eat: dominique woolf’s easy traybakes
Dominique’s Kitchen is the Sunday Times No.1 best selling cookbook from Dominique Woolf, the winner of The Great Cookbook Challenge with Jamie Oliver.
Offering a solution to time poor families, her Sunday Times No.1 best selling cookbook, Dominique’s Kitchen is a real saviour for those who want to cook delicious, flavoursome meals, but also need to negotiate bath and bedtime.
As a busy mum of three, Dominique understands the need for quick, simple dishes that deliver of flavour. We all love a traybake (one pan, into the oven, with minimal washing up!) so here are two recipes from her cookbook that you can serve up any night of the week for the whole family.
Thai green curry chicken traybake
Serves 4
Ingredients
4 tbsp Thai green curry paste
300ml water
300ml coconut milk
2 tsp fish sauce
300g jasmine rice, rinsed well
6–8 chicken thighs (approx. 1kg), skin on, bone in, fat trimmed
200g edamame beans or peas, or a mix
To serve:
100g natural yoghurt
2 tsp sweet chilli sauce
1 lime, cut into wedges
a handful of coriander
chopped red chillies, finely sliced (optional)
Note: I use Mae Ploy Thai green curry paste (which is spicier than many others), but if you prefer it on the mild side, then add less. Curry pastes do vary in heat so taste and tweak as necessary. If using basmati rice you will need 280g of rice, 400ml of coconut milk and 250ml of water.
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan.
Put two tablespoons of the curry paste into a large roasting tray or oven dish (approx. 25cm x 35cm) and gradually mix in the water to loosen. Pour in the coconut milk, add the fish sauce and a couple of pinches of salt, and stir to combine (don’t worry if the coconut milk is lumpy at this point, it will dissolve as it cooks), then mix in the rice.
Slash each chicken thigh twice, then coat with the remaining 2 tablespoons of curry paste. Sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt flakes, then place the chicken on top of the rice skin side up and cover the dish with foil.
Bake for 30 minutes, then discard the foil. Move the chicken to one side while you give the rice a stir, then replace the chicken.
Bake for a further 15 minutes, then take the tray out of the oven and mix the edamame beans or peas into the rice. Return to the oven and cook for a further 15 minutes, or until the rice is done and the chicken is completely cooked through.
Taste the rice – if you’d like more heat, move the chicken to one side and stir in extra curry paste, to taste (loosen with water first, if needed). Check the seasoning and adjust with salt or fish sauce, if needed.
If you like a crispier skin, turn the grill to high and grill the whole dish for a minute or two, or until the skin is crispy.
Put the yoghurt into a small bowl and stir in the sweet chilli sauce.
Serve with wedges of lime, sprinkled with chopped coriander and chillies, and with the yoghurt at the table for drizzling.
Sweet potato & black bean curry traybake
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 stalk of lemongrass
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tbsp grated ginger (approx. 6cm)
700g sweet potatoes, skin on, cut into approx. 2–3cm pieces
3 tbsp curry powder (whichever heat preferred)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 x 400ml tin of coconut milk
400ml veg or chicken stock, or water
300g cherry tomatoes
1 x 400g tin of black beans, drained
75g green beans, halved
To serve:
rice
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan.
Prepare the lemongrass. Remove the tough outer leaves and trim off the top end. Bash it with the end of a rolling pin, then chop it as finely as possible.
Place the lemongrass, onion, garlic and ginger in a large oven dish or tray. Add the sweet potatoes, then sprinkle over the curry powder, cinnamon and one teaspoon of salt.
Pour in the coconut milk, then the stock or water, and stir until mixed (don’t worry if the coconut milk is lumpy at this point, it will dissolve as it cooks). The dish will look quite liquidy at this stage but it will reduce and thicken once it cooks.
Add the cherry tomatoes, then place in the oven for 30 minutes.
Take the dish out of the oven and add the black and green beans. Cook for a further 15–20 minutes or so, until the sweet potato is soft. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed. Serve with rice.
The book has a wide range of easy to cook Asian-inspired recipes from salads and noodles to stir-fries, curries, as well as desserts. Using store cupboard staples as well as some more exotic spices and herbs, there is something for everyone in this book, available here.