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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.
  • juice
  • granola
  • porridge
  • greek yoghurt, blueberries + honey
  • fig, blueberry + apple compote
  • pan con tomate
  • salumi + cheese
  • ricotta, figs + honey
  • french toast + maple syrup
  • bacon sandwich
  • the full skintster

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.
  • a white sourdough bread
  • a simple white farmhouse bread
  • bacon du bedat
  • roast pheasant + redcurrant jelly sandwich
  • chorizo, roasted pepper + rocket sandwich
  • roast pork, onion + apple jelly sandwich
  • fried chicken sandwich
  • shrimp po-boy
  • roast chicken, bacon + avocado sandwich
  • smoked trout + horseradish sandwich
  • crab sandwich
  • spianata, emmental + mostarda toastie
  • mortadella, asiago + fig purée toastie
  • sardines + roasted tomatoes on toast
  • prawns + serrano on toast
  • chicken livers on toast
  • artichoke, scrambled egg + coppa di parma on toast
  • spicy tomatoes on toast
  • the skint rarebit

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.
  • bacon + salad leaves
  • panzanella
  • courgette salad
  • egg, avocado + pine nut salad
  • chorizo, broccoli + potato salad
  • mozzarella, peach + prosciutto salad
  • chicken salad, mint + yogurt dressing
  • salmon, cucumber + potato salad
  • duck egg + chicory 'caesar' salad
  • bacon, artichoke + broccoli salad
  • lentil salad with soft boiled eggs + tapenade toast
  • prosciutto + egg salad
  • greek salad
  • niçoise salad
  • caesar salad

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.
  • boiling + poaching eggs
  • omelette molière
  • smoked haddock omelette
  • courgette + gruyère omelette
  • chive, comté + croutons omelette
  • poached egg with chorizo + peas
  • baked egg + smoked salmon
  • raclette + cornichon relish
  • macaroni cheese
  • cheese + ham fritters
  • goat's cheese, fig + prosciutto

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.'
  • a few really simple sauces for pasta
  • tinned tomato sauce
  • puttanesca sauce
  • bolognese sauce
  • celery + tomato sauce
  • spaghetti carbonara
  • spaghetti all'amatriciana
  • spaghetti + broccoli
  • penne with sausage + tomato
  • tagliatelle with chicken livers
  • risotto with parmesan (and a couple of variations)
  • risotto with sausage
  • risotto with pigeon
  • rice + chicken

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.
  • pizza dough
  • tomato sauces for pizza
  • potato pizza
  • salame piccante, mozzarella, roasted peppers + spinach pizza
  • some other ideas for pizza toppings

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.
  • taleggio + onion tart
  • gruyère + chorizo tart with a poached egg
  • asparagus + parmesan tart
  • pancetta + mushroom tart
  • goat's cheese tart
  • mushroom + gruyère tart

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.
  • courgette, dill + parmesan soup
  • pea + ham soup
  • end of the week minestrone
  • caldo verde
  • pasta + ceci
  • cream of celery soup
  • a little lentil stew
  • a little petit pois, pancetta + thyme stew
  • chickpea + courgette stew
  • cod + white bean stew
  • chorizo + white bean stew
  • pork belly + pea stew
  • pork cheek, chorizo, pea + potato stew
  • pork 'n' beans
  • scrag end of lamb, olive + tomato stew
  • lamb, tomato + red pepper stew
  • a very (I mean very) simple beef casserole

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.
  • a whole baked fish
  • fish in batter
  • fried mackerel fillet
  • roast fillet of hake
  • roasted fish fillet with pancetta
  • plaice + parmesan
  • fish fillets with petit pois, pancetta + thyme stew
  • pollock with a lentil stew
  • trout, panzanella, roasted garlic + white bean mash
  • pollock fishcakes, spinach, dill + mustard sauce
  • squid with avocado + tomato salsa
  • moules marinières

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'.
  • chicken + rosemary
  • chicken wings
  • grilled quail
  • chicken with a chorizo + white bean stew
  • paprika chicken, chard + fried bread
  • chicken, chorizo + rice
  • pigeon breasts with mushroom + pancetta stew
  • pigeon, spinach, potato cake + hot pepper jelly gravy
  • pot roast chicken
  • pot roast pigeon
  • pot roast partridge

meat + offal

(See also 'steak + chops' and 'roasts or two')
  • sausage + peppers
  • cotechino + lentils
  • sobrasada + potato croquettes
  • meatballs
  • cottage pie
  • lancashire hotpot
  • baked ham hock
  • meat + potato pie
  • steak + kidney pudding
  • corned beef hash + poached eggs
  • black pudding, bacon + apple mash
  • devilled kidneys
  • lamb's liver + balsamic vinegar
  • ham hock terrine

steak + chops

  • steak: the cheaper cuts
  • cooking steaks
  • mushroom + red wine sauce
  • cooking chops
  • masala lamb cutlets
  • lamb chops, olives + tomatoes
  • paprika pork 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.
  • whole roast chicken
  • roast (half of) chicken for two
  • roast pheasant
  • roast pigeon
  • roast tri-tip of beef
  • roast lamb shanks
  • slow cooked breast of lamb
  • slow roast shoulder of pork
  • roast pork belly

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.
  • mash/potato purée
  • mashed potato pudding
  • potato cakes
  • crushed potatoes
  • roast potatoes
  • oven chips
  • caponata
  • garlic + bean mash
  • mushrooms + thyme
  • avocado + tomato salsa
  • stuffed baby peppers
  • fried broccoli
  • pea purée
  • roasted peppers
  • roasted tomatoes
  • roasted tinned tomatoes
  • chard, pine nuts + raisins
  • courgettes + chilli
  • braised celery
  • brussel sprouts + hazelnut butter
  • creamed savoy cabbage
  • glazed carrots
  • carrot + swede mash
  • swede purée

afters

  • frozen berries with white chocolate sauce
  • apple tart
  • little almond cakes
  • chocolate + burnt sugar pots
  • affogato
  • strawberry + mascarpone tarts
  • elderflower burnt cream
  • lemon posset
  • almond + plumb crumble
  • strawberry + mascarpone tarts
  • lemon polenta cake
  • rice pudding + blueberry purée
  • date + walnut loaf
  • lemon drizzle cake

basics

Stocks, dressings and a few other basic recipes.
  • chicken stock
  • white wine vinegar dressing
  • red wine vinegar dressing
  • honey + mustard dressing
  • cream + mustard dressing
  • mayo + mustard dressing
  • mayonnaise
  • tartare sauce
  • sourdough crispbread
  • croutons
  • bread sauce
  • onion gravy
Creative Commons Licence
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
  • blog
  • about
  • how
  • recipes
    • recipes
    • skint 'takeaways'
    • mid-week meals for the time-poor
    • cheese boards
    • coffee
  • spending
  • links
  • contact
  • spotify playlists