recipes

breakfast

I bloody love breakfast. Here's some favourite recipes. And to those of you living in SE15, a big shout out for the scrumptious plain ring doughnuts that Ayres the Bakers sell in their shop from 6am everyday.

bread + toast

To me, a meal isn't complete without bread of some form. Luckily, even the most expensive artisanal loaf costs but a few quid. So I indulge myself with the finest bread I can get my hands on. Loaves such as Franco Manca's sourdough, Blackbird Bakery's slow rise or the Flour Station's tortano.

salads

I try and have some form of salad almost every day, even if only a simply dressed bowl of leaves. Salads for lunch. Salads for supper. Salads as a side dish. You feel better about yourself after a salad. Even if it's one of eggs, lardons and croutons - basically a fry up with leaves.

eggs + cheese

Versatile and nutritious, even an organic, free range supermarket egg provides a cheap meal, about £1 for a three-egg plain omelette. Cheese, however, is a bit of an issue for the skint foodie, because it's so expensive - a good, unpasteurised cheese from a small producer setting you back around £20 per kilo or more. I can't do without parmesan, and I'll sometimes buy a supermarket cheddar for toasting purposes, but otherwise I'll save up my pennies and limit myself to a small chunk of the good stuff once a week or so.

pasta + rice

Here's Marcella Hazan with a few tips about pasta. This is like God talking:

'Pasta needs lots of water to move around in, or it becomes gummy. Four litres of water are required for 450g pasta. Never use less than 3 litres, even for a small amount of pasta...For every 450g pasta, put in no less than 1½ tablespoons of salt...Add the salt when the water comes to the boil. Wait until the water comes to a full, roiling boil before putting in the pasta...Never put oil in the water except when cooking stuffed homemade pasta...In the sequence of steps that lead to producing a dish of pasta...none is more important than tossing... However marvellous a sauce may be, it cannot merely sit on top of or at the bottom of the bowl. If it is not broadly and uniformly distributed, the pasta for which it is intended will have little flavour.'

pizza

I only started making my own pizza a few years ago and kick myself thinking of all those wasted years. I'm not saying that the pizzerias of Naples are quaking in their boots, but the results are far superior to anything I can buy in a supermarket.

savoury tarts

Ready-made puff pastry. Is there a greater product that you can have in your freezer? No, is the answer your looking for. Buy a block of puff pastry, cut it into six pieces and freeze them. They take no time at all to defrost. Roll a piece out to your desired thickness and make the shape you require - a rectangle, square or round - and crimp up the edges. Add your chosen toppings and bung in the oven for 20 minutes or so. Serve with a crisp, green salad and maybe some sautéed potatoes. Job done. A puff pastry tart makes a great mid-week supper, because it's quick and easy and you can use pretty much whatever you find in the fridge - a bit of cheese, some salami or bacon, leftover potatoes, roasted vegetables etc.

soups + stews

Probably my favourite thing to cook in all the world is the one-pot soup/stew. A single heat source, a sturdy pan, a wooden spoon and a deep bowl to eat from - this is cooking at it's simplest and most satisfying. 

I hardly ever make an elegant, blended soup - I tend to like them rustic and uncouth, the kind that can almost be eaten with a fork. In other words, a faint-hearted stew. Having said that, there's a couple here that do involve blending. But you'd hardly call them elegant.

fish + shellfish

Fish can be mighty expensive. Still, I eat fresh fish a couple of times a week usually. Just not turbot, halibut or dover sole. More like mackerel, sardines, flounder, pollock, pouting and gurnard, or whatever's on special offer at the supermarket fish counter.

chicken + game

Chicken is, of course, a mainstay of skint cookery. Leftovers from a roast will go to make sandwiches or salads; the carcass will be used to make stock. And poussin, quail and small game birds are ideal for the single cook. For roast birds, see 'roasts for two'.

meat + offal

(See also 'steak + chops' and 'roasts or two')

steak + chops

roasts for two

A disadvantage of living alone or as a couple is that it can seem a bit impractical to make a Sunday roast, but that needn't be the case. You have plenty of options for chicken and game birds, although less so for beef, lamb and pork. The first recipe here is for a whole chicken (and thus for four people or two with leftovers) but it's a wonderful way to roast the bird, so I thought I should include it. It's followed by a Billy No Mates recipe for half a chicken.

vegetables etc.

With the exception of mangetouts and sweetcorn (the devil's arse nuggets) I like pretty much any vegetable. I have been accused in some quarters of having an irrational hatred of celery: to be clear, I'm fine with the taste of it, and am always using it; I just think it should be grown with only two or three stalks, so there's no waste.

afters

basics

Stocks, dressings and a few other basic recipes.