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Food for Fast Lives

The pace of modern life leaves little time for communal meals says Gerry Galvin.

In my book "Everyday Gourmet", published by O'Brien Press in 1997, I said in the introduction:

The nostalgic picture of families united over the dinner table fades by the day. Our furious pace of life demands faster and faster food and eating. "On the hoof" or 'grazing' are terms often used to describe modern eating habits.

Ten years later all that has changed is that the pace of change has gathered even more momentum; less home cooking, fewer communal family meals and the rash of so-called convenience foods. Recipe-givers like myself had better take note of this, eschewing complication and adhering to the one-word consensus: simplicity. In the spirit of the times I offer the following family fare.

Coddle

Coddle is the definitive simple family dish: one word, one pot, no mysterious ingredients.

(Four portions)

8 sausages
4 rashers cut in strips
2 large potatoes cut in chunks
1 medium onion finely chopped
2 medium carrots sliced in thin rounds
700ml vegetable stock
2 tablespoons fresh parsley finely chopped
Ground white pepper

Put all ingredients except parsley and pepper in a pot and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add parsley and season with pepper. Serve in deep soup plates.

Sweet and Sour Drumsticks

Note the seductive, child-in-mind title, the particular use of the sweet word and the conjoined drum and sticks. The psychology is that the little rascals will be conned into thinking this is some kind of dessert with an unspecified musical noise factor and therefore highly desirable.

(Four portions)
Oven at 220C/ 425F/ Gas 7.

1 tablespoon olive oil 8 chicken drumsticks Salt and black pepper

For the Sweet and Sour Sauce mix together all the following:

3 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon grain mustard
1 tablespoon clear honey
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
3 tablespoons orange juice
Half a teaspoon ground ginger
2 garlic cloves crushed

Brush a roasting tin all over with the oil and lay the drumsticks side by side in the tin. Brush the drumsticks also with oil and season with salt and pepper.

Roast for 15 minutes and then brush all over with the sweet and sour sauce. Roast for another15 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce shows signs of caramelisation. Serve with salad, rice and extra sauce.

Cold, these drumsticks are excellent for picnics and the sauce goes well with barbecued burgers or chops.

On the assumption that children of all ages are suckers for dip and dunk food I include this wayward direction for a recipe which I think is of Turkish origin. It's called Dukkah, two syllables that make a make a pleasantly nostalgic nursery sound.

Make it like this:

While warming a baguette in the oven grind or crush a mixture of seeds and nuts (any combination you fancy) and put them in a bowl.

In another bowl combine 4 parts light olive oil with I part balsamic vinegar.

Dip and dunk the warm baguette, first in the oil/vinegar and then in the seeds/nuts. Eat.