Tarte Tatin

This traditional French pud has always been a favourite as the sugar forms a delicious sticky toffee coating that's impossible to resist.

Ingredients

3 large French golden delicious or gala apples (sliced into 12ths)

300g puff pastry (bought frozen and defrosted)

50g unsalted butter, thinly sliced

50g soft brown sugar (with 1/2 tsp cinnamon added)

Method

Peel, core and slice the apples into 12ths. Leave them uncovered in a bowl or on a baking tray for, uncovered for 3-4 hours. You want them to turn slightly brown to give a better colour when cooked.Cut the butter into slices and lay them in the bottom of an 8inch ovenproof pan (I use a shallow cake tin). Arrange the apple 12ths neatly around the pan in a nice pattern and sprinkle over the sugar. Put the pan over medium heat until the butter and sugar have melted, dissolving the sugar and creating a light caramel. Remove the pan from the heat.Preheat the oven to 180º. Arrange the pastry (an 8 inch circle) over the apples and carefully tuck the edges down the sides of the pan. Be careful not to burn your fingers as the caramel is hot! Put the pan into the hot oven and bake for 20 minutes until the pastry is brown and crisp. Once cooked remove the tarte from the oven and place the serving plate in the pan to cover the pasty. Quickly flip the pan over. Your tarte should now be apple-side up! Reposition any stray apple pieces and cut the tarte into individual slices.

Serves 6-8

This dish is delicious served with vanilla ice-cream or crème fraiche.

Chicken tikka masala

This takeaway favourite is freezer-friendly and quick to reheat, giving you the chance to get ahead and save money.

Ingredients
4 tbsp vegetable oil
25g butter
4 onions , roughly chopped
6 tbsp chicken tikka masala paste
2 red peppers , deseeded and cut into chunks
8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts , cut into 2.5cm cubes
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
4 tbsp tomato purée
2-3 tbsp mango chutney
150ml double cream
150ml natural yogurt
chopped coriander leaves, to serve


Prep 15 mins
Cook 50 mins

(Serves 10)
Method
Heat the oil and butter in a large, lidded casserole on the hob, then add the onions and a pinch of salt. Cook for 15-20 mins until soft and golden. Add the paste and peppers, then cook for 5 mins more to cook out the rawness of the spices.
Add the chicken and stir well to coat in the paste. Cook for 2 mins, then tip in the tomatoes, purée and 200ml water. Cover with a lid and gently simmer for 15 mins, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through.
Remove the lid, stir through the mango chutney, cream and yogurt, then gently warm through. Season, then set aside whatever you want to freeze (see tips, below). Scatter the rest with coriander leaves and serve with basmati rice and naan bread.

Pot Noodles

Ingredients
1 rasher smoked back bacon , trimmed and chopped
2 spring onions , white and green separated and finely sliced
50g frozen peas
quarter tsp paprika
2 tsp cornflour
200ml vegetable stock
150g block straight-to-wok wheat noodles , or equivalent of dried, cooked
splash Worcestershire sauce

In a small non-stick pan, fry the bacon for a few mins, add the white parts of the spring onions, peas and paprika, then cook for 1 min more. Mix the cornflour with a little of the stock to get a paste, then stir this into the pan with the rest of the stock, noodles and a good splash of Worcestershire sauce. Simmer for a couple of mins until thick and saucy, then scatter with the green parts of spring onion.

Greek Potato

This makes a nice lunch!

Ingredients
1 medium-large potato
1 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper
1 tbsp torn basil leaves (or other herb)
3 cm, 1 1/2 inches cucumber, chopped into cubes
30g, 1 oz. feta cheese

Preheat oven to 190ºC

Bake potato until soft. Halve and scoop centre into a bowl, reserving the skin. Mash or beat the potato with the olive oil and seasoning. Add herbs, then cucumber.

Pile the mixture back into the reserved skins and cube or crumble the feta cheese over the filling. Grill until the cheese begins to melt and scorch.

Lamb Hotpot

Look out for neck fillets of lamb. They each weigh about 250g so are perfect for serving two (or for one over two meals). They are lean and tender and easy to cut up. They are also inexpensive and each one should not cost more than £2.50, much less if bought at a market. Here's how to make a very simple hotpot using one.

Ingredients
1 neck fillet of lamb, cut into slices or cubes
1 onion, sliced finely
1 large carrot, sliced
1 stick celery sliced
2 tablespoons flour, seasoned with salt and black pepper
2 medium-large potatoes, sliced
1/2 tsp. mixed herbs
1 Oxo cube
250 mls. water, boiled

Heat oven to 150ºC

Method
Dredge the slices of lamb in the seasoned flour.Using a casserole dish, layer the onion, carrot and celery with the meat. Sprinkle over the herbs and any remaining flour. Make stock with the Oxo cube and water. Pour over the meat and vegetables. It should not come more than 1/2 way up the vegetables, as they will create more juices. Arrange the slices of potato over the top neatly. You can brush a little oil on the potatoes if you like. Cover the dish with a lid or tinfoil and place in the middle of the oven for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Take off the lid or remove the foil for the last 1/2 hour to allow the potatoes to crisp up. Serve with a green vegetable. (Serves 2)

Cheesy Waffles

Ingredients
2 Frozen potato waffles
2 ozs. Grated Cheddar cheese

Method
Grill the waffles on both sides until golden brown. Sprinkle the grated cheese on one side and put under the grill again until melted.
Serves 1

Eggy Bread

This is a big favourite and is really super with grilled bacon and tomatoes.
Ingredients
2 slices of white bread
1 egg
1 tablespoon of milk
A pinch of salt and a grinding of pepper or ¼ teaspoon of Marmite
A little oil or butter

Method
Mix the egg, milk and seasoning or Marmite together with a fork and soak the 2 slices of bread in the mixture, preferably for 10 minutes or overnight, if you are well organised. Lightly grease the base of a small frying pan with oil or butter and heat the pan up until it is hot. Cook the bread until it is golden brown on each side and serve hot.

Serves 1

French and fruity

Ingredients
2 slices of fruit loaf
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
A little butter
½ teaspoon sugar
A pinch of cinnamon

Method
Beat the egg and milk together with a fork and pour the mixture into a shallow dish. Soak the slices of bread in the liquid. If you are really organised, you can do this before you go to bed and leave it to soak all night in the fridge. Take a little knob of butter in a piece of kitchen paper and wipe over the base of a small frying pan. Put the pan on to heat and when it is hot, but not burning, carefully (because the bread is soggy and could break) use a fish slice to lift the slices of bread into the pan. When the underneath of the bread is lightly browned, turn it over with the fish slice and cook the other side. Eat the bread hot with ½ teaspoon of sugar and a pinch of cinnamon sprinkled over.

Serves 1

Cheese on Toast

This makes a really tasty breakfast. For a bigger appetite, multiply the number of slices of bread and grate a larger quantity of cheese. Precise amounts are not important.

Ingredients
1 slice bread
About 2 ozs. Cheese (Cheddar for preference, but any hard cheese would be good), grated
A little mustard
A splash of milk
Salt and pepper (a dash of each)
A spring onion, chopped up (optional)

Method
Grill both sides of the bread until toasted, but only very lightly on one side, just enough to dry it out. Mix all the other ingredients to a paste and spread it over the lightly toasted side. Put the bread back under the grill and toast until the cheese is bubbling and turning golden. This is really nice with tomatoes, either grilled alongside, or sliced and placed on top after.

Serves 1

Porridge

If funds are limited, there is hardly anything better you can do for yourself than start the day with one of the kings of breakfast, porridge, made the old-fashioned way. It is incredibly cheap buying porridge oats loose from a meal store and you can buy the very best organic Scotch oatmeal in 500g. bags, which will make about 10 meals, for well under £1. As well as being very nutritious and lowering the blood cholesterol, it is very satisfying.

Ingredients
45g Porridge oatmeal, coarse
½ teaspoon salt
20 fl.oz water

Method
Bring the water to boil in a small pan and when it is boiling quickly, pour the oats in. Stir well and let it simmer gently for 10 minutes, then add the salt and continue to let it simmer for another 15 minutes. Pour it into a bowl, add some milk and sprinkle it with sugar, if that is to your taste.
If you have a microwave, then put the oats and water in a large microwaveable bowl and set it on full for 10 minutes. Halfway through, add the salt, stir it very well and check that there is enough water left in the bowl. If it is getting too dry, add more water, stir again and continue cooking. If you have used rolled porridge oats, it will take only 3 or 4 minutes to cook altogether and you will need less water. When you are cooking rolled oats, a good guide is to use about double the volume of water to oats.

Serves 1

The Leaving Home Cookbook

I have written this blog for my two children, Rose and Fergie, so that when they leave home and strike out on their own, they can avoid the pitfalls faced by many, including myself as a twenty year old on Voluntary Services Overseas, in Northern Nigeria, when I suddenly realised I didn’t know how to shop, didn’t know how to cook, didn’t know what to do with raw meat, etc!

I wrote to my mother in desperation and asked her to send me some recipes and I got a recipe for pancakes back. I seem to remember eating a lot of tinned pilchards and drinking bottled Coca Cola, which was safer than drinking the local water, filtered or not, but I’ve never eaten a pilchard since and I did end up being repatriated through ill health!

Necessity makes one learn to cook in time and I have become a good homely cook, more than adequately skilled in feeding my family wholesome nutritious food that is enjoyed by friends as well. It is for this reason I have compiled recipes and meals, interspersed with advice on how to shop for and time meals. In doing so, I have made the assumption that, like my children, the reader has not yet had the opportunity to build up a large collection of utensils, gadgets or ingredients as one would expect in an established domestic kitchen and that he (or she) is on a small budget, has limited cooking skills but a good healthy appetite! "