"For me, it is a creative art where you combine your favourite flavours to make comforting dishes that brings happiness to those around you. Food is for enjoying."
The creative force behind social media pages "Baking with Beavis and "Peeled Back" which have garnered more than 700,000 followers, Beavis aims to make home cooking more accessible for a wider audience.
Her recipes have been perfected thanks to "generations of love and warmth from friends and family" growing up in the Warwickshire countryside and are divided into sections based on the amount of time it takes to make them — 10, 20, 30 or 40 minutes — going from quick and easy weeknight meals to more complicated weekend meals. Plus there is a baking chapter at the back.
"Going back to the basics with quick, simple recipes that don’t feel rushed or thoughtless, food has the ability to take you back to a time where you felt loved, warm and safe."
The book
Text and Images extracted from Country Comfort: Hearty, wholesome meals in minutes by Hari Beavis, published by Quarto, RRP: $59.99.
Pulled chicken tacos
I make this whenever we have family over: it works for all the generations my sister and me in our 20s, my cousins in their 30s, our parents in their 50-60s. Even Nana and Gramps who are in their mid-80s and have never had tacos before ate about seven between them at our last family gathering! They are flavourful, you can forget about them as they cook and you can tailor them according to what the family loves (for example, I add a mega ton of cheese, avocado, soured cream and jalapeos).
Serves 4
Ingredients
3 Tbsp olive oil
6 boneless chicken thighs
2 onions, peeled and diced
6-8 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic granules
a pinch of dried chilli flakes (optional)
400g tin tomatoes (or a tube of tomato pure/paste)
750ml (3 cups) chicken stock (bouillon)
8 mini tortilla wraps fillings of choice
(I use grated mozzarella cheese, jalapeos from a jar and a sprinkle of chopped coriander, salt and pepper lime wedges, to serve )
Method
Heat the oil in a large deep frying pan over a high heat, add the chicken thighs and sear on both sides until crispy (around 3-5 mins), then remove from the pan and set aside. In the same pan add the diced onions and garlic and cook for 5 minutes until soft, then add the spices and cook for 2 minutes before adding the tomatoes. Cook for 2 more minutes. Put the chicken back in the pan, season with salt and pepper and add the chicken stock (you need enough to cover the thighs), pop a lid on and cook for 30 minutes until the chicken can be pulled apart.
Remove the pulled chicken from the pan, leaving the sauce.
Add a tortilla wrap to the sauce and coat on both sides then add to a shallow frying pan over a medium heat and add your pulled chicken along with your chosen toppings, then fold the wrap over itself to make a taco. Let it cook for 1 minute on each side until crisp and golden brown, then remove it from the pan, garnish with coriander and fresh lime and enjoy.
Repeat with the remaining tortillas and filling. If you have any sauce left over, use it for dipping.
Alternatives
Chicken: I use thighs because they’re juicier than breasts and don’t dry out, but you could use lamb or beef. I have done this before with stewing beef and beef brisket and they’re both real winners. Remember that beef and lamb require a longer cooking time before they will fall apart.
Chicken stock: use the same stock as meat that you’re cooking. If you’re cooking beef use beef stock.
Fillings: use grated cheese, cucumber, shredded lettuce, tomato, jalapeos, cooked rice, beans the list is endless. Be creative and make it as fun as possible.
Nana’s chocolate cake
This recipe is very special to me. When my sister and I were little, Nana and Gramps looked after us a lot and one of my key memories is coming home to a cup of tea and a slice of Nana’s chocolate cake. My sister and I would fight over who had more buttercream filling in their cake and we would try and nab the biggest slice. No matter what was happening at home, a slice of Nana’s chocolate cake in front of the telly with something warm after school would always make us feel better. We could focus on our homework and after-school activities better because we had a big chocolatey grin on our faces. So, Nana, if you’re reading this, you were our superstar and Gramps, thanks for letting us eat your portions of cake!
Makes 1 × 18cm cake
Ingredients
170g margarine, plus extra for greasing
170g self-raising flour
2 heaped Tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
170g (generous cup) caster sugar
3 large eggs
For the chocolate icing
60g margarine
120g icing sugar
60g cocoa powder
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan) and grease the cake tins with margarine.
Put the margarine in a large bowl and beat with an electric whisk or wooden spoon until smooth and creamy. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and then add the caster sugar and eggs.
Mix with a wooden spoon until smooth and creamy.
Divide the mixture evenly between the prepared cake tins and bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean (or gently press the top of each cake — they should spring back). Remove from the oven, carefully turn out on to a wire rack and leave to cool.
Put the margarine in a bowl and whisk with an electric whisk until fluffy and pale. Sift in the icing sugar and cocoa powder and mix it in, making sure there are no lumps and that the icing has a spreadable consistency.
Sandwich the cakes with the icing (when one of us had done well in school, Nana used to double the chocolate filling and pop another layer on top but that was only for special occasions).
Leftover rainbow pinwheels
My nana used to make these with cheese and onion when our church had a service. I remember being young and squeezing around all the adults’ legs to try and get to the snack table before they all got eaten. There is something so comforting about eating something in puff pastry. They make perfect little starters or snacks (they keep in the fridge for up to one week) and this is another one of my recipes where the ingredients are interchangeable — add your favourite flavours and make it your own. I enjoy adding bacon and jalapenos to give them some saltiness and a good kick.
Makes 12 wheels
Ingredients
80g sliced ham, finely chopped
1 red pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
80g spinach, finely chopped
1 × 320g sheet of all-butter puff pastry
80g Cheddar cheese, grated
80g red Leicester cheese, grated
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan).
Throw the ham, spring onions, pepper and spinach into a large bowl.
Unroll the sheet of pastry and spread the contents of the bowl across the surface of the pastry, then sprinkle over the grated cheeses. Roll up your pastry so it forms one long sausage then slice into 12 little rounds (2cm-2.5cm) that are filled with rainbow veges. Place the rounds on a baking tray, spaced out to allow the pastry to puff up.
Brush each pinwheel with beaten egg and cook in the oven for 8 minutes until puffed up and golden brown. Serve and enjoy!
