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With winter just around the corner its time to look at your menus. The colder weather ignites a desire for "Winter Warmers", dishes that grab you and hug you with their big, bold flavours. These are casserole and stew dishes where all the flavours are cooked together and go from oven to table.
Customers love these nostalgic dishes that are bursting with great flavour, are keen on price and remind them of mums or grandmas home cooking.
One-pot cooking is very different from traditional cuisine in that the prep is in advance with add the finishing touches at the end. Prep hard, easy service!
One-pot cooking is one of the earliest forms of cookery and is used the world over. The reason is simple; cheap and easy to prepare, works well with cheaper cuts of meat, lots of fresh ingredients and loved by the whole family. These dishes can be slow-cooked through the day and enjoyed when the family get home from work.
There is something very satisfying about chucking all the ingredients into a dish and the waiting for the flavours to do their magic, blending into something special.
It is also great from a caterers point of view delivering a flavourful dish that is easy to prepare, pre-portioned with less to do during service, little washing up and with a good gross profit. In a restaurant or foodservice setting, it is a "gift that keeps on giving".
A lot of British regional dishes started life as one-pot winter warmers however some top-tier restaurants are tweaking these recipes to deliver a modern classic.
Why not consider adding these to your menu this winter:
Lancashire Hot Pot
Traditionally served with pickled red cabbage and Lancashire cheese.
Toad-in-the-Hole
"Good quality butchers" sausages and roasted onion gravy.
Fish Pie
Leaser known cuts of fish work well topped with a good cheddar.
Corned Beef Hash
Slow-cooked salt beef, rich and big in flavour topped with a poached egg.
Smoked Haddock Kedgeree
British colonials brought this dish back from India, which was a breakfast dish in Victorian times.
You do not need to keep it British either. Get adventurous with the deep, smoky, tomato flavour of Spanish Albondigas, the Burgundy classic Coq Au Vin and tomato and chilli baked gnocchi topped with rich smoked Scamozzi - a dish created for Julius Ceasar.