doubly thrifty!

The 'Grow your own' campaign in Britain is now complemented by a progammes about cooking ther food you've grown.

One of my favourites is the current series by Nigel Slater. Here his hearty bean soup is joined by Pink Fir Apple potatoes and calabrese (broccoli).

The soup is just a mix of all that is seasonal - onions, tomatoes courgettes, garlic and delicious borlotti beans. Everything home grown!!

Nigel showed us a new trick with this one that we hadn't thought of before: flavour the soup by popping in the rind of your Parmesan cheese. This is usually hen food, but now we let it flavour the soup and then give it to the hens after the meal is cooked.

How doubly thrifty is that!