Hello!

Thank you so much for coming to Dinner at Mine!

I love to cook, and I love to eat. This is the food I make at home, for myself and for people I love, the sort of thing I’d be making for you if you were coming round tonight. And though I delight in playing around in the kitchen, I’m a creature of habit in terms of my grocery shopping. There are reliable ingredients in my kitchen I know I can always count on.

There’ll be a cabbage, a block of butter, a little carton of eggs, and a loaf of sourdough bread.

There’ll be a tub of yoghurt, a whole chicken, a few potatoes, and a punnet of tomatoes.

There’ll be tins of cannellini beans and anchovies, and a bag of long grain rice.

There’ll be courgettes too, and apples, and a bunch of spring onions.

And frozen peas, of course, in the freezer.

I wanted to offer new ideas for each of these ingredients I love so much. And I wanted to write a book that didn’t assume a nuclear four, that offered space for a changing number of people around the dinner table. I wanted to write, in short, about the way that I eat and cook – often for one, or for two, sometimes for four, or maybe six at a weekend. I want time in the kitchen to be a pleasure regardless of who’s home, whether it’s dinner just for me, or a big gang of us. I’m also always seeking ideas for recipes that can act as little batch bits – things to keep around that I can use in various ways and return to, as well as recipes for dishes that are portable and flexible. So I made sure there are plenty of those too.

I hope these recipes find a home in your kitchen, that you find new favourites in these pages. Perhaps an anchovy and broccoli pasta bake, or some handmade orecchiette? Or a perfect apple pie with chai ice-cream, or a gorgeously simple mid-week roast? You might fancy an apple and potato rösti, or maybe a steak with soy sauce hollandaise? And I’m confident you’ll want to put the courgette pickles on everything.

I am so pleased and proud that you have this book in your hands (and in your kitchen!).

With love, and happy cooking,

Kate x

Kate Young is an award-winning food writer, cook and novelist. Her Little Library Cookbooks feature food inspired by beloved works of literature. After a sunny Australian childhood, spent indoors reading books, she moved to London, which suited her much better. She now lives in a converted mill in a Gloucestershire town.