INTRODUCTION

Running a restaurant and a pub is a lot of hard work, so it’s a good job I love it! Serving up great meals to happy customers is just about the best way of earning a living I can think of, and although the hours are long and sometimes it’s stressful trying to get everything right, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

When I get home after a long day’s work, I always plan to put my feet up. But before I know it I’m going through the fridge instead: chopping and stirring, seasoning and tasting, and coming up with new ideas. It’s play to me – relaxing and exciting at the same time, even when I’m tired. Using what I’ve got to hand to create something delicious, without the pressure of a room full of diners waiting to be served… I can lose hours that way.

At home, I still go for the same big, bold and complex flavours I strive for at work. I figure there are only so many meals you are going to get to eat in your life, so they might as well all be as brilliant as you can make them! Don’t get me wrong, I’m as likely to have a slice of toast or a bacon sarnie on the hoof as anyone, but when I have a bit more time, I like to make every meal as special as I can.

These recipes are favourites from my own kitchen, the ones I really enjoy with my wife Beth and our friends, whether it’s a nice dinner round the table or a summer barbecue in the garden. When I’m at home, I might pare down some of the techniques our customers expect from our two-Michelin-starred restaurant, but I don’t pare down the taste. I still go for my preferred flavours and textures, often with a bit of surprise and dazzle thrown in.

As you’ll know, I love British food and I’ve included some of my tried-and-trusted favourites here, such as cosy Cheddar and ale soup and tasty weekend roast chicken, but I’ve cast my net beyond our shores and pulled in some great dishes from the rest of Europe, America and the Caribbean too. So crab cakes sit alongside clam chowder, roast rump of lamb alongside jerk chicken, and carrot cake alongside popcorn bars. It’s really comfort food at its best.

While some of the recipes might not be exactly familiar, they can all sit quite comfortably on the British table – after all, we’re among the most adventurous eaters on the planet! While we love fish and chips, bangers and mash, and toad in-the-hole, we’ll also happily tuck into a great curry or pizza, and we will chuck a shish kebab on the grill as eagerly as we will a juicy steak. We don’t stand too much on ceremony – if it tastes good, we want to eat it.

I’ve avoided cheffy techniques in these recipes, so nothing’s too complicated. Some of the dishes might require a bit of time – letting foods develop complex flavours with rubs or marinades, or become really tender with slow simmering – but you don’t have to do anything much more taxing than wait while they get on with it. Even if you haven’t done much cooking before, I’d encourage you just to get stuck in and have a go. If it’s not absolutely perfect, who cares? It’s still going to be really tasty.

Lots of the recipes can be made well ahead – some as much as a day or two before you want to eat them – and just reheated. So if you’re throwing a party, you can spare yourself the last-minute stress, or if you have a busy week ahead, take some time at the weekend to prepare something like a venison chilli or meatballs in treacle gravy so you have a few easy dinners on hand during the week. Most of the recipes here aren’t rushed; in fact very few need to be served the minute they’re done.

I’ve included some of my favourite ways to whack in lots of flavour. I never miss a chance to give a dish extra depth and interest; I taste all of the time and tweak the seasoning as I go. It’s no good just tossing in a load of salt and pepper right at the end – you want the seasoning to be layered all the way through the dish, to get a good balance and make everything taste as good as it possibly can.

I’m giving you other great tips too, such as how to brown meat properly, especially minced meat for things like my green chilli con carne. You want to get it good and brown, taking it almost as far as you dare, until it’s virtually coffee-granule brown and really crispy, because that’s where the flavour comes from. Once you’ve tried this in one of my recipes, I hope you’ll take that technique and use it whenever you cook a meat sauce. It’s a simple thing which transforms a straightforward dish into something really special, and that’s what I try to do with every dish, every day, whether I’m at work or at home.

By popular demand, I’ve included a lot more sweet things in this book, from classics like crème caramel, baked cheesecake and blueberry muffins, to more adventurous whisky and rye puddings, blitz torte and peanut butter, black cherry and chocolate tart. But of course, I couldn’t resist giving these sweets my own twists. So expect a hit of chilli in the rocky road and a slug of rum in the date and banana milk shake… you have been warned.

My dishes are not about showing off. They’re about pleasure and generosity. They’re about sitting around a table with people you like and sharing a drink, something good to eat, a great conversation and a few laughs. And the food can be something as simple as a couple of pork burgers and salad on a Tuesday night after work, or a big Saturday night blow out with a crowd. The key thing is to have fun too, in the kitchen and at the table, so don’t be a martyr.

If you don’t have the time, or you just don’t fancy it, there’s no need to make every item from scratch. Concentrate on one or two great dishes, and serve them with a crisp green salad or some simply boiled potatoes or steamed rice. Of course, if you have got time, knock yourself out and make everything from bread to pud – the important thing is that you enjoy yourself, because somehow that always makes everything taste better!