Newsletter: Help for the student kitchen + a 25% discount on ckbk gift subscriptions

Top of the Class

This week we are turning our attention to student food and have brought together tempting things that are quick, easy, thrifty, nourishing and – crucially – delicious in our new feature. ckbk is full of confidence-boosting recipes for those who may be cooking for themselves for the first time. Saving lecturing for lectures, we have curated a route through some of the easiest and tastiest dishes that ckbk has to offer the student cook. First class.

For further inspiration have a look at our Easy Meals for College and University Students collection. From classic Chilli con Carne to Mozzarella Ball Baked Pasta to Sweetcorn Fritters, the collection features easy and thrifty recipes using simple techniques and ingredients.

Whether you are feeding a crowd or dining for one, these recipes are accessible and fun for all – you just need a few key storecupboard ingredients to hand, such as chickpeas, tinned tomatoes and a selection of spices.

Find 468 meals to make with chickpeas

Pictured above: Spinach and Chickpea Curry from Taste Tibet: Family recipes from the Himalayas by Julie Kleeman and Yeshi Jampa

The ultimate new cook’s guide –
25% off a ckbk gift subscription

If you know someone going off to study this month, have you considered getting them a gift subscription to ckbk? Chances are it will pay off when they return home and show off all they’ve learned! To help get them started we currently have a 25% discount, just use the code GETCOOKING.

New to your ckbk bookshelf –Students’ Cookbook

“When it comes down to it, anyone who likes to eat can learn to cook well. It’s just a question of learning the basics and building up your repertoire from there.”
Sophie Grigson

We are thrilled that Grigson’s Students’ Cookbook is now live in perfect time for all those heading off to study. It’s packed with practical advice and great tasting food, everything needed to master the basics and “learn to cook well.”

Written by award winning food writer, teacher, and broadcaster Sophie Grigson – originally published in 1993 and one of the Sainsbury’s cookbook series – this book is now a classic.

Grigson talks you through getting started in a shared kitchen, shows you how to make a comforting Macaroni Cheese, and explains how to rustle up Roast Chicken with Celery and Orange Stuffing if friends are coming round and you want to serve up a feast.

Don’t forget to sign up for our Cheese Livestream and Q&A!

We’re excited about our latest ckbk livestream – a must for all cheese lovers. Put your cheese questions to our expert panel: Mary Quicke MBE, managing director of Quicke’s, a cheesemaker with a 500-year history; Fran Warde, co-founder of Chiswick Cheese Market in London and author of New Bistro, The French Market, and The French Kitchen; and Perry James Wakeman, Affineur of the Year, cheese judge, and ‘Chief of Cheese’ at Rennet & Rind in Cambridgeshire, UK. If you’d like to send questions in advance, please send them to hello@ckbk.com with the subject line ‘Cheese’.

The Livestream and Q&A will take place on Wednesday September 21 at 6pm GMT / 10am PDT / 1pm EDT. You can register and discover more about the event here. There will be a special ‘sneak peek’ at the cheese that Wakeman is maturing for this year’s Affineur of the Year competition. Plus, one lucky UK attendee at the Q&A will receive one of Rennet & Rind’s beautifully curated Mystery Cheese Boxes!

🧀 Sign up for our free Cheese Livestream and Q&A 🧀

What to eat now: mussels and fennel

Next time you’re at the fish counter, make room in your shopping basket for mussels. They’re easy and quick to cook, they work well with a huge variety of flavors, and they’re often one of the most sustainably produced bivalves.

In Belgium, simple moules et frites is possibly THE national dish of the country. Our 12 Ways with Mussels collection brings together recipes from across the globe. Give these magnificent molluscs a go in Mouclade from Southwest France, try spicy aromatic Thai Mussels, or how about Lebanese-style Mussels in Arak?

Crisp, crunchy, fragrant, and with a gentle anise flavor, fennel is worth getting to know. It’s a brilliant complement to fish and shellfish, and tastes great with orange, feta, and more. Eat it raw in salads – such as Bettina Campolucci Bordi’s Crisp Fennel and Orange Broccoli Salad. Or have it braised, seared or fried – try Seared Fennel Wedges, or Fennel Schnitzel. For more tasty ideas have a look at our 12 Ways with Fennel collection.

6 lasagne recipes to try

Recreate a dish often dreamed of in student halls far from home. A classic lasagne. Try one of these very different – but equally comforting – recipes.