In 2015 alone, I have read around 3,000 recipes, and cooked nearly 400, every single one coming from Guardian readers. I am in no way exaggerating when I say it is a privilege to have made and eaten so much good food. Every week, I learn something new. Readers, you have made me a better cook and I thank you.
Choosing a home cook of the year was always going to be an extremely difficult task. The backstory and context of your recipe submissions often have almost as much vibrancy and charm as the dishes themselves, and this is certainly the case with our deserved winner this year.
Carol Harris, otherwise known as MizPepperpot, takes inspiration from her Jamaican and British heritage, along with her travels around the world, to explore her creativity in the kitchen. “My mum was an adventurous cook,” she says. “When I was a child, she loved making recipes from Madhur Jaffrey and Ken Hom. It’s never just been British food at home. But it was when I moved from Lancashire to Brighton in my 20s that I really began to learn how to cook. Just having dinner parties with friends, with everyone cooking different styles of food, taught me so much.”
On her return to Preston, though, that all changed. “When I went back home, my parents were older. Now, I care for them both full-time, which means I can spend a lot of time in my kitchen, cooking for them and my daughter, Ruby. I love the alchemy, and I find that it really relaxes me.”
Carol’s recipes are so wide-ranging – from simple Italian canapes to Japanese curries and North American diner food – that I was curious to know her biggest influence. “It has to be the Caribbean; I just love the vibrancy of it. My Dad, who’s Jamaican, asks for the same dishes all the time: fried fish and peppers, served with West Indian veg, such as yams. My mum loves Jamaican food too, but especially patties. The same can be said of my brother. I don’t buy him Christmas presents any more, I just make him a freezer’s worth of patties!”
I asked Carol what inspires her to send in her ideas each week. “It’s nice to think that other people want to try my recipes. I’m not one for showcasing lots of different techniques. I like to make straightforward food that people will want to, and be able to, make for themselves. Cooking is a life skill – a social skill – and you should be able to feed yourself well and enjoy it.” I couldn’t agree more. Here’s MizPepperpot’s celebratory recipe.
Chicken with rice and peas
This is a dish I grew up with. It’s a staple in most Caribbean homes and everyone has their own version of it. This was our special weekend dinner dish, and we’d have cousins, aunts and uncles turning up for a taste. It’s also the dish that is put on the table whenever one of us returns home to my parents. Mum and Dad, despite being 87 years old, both make this regularly, and I really can’t say whose is the best!
MizPepperpot
For the chicken
Serves 6-8
Juice from 1 lime
1 large chicken, cut into portions, skin removed
3-4 spring onions, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 scotch bonnet chilli, minced, deseeded
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 tbsp Caribbean curry powder
Oil, for browning
1 large carrot, sliced
250ml water or chicken stock
Coleslaw, to serve
Pickled beetroot, to serve
For the rice and peas
1 litre hot water or chicken stock
60g creamed coconut
Sprig of fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme
1 spring onion
A pinch of salt
1 whole scotch bonnet pepper
400g basmati or long-grain rice
400g tin of red kidney beans or pigeon (gungo) peas, drained
1 Rub the lime juice over the chicken, drain any excess. Combine the spring onion, onion, garlic, chilli, thyme and curry powder. Coat the chicken pieces in the mix, cover and marinate for at least one hour – preferably overnight.
2 Take the chicken out of the marinade. Reserve the rest. Brown the chicken a few pieces at a time in very hot pan, then return it all to the pan with the marinade, veggies and carrot. Stir and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes, lightly browning the onions.
3 Add the water or stock. Simmer for 25 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked. Reduce the sauce to a thick gravy.
4 Meanwhile, make the rice. Stir the liquid and coconut over a high heat until dissolved. Add the thyme, spring onion, salt and chilli. Simmer for 3 minutes to infuse the liquid. Add the rice and beans, stir gently taking care not to break the scotch bonnet pepper. Boil for 4–5 minutes, or until you can no longer see the liquid above the rice. Turn down the heat as low as possible, cover with a tight lid and leave to steam for approximately 15 minutes. Remove the chilli and spring onion before serving with the chicken, some coleslaw and pickled beetroot.
Home cook of the year
Carol was presented with a Christmas hamper from Riverford at the inaugural Cook Christmas Bazaar held in London on 5 December. The readers’ recipe swap continues next year: share your after-school snack recipes with us by noon on Wednesday 30 December. Email your suggestions to recipes@theguardian.com or upload your recipes and images to theguardian.com/witness. Winning recipes will appear on 9 January 2016.
