Oh sheet!

Ideas for when you don't have time...

Some years ago, Jamie Oliver (who, by the way, is one of my food heroes! Have you watched the Netflix Chef’s Table: Legends episode?) stepped forward and announced that food preparation needn’t be an ordeal—that one could have a meal ready in just 30 minutes, and a good one at that. The world went bonkers for the idea. Time is of the essence. People work. They commute. Days start in the dark and often end in the early evening as well.

Watching the episode again recently, I was once more challenged to think about the people who don’t have hours and hours to prepare a meal for themselves or their families—people who love good food and are committed to eating well. With that in mind, here are a few things you can make that are easy, and blissfully free of fuss for when time really is of the essence.

Honey, what’s for dinner?

Nothing says “Honey, what’s for dinner?” (or “I’m hungry!”) quite like a sheet-pan dinner. Everything in one pan, flavours mingling, into the oven it goes—and it’s done while you get on with everything else that needs doing. Here are a few of our family favourites:

Lemony spatchcock chicken with sumac and potatoes

Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients
1 large whole chicken
8 potatoes, peeled and halved
250ml olive oil
1½ tbsp paprika
1 tbsp sumac
½ preserved lemon, finely chopped
handful of pitted green olives, sliced
10g flatleaf parsley
10g thyme, finely chopped
Maldon salt and pepper to season
1 large onion, peeled and quartered
1 whole head of garlic
juice of 1 lemon

Method
Heat the oven to 180˚C.

Rinse the chicken and pat it dry. Place it on a wooden board, breast side upwards. Using kitchen scissors, cut along the breastbone to split it open. Turn the bird over and press down to flatten.

Place the bird in a deep ovenproof dish. Mix the baste by placing the oil, paprika, sumac, preserved lemon, sliced olives, herbs and seasoning in a bowl and mixing well. Now pour the oil mixture over and massage it onto both sides. Add the potatoes and onions toss them in the oil as well. Wrap the garlic in some foil, drizzling with a little olive oil. Place that in the dish and squeeze the juice of a large lemon over the chicken and potatoes.

Cover with parchment paper and then foil and place in the oven for an hour. Remove the covering and cook for a further 30 to 45 minutes until the skin is golden.

Cut into portions and serve with the juices from the pan.

German sausages, potatoes and cabbage

Paddy and I love German-style sausages and cabbage! So, I came up with this:

Serves 4

Ingredients
4 potatoes, washed and cut into thin slices
1 onion, peeled and cut into eighths
4 wedges of cabbage
4 knackwurst
150ml olive oil (plus a little extra)
juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp honey
sea salt flakes

Method
Heat the oven to 180˚C. Drizzle the bottom of the sheet pan with olive oil. Arrange the potatoes in a single layer at the bottom of the sheet pan. Top with the onion and cabbage. Score the sausages and add them to the pan.

In a separate container, mix the olive oil, lemon juice, mustards and honey together and drizzle over everything. Sprinkle sea salt flakes over the potatoes and cabbage and cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes, remove the foil and bake for another 30 to 45 minutes until the potatoes are tender and the cabbage is a little charred around the edges.

Serve with gherkins and a nice cold beer!

By the way, if you enjoy reading about wine and the quiet magic that happens when good food meets a good bottle, make sure you subscribe to Paddy’s newsletter, Wine Matters. He writes beautifully, and his passion for the subject shines through.

Until the next time,