Try a little tenderness: How to turn humble ingredients into rich winter warmth

Whether you crave fall-apart lamb or a simple one-pan meal you can make your own, Lucy Tweed’s slow-cooked recipes dial the comfort level up to maximum.

There is nothing quite like the ritual of pulling out the heavy pot as soon as the temperature drops. Braises and casseroles are affordable, flexible and deeply warming – but achieving that perfect, fork-tender texture requires the right foundation.

In this extract from her new book Tender, cook and stylist Lucy Tweed champions the philosophy that time and patience are as crucial as the meat itself. She shows how a slow, gentle simmer transforms humble ingredients into the ultimate winter comfort food.

I can’t tell you the number of iterations I’ve made of this easy, adaptable, one-pan dinner. The rice cooks around the meat and becomes a combination of tender, chewy, sticky and crisp. I dare you to adjust the flavour profiles. Go mad. Use a curry paste. Do it with minced meats. Do it with dumplings on top. Make your midweek one-pan wonders your own, as they should be.

The best recipes from Australia's leading chefs straight to your inbox.

Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Meat so tender it falls from the bone straight into a sticky, soupy, tangy delight – wine, lemon and chicken stock swirled with herbs, dotted with waxy potatoes and warm chickpeas. This is the kind of braise that feeds you in more ways than one. It’s rich but bright, deeply savoury but lifted with lemon, the sort of dish that insists you eat it with your hands. Tear off an ear of flatbread, scoop up the fall-apart lamb, the chickpeas, the broth-soaked potatoes, and let the mess happen. This is comfort food at its absolute peak.

This is an edited extract from Tender by Lucy Tweed. Photography by Rob Palmer. Published by Murdoch Books, RRP $39.99.