Barny Desmazery is a long-standing member of the Good Food magazine team, so certainly knows his stuff.  His latest book, one that’s just been published, is One Dish Four Ways and is packed with easy family favourites that will help you eat the seasons or create a twist on a classic. It gives your repertoire the ultimate refresh – without complicating the weekly shop or compromising on flavour.  ‘Food trends come and go, but our favourite things to eat remain constant, so in this book I’ve chosen 25 timeless dishes that I know you already love and that lend themselves beautifully to seasonal variations.’ says Desmazery aka ‘the dude from Good Food’,  He takes 25 of the UK’s most popular dishes, and gives them a different spin for each season, resulting in 100 recipes for year-round crowd pleasers.

Barney Desmazery is the longest serving member of Good Food, Britain’s number one food media brand. Starting his career as a chef working at top restaurants in London, France, and Australia, Barney swapped restaurant kitchens for the ultimate test kitchen, where he has written and tested thousands of recipes, worked with celebrity chefs, and made some of the most successful video content for the Good Food social platforms, often reaching 1m+ views. Barney is also responsible for bringing Good Food to life at live events. You’ll find him hosting the interview stages and demonstrating recipes.

From Soups, Salads, Roast Chicken to Cheesecakes, One Dish Four Ways is everything you need for delicious and reliable recipes all year round.  The book was published last week by Quadrille at £22 for a lovely hardback with great photography by Sam Folan.  

To tempt you to invest in the book, here are a couple of recipes:

Tray-Baked Sea Bass with Asparagus with New Potatoes

“The perfect spring one-pan supper, which I also do with larger, whole sea bass when I can get them, but they take a little longer to cook, though not as long as you’d think. Giving someone new potatoes without something to dip them into should be a crime, so I’ve gone with a punchy, anchovy-spiked salsa verde, but any iteration of a herb-based dressing or pesto would work just as well.”

SERVES 4

1kg (2lb 4oz) baby new potatoes, cut in half if large

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

300g (10½oz) asparagus, woody ends snapped

and each spear cut into 2 or 3 pieces

4 sea bass fillets

salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the salsa verde

2 handfuls of parsley leaves, roughly chopped

handful of basil leaves, roughly chopped

1 tbsp capers (baby capers)

1 tsp Dijon mustard

juice of ½ large lemon

1 anchovy (optional)

6–8 tbsp olive oil

small garlic clove, peeled and minced

  1. To make the salsa verde, tip all the ingredients together into a small food processor and blitz to a chunky paste, or for a more labour-intensive salsa, chop the herbs with the capers and anchovy (if using) on a board, then tip into a bowl and stir in the other ingredients. This sauce can be made a day ahead and kept chilled.
  2. Preheat the oven to 210°C/190°C fan/gas 7. Tip the potatoes onto a large baking tray (pan), drizzle with the olive oil, season, and toss to coat. Roast for 25–30 minutes, turning once or twice, until golden and starting to crisp.
  3. Once the potatoes are tender, scatter the asparagus over the tray and give it a shake, then roast for 5 minutes more.
  4. Sit the sea bass fillets on top, skin-side up, then return the tray to the oven and roast for 10–12 minutes until the fish is just cooked through and the asparagus is tender. Spoon over the dressing and serve straight from the tray.

Sausage and Kale Orecchiette

“I’m the proud parent of kids who love greens, and this is the recipe my daughter, Maisie, asked me to teach her to make before she went off to uni. The winter greens in this weeknight comforter are interchangeable with specialist greens like cime de rape, which can make a guest appearance should you be lucky enough to come across them. For more ‘everyday’ swaps you could use cavolo nero, straight-up cabbage or, my family’s favourite, long-stemmed broccoli. Just as with the greens, if orecchiette isn’t available, any short pasta will do.”

SERVES 4

4 good-quality sausages (try fennel-flavoured Italian sausages, if you can get them)

olive oil, for frying

1 tsp fennel seeds

2 garlic cloves, finely grated

pinch of chilli (hot pepper) flakes

150g (5½oz) curly kale or cavolo nero, tough stems removed and leaves shredded

150ml (5fl oz/scant ⅔ cup) double (heavy) cream

350g (12oz) orecchiette pasta

25g (1oz) finely grated Parmesan or pecorino,

plus extra to serve

salt and freshly ground black pepper

  1. Use the tip of a small knife to split each sausage in half lengthways, then open them out and squeeze the sausage meat from the skins, crumbling it into a large frying pan with a drizzle of olive oil over a medium heat. Cook for a good 10–12 minutes, breaking it up with a wooden spatula and letting all the liquid bubble off. You want the sausage to sizzle and catch in its own fat, so stir it regularly and add a splash more oil if it’s getting too dry – it should be golden and crisp in places by the end.
  2. Stir the fennel seeds, garlic and chilli flakes into the sausage and cook for another minute until fragrant, then throw in the kale or cavelo nero and let it wilt down with the sausage. Pour in the cream and let it simmer gently for a few minutes until the greens have completely wilted.
  3. While the sausage is cooking, bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and cook the orecchiette following the packet instructions. When the pasta’s nearly done, scoop out and reserve a mugful of the cooking water, then drain the pasta and set aside.
  4. Over a very low heat, toss the drained pasta into the pan and stir to coat in the sauce, loosening with the reserved pasta water, if needed. Stir through the Parmesan or pecorino, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with more Parmesan or pecorino alongside, for sprinkling over.

Rhubarb and Vanilla Galette

“The pastry used for these sweet galettes is so forgiving – it’s basically like edible children’s modelling clay – but it’s also beautifully short and crumbly because of the cream cheese. This is my favourite way to showcase early, bright pink rhubarb. If you’ve got the patience and a penchant for jigsaw puzzles, this can be arranged in a geometric pattern, which’ll be one for your instagram, or simply scatter over in a single layer.”

SERVES 6

200g (7oz/1⅔ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra for dusting

2 tbsp light brown sugar, plus extra for sprinkling

pinch of salt

125g (4½oz) cold butter, diced

100g (3½oz) soft cheese

1 egg, beaten, to glaze

For the filling

600g (1lb 5oz) rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 6–8cm (2½–3in) lengths

finely grated zest and juice of ½ unwaxed orange

100g (3½oz/scant ½ cup) golden caster sugar

½ tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cornflour (cornstarch)

25g (1oz) butter, melted

  1. To make the pastry, tip the flour, sugar and salt into a large bowl and rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mix looks like fine breadcrumbs. Rub in the soft cheese until the dough starts to come together – stir in 1 tablespoon of iced water if it’s still a bit dry. This can all be done in a food processor. Tip out onto a work surface and knead for a minute or so until everything comes together. The beauty of this pastry is that it doesn’t need to rest, but if you want to get ahead, shape it into a rectangle, wrap and chill for at least 1 hour (or up to 3 days).
  2. To make the filling, toss the rhubarb with the orange zest and juice, sugar and vanilla extract in a bowl, then leave to macerate for at least 30 minutes – this draws out the juices and softens the fruit. Drain through a sieve set over a small saucepan, saving the syrup.
  3. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to a rectangle slightly larger than a magazine or twice the size of an iPad. Slide onto a lined baking sheet.
  4. Dust the cornflour over the pastry to soak up the juices, then arrange the rhubarb on top in neat rows, leaving a 5–6cm (2–2½in) border. Fold the edges over to make a rustic crust, pressing gently to hold in place. Brush the fruit with the melted butter and glaze the pastry with the beaten egg. Sprinkle the pastry with a little brown sugar. Bake for 25 minutes, then reduce the heat to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4 and bake for 20–25 minutes until golden and bubbling.
  5. While the galette is baking, simmer the reserved rhubarb syrup until reduced and syrupy and brush this over the galette as soon as it comes out of the oven. Leave to cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing into squares.

MAKE AHEAD

The pastry can be made up to 3 days ahead and kept wrapped in the fridge, or frozen for up to a month. The rhubarb filling can be mixed and chilled a few hours ahead. Once baked, the galette is best eaten on the day, but leftovers will keep for up to 2 days – refresh in a warm oven if you like. The rhubarb glaze can also be made in advance and stored in the fridge for up to a week.