Cooking that uses that long-lasting ingredients that are probably already in your kitchen press.
Whether you're practicing social distancing or are in self isolation, you're probably not getting to the shops as often as you're used to at the moment.
The supermarkets have been great in calming people's stockpiling fears, as well as introducing dedicated shopping hours for older people and carers. There is, and will continue to be, more than enough food available for everyone, but that doesn't mean that we don't have to reassess how we shop and eat over the coming days, weeks and months.
Take One Tin, the new cookbook from Lola Milne, is packed with clever dishes that you can make using long-lasting canned ingredients. Each of the recipes involves a food from what Lola calls "the humble tin – cheap, nutritious and long lasting". In her recipes, you'll find she uses everything from cans of tuna to tinned pineapple rings in ways you'd never have thought of.
We think it's the perfect approach to cooking for the times we're in – recipes that minimise our trips to the shops, but don't compromise on nutrition or enjoyment.
Sweetcorn & cheese muffin loaf
I am a lifelong sweetcorn fan. I always have a tin in my rucksack for festivals or camping; it is best eaten straight out of the tin accompanied by a chunk of Cheddar cheese. Here these two meets in a loaf.
SERVES 8–10
Ingredients:
175ml natural yogurt
2 eggs
90g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
198g tin sweetcorn, drained
bunch of spring onions, finely sliced
120g mature Cheddar cheese, grated
250g self-raising flour
2 teaspoons hot paprika
1 teaspoon baking powder
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method:
Preheat the oven to 160°C/gas mark 4 and line a roughly 1kg loaf tin with greaseproof paper.
In a jug, whisk together the yogurt, eggs, butter, sweetcorn, spring onions and two-thirds of the cheese, then season. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, paprika and baking powder. Pour the jug contents into the bowl, stirring until combined.
Pour evenly into the prepared tin, sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake for 45–55 minutes until golden, well risen and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then pop on a wire rack to cool further. Best eaten the same day warm or cold, but will keep in an airtight container for about 4 days.
Taken from Take One Tin by Lola Milne. Published by Kyle Books, £14.99.
