What is your absolute surefire winner, most delicious meal that has people asking for more / the recipe.

[pennyhill]

I have been basically learning to cook since I had children, and it's a bit of a slow process - so many misses among the occasional hits. I feel a bit overwhelmed at the AMOUNT of recipes out there; so many books, blogs, types of cuisine etc., and would like to just start by building up a repertoire of family meals that always go down well.

The other day I made Jamie Oliver's meat loaf but with a different (Austrian) tomato sauce; it was really good and the dcs just sat and ate it in rapt silence. They also love roast beef and chicken pie and pasta with tomato and basil sauce, or with cream, ham and peas. Oh and cauliflower/broccoli cheese.

That's about it and otherwise mealtimes are a whole lot of cajoling (me) and fussing (them). So I wondered if you could help me compile a list of absolute corkers by telling me what goes down well every time with your lot and/or if you have people over for lunch/supper.

Thank you

Jamie Oliver fish pie

Chicken pathia curry

Everyone always loves these, I am held in the highest regard whilst they are being eaten :o

i'd order a few student cook-books from the library in your position, try them out and buy ones i like.

This is my absolute foolproof Sausage and fennel pasta sauce recipe that always always has people wanting more. [disclaimer: I have not tried it on children].

1 tsp fennel seeds
1 garlic clove, chpped
Packet of pork sausages, preferably Italian, skinned removed and roughly chopped
handle of chopped tomoato (optional)
1 Lemon
Chilli flakes (optional)
100ml (be stingy, not generous) milk
100 ml (be stingy, not generous) white wine
2 tblsp creme fraiche
Basil

1. Fry the sausage and the fennel in a large pan in some olive oil.
2. Cook the penne as normal
3. Add garlic and the zest of the lemon and chilli flakes if using. Stir and cook for one minute.
4. Add tomatoes, if using.
5. Pour in the wine and milk and allow to boil for about 5 minutes until the liquid has evaporated quite a bit.
6. Stir through the creme fraiche, cook for a minute or two and season with basil, salt and a squeeze of the lemon juice.
7. Serve over the penne with parmesan and black pepper.

Thanks Bling, that sounds great.

Dreaming, I'm in Austria, no English-language student cookbooks in the library here unfortunately. Got a great pile of cookbooks at home but there are just so MANY recipes ...

Home made lasagne or shepherds pie, or just a roast chicken with stuffing, roast potatoes etc. Then make a lovely chicken, leek and mushroom soup the next day with the carcass, and have that with crusty bread.

i would do a few things that you can tweak. so a white sauce can have cooked chicken, turkey or fish added and can have mash pots, grated bread/cheese put on top or puff pastry (ready made obviously). Or eaten with pasta. Bolognese sauce = lasagne, spagetti bolognese or with slight tweaks chilli and shepherds pie. curry - pataks curry paste, tin of toms and whatever you have meat or veg wise. rissotto is always easy and you can add almost anything.

you can also bulk cook many of the above and use different version each day.

ref children - its left here till they eat it and no desert till they do. no fuss needed.

do they so slow cookers in austria? they are really good as you sling things in,stir and thats it.

Chicken quesadillas

Cook chicken breast in lime juice and chopped chillies, move to the side to keep warm, smother one side of two tortillas (per person) in sour cream, add the chicken and chillies with a few bits of fresh, uncooked chillies depending on how hot you like your food. Cover the lot with a good strong cheddar, grated and slap the other tortilla on top.

Get a pan nice and hot with a little butter melted in it and cook the tortilla turning over after about 2 mins each side, or long enough to make the tortillas golden and the cheese inside melt.

Serve with coleslaw, potato salad, and green salad with ranch dressing.

The one that shuts DS up is a very simple Breaded Chicken. Slice chicken breast into thick strips, dip each strip in seasoned flour, then beaten egg and finally roll in breadcrumbs (see below). Quickly shallow fry in a little oil until crisp all over and cooked through. Posh Nuggets!!! Also works with strips of pork loin, fish or turkey.

Breadcrumbs..... Save up any old crusts and dog-ends of loaves in a bag in the freezer. When you've got enough, chop or break up the frozen bread into small chunks and place on a tray with your coolest oven setting (100C) for 2 hours. Turn off the oven and leave the bread inside overnight to totally dry out. Next day place dried crust pieces in a Magimix and whizz until you have fine breadcrumbs. Because they are dry, they keep quite happily in an airtight jar for weeks and add a bit of extra crunch when you need it for all kinds of things.

Beef rendang from a Ken Hom Thai cookery book (although I think he calls it something else).

Dh also does a slow-cooked lamb dish with lemons (think it might be from a Rick Stein book) that guests rave about and always ask for the recipe although I actually don't like it (I'm not a fan of lemons).

Nothing new ever goes down well with my DCs first time. I have to work my way over gradually to new recipes by adapting familiar ones. Or by serving something new with an old favourite about 50 times until they accept it.

Eg they will eat chicken breast marinaded in soy sauce, spaghetti and various veg. But they would turn their noses up at stir fry because it looks different, the veg are golden or slightly charred, and everything is mixed up.

So I would be over the moon if I made a new recipe and they ate it in rapt silence.

Having said that, DS really loves lasagne and omelette.

I've never had anyone want to take home any main meal recipes. Only desserts.

yy to pies

JO fish pie ( from Naked Chef )
Shepherds Pie ( from just like mother used to make )
Cottage Pie ( Gordon Ramsay recipe from a magazine using Branston pickle )

They all hate anything easy like pasta bake, but will eat a bolognese it takes me 1.5 hours to slow cook

Other winners are sausage and mash w onion gravy, chicken and ham pie and for DD egg fried rice. Or just a bowl of rice soy and veg.

Oh and beef in red wine

And ribs

DSS (7) is sometimes hard to please as he is wary of new things and not a big eater anyway. But he loves my lasagne (recipe from a friend), roast chicken (Jamie recipe), and the latest hit was shepherds pie (I used a recipe from the good food web site).

For a more adult crowd, I still do lasagne quite often, and also Gok's prawns in yellow bean sauce (only I usually swap the prawns for chicken) has been a real winner recently.

Delia's sausages braised in cider with apple and juniper (from How to Cook vol.1). I've gone off Delia a bit lately, but that recipe is an absolute winner.

It's dessert not a main meal but my Tiramisu recipe is often asked for and I have to make it every time certain relatives come for a visit

Annabel Karmel meatballs are made in double quantities so we can have extra for lunch the next day.