Tesco’s day five: asparagus carbonara

Posted on May 27, 2011 by Louise

This is one of the first things I learnt to cook as a student, a version of carbonara that is not in the least bit authentic but is delicious nonetheless. I’ve added some asparagus because it’s a great partner for any kind of cured ham or bacon, as well as cream and cheese and, since the British stuff is only available for a couple more weeks I’m making the most of it.

Once again I bought everything from the tiny Tesco’s round the corner. And, even though I’ve been really surprised, and encouraged, by its stock and the recipe possibilities, I can’t say I’m sorry to have reached the end of this experiment. I get great pleasure from my Greek-Cypriot corner shop, from Waitrose and from the local fishmonger’s and limiting myself to one place has been a bit soul-destroying. If this week has taught me anything it’s that, yes, it’s possible to survive on the food available in a Tesco’s Express but why would you want to? Continue reading →

Posted in Asparagus recipes, Fast food fixes, Salsa and sauce recipes, Spring vegetable recipes, Wheat-free | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Tesco’s day four: three ways to bake eggs

Posted on May 26, 2011 by Louise

Eggs are the ultimate fast food: who hasn’t knocked up an omelette or scrambled/poached/fried some when inspiration is lacking? And, regardless of where you shop for food, they’re likely to stock them. But, useful as they are, they can also be a bit, well, boring. I love an omelette but when it’s all I can think of, rather than what I want, it feels like fuel not food. However, with a little bit of imagination, a couple of shallow ovenproof dishes (ramekins are best, but larger ones are good if you’re making eggs for more than one person) and not much more time than it takes to knock up some scramblers, you can turn eggs into oeufs en cocotte. Sounds so much grander than baked eggs doesn’t it? Continue reading →

Posted in Asparagus recipes, Fast food fixes, Gluten-free, Spring vegetable recipes, Summer recipes, Vegetarian recipes, Wheat-free | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Making it simple: prosciutto, caramelised onions and Parmesan

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Louise

Elizabeth David is famous for saying ‘faites simple’ and, if you’re forced to shop in the likes of Tesco’s every day or week you have no choice but to do just that. But simple doesn’t mean boring or uninspiring. This recipe, for example, is an adaptation of one from Delia Smith’s Winter Collection; she explains that she got it from Mark Hix and Tim Hughes at Le Caprice and though the original uses San Daniele ham, Italian shallots and pecorino, it’s easy to adapt it to normal life via prosciutto, red onions and Parmesan. And it really is simple: there’s only one thing to chop, one thing to cook and two or three steps to put it all together. If you can get fresh thyme great, but it won’t hurt if you don’t have it. And it’s just yummy. So, though you may have to shop à la Tesco’s you are, in some senses, dining à la Hix. Not a bad way to spend a Wednesday night. Continue reading →

Posted in Cookery writers, Delia Smith, Delia Smith's Summer Collection, Delia Smith's Winter Collection, Fast food fixes, One pot, Spring vegetable recipes, Summer recipes, The Cook Shelf, Wheat-free | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Surviving Tesco’s day two: halloumi, rocket and roasted tomato salad

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Louise

Tesco’s Express may seem to be the sort of place where all salad is bagged, or of the iceberg variety, and all vegetables come from Kenya. But I was surprised to see that although it did have those uninspiring mixed (and rather limp) salads, and baby sweetcorn and beans from Africa, it also had English spinach and baby tomatoes, as well as rather perky-looking Italian rocket. Okay, it’s not the widest choice in the world but it’s enough to make a really good salad like this. I ate it with a side order of homemade chips from my friend’s new deep-fat fryer; an odd but strangely delicious combination.  Continue reading →

Posted in Fast food fixes, One pot, Salad recipes, Spring vegetable recipes, Summer recipes, Vegetarian recipes, Wheat-free | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Every Little Helps? A Tesco-inspired Onion and Cheese Tart

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Louise

I try and avoid shopping in chains like Tesco’s Express and Sainsbury’s Local mainly because, despite living in a relatively scrappy bit of north London, I am lucky enough to walk past a lot of nicer places on my way home from work. But, for a lot of people, especially city commuters, they are the only option and this week I decided to see wtf I could cook if I relied solely on one of these ubiquitous places.

I started with Tesco’s. The one five minutes away from my front door is not very large but it has a much wider range than I expected, at least in some areas. Continue reading →

Posted in Cookery writers, Fast food fixes, Nigel Slater, One pot, Random bits that don't belong in a category..., Spring vegetable recipes, Summer recipes, Vegetarian recipes | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

River Cafe Easy Roast Squid recipe

Posted on May 19, 2011 by Louise

The River Cafe is a truly wonderful, beautiful and expensive restaurant in west London and, about fifteen years ago, they started publishing cookery books. I have owned two of these equally beautiful books for a long time and I have never, once, cooked anything from either. Even though they seem to contain relatively straightforward recipes, there is something forbidding about them; they use things like bramata polenta (organic polenta flour to you and me), cotechino and cicoria, none of which are particularly common in Britain now, let alone a decade or so ago.

And yet, having eaten there a few times (the cheap lunch menu is amazing value, especially since the food, service and wine are always impeccable) I could never equate these rather uninviting books with the very simple yet lovely Italian peasant food they serve. So I decided to borrow a more recent title from the library to see if it was any more inspiring than its predecessors. Continue reading →

Posted in Fast food fixes, One pot, River Cafe Easy, Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers, Seafood recipes, Summer recipes, Wheat-free | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Bill Granger’s Honey Lemon Chicken recipe

Posted on May 18, 2011 by Louise

It may no longer be 27° in London, the wind and grey skies more reminiscent of autumn than spring, but I still want summer recipes, even if salad seems a bit, well, cold. And when I want something sunny, not stodgy, I turn to an Antipodean. Bill Granger’s book Open Kitchen is one that would do nothing for me in November, since it almost has a perma-tan, but it’s perfect in a British May that is wavering between scorching and stormy. Full of simple, short-order food, with only a few ingredients and steps per recipe, it’s one of those books that helps you get into the kitchen rather than keeping you out. Continue reading →

Posted in Asparagus recipes, Bill Granger, Bills Open Kitchen, Chicken recipes, Cookery writers, Fast food fixes, Summer recipes | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

The Cook Shelf: Recipe Books I Can’t Live Without

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Louise

If I wanted to teach someone to cook, or how to have the confidence to trust their judgement I would buy them two books: Real Fast Food by Nigel Slater and Don’t Sweat the Aubergine by Nicholas Clee.

I bought the Slater when it first came out (in 1993 or so) and it taught me, as most Slater books do, how to improvise. One of my friends laughed at me for buying a book that had a recipe for chip butties; a couple of years later he ate his words when he told me he was a complete convert. Continue reading →

Posted in Don't Sweat the Aubergine, Fast food fixes, Nicholas Clee, Nigel Slater, Real Fast Food, The Cook Shelf | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Riverford’s New Potatoes With Crab and Chilli recipe

Posted on May 16, 2011 by Louise

One of the things I want to do on this site is write about the cookery books that I love, that inspire me and that I recommend, buy and give to others. So this week WTF is all about cookery books and the best recipes for this time of year from some of my current favourites.

It has always struck me, especially having worked in publishing, that the task of choosing any type of book for a gift or a specific purpose is really really difficult if you’re not in the trade. Whereas I usually go in to a bookshop with a bit of knowledge about what’s available, and which books are good and not-so good, most people walking into somewhere like Waterstone’s Piccadilly must be overwhelmed by the sheer, dizzying weight of possibilities. And as someone who already has 70-odd cookery books I often wonder how another can be justified.

Yet when I find one with a totally unexpected recipe or a new approach, well then I’m singing it to the heavens. Because being inspired all over again is wonderful. Today’s recipe comes from Everyday & Sunday, the new Riverford Farm book by Guy Watson and Jane Baxter (I have to declare an interest: I’m currently freelancing at the publisher’s which is how I knew about it). Their previous book, published three years ago, has the most amazing recipe for twice-cooked pork belly which has become a real favourite. And now Jane Baxter has created a three-step recipe that completely reinvents potato salad by combining potatoes with crab, chilli, parsley and lemon. Not a trace of mayo in sight. Continue reading →

Posted in Fast food fixes, One pot, Salad recipes, Spring vegetable recipes, Wheat-free | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Chicken Legs with Feta and Roasted Vegetables

Posted on May 13, 2011 by Louise

I found this idea whilst browsing food magazines in a supermarket queue and it has become an eternal favourite, mainly because it is cooking by numbers and so easy. If you have all the ingredients, great but, if not, you can endlessly adapt it to suit your taste and the contents of your fridge. In terms of the vegetables for example, anything that will be happy spending half an hour in the oven with the chicken works so any of the following are a good place to start: courgettes, onions, red and yellow peppers or aubergines. But if you don’t have one thing it doesn’t matter: in the pictures below you can see that on this occasion I used only courgettes, red peppers and garlic. Continue reading →

Posted in Chicken recipes, One pot, Spring vegetable recipes, Summer recipes, Wheat-free | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments