MasterChef Junior judge and chef Anna Gare’s quick and easy recipes are ‘delicious everyday’
CELEBRITY cook and former Junior MasterChef and judge Anna Gare says good food should be simple, quick and delicious every day and shares her tricks in her new book.
Blacktown
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FORMER pop star Anna Gare loves easy cooking that satisfies a family, as well as a crowd.
In the 1980s, she was a member of all-girl bandthe Jam Tarts, but these days, you’re more likely to see Gare on the small screen.
She has appeared as a judge on Junior MasterChef and The Great Australian Bake Off.
Gare is also a recipe book author and recently released Delicious Every Day.
“I think every day should be delicious and with food it can be, she says. I love feeding people,’’ she said.
As a child, Gare loved to play “restaurant”, making mud pies in the sand. And it wasn’t long before she graduated to her own home kitchen.
She quickly found herself cooking for the school canteen, poaching asparagus in hotel-room kettles and cooking salmon on the ironing board with wax paper and the iron in her rock band days.
“My main goal when I cook is to make it delicious and healthy. It gives me great pleasure in perfecting and sharing my recipes and contributing to other people’s dinner tables,” she said.
Her new book, Delicious Every Day, is a collection of Gare’s most relied-upon recipes, from simple offerings such as bacon and egg frittata and green pea soup to salads, bakes and desserts.
All the recipes are her own family favourites, loved by her husband, former NBA player Luc Longley, and the couple’s four grown-up children.
“Most of these recipes have been created by my desire to eat good healthy food that is preservative and additive free,” she said.
“ ... some are tweaks on dishes that my family has brought to Christmas lunches, other inspired by good moments at restaurants or when someone else feeds you.”
Gare says that for time-poor cooks there is the one-pot wonders section — home cooking with little fuss and minimal clean-up.
“I created this section as there is a lot of satisfaction in putting a whole lot of fresh ingredients together in one pot, popping on the lid and letting it cook into a delicious dinner,’’ she said.
“Not only is it quick and easy for the cook, it’s great for the dish-washing teenagers and non-cooking partners in the family (less dishes to clean will leave them with more time to praise the cook).
“There is world of reasons to be time-poor and these reasons are multiplying exponentially with every time-saving gadget ... but I still think the most valued tool in my kitchen is my large heavy-based pot (where everything delicious can be thrown in together).”
Gare’s favourite is the one-pot spiced chicken with preserved lemon and green olives.
“My husband would go for my slow baked lamb shoulder,” she said.
“I usually bake my one-pot meals in the oven because you get a lovely surrounding heat and don’t have to keep stirring it like you would on the stove top,” she says.
ONE POT WONDERS
Allows for diversity — lots of combinations can work well.
■ The all-in-one preparation lends itself to sneaking vegetables into the pot for fussy eaters.
■ Clean-up is minimum, with most meals requiring not much more than a few kitchen basics and a pot.
■ Ideal for batch cooking and can be frozen for later.
TOP TIP
“A good tip is to place a piece of baking paper over the top of the pot and then place the lid. This creates a seal and keeps your dish moist and juicy.”
■ Delicious Every Day by Anna Gare, Murdoch Books, RRP $39.99
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