Two recipes from Rebecca Wilson's new cookbook, Family Comforts, published by DK, September 16 (£18.99). Read our chat with Rebecca here.

Water-fried chicken  

It’ll feel like an odd process to pour a load of water into your fried chicken pan, but trust me, the results are phenomenal – the juiciest, most flavourful piece of chicken you’ll ever eat! My Nina loves it!

Serves 3 adults and 2 littles. Prep and cook 25 minutes. Freezable 

Ingredients 

  • 4 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour
  • 8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs 
  • 1 tbsp sunflower oil 
  • freshly ground black pepper

Method

Put the flour on a plate, season with a little black pepper and mix briefly. One at a time, coat the chicken pieces really well, ensuring that the flour covers every part of the meat.

Heat a large, non-stick, heavy-based frying pan over a medium–high heat and add the sunflower oil. Once hot, place the chicken pieces in the pan, unrolled and flat, ensuring they don’t overlap and the chicken is sitting snugly in the pan. Fry on each side for 3–5 minutes until starting to turn a little brown – they won’t be cooked through at this stage.

Once the chicken is sealed, pour in about 250ml (9fl oz) water, or enough to come just under halfway up the sides of the chicken pieces. Now let it simmer away until all the water has evaporated, this will take around 5–10 minutes. There’s no need to turn the chicken, so you can put the pan on the back burner and get on with other meal prep during this time.

Once most of the water has evaporated, the chicken will be fully cooked throughout. When there’s the smallest amount of liquid left in the base of the pan, you can flip the chicken back and forth and allow it to crisp up and colour on each side for 2 minutes.

Use a spatula to scrape the thick crispy chicken juices from the bottom of the pan onto the fillets – this is all really yummy flavour. The chicken will gain colour very quickly, and then it’s ready. Take the pan off the heat and allow to rest for 3–5 minutes before serving.

Serve with rice or potatoes and salad or veg. This chicken is great in wraps or tacos too! For little taste testers, cut the chicken into finger-sized strips so it’s easy to hold.

Love your leftovers

The chicken will keep in the fridge for 2 days and is delicious cold in sandwiches, but to reheat place back in the pan with an extra splash of water to avoid it drying out


Pear and ginger cake

Delicately spiced with ginger, it will surprise you how low in sugar this moreish cake really is. Whip this up for a family gathering and see smiles all round.

Serves 8–10. Prep 20 minutes. Bake 1 hour. Freezable

Ingredients

  • 150g (5½oz) unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
  • 80g (2¾oz) soft dark brown sugar, or slightly less if preferred
  • 290g (101/4oz) can pitted prunes in fruit juice (175g/6oz drained weight)
  • 300g (10½oz) self-raising flour
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 heaped tsp ground ginger
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 medium eggs
  • 400g (14oz) can of pear halves in juice (230g/8oz drained weight)
  • demerara sugar, to decorate (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 170ºC fan (190ºC/375ºF/Gas 5) and grease and line a 20cm (8in) springform cake tin with non-stick baking paper.

Put the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat until pale and fluffy. Drain the prunes, catching the juice in a bowl, and add the prunes to the mixing bowl. Beat again for a few moments to break up the fruit – don’t worry if it looks like it’s starting to curdle.

Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda, vanilla extract, ginger, cinnamon and eggs to the bowl, along with 80ml (2½fl oz) of the prune juice. Whisk well until a smooth batter is formed, but stop beating as soon as the mixture comes together to ensure you don’t overmix.

Pour the batter into your prepared tin and level the top. Arrange the pear halves on top, then sprinkle over the demerara sugar, if using. Bake on the middle shelf of the preheated oven for 50–60 minutes until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Check after 30 minutes and if the top is starting to brown too quickly, make a foil hat and place it over the cake tin to prevent the top of the cake from burning.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the tin before running a knife around the inside of the tin and removing the sides. Place the cake, with the base still attached, onto a cooling rack and set aside until it is cool enough to handle, then remove the base and serve.

This cake is delicious slightly warm with a little drizzle of single (light) cream or custard. Love your leftovers Store the cake in an airtight container for 3–4 days, or freeze for 3 months, defrosting at room temperature.

Recipes extracted from: Family Comforts by Rebecca Wilson is published by DK on September 16 (£18.99)