Meat and two veg?

[SunnilyEnough]

Ok, well the veg I can manage... but can anyone help me bung a bit of meat in the pan (or oven? not roast though) and come up with something foolproof and delicious. Some meat with a bit of sauce, for a weeknight meal for me and the dcs, so needs to be fast too (2yo always hanging off trousers will I'm cooking).

Am fed up of always making casseroles or bolognese etc. and would like to master this but am crap with meat, tend to overcook because am nervous of killing anyone. Am thinking thin piece of pork or something, I suppose?! Suggestions most welcome, thank you!

Thinly sliced pork doesn't take long to cook. Get a little butter and oil going in a wide, shallow saute pan and brown the sliced pork briefly on both sides. Remove and, in the same oil/butter soften a little finely chopped onion.... stir in a dollop of grainy mustard, salt and black pepper.... top with a large, thinly sliced, peeled, cored Bramley cooking apple.... layer the thin pork slices or pork chops on top. Add a little water, put on a lid and allow everything to simmer for 20 minutes. At the end of this time, remove the sliced pork to warm plates and then stir the rest of the ingredients so that you get a nice fluffy apple/mustard sauce to serve alongside

About as un-MN as it gets, but So Juicy is dead easy, tastes nice. Just chuck the chicken in a bag, throw in the spices and cook for 45 mins. Cut the chicken into goujons, they'll definitely cook in time and will still be moist as it will cook in it's own juice.

surprisingly nce.

Thanks! Cogito that's exactly the sort of thing I was looking for.

Not in the UK, Jareth, so can't get So Juicy here, but thank you anyway!

Another one I thought of was sweet and sour chicken.

2 large chicken breasts, cut into 1" dice
1 large orange, peeled and cut into 1" dice
1 onion, peeled and diced
1 carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
1 green pepper, deseeded and diced

1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1.5 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon tomato puree
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp cornflour
1 tsp water

• Combine the sauce ingredients in a bowl
• Heat some oil in a large frying pan or wok and stir-fry the diced chicken on a high heat for about 3-4 minutes or until it is no longer translucent. Remove and reserve
• Reheat the pan, add a little more oil and add the onion, carrot and green pepper. Cook on a high heat until the vegetables are tender, stirring all the time
• Return the chicken to the pan and cook for 2-3 more minutes
• Finally, turn down the heat & add the orange pieces and sauce. Stir until thickened. Serve immediately.

Well, chicken breasts in foil and add a bunch of whatever herbs/spices and it'll do the same thing

I love things fried in the pan with a sauce made of the pan stickings and various things added. (The Nigel Slater cookbooks, particularly Appetite, have great variations on this.) They may not all take just 5 minutes but tend to be stick in a pan and leave them type things.

Eg:

Melt large knob of butter in frying pan with lid, sear meat on all sides till golden, squash garlic cloves with side of knife and throw in garlic to pan. Turn down heat to gentle sizzle and leave with with lid on (turn once during cooking, no stirring needed). Remove meat from pan, add large glass of wine or marsala or vermouth and turn up heat to boil, scraping at any bits on the bottom of the pan. Stir in some cream or creme fraiche, add chopped herbs (tarragon/flat-leaf parsley/chervil/sage etc) and some grain mustard or even green peppercorns from a jar, let bubble and pour over chicken.

Bone-in chicken thighs and legs will take about 30 min. You can do the same with chicken breasts, boned thighs, pork steaks, lamb chops, pork chops, even frying steak, and they will all take less time to cook.

Thanks, these are all great tips. I'm such a rubbish cook, I need all the help I can get.

A few years ago now Ainsley Harriet had a book out called 'Meals In Minutes'. I seem to remember they were all nice, tasty things, pretty simple and all ready to go in under half an hour. Might be in your library

Thanks, just had a look at his website, some quick recipes on there too.