The Cornershop Cookbook challenge

Delicious recipes which are straightforward, quick and a bit of a laugh, says Victoria Stewart

Love it: marmite noodles from The Cornershop Cookbook

Victoria Stewart

19 October 2015

I’ll get straight to the point here. This month’s cookbook challenge was one of the best yet, and it wasn’t because it gave me an excuse to show off my cooking prowess – or lack of – to friends. Instead it was straightforward, quick and, hey, a bit of a laugh!

The book, written by Sophie Missing and Caroline Craig, who also co-wrote ‘The Little Book of Lunch,’ has a simple premise, which I’ve probably already given away in the title. It’s essentially the way most of us like or need to cook during the working week, because it does not assume that we all plan ahead or can afford to get to a farmers market every weekend.

‘The heyday of the weekly or fortnightly shop, and the trip to a superstore, seems to be over,’ the authors acknowledge in their introduction. ‘Many of us have become dependent on the convenience and proximity of the smaller chains and independents that now pepper our routes home… a spot check of our tote bags might throw up an onion, E45 cream and the toilet cleaner we’ve been meaning to replace for weeks.’ ‘Yes! This is me and my flatmates!’ I think to myself.

On this basis the dishes they suggest here are ones you can cook easily at home; there is something for every night of the week – whether that’s ‘A Quiet Night In’, ‘The Alternative Takeaway’ or ‘Dirty Tuesdays’ - every appetite, and every palate. Each time I leaf through, I find lots of things - including spicy turkey and greens soup, twice-cooked aubergine, mushroom ragu and fish bake – that I could very easily whip up using stuff from the tiny Sainsbury’s or Nisa shop, neither of which are more than an eight-minute stroll from home. Oh, and what they are also trying to convey, they add, ‘is that we should all have the confidence to just use what we have easy access to… life is too short to worry about not having all the exact ingredients for a dish.’ Phew.

'Greens' noodle broth

Victoria Stewart

My challenge begins in the Noodling Around section, whereupon I land on ‘Five Ways With Instant Ramen’ because I know I have noodles, albeit the udon variety, in the cupboard. ‘Let’s be clear: instant noodles are basically the opposite of a health food, and not something that you should eat too regularly, tempting though it may be to do so,’ say Missing and Craig. But, they add, ‘what they lack in superfood status, they more than make up for by being a) delicious, b) quick c) readily available in even the most Spartan, miserably stocked of cornershops d) cheap e) easy to dress up.

In absolute agreement, I begin with a ‘Greens’ recipe labelled ‘simple noodle broth to soothe the soul.’ It winks at me because I don't want something huge and already have most of the stuff required, namely garlic, ginger, groundnut oil, vegetable stock cube, soy and fish sauces. All I need to do is pick up eggs and bok choi from Nisa and consider making the DIY garlic chilli oil. Later, after a few minutes of chopping and waiting for everything to boil, I have a bowl of utterly soothing and delicious noodle soup in front of me, which really could not have been easier to put together. Needless to say, I substituted spring onions for chives and went for a bottled version of the chilli oil that I already owned, but who cares when it tastes like this?

‘Breakfast-style’ noodles: ‘marmite on toast in noodle form’ is next up from the same chapter, mostly because it sounds like one of those things that just shouldn’t be allowed on a plate. Basically a sort of East Asian version of Nigella’s famous Marmite pasta recipe, to make it you only need eggs, marmite, butter, noodles and pepper. 10 minutes later, I end up with a kind of salty buttery mess onto which I threw some eggs - and, boy, is it a good mess.

The Cornershop Cookbook

More substantial is the ‘potato and green bean garlic salad,’ which again I find to be a simple and delicious lunch filler using going-old-potatoes from the bottom of the fridge brightened up with leftover greens. It's good, but next time I’d have it with some sort of meaty main dish to bulk it up a bit.

Finally, I’ve always found fritters to be a great way of using up items in the fridge that are on the verge of going mouldy so I’m pleased when it’s time to try the recipe calling for courgettes, cannellini, Cheddar cheese and lemons from the ‘Fritters, four ways’ section. After mixing all the ingredients together, I throw a few dollops onto the pan and listen as they crack and sizzle at me under the hot oil. The result – entirely my fault for thinking I could check emails whilst cooking – is a selection of burnt patties which, once I scrape the char off, taste really rather good. Sorry Sophie, sorry Caroline, next time I promise to focus.

So The Cornershop Cookbook is a great little book, and one that I think I’ll refer to frequently on rushed weekday evenings, especially now that my flatmate has hijacked my copy of Sophie Wright’s ‘Home at 7, dinner at 8', which I've used for this sort of stuff in the past. Here’s to the cornershops!

The Cornershop Cookbook by Sophie Missing and Caroline Craig is out now (Square Peg, £18)

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