A Girl Called Jack may just be the cookbook you use most this year

It’s hard to believe it’s just over a year since I first came across Jack Monroe. Since then this feisty single mother who struggled to feed herself and her small son on £10 a week has become a superstar, campaigning for Oxfam, appearing on TV and being courted by a raft of national newspapers from The People to the Guardian. The New York Times even had a profile about her the other day.

And now she’s brought out a book named after her blog A Girl Called Jack.

Having written a budget cookbook myself I was curious to see how she handled it and the answer, as usual with Jack, is immensely impressively given that she’s neither a cookery writer or a chef “I don’t claim to be the world’s greatest cook” she writes "but I can sweat an onion and sauté a mushroom with the best of them". She goes on to  make the valid point that “in an age of glossy ‘food porn' on our televisions watched while stabbing ready meals with a fork there seems to be a disheartening disconnect between fantastic nutritious food and the myth that one needs a fancy kitchen and seventy ‘store cupboard essentials’ to cook them with. It’s simply not true. "

To prove her point her recipes are admirably simple and straightforward, using the minimum of ingredients. An easy chicken satay made with chilli, peanut butter and yoghurt. Chicken with diet Coke. Saag aloo with tinned potatoes and frozen spinach. It's affordable and do-able.

I decided to road test a couple using the same ingredients to keep down my food costs. Like Jack I shopped at Sainsbury’s, choosing the cheapest 'Basics' options.

The first was her version of spaghetti carbonara called car-Brie-nara that didn’t have any eggs - a misprint, surely? And lemon juice with bacon?  Brie instead of parmesan? And half a large tub of yoghurt? I wasn’t at all sure it would work. Well it did and very tasty it was too. And surprisingly healthy. There was no extra oil although I added a tablespoon as my bacon (a selection of offcuts) was leaner than the streaky Jack suggested. And no extra salt. The surprisingly large amount of yoghurt also means that unlike a carbonara any leftovers could be eaten cold, creating an instant lunch to take to work the next day.

I looked for another recipe that would use up the Brie and bacon and found a courgette, tomato and Brie gratin. That was also a great success though I only used half the amount of tomato Jack suggested and reckon you could simplify the recipe by cooking the rice by the absorption method* rather than like a risotto (though it’s good to know you can make such a good risotto with ordinary long grain rice). I also suspect the amount of liquid in the recipe should have been more than 200ml despite the added tomatoes though I like the fact that the stock gives the dish a deep savoury umami taste without the need for any other seasoning. And surprisingly the Sainsbury’s stock cubes (only 25p for 10) are MSG free - better than many more expensive brands.

In fact having often recommended in the past that readers should trade up as and when they can afford to I was impressed by how good the Basics range was. 500g spaghetti for 30p, a kilo of white rice for 45p (that’s roughly 3.5p a helping), 670g of cooking bacon, enough for 5 meals, for £1.10 - you could spend twice or three times as much and not eat any better.

Jack’s advantage is that having been limited by the tightest of food budgets she had to work with what she could afford - and being an instinctive rather than a professional cook sees no reasons why certain ingredients shouldn’t be combined together. Salmon paste with pasta? Tried that one too and it was surprisingly tasty thanks to a hefty chilli kick (I used a couple of chillies from a jar I found in my local health food shop - less costly than fresh). Mandarin oranges in a chicken dish? Why not? They’re cheap, add flavour and contribute to your 5 a day. If you’re buying low cost ingredients you need to add extra oomph any way you can - and Jack certainly does.

I’m not going to ask permission to run the recipes I tested because I think you should invest in the book. Even if it stretches the budget this week it will save you a lot in the long run. Buy it, use it and enjoy it. It’s a cracking good read apart from anything else.

* Boiling it with twice the volume of water to rice until the water is absorbed.

Do you really need a 5:2 cookbook?

Given the success of the 5:2 diet it was inevitable that there would be a rash of cookbooks cashing in on it but having looked through a few I’m wondering how useful they really are.

I mean how much do you actually want to cook on fast days? Not much in my case - the less time I spend faffing around in the kitchen the better. If I do cook I want it to be tasty, of course, but above all quick and simple. Ideally not involving more than 5 or 6 ingredients.

Yesterday's fast day supper for example was a piece of grilled tuna and a salsa/chopped salady sort of thing made from cucumber, tomatoes, spring onions and some marinated olives which contributed enough oiliness to do without olive oil. Squeeze of lemon, handful of rocket - 10 minutes work max.

The idea that you want recipes for 4 or more seems just plain daft. Most books emphasise that kids shouldn’t be on the 5:2 diet so you wouldn’t be cooking for them.

For your friends? Why not have them round on a feast day when you can cook and eat what you like?

You’d only need recipes for more than 1 or 2 in the hypothetical situation that you have 4 or more adults in the house, ALL on the 5:2 diet. Which is obviously not impossible but highly unlikely. And recipes that cater for more don't take account of the fact that those of us who are overweight are unlikely to stick to our allotted portion. The temptation to overeat is just too great.

Two of the books I’ve read have recipes that are not written by cooks but by nutritionists. While I’m sure that makes them healthy and accurately calorie-counted it doesn't necessarily make them inspiring - or even easy to follow.

I tried a mushroom and artichoke bake from The 5:2 Cookbook at 168 calories a head - one of the few recipes in the book for 2. The quantities were confusing: 500g canned artichoke hearts, drained - was that the  weight of the artichokes or the weight of the can? If it was the artichokes you’d need two cans - a lot for two people. I made do with one and adjusted the amount of mushrooms - an over-generous 300g - downwards too.

It wasn’t very frugal either - fresh basil and oregano - surely you didn’t need both?  Lemon juice and white wine - would you open a bottle just to take out 1 tablespoon? A tablespoon of brown breadcrumbs. Dried or fresh - and why brown?

I adapted it slightly but was still underwhelmed with the result. My husband chomped manfully through it but I definitely won’t be making it again. (The artichokes on the other hand are rather useful. I can imagine combining them with hard boiled eggs and tinned tuna for a simple low cal salad.)

If you’re short of inspiration there are more appetising suggestions on some of the women’s magazine sites, the Channel 4 website, on established cookery sites like the 200-400 calorie meals on the BBC Good Food website and in some of the other new diet-conscious books like Gizzi Erskine’s new Skinny Weeks and Weekend Feasts which I’ll be reviewing shortly.

But in general I think it’s more about having a simple repertoire of dishes made from ingredients you know are low in calories rather than trying to push the boat out and experiment on your fast days. After all we’re only talking about two days a week.

What do you do about recipes? Do you have one of the 5:2 diet books and if so what do you think of it? Do you spend much time cooking on a fast day?

Aggie's Family Cookbook: review

You may be thinking 'not another celebrity cookbook' and, if so, I don't blame you. If I didn't know Aggie MacKenzie I'd probably be thinking that too.

But it may surprise you to learn her background is in food rather than hygiene - I used to work for her on Sainsbury's magazine and Good Housekeeping before she became famous for How Clean is Your House. So the cooking thing is not just made up to trade in on her fame.

And this is a real family cookbook. Of things she cooks, her sons cook, her mother cooks and even, her ex and her late mother-in-law cooked (now that is saintly!). It's as if your best friend who's a fantastic cook just handed over all her favourite recipes.

There's lots of fun stuff that's suitable for kids too like 'My take on chicken twizzlers' and Clissold Fried Chicken (a Stoke Newington version of KFC) and tips on how to get your kids cooking. The baking section is particularly good - I'll be posting a recipe later this week, hopefully - but love the sound of Tear-and-share Cheesy Rolls, Scottish Morning Rolls and her 'legendary' Granny's Scones.

The reason why I'm reviewing it on this blog is that - unusually for a celeb - she keeps the cost of food very much in mind, witness the Baked Chicken Casserole she makes "when I need to see off those lonesome bits at the bottom of the fridge", A Great Veg Dish for Leftover Cheese and Eggy Bread with Fudgey Plums "dead quick when you haven't planned a pud." And there are loads of useful tips on meal planning and saving money when you're food shopping.

This is a brilliantly down to earth cookbook that you'll use again and again. You can currently buy it for just over £11 on Amazon but even at the full price of £20 it's well worth the money. One for the Christmas list, defo.

A taste of The Frugal Cook

If you want a taster of The Frugal Cook you can find excerpts in this month's Vegetarian Living and Fabulous Food both of which carry recipe features on the book.


Fabulous Food has my caramelised cauliflower soup, seared salmon with creamed leeks and chives and peach and blueberry cobbler while Vegetarian Living went for the pizza giardiniera, spicy cashew and mushroom rice and carrot, oat and cinnamon muffins.

And while I'm in bragging mode if you know anyone who's off to uni this autumn my Ultimate Student Cookbook has just been listed in the Independent's top 10 student cookery books.


Actually all this is just an excuse to use the 'Grab' function on my Macbook which enables you to take a shot of any window you have open. Fun.

Making your own drinks

In all the time I've been writing about frugal food I've never thought of making my own drinks. Actually, I lie. I did post this idea for an apple lemonade a couple of years ago and very delicious it was too which makes my lack of interest in the subject even more lame.

If I'd had Susy Atkins new book 'How to make your own drinks' before now I might have been better motivated because it's full of brilliant ideas for cheap healthy, mainly non-alcoholic drinks you can make from seasonal gluts of fruit and vegetables. Or even - and as a townie without a garden this appeals to me - by bartering with others who have gardens or allotments in return for bottles of your finished potion. (You may get the better deal out of this.)

For those of you who feel nervous about the idea - and frankly I was a little too - the book is packed with clear and reassuring instructions about sterilising and sealing bottles and troubleshooting tips. Maybe start with drinks that can be made and drunk almost immediately like lavender lemonade (lovely for this time of year) and fruity ginger ale then progress to ones that need a bit more skill and patience like nettle beer, plum wine and mead.

Many drinks can be made for free from hedgerow ingredients - sloe and damson gin being the obvious examples - but I also love the sound of Susy's Crème de Mure (blackberry liqueur) and homemade rosehip syrup which apparently has higher levels of vitamin C than citrus fruit. ('Kids adore it' she says.) You can also make perfectly good drinks from frozen fruit which can sometimes be cheaper than fresh.

All in all this book a is good investment - with the added bonus of being a fun way to create your own delicious drinks. A great diversion, I'd have thought, for the forthcoming school holidays . . .

Have you ever made your own drinks and if so which ones?