What's happened to Beyond Baked Beans?

Some of you may have arrived at this blog looking for my student website beyondbakedbeans.com. I'm sad to say it no longer exists. (See update on my more recent post. There is a happy(ish) ending. It now has a new domain name www.beyondbakedbeans.org.)

Due to my inattention and a mix-up on who should renew the domain name it's expired. Someone else has snapped up the name and is running ads on it. It was never a moneymaker so I can't afford to buy it back. The domain registration site GoDaddy even wants to charge me commission for finding the buyer (surely they know?) and negotiating a sale. On top of a fee. I can't afford to pursue that.

It's a sad day. The site, which was founded at the same time as my first cookbook came out in 2003, has been going for over 8 years, encouraging students to cook and eat healthily. But it's not all bad news.

* There is a Beyond Baked Beans Cooking Page on Facebook which I'll be updating more frequently while I sort out what's to be done

* The books - Beyond Baked Beans, Beyond Baked Beans Green and Beyond Baked Beans Budget are still around and available for next to nothing on Amazon. Plus there's a full-colour illustrated compendium of all the best recipes called The Ultimate Student Cookbook which also contains recipes from three of our ex-students James, Sig and Guy.

* Plans were already in hand to pass the website over to the students of Bath Spa university to give it a comprehensive makeover. I'm sure a better, more interactive site will result.

* And there are plenty of simple, low-cost recipes here on this blog for students or anyone else on a budget.

But it's a useful warning if you have a site of your own - don't ignore reminders about domain name expiries and make sure the credit card you pay with is up to date.

And if you're the person who bought the site, just think about it. The site helped many young people to learn how to cook. It would be nice if you gave it back.

Which store-cupboard ingredients could you not live without?

One of the problems about being a food writer or blogger is that you very quickly lose touch with the number of ingredients that your readers actually possess. Unlike you they probably don’t have whole cupboards full of herbs, spices and seasonings and groan when they see you list something that involves an extra expense. And fair enough.

I’ve been particularly thinking about this in conjunction with students going back to uni. They don’t have a huge budget - or much room to store things. On the other hand cheap food is immeasurably improved by being well-seasoned. I’m not counting salt and pepper which I think most people would have automatically though I admit that's a bit of a cheat.

Here are my top 10. What about yours?

Herbes de Provence
If I could only have one herb it would have to be this classic French mix which typically includes thyme, rosemary, basil, savory and marjoram. Ideally a French blend. Generic ‘mixed herbs’ just don’t taste as good

Cumin
Possibly my favourite spice for its aromatic lemony lift. I have both ground and whole seeds but if forced to choose would go for the seeds every time. I love them toasted.

Spanish smoked pimenton
The ultimate paprika - adds depth and richness to all kinds of dishes, especially stews. There are two kinds - dolce and piccante (sweet and spicy). I’d have to go for the sweet.

Cinnamon
It was a toss-up between cardamom and cinnamon as I adore the taste of the former but cinnamon is far more flexible, especially for desserts and baking. And you can add a pinch to savoury dishes too.

Curry paste
Probably the cheapest, most efficient way of making a curry. The jars (I like Patak's) keep for weeks once opened. Much more effective than curry powder though you do need to doctor them a bit with . . .

Lemon
Ideally fresh though they are more expensive. Essential when you’re creating something lemon flavoured but if you just want a dash of sharpness bottles of lemon juice - especially the Cypriot ones - are fine.

Garlic
Again, has to be fresh - garlic salt doesn’t count.

Soy sauce
I prefer a light one which I buy in big bottles from Asian supermarkets. Cheaper and more natural-tasting than stir-fry sauces.

Vegetable bouillon powder (Marigold)
I use this all the time as a base for soups. Much less synthetic and salty than stock cubes.

Fresh parmesan
Or Grana Padano at a pinch which is cheaper. Ideally aged for at least 18 months (a worthwhile expense - it tastes better and goes further). You can make a meal out of spaghetti with butter and parmesan

I've already got to 10 and that doesn't even include condiments such as mustard, olive oil and vinegar which are essential if you want to make salad dressings from scratch. There are no fresh herbs - I usually have parsley at least - but students typically wouldn’t. No fresh ginger, another favourite. No fish sauce :( But I could survive.

What couldn’t you live without if forced to choose just 10?

Our new student cookbook

It’s always a great moment when you finally hold a copy of a book you’ve written in your hands. It makes all the hard work - and believe me it is hard work - worthwhile.

This time it's been a particular thrill because I've worked with three of the students who have collaborated on my student website Beyond Baked Beans: Signe Johansen, Guy Millon and James Ramsden. By luck I stumbled across three students who could not only cook but cook really well. Sig and James have done cookery courses (Sig at Leith's, James at the famous Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland) and Guy's father Marc is a food writer so he's been brought up in the kitchen.

As you can see from our Facebook page they've been making videos and posting recipes all year and now all have blogs of their own (here, here and here) They've all been students this past year - Sig at SOAS, Guy at Nottingham and James at Bristol so they've had first hand and recent experience of having to cook on a budget

What we've done with the book - and this is why we're bold enough to call it The Ultimate Student Cookbook - is pick the best recipes from the three Beyond Baked Beans books and get them to add their own tips to them as well as add some of their own favourite recipes. Because Sig's a keen baker there are more cake recipes than there were in the original books. James has added some sophisticated recipes for when you want to impress and Guy some great basics like his family's favourite chilli con carne. Their knowledge, humour and enthusiasm shines through every page

As if that wasn't enough we've got an endorsement from the great Heston Blumenthal, a chef we all really admire

So if you know anyone who's going to uni this autumn - or even who's already there - do buy it for them. It's only £10 for a whopping 288 pages and loads of lovely pix - still less if you buy it on Amazon. It should be in the shops now if you want to take a look at it before you buy it - if you don't see it do please ask for it.

So what did you cook when you were a student?

My publisher Absolute Press released details of our new student book yesterday which is called The Ultimate Student Cookbook. It's a big claim but we make it because it combines my 6 years experience of writing for students in the Beyond Baked Beans books and website with that of three current students who have been contributing videos, recipes and tips to our Facebook page this year.

As a bit of fun I thought I'd ask my fellow tweeters on Twitter what they used to cook at uni and got a flood of fantastic replies. There were all the usual suspects such as spag bol (or Slag Bol) as Oliver Thring rather nicely put it), cheese on toast and tuna pasta but also some surprisingly sophisticated dishes such as Helen of World Foodie Guide's tonkatsu and Japanese curry, Lorna Yee's boeuf bourguignon and Catlily's French onion soup

There were also some really weird ones - to me at any rate such as sophiemostly's husband's preference for sweet and sour sausages, Kavey Eats' Sausage Curry and Kerri of Dinner_Diary's tinned Oxtail Soup together with Matt of Absolute's odd weakness for boiled rice and salad cream (ugh).

I loved Becky of Girl Interrupted Eating's lentil fetish, Jessica of Lovely Chaos's Mustard Mash "with sausages when rich" and The Dieter who 'ate a lot of feta cheese' and 'made a jar of pesto last a month' (no need to diet then I would have thought)

The most appealing-sounding one came from an old friend Deb, an eternal student who has gone back to uni at the age of . . . no I won't let on. "Thinly sliced potatoes layered with onions and lashings cheese sauce. Baked. Chuck in mushrooms, bacon etc if feeling flush"

Sounds good to me

So what was your favourite dish when you were a student or just starting to cook. Fabulous or otherwise.