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(Fantastic with sausage or gammon and egg, grilled tomatoes and mushrooms!!)

Ingredients: Rapeseed oil, potatoes. At least one large potato per person!

Simply peel and cut the potatoes into chunky-chip-sized piece . Par boil for about 5 minutes; meanwhile put a couple of teaspoons of oil in one or two roasting tins/dishes (depending on how many you are making) and pop them in a hot oven. Drain the potatoes well, and spread them, ideally just one layer deep, into the hot fat in the roasting tins, shake about a bit to coat the chips and the cook for about 40 minutes, giving them another good shake about half way through.

No more Mc Cains ever again!!!!

(Quantities below are based on a 2lb red cabbage and makes loads so you can portion up the leftovers to go in the freezer).

Store cupboard items: Red wine vinegar,whole nutmeg, cloves, brown sugar, cinnamon

Other ingredients: 1 red cabbage, 3 medium onions, 3 English apples, 1 clove garlic

Basically this whole recipe is about chopping and putting everything in the biggest, ideally lidded, dish or bowl you can find, that will fit in your microwave!

Quarter and quite finely slice the red cabbage, removing the white stalk and any large white chunks. Peel and finely chop the onions, apples and garlic, then bung the lot together in your big bowl and mix thoroughly with 2-3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, about the same of brown sugar and then roughly a 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon, a quarter of a freshly grated nutmeg (or 1/4 teaspoon of ground) and about 6 cloves. Season generously with salt and pepper and then put on the lid or cover with cling film and cook for about 3 lots of 10 minutes on high in the microwave. Stir really well in between bouts and gradually you will see the whole lot go purple. Have a taste and add more sugar, vinegar or seasoning according to how you like the flavour.

You have to get used to tasting your cooking as you go, to find out what works and doesn’t work. I try to be as flexible as possible on quantities and also on ingredients- if I haven’t got something it’s often possible to think of a similar tasting alternative.

Beef Stew and dumplings

Now, my ethos with cooking is that it has to be simple and it doesn’t matter if you haven’t got all the ingredients. In fact, improvisation could be my middle name as it’s amazing what left overs I can chuck in an stew/omelette/soup/gravy/sandwich/curry, you name it. I will try and convey this in my recipes, so you can pick up this relaxed approach with your own cooking and find out for yourself what works and doesn’t work. Each week, I will build up some store cupboard items that will feature regularly, most of which you may well already have.

I’m going to start with a one pot meal I cooked in advance last Saturday morning to have for a quick tea in the evening..

BEEF STEW AND DUMPLINGS

(Quantities below make 4 generous servings so vary accordingly).

Store cupboard items: Extra virgin rapeseed oil, organic plain and self-raising flour, dried mixed herbs (as a back up), pearl barley (optional), shredded suet, beef stock cubes

Other ingredients: 1.5lb braising steak, 2 medium onions, 2 medium potatoes, your choice of  6-8 oz  of 2 0r 3 of the following:  leeks, carrots, parsnip, swede, turnip, (in fact whatever veggies you like, really!), fresh parsley if you’ve got it.

Cut the steak into largish cubes and coat in well seasoned flour, (I just bung a tablespoon of plain flour in a biggish bowl with salt and freshly ground pepper and swill the meat round in it). Heat a generous dose of oil in a casserole until really hot and brown the meat quickly in two or three lots, then keep it to one side while you fry the roughly chopped onion for 3 or 4 minutes on a lowish heat. (Add a drop more oil if you need to). Then put the meat back in the pan with all your cubed vegetables. Give it all a good stir, add enough beef stock to just about cover the lot and then sprinkle on a couple of ounces of pearl barley, which adds extra substance. Bung a lid on the casserole, bring to simmering point and then either cook on the hob on a very low heat or put in the oven at 150C for 2 hours or so.

The dumplings are dead simple. It took me 2 minutes to add these to the pot when I came back after my day out. Mix 4oz selfraising flour with 2 oz shredded suet, some salt and pepper and a good sprinkle of mixed herbs or better still, a tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley. Slowly add enough cold water to make a stiff, but sort of elastic, dough that encorporates all the flour in the bowl. (If it all gets a bit sticky, just add a bit more flour, no worries!). Use your hands to roll 8 dumplings out of the mixture. Check on the stew: stir and add a bit more liquid or seasoning if necessary, then pop on the dumplings. With the lid back on, cook for a further 20 mins and then finish in a hotter oven (190/200C ish) with the lid off just to brown the top of the dumplings.

Serve and enjoy!

Got any stilton still hanging over from Christmas? If so it’s probably humming a bit by now, so get yourself about 8oz broccoli and sweat that in a large pan with a good dollop of butter, a largish chopped onion and a  couple of medium-sized chopped potatoes. Use enough butter to coat all the veg and stick the lid on the pan leaving it on a very low heat for anywhere between 30 minutes and an hour. Add up to 2 pints of chicken or veg stock for every 1lb or so of veg, bring to the boil, then add about 4 oz or more of stilton (depending on how strong a flavour you like), season well and leave to simmer for a little while longer. Liquidise and reheat before serving. Delicious, cheap and nutritious!

Well I had some stilton left over…!

So I had to buy some broccoli from Bradshaw’s farm shop because we haven’t got any yet ..! It’ sooooo simple. I just googled broc and stilton soup and found this great recipe by a lady called Sue Brewer on www.hub-uk.com/foodpages.

Melt 2oz/50g of butter in a large sauce pan and add 2 large chopped onions, about 600g/1lb5oz of broccoli (cut into florets) and 1/2 a teaspoon each salt, sugar and grated nutmeg. Steam for 20 minutes.

Then add 2 pints of hot veg or chicken stock and simmer for around 10 minutes. Blend until smooth then return to pan adding about 150g/6oz of crumbled stilton and 3 tablespoons of double cream. Stir over a low heat until all the cheese has melted and either eat it fresh or freeze in whatever portion sizes suits you. Scrummy, yummy soup – simple and cheap!

Jane has written in with this delicious take on a bread and butter pudding:

“At the mention of hot cross buns the other week, below is a recipe for Hot cross bun pudding-

4 hot cross buns, each cut across horizontally to make 3 slices, low fat spread, grated lemon rind, 1/2tsp. ground cinnamon, 2 eggs, 3/4pint of milk and some demerara sugar. Reserve the top slices of bun, spread the other slices with low fat spread and then cut them in half.  Arrange the slices spread side up in a round deep 11/2 pint ovenproof dish.Sprinkle with the lemon rind and cinnamon and finish with the 4 bun tops. Beat the eggs with the milk and strain the mixture over the buns. Sprinkle some demerara sugar on top.  Bake at 180C/350F/Gas 4 for 40 mins. or until the top is crisp and golden and the pudding is risen and set. Enjoy!”