Tin Can Cook: 75 Simple Store-cupboard Recipes Kindle Edition

I've got all of Jack Monroe's cookery books, and this one was much awaited. It hasn't disappointed.'Tin Can Cook's' premise is a simple one - all of these recipes use tinned or dry food (pasta, flour, lentils) , as supplied by food banks.As you might imaging from the title, the emphasis is on tinned food.Many of us living on limited budgets are also aware of the value of tins. Beans on toast can be prepared as quickly as any ready meal, and so can the equally cheap sardine rilletes - and have you ever tried cooking pasta in a mug? The instructions are here.There are some very original ideas for using tinned chicken in white sauce. This could be easily replaced by cooked chicken in those recipes where the sauce isn't essential, for those who don't want to buy a tin.I'd already tried earlier versions of some of these recipes, and I can vouch that they work. I'm looking forward to trying the latest version of Creamy Salmon/Crabby Pasta, which involves milk, rather than yogurt (I've usually used quark, as it's less likely to split than yogurt when heated, but it's also more expensive).Jack is famous for her bread recipes, and there's even one of those for Pina Colada Bread, involving pineapple and coconut milk. The chief focus is on mains, but there are puddings and soups too, many of the soups, such as a salmon chowder, being meals in themselves.By using pre-cooked tinned products many of the recipes are very economical on fuel too - there are plenty of one pot recipes that can be cooked on a hob.There are plenty of vegetarian and vegan recipes, but the meat and fish sections are pretty generous too,This book doesn't have colour photographs, and it is a smaller format than Jack's other books. Which means it takes up less room on the kitchen bookshelf. There are some line drawings to liven the pages.There's also a really good introduction, and extensive nutritional information as a forward, Jack really does do her homework.Opened flat, this book is the same size as a sheet of A4 paper - Jack has already given her permission for these recipes to be photocopied by food banks. You don't have to be a food bank user to find this of value - it will make a great addition to the bookshelf of any keen cook on a budget, or indeed, anyone who likes the idea of using more recycleable packaging, and less in the way of ready meals.Another book of Jack's that is quickly going to find its pages stained, and looking dog eared from being turned down to mark a page, I feel.Finally, Jack mentions in her introduction that the late food writer Shirley Goode was a little disparaging of her first book, remarking that 'cooking with yoghurt and a jar of fish paste doesn't take any particular skill'. (It does, actually, to stop the yoghurt from splitting, but never mind..) Anyway, this is an excerpt from Shirley's very last blog entry."The gardener is here today, and am having home helpers twice a week, so plenty of people around. And guess what!!! The local organiser for the latter is the cousin of Jack Monroe - small world isn't it?"I think Jack won Shirley over, don't you?She would have liked this book too, I am sure.

Some really good, cost-effective, and easy recipes. The recipes that I've cooked so far, have been excellent. Some great ideas.

Not really knowing an awful lot about Jack Monroe, I purchased this little gem after watching a show she was featured in and am glad I did. Now I can knock a meal up easy without nipping out for this and that. Also gave me ideas for pepping up veggie meals when I'm too tired to bother. Nice little book.

I received mine today and have been looking forward to this for weeks! Luckily it arrived before lunch so I went straight to the storecupboard to try out one of the soups. More on that later. First a super quick overview:At a glance:* 75 Recipes in total, including soups, mains, breakfasts, and desserts.* Includes 25 Vegan Recipes, plus a further 12 Vegetarian, if my counting is right. Plus a few non-veggie ones can be converted to meat-free or vegan.* All easy to follow.* Some require a blender.* Doesn't say how long each recipe takes (you have to add it up yourself).* No photos.* Lots of space for your own notes.My first impressions:1) It's smaller (as in not as tall and wide) than most of my other recipe books. This makes it perfect for actually flicking through and reading. You don't need to lay it on a table to read it, and you can actually hold it open with one hand. Unlike my huge hardback recipe books which are so unwieldy. This book is super-wieldy.2) No photos and non-glossy pages. I think this was a deliberate choice to keep the price down, which makes sense. Still, it does mean I'll have to keep it clear of dripping spatulas as the pages won't wipe clean. Or maybe I'll let the book get mucky anyway, building up a proud patina of tomato-juice splashes as time goes on.On to second impressions. The proof is in the pudding, or in this case the soup. The recipe was easy to follow and didn't surprise me halfway through like so many recipes do. You know the ones, where you've just followed steps 1-3 and then step 4 suddenly announces that you should have been preparing something else during step 2. They usually start with that insidious word "meanwhile". Personally I feel that I shouldn't have to read a recipe twice and re-arrange the steps before starting to follow it! None of that nonsense here, just follow the steps and out comes dinner. Love it. The soup itself came out *really* thick, maybe because I used basmati rice instead of plain white? Update: did it again today with no rice at all and it's transformed it from an OK soup to a fantastic one.Flicking through the rest of the book it looks like all the recipes are sensibly laid out and portioned, accompanied by a few paragraphs explaining the origin of the recipe (most of the recipes only have 1 or 2 paragraphs, the soup I chose today has one of the longest 'stories' of all). They are all marked as to whether they are vegetarian (12 recipes at a quick count) or vegan as well (another 25). A lot of the recipes require a blender.The recipes are broken into chapters of: Breakfast and Brunch, Soups, Beans, Potatoes, Pasta, Fish, Meats, and Puddings. There's also a very humbling introduction which highlights the depressing rise of food bank usage in the UK, a section wonderfully titled 'Cansplaining' which talks about what you get in cans, and explains a little about basic nutrition, a useful index, and that's the lot.All in all, a really well thought out book that is exactly what I wanted. Perfect for setting up a proper suite of storecupboard meals.

Well I love cost cutting ideas and this book definitely helps folk to do just that. Also super healthy. Everything broken down for the reader. Only thing was that I haven’t ever tried or eaten many of the ingredients she suggests, so only a few recipes suited me. I hadn’t heard of some of the foods. Not stuff I would have in my cupboards.

I'm very frugal and I really like the recipes in this cookbook. I like that each recipe uses one or more canned items (they call them "tinned" in the UK). The author is in the UK and it's fun seeing some of the phrases that are different from the US.

Previously, all the meals I made were quite expensive to make (5-15 euro per portion)...This book contains some great recipes based on canned food, which really drives the cost down. Tin cans are also really easy to stock up on, so once I have a few favourite recipes down I will stock up on them.A nice addition to my recipe-toolkit.I received a signed copy, which was a nice surprise.

I bought this cookbook at the onset of the COVID-19 lockdown and I was glad that I did. Concerns about food insecurity are on the rise. Having a stocked pantry makes sense, even when you are financially secure. Tin Can Cook educated me on the nutritional strengths and weaknesses of canned food. More importantly, it taught me how to cook and combine canned goods to make them truly tasty. Will definitely try more of the recipes and buy some more of Monroe’s cookbooks.

No nonsense ideas that are quickly and easily made into filling meals. Jack writes with flair and passion. In an equitable world, she would not have had to write this book...no-one would be in food poverty or have to rely on food banks. But we don’t and they do. So, hat’s off to Jack for helping people eat a little healthier with the little they have. I have made several meals from this book - the PIE with lentils and mushrooms is amazing. Even children will eat it with relish ...that’s a first for lentils!! Brilliant.

This is a brilliant cookbook :) Love it!