Cooking for a family, day in, day out, can feel like a drudge occasionally, even for someone like me whose professional life centres on food, recipes and all things culinary. So, if I’m to cook from scratch almost every day and feel proud rather than resentful, food-wise I have to take encouragement where I find it.
First up, in terms of things I take comfort in is being on the case when it comes to providing good nutrition for myself – particularly post-cancer – and my family.
And I say this knowing that there is always plenty more to learn, and that at times, singing the praises of certain vitamins and minerals won’t always win you brownie points at the dinner table. Oh, and there are always, always, dishes that fail. Put it down to experience and move on.
Next is the possibility that every cookery book, supermarket, restaurant or deli might contain the seed of some new favourite that I will take delight in cooking and, of course, eating. It might be something radically new (this rarely happens), but more often it’s a better version of a dish I know people already love. This excitement always breathes new life into my cooking.
And that’s what this week’s recipes are all about. Brownies and meatballs are firm family favourites, and this column has seen more than its fair share of both. We’ve had lamb meatballs and pork meatballs, meatballs with almonds and with veal and lemon. Brownie-wise, it’s a similar story – we’ve covered everything from dairy-free, to brownies dense with caramel and peanut butter.
So it was satisfying to work on two new recipes that are easy and truly different. These lamb and beef meatballs are vaguely Middle Eastern, full of gentle, warming spices and smothered in a tangy tomato and lemon sauce made rich with a little butter. They are soft, moist and moreish.
The brownies are adapted from a recipe by nutrition-oriented cooks, London-based sisters Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley. Like most of their food, these brownies are free of grain, gluten and refined sugar.
Because the mixture is so liquid before it goes in the oven, it really seems like they won’t work, but the heat works its magic and the result is moist, fudgy, flavoursome brownies made from, yes, black beans, coconut oil, cocoa powder and maple syrup, rather than sugar, butter and flour. I brought these into the office and they were gone in seconds.
