The Coronavirus crisis is affecting everyone worldwide. It’s becoming more and more scary and the news and government advice changes every day. Any time now in the UK we could find ourselves in lockdown. Food supplies and grocery items are getting harder to find because of panic buying. I haven’t been able to buy loo…
Macaroni cheese
I made mac n cheese last night for a friend who came over to supper. He wanted to go over his pitch for a business idea – he’s made it to the semi finals of an entrepreneurial competition (very exciting) so it was a bit of a working dinner. He’s eaten my mac n cheese…
Puy lentil salad with aubergines and broccoli
Puy lentils make a fantastic base for any salad and go very well with most vegetables. Try circles of carrot cooked Vichy-style (simmered in water, butter, salt and sugar until nicely glazed and soft) or courgettes and red peppers, brushed with olive oil and griddled. You could try stirring some cauliflower florets in olive oil…
Laksa
I made this soup as a first course for a family lunch way back in November but only now just writing it up just because I’ve been so busy. The day job has been frantic and I’ve also recently set up a handcrafted jewellery business (check out http://www.etsy.com/shop/ArrowskyDesigns). This laksa soup was the first…
Soda bread
I have a regular routine of making my own sourdough bread and a loaf usually lasts me a week, but occasionally, like today, I run out and find I don’t have any bread for breakfast. So instead of running to the Co-op, I make soda bread instead. Soda bread can be made really quickly, no kneading…
Spicy fishcakes with chimichurri dipping sauce
This is one of those recipes you can whip up with ingredients you probably already have in stock and it’s great if you have some mashed potato to use up. I browsed for a recipe online and fancied making Gordon Ramsay’s spiced tuna fishcakes but didn’t quite have all the ingredients so this is my…
Sun-dried tomato houmous
Here’s another Miguel Barclay recipe from his ‘Vegan One Pound Meals’ cookery book. I love the fact that he keeps his list of ingredients short and the method easy – his book is full of recipes that have just a handful of steps to create a tasty dish. These are simple and affordable vegan recipes…
Vegan sausage rolls
This recipe is from Miguel Barclay’s latest book ‘Vegan One Pound Meals’. I love his ‘One Pound Meals’ series – a cooking philosophy very much like mine – easy, freshly cooked food at a reasonable price (and you can’t get more reasonable than a pound per person). One of the cheap, fresh and easy mantras…
Gazpacho
This week the weather started to turn autumnal but only three weeks ago we were sweltering in record breaking temperatures over the Bank Holiday weekend. I was rushing around a lot of the time, helping my daughter move into her new flat, so I didn’t have time to do much cooking – and it was…
Shakshuka
This morning I cooked my first home made shakshuka – a delicious middle eastern breakfast recipe (which can also be turned into a vegan version if you leave out the eggs). Yesterday my new kitchen stools arrived so I really enjoyed celebrating by eating at the breakfast bar. I only had one egg in the…
Aubergine and tomato curry
This is the last recipe I made before my kitchen was renovated. The new kitchen is now ready and I am gradually getting back into the habit of home cooking after coping with microwaved ready meals and takeaways. I also ate out quite lot, including going to the gym to eat in the cafe there…
Courgette omelette
Sometimes I think I veer away a bit from the ‘easy’ part of the ‘cheap, fresh and easy’ philosophy of this blog. So here’s a quick and simple recipe that only takes about 10 minutes. My tips for a successful omelette are: use a non stick frying pan pour the beaten eggs into the hot…
Sticky shiitake mushrooms
This is a vegan recipe from Bosh! which I made yesterday and devoured greedily. I swear this is one of the most delicious meals I’ve ever eaten and my photo doesn’t really do it justice. As the Bosh recipe says ‘If you’re a fan of sticky, sweet, pan-asian cuisine you will absolutely LOVE this dish. (Seriously,…
Lemon sole with caper sauce
Here’s a restaurant quality dish you can have for a home cooked price – I spent £2.57 on a single lemon sole. It’s a classic French dish (sole meunière) and cooking the fish on the bone deepens the flavour. Just be careful as you eat to remove the bones as you go – it’s worth the…
Mushroom frittata
I made this frittata two weeks ago over the Easter (and Passover) weekend because I was observing Passover, so not eating any bread or flour based products otherwise I might have made a quiche. I was out and about a lot over the long weekend and wanted to grab something ready prepared for quick snacks,…
Slow roasted tomato and pepper soup
Here’s a very easy, spicy (and vegan) soup that’s perfect for these cold days of early spring. The slow roasting really helps build up the flavour which means you can use the cheaper tomatoes rather than the tastier vine ripened ones. I served the soup with crunchy rosemary croutons, made with my own sourdough bread…
Sourdough bread
About four weeks ago I made my first sourdough bread and I haven’t bought bread from a shop since. I now have a regular routine of baking at the weekend and I’m loving the whole experience. There’s something really comforting about the simple rhythm of baking my own bread, taking my time and drawing mental,…
Lemon tart
Lemon tart is by far and away my favourite dessert. It’s not just the taste – although that’s a big part of it – it’s the whole look and texture and the exquisite beauty of the end result, whether large tarts or small, delicate pastries. I love looking at lemon tarts and pastries on Instagram…
Spicy chickpea croquettes
I made these last weekend and intended to freeze them in batches. But they were so tasty I found I was eating a few every day either as a starter or when I came home hungry from work and needed a quick snack. They are particularly nice with a range of dips and would be…
Vegan chocolate cake
This is a Nigella recipe which I have been meaning to make for a while, if only to see if it’s as good as Nigella says it is – and it is indeed delicious. I made this yesterday as I wanted something to take to a friend who is laid up with her leg in…
Pickled cucumbers
I discovered this Jamie Oliver recipe about a month ago and since then I’ve been making pickled cucumbers every week. I’ve even switched my weekly shop to Tesco as they stock the small cucumbers. You can use standard sized cucumbers but the small ones look great and are sweeter. The real pleasure of making these…
Chicken and sweetcorn soup
Just under a year ago I blogged about my recipe for chicken soup, made with home made stock from a roasted anchovy spatchcock chicken. This soup, which I made yesterday, is very similar – using my own chicken stock from a roast, but using sweetcorn kernels scraped off four little corn cobs (bought over a…
Moules marinière
When I went shopping yesterday I had planned to get mainly vegetarian ingredients to eat vegan for at least a week (not sure I could do the whole Veganuary thing). But I passed by the fish counter and spotted mussels for sale at £3 for a big bag and my plans immediately changed. I was…
Christmas clear out
This is a good weekend to clear out the fridge to make room for the Christmas food shop. There are lots of ways to cut waste by using up scraps of food in different ways, or turning leftovers into something freezable. Use vegetables which are past their prime for the Christmas lunch gravy (Jamie Oliver’s…
Chickpea curry
I’ve been stocking up my freezer with home made ready meals. This is partly to reduce my food costs (and batch cooking is one of the easiest ways to do that) and partly to have a big selection of quick meals to choose from in January when I know I’m going to be busy. I…
Cheap, fresh and easy 