Mary Berry’s tips for stress-free dinners
In her new TV series, Dame Mary Berry solves celebrities’ dinnertime dilemmas. Here she shares her advice for making every evening meal a success… From confident cooks over-complicating dishes to nothing-in-the-fridgers always ordering takeaway, there are many dinnertime issues people face. But fear not, celebrity cook, Mary Berry is on hand to deliver simple tips to help make dinner time a breeze in her new six-part BBC Two series, Mary Berry’s Foolproof Dinners, which begins on BBC Two on Tuesday 29 October. Here are Mary’s top tips for making effortless meals… New to cooking? Go for all-in-one dinners In the series, Mary visits Alan Carr to help him with his dinner dilemmas. “I’d never met [Alan] before. I'd seen a glimpse of him on television, I thought he was crazy and fun, so I was really excited about meeting him. And we did have so much fun! “He’d been away until the day before we filmed and when we went into the kitchen - there wasn't much action going on there. There was nothing in the cupboards or the fridge but I quickly realised this had nothing to do with Alan being away – he doesn’t generally cook. I said to him: ‘Well, how do you eat?’ and he told me, ‘It’s called takeaway, and it's delivered’. And he shouts through the letterbox, ‘leave it outside’ and that's it. “Growing up, Alan’s mum cooked a lot, she was a good cook and food growing up was quite important to him. So, I wanted to teach him some new, simple, go-to recipes that he could manage. “He loved the idea of having everything all in one tray. And that's exactly what we did, a quick beef chow mein, which he could make after a busy day at work.” Don’t feel guilty about using time-saving shortcuts In episode two of Foolproof Dinners, Mary spends time with Claudia Winkleman. “I know [Claudia] really well and I admire [her] a lot. She lives life to the full, she's frightfully clever and she’s just full of fun. She loves to cook but hasn't a lot of time because she has such a busy schedule, if she’s not filming The Traitors, she’s doing Strictly, or she's doing something else. “If she's in the kitchen, she doesn't want to hang about so I decided that I would show her how to make a really easy fast quiche, as a quiche was also a lovely reminder of her childhood. “Making pastry from scratch for a quiche is very time consuming so I suggested a time saving way – using a tortilla wrap as the base, you simply push it into the corners of a quiche tin. We added a filling of chestnut mushrooms, onions and mature English cheddar. It is delicious. “Claudia absolutely loved it, and we had great fun doing it. She was so enthusiastic and didn't miss a trick and did everything beautifully. You can tell the way somebody picks up something like a spatula to stir in a pan, that they know how to cook.” So, if Mary Berry says it’s fine to take easy wins, you really don’t need to feel guilty about doing the same. She adds: “Don’t be afraid of taking shortcuts. You know, if time is short, buy a packet of pre-cooked lentils or buy a packet of puff pastry. Don't feel guilty when you do these things.” Make special occasion dishes in advance This is something Mary’s been passionate about for years. If you’re making something special, you really don’t need to make everything on the day if it’s going to leave you stressed and short of time. “Make full use of your freezer. If you know somebody's coming at the weekend and you've got time on a particular day, you can make ahead and you can freeze it or make some for now and some for another day. This is something Mary demonstrates when she spends time with Countryfile’s Hamza Yassin. “He’s looking for a girlfriend and wants to woo them with food. “He loves fish, so we did a sensational halibut dish with clam sauce. I then brought him a decadent chocolate cake which is perfect for impressing a love interest and he loved it!” If Yassin wanted to recreate this in the future, the chocolate cake could be made in advance, frozen and then decorated on the day, making his pre-date routine more relaxing. Don’t overcomplicate things Sometimes the pressure mounts to deliver the perfect meal, but that doesn’t mean that dishes need to be complicated, says Mary. On the series she delivers this message to her “dear friend,” Sue Perkins. “In the kitchen Sue’s issue is that she's a very good cook, and knowledgeable about food but she sometimes over complicates things when hosting a crowd. She is very well travelled, and she's learned about different foods wherever she has gone but she never follows a recipe which can often lead to disasters. “We created an impressive rhubarb plate pie with homemade pastry that Sue just loved.” On the show, Mary shows us that while many dishes look (and taste) impressive, they don’t have to be complicated to make. Don’t be afraid of trying something new While Mary advises Sue Perkins to stick to recipes to avoid cooking disasters, this doesn’t mean you should be afraid to experiment with new flavours – it’s about finding the right recipe for your needs. Dragon’s Den star, Sara Davies gets to do just this when she spends time with Mary. “Sara doesn't cook but likes to try and her mission was to be able to host a dinner party for friends and family to mark her recent 40th birthday. “I taught her to make the most wonderful crab cakes, with a little spice and lemon grass they make a great party pleaser. Sara, being a craft person is very good with her hands was making the crab cakes very quickly – she was very good cook and so eager to learn, she was delightful.” And even Mary explains she pushes herself to try new dishes. “New things come up each year – we discover new techniques. And also, my children and grandchildren are inspirations. My daughter Annabel is a brilliant cook, she's always experimenting with different things, and she recommends new ingredients for me to try.” Watch Mary Berry’s Foolproof Dinners, Tuesdays from 29 October at 7.30pm on BBC Two or catch up on BBC iPlayer Originally published October 2024