Recipes & Food

I’ve blogged each of the recipes individually – click the links below! Simple sprat starter: http://agirlcalledjack.com/2013/12/10/have-yourself-a-cheaper-little-christmas-simple-sprat-starter-37p/ Honey roasted ham with vegetables: http://agirlcalledjack.com/2013/12/10/have-yourself-a-cheaper-little-christmas-honey-roasted-ham-with-veg-1-53/ Liver and sultana casserole: http://agirlcalledjack.com/2013/12/10/have-yourself-a-cheaper-little-christmas-liver-and-sultana-casserole-30p/ Christmas pinwheels: http://agirlcalledjack.com/2013/12/10/have-yourself-a-cheaper-little-christmas-pinwheel-biscuits-8p/ First published in the Guardian and G2 magazine: Jack Monroe’s budget Christmas. As always, all prices based on Sainsburys and Sainsburys Basics range where available. … Read more

Vinegar and Tonic by Jack Monroe. January 2015. Hello and welcome to the new year, everyone! As a new year has rolled in, one of my resolutions was to try to be a little healthier – starting with Dry January, or no booze for a month! Seeing we spent the new year on a very … Read more

I haven’t had a minute to blog every single one of the recipes, but I knew people would be curious about the individual costings for the Christmas dinner that I cooked for The One Show (Friday 19th December) so I’ve given them below. I cooked a roast chicken in place of the turkey, as it … Read more

Pappa al Pomodoro, or in other words, Bread-Crust-And-Tomato-Soup… I love a good tomato soup, and quite often with the humble tomato, simplicity is key. So imagine my delight, yesterday evening, idly leafing through the iconic River Café Cookbook (Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers), and finding a recipe for Pappa al Pomodoro. I’d never heard of … Read more

Tonight’s dinner came courtesy of some chicken liver at the back of the freezer, and some veg left over from a photoshoot yesterday. Idly flicking through my cookbook collection to find a new chicken liver idea, I came across a bolognese in Save With Jamie. Mine’s not identical – I’ve left out the bacon and … Read more

If, like me, you never get the porridge quantities quite right in the mornings, these are a great solution to the problem of what to do with the leftovers. Credit where it’s due: the idea was Allegra’s initially – one day, looking at all the porridge still in the pot, she mused out loud, “I … Read more

What do you make for breakfast when you have bananas, eggs, milk and flour? Banana pancakes of course! Ingredients (made 6 good sized pancakes. 100g flour 100ml milk 1 egg 1 banana, or 2 if you want to go wild 2 tbsp oil Handful of sultanas – I’d normally add these but I don’t have … Read more

Mushroom and Tea Bourgignon-that’s-not-a-bourgignon-at-all. Tea in stew is one of my favourite discoveries so far this year. I’m so happy I could do a cartwheel, but I was never very good at those. Now don’t freak out, but here’s a recipe for tea bourgignon. Like bourgignon for tea, but a little more exciting. The pedant … Read more

Ingredients (serves two generous portions): 1 tbsp oil 1 onion 1 tbsp flour 200ml milk 200ml water 50g frozen spinach 100g mackerel 200g sweetcorn 200g tinned potatoes First, heat the oil in a pan. Dice or slice the onion, add with the flour, stir well and cook on a medium heat for a few minutes … Read more

Bramley apple soda bread (makes four generous portions at 20p each): 200g flour (any will do – plain, self raising, rye, whole meal…), 35p 1 rounded tsp bicarbonate of soda, 3p 2 tsp lemon juice, 2p 200ml milk, 5p*** 1 large Bramley apple (or other variety, but they do work incredibly well here!), 35p First, … Read more