NO Bake Off, no matter – Mary Berry has plenty to keep busy with. As her new BBC Two series begins, she tells us why she’s on a mission to celebrate the everyday.

Viewers were left bereft when Mary Berry announced she wouldn’t be following The Great British Bake Off’s move to Channel 4.

But fear not, fans - five months on and the Somerset-born cook is back with a new BBC Two TV series and accompanying cookbook, Mary Berry Everyday, celebrating items which have formed the cornerstone of her cooking over six decades.

“I was thinking about, as the title suggests, the everyday,” explains Berry 81, whose culinary career started with training, aged 21, at Le Cordon Bleu school, France. “Everyday can be just with the family, it can mean having friends around, it can be a special occasion.”

While the six-part series will follow Berry as she travels to Scotland to enjoy the best of their everyday larder; tries her hand at bee keeping; and teaches her own grand-daughter to milk a goat and make cheese, the tie-in tome will document her own kitchen creations, alongside top tricks and tips.

With everything from hearty and wholesome, to indulgent and easy crowd-pleasers on the menu, it’s a catalogue that’s sure to please.

Mary said: “All the recipes are tried out at home.

“The children might say, ‘oh yuck’, or someone may say, ‘that takes too long to do’, and those don’t go in the book.

“It’s important not to have too many ingredients or pieces of equipment,” she adds. “I want to inspire people to cook, and I do think a book is a nice thing to have. I’m very lucky that people trust me and that they have a go.”

With more than 70 titles under her belt, it’s safe to say people do trust Berry - and she isn’t hanging up her apron strings any time soon. Keep busy in the kitchen yourself, with this recipe from Berry’s new book:

n Squash and black bean chilli

Ingredients: 1 small butternut squash (about 1kg), peeled, deseeded and cut into cubes, 3tbsp olive oil, 2 red onions, chopped, 2 garlic cloves, crushed, 1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped, 1tbsp ground cumin, 1tbsp ground coriander, 3 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes, 150ml white wine, 1tbsp light muscovado sugar, 2 x 400g tins of black beans, drained and rinsed, Salt and freshly ground black pepper, Sprigs of coriander, to serve

n Method: Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/Gas 7. Arrange the cubes of squash in a single layer a baking tray and drizzle over two tablespoons of the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and toss together. Roast in the oven for 25-35 minutes, or until golden and tender, but still with a little bite.

Heat the remaining oil in a large, wide, deep frying pan. Add the onions, garlic and chilli and fry over a high heat for two to three minutes. Sprinkle in the spices and fry for another minute. Add the tomatoes, wine and sugar, season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil, stirring. Cover with a lid, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Give the mixture a stir, add the beans and the roasted cubes of squash, then cover again with the lid and simmer for a further 10 minutes.

Check the seasoning and serve piping hot with the coriander.