Stuffed Jacket Potato

Serves 4

• 2 large baking potatoes, about 350g each, washed
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise

  Mayonnaise

  Good for sandwiches and dressings

  Unopened commercial mayonnaise can be stored on the shelf up to the use by date. Once opened, it must be refrigerated but will still last up to a year or six months from the date on the jar.

• 1/2 teaspoon grainy mustard

  Mustard

  Worth keeping a few different types.

  • French mustard or Dijon is creamy and can be used in dressings, marinades or adding to sauces.
  • English is good for roast beef, steak, gammon or sizzling sausages.
  • Wholegrain is used in chutney’s and pickles
• 25g butter

  Butter

  Unsalted is better for cooking.

  Easy spread butter is ideal for sandwiches and toast.

• Salt

  Salt

  Consider tablesalt, sea salt or crystals.

  Sea salt’s pronounced and salty flavour means less is required to season food.

• Ground black pepper

  Black peppercorns

  Best used as a condiment.

  They can be lightly crushed and used to spice up a creamy sauce or to coat fillet steak or chicken breasts.

  • Although it might seem odd, grinding black pepper over a bowl of strawberries enhances the flavour of the fruit.
  • Pepper that is pre-ground is not fresh tasting and often has other ingredients mixed in.
  • Choose the type of mill that suits you, and if you want coarser pepper you can loosen the screw on the top of the mill or crush the seeds in a pestle and mortar
• 100g leftover gammon, cut into small dice
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped
• 50g leftover cheese

  Cheese

  Add to eggs for omelettes, grate onto soups or salads.

  • Parmesan often goes rock hard or becomes horribly sweaty. Ideally, all cheese should be stored in a cool, airy place at a temperature of 46-50F/8-10C. However, most of us put it straight into the fridge. This is fine providing the cheese is kept loosely wrapped in its own airtight container so it isn’t tainted by other foods.
  • Store it in the salad drawer, which is not quite as cold as the rest of the fridge and use a micro plane for grating.