed and any larger ones halved
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled but left whole
200g baby carrots
300ml hot chicken stock
300ml white wine
100g frozen peas
2 tbsp tarragon leaves
Salt and black pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
2. Put the chicken into a large, shallow ovenproof dish or skillet. Drizzle over the olive oil, honey and lemon juice and season. Roast for 30 minutes until lightly golden brown, then add the potatoes, onion, garlic and carrots and toss to coat with the olive oil, honey and lemon in the dish around the chicken,.
3. Pour the stock and wine over the vegetables, then put the dish back in the oven for a further 45 minutes, until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through and the vegetables are tender (you might need to cover the chicken with foil if it is getting too brown). Add the peas and cook for a final 5 minutes.
4. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with tarragon before serving.

Thai Spiced Beef Curry With Sweet Potato

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: approx. 2 hours
Suitable for freezing
Makes 4 portions

Ingredients

2 tbsp sunflower oil
900g diced braising beef
3 onions, sliced
2” / 4cm piece ginger, peeled and grated
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 ½ tbsp red Thai curry paste (or less if you like it cooler)
½ red chilli, deseeded and diced
2 tbsp tomato puree
2 x 400g coconut milk
2 tbsp honey
300g peeled sweet potato, cut into 2cm cubes
125g baby spinach

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 140F.
2. Heat a casserole pan on the hob. Add 2 tbsp of oil.
3. Brown the beef in two batches until browned, set aside.
4. Add the remaining oil to the pan with the onions, ginger, garlic and chili.
5. Fry for 2 – 3 minutes, then add the tomato puree and Thai paste. Fry for 30 seconds.
6. Return the beef to the pan with the coconut milk, honey and seasoning.
7. Bring up to the boil, cover and transfer to the oven for 1 – ¼ hours or until nearly tender.
8. Put the pan back on to the hob.
9. Add the potatoes, bring up to the boil, cover and put back into the oven for another 20-25 minutes until the beef is tender and the potato is cooked through.
10. Add the spinach, stir to wilt.
11. Serve with rice.

Super Seed Flapjacks

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 – 35 minutes
Makes 12 flapjacks

Ingredients

150g butter
150g golden syrup
75g brown sugar
150g porridge oats
60g pecan nuts, chopped
50g pumpkin seeds
75g dried cranberries
100g sultanas
40g desiccated coconut
30g chia seeds

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C (160 C Fan)/350 F/Gas Mark 4.
2. Melt the butter, golden syrup and sugar in a saucepan until runny.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and stir together.
4. Line the base with non-stick baking paper and spoon into a 9” x 9” square baking tin. Flatten down using a spoon.
5. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until lightly golden. Leave to cool.
6. Turn upside down onto a board, remove the paper and then slice into bars.

Cook. Eat. Enjoy!