It's easy to think that the answer to all your home-cooking woes is having a fully stocked larder, bursting with sumac, mustard seeds and a glut of other fancy spices. But, say food writers and stylists Eve O'Sullivan and Rosie Reynolds, you can get by on just a few essential ingredients, a couple of fresh items from the supermarket and some herbs you probably already have in your cupboard. And to prove it, they've put together The Kitchen Shelf, a sleek tome full-to-bursting with some 100 recipes based around ten basics. Take, for example, the humble can of chickpeas – it can be turned into chocolate and marmalade brownies, or form the base of a fennel and orange salad. You can try their imaginative cooking for yourself, too, as they're hosting a dinner at Barber & Parlour Supper Club on 4 May. Here, they tell us their ultimate ingredients and how to whip up food for a dinner party out of thin air
What inspired you to bring out a cookbook like this?
Rosie Reynolds: I make my living writing recipes and styling food so that it looks beautiful and delicious for books, magazines, ad campaigns and newspapers, and I also teach people how to make their food look as good as it tastes. When I get home from a long day at work, I look in the cupboard and cook a meal from what I have on the kitchen shelf. This book is a collection of recipes that represent this simple approach to cooking.
Eve O'Sullivan: I find the most rewarding way to cook is making something seemingly out of nothing. After years of recipe testing, writing, editing and food styling, I realised that, actually, cooking confidently is all about knowing your ingredients, and understanding how the flavours in a recipe are working together. We wanted to write a cookbook that was less about seeing what you don't have on your shelf, and more about unlocking the potential of what you do have.
How did you build the book?
RR: We decided that most of our meals and recipes revolved around the ten essential ingredients in the book such as a tin of tomatoes, can of chickpeas, box of eggs, bag of flour, pasta, rice etc, and then based our recipes around these items.
EO: Rosie and I have a pretty similar approach to eating, partly because of working in this industry, but mostly because we both cook in a resourceful way. We hoped to help people find something that takes very little effort but that they'll enjoy cooking, no matter how pushed for time, money or inclination they are.
What's your favourite recipe from the book?
RR: My favourite recipe is the slow-cooked leg of lamb, not only because it's so simple to prepare but because it's a crowd-pleaser – and only requires one baking dish to cook it in. I absolutely love peanut butter – off the spoon, obviously – but also because it can also be substituted for dairy butter in cakes such as blondies and fondants and forms the base of Asian-inspired dishes like chicken satay.
EO: I suppose my favourite has to be the coconut rice with salmon and a coriander sauce. It tastes creamy and indulgent because the rice is cooked in coconut milk, which balances really well with the gorgeous steamed salmon and spicy, salty and sweet sauce. I also love the flourless chocolate and almond cake – how can you not love a cake with only five ingredients that's ready in 45 minutes? – and the beetroot and cumin dip. My ultimate hero ingredient is chopped tomatoes – they give you the base to travel around the world with stews, curries and soups just by varying your spices.
You're throwing a last minute dinner party – what's on the menu?
RR: My ideal dinner party would be a brunch party. I'd serve the spicy shakshuka with red pepper and avocado alongside a couple of dishes of chickpea dip – they are simple to prepare, taste amazing and look incredible. To finish I'd make the peanut butter and white chocolate blondies.
EO: I find that the easiest way to come unstuck when throwing a dinner party is picking recipes that require a lot of chopping, especially if a friend wanders over with a glass of wine to chat with you while you're doing it. The chickpea, fennel and orange salad is a winner at any time of the year, and has plenty of great textures. I'd follow that with something classic, like the Italian sausage ragu, for two reasons: one, because it's so easy to buy decent, good quality sausages from any local supermarket on the way home from work, and two, this kind of comfort food will never fail to please, especially served with a generous amount of red wine.
Which chefs are doing things that inspire you?
RR: Every time I am commissioned to do a job I am inspired; I recently did an Iranian book and the use of herbs was incredible. I love Brummie chef Glynn Purnell whose books I've been lucky enough to food style, his food is playful and joyous – he achieves humour, sophistication and taste in his food.
EO: I'm the editor of a cookery site, Cooked.com, which hosts cookbooks in their entirety from Bloomsbury, Quadrille and Hardie Grant publishing, so I feel inspired by getting to see such an incredible range on a daily basis; I love leafing through Greg & Lucy Malouf's books for inspiration, and I can't wait for Brad MacDonald's book to launch on the site in June.
What's your first memory of food?
RR: My grandad was a Dutch man and used to cook meat for hours in loads of butter, it was always meltingly tender and dark brown at the edges. Umami before umami existed – for me anyway. And rice pudding made with cream and evaporated milk that would get a thick
crispy skin on top of it that my sisters and I used to get to share.
EO: Helping my nana dig new potatoes from her veg patch for lunch, before boiling them and drizzling with insane amounts of butter, lots fresh mint from the herb garden and an indecent amount of salt. I can't imagine anything that will ever taste as good.
Chopped tomatoes give you the base to travel around the world with stews, curries and soups, just by varying your spices
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing the London food scene? Where else do you think it can develop?
RR: I think one problem is that everybody flocks to the new kid on the block and everyone writes about it and then forgets about it when the next new thing happens. We also have too many chains, it makes everywhere feel the same without its own identity. I'd like to see more independents like you get in many of the cities in Europe.
EO: It’s a tricky one… I feel like loads of great restaurants, old and new, go under if they don’t get the publicity that others do, and that’s a real shame when there’s so much talent out there. I agree with Rosie, it’s so important to support local businesses, and I try to shop for ingredients and eat out in my area as much as I can.
The Kitchen Shelf by Eve O Sullivan & Rosie Reynolds publishes on 16 May. £24.95; phaidon.com.
