Crisis Chats

Creative Recipe Inspiration Studios Insights Story Covid Home Artists Tees Valley Support

Crisis Chats Welcome to Creative Recipe Inspiration Studios Insight Story Covid Home Artists Tees Valley Support... or CRISIS CHATS for short.

So what is CRISIS CHATS? It is a book concocted for the Covid-19 pandemic, a time when solidarity, companionship and care never seemed so important. It is an introduction to an artist’s work you may not have known or seen before Middlesbrough is home to over 70 artist’s studios and many of us grace these pages. It is a narrative that connects us with you, the buildings and the social fabric of Middlesbrough.

And it’s a cookbook, of sorts (is gin a food?)

So again, what is CRISIS CHATS? It is a collective voice shared through a multitude of creative practices.

We are artists and we make, play, do and create.

Enjoy.

The Auxiliary Project Space consists of two galleries,

Gilkes Street Artists are a voluntary organisation

fifteen studios & workshop and performance

focusing on providing affordable studio spaces and

spaces. The Auxiliary is dedicated to the production

support for emerging artists and creative professionals.

and dissemination of experimental and sound art

Formed in 2012 at the Cleveland Crafts Centre in

practices and are committed to building links between

Middlesbrough, and now working from the Brentnall

international and local artists and organisations.

Business Centre.

www.theauxiliary.co.uk

www.facebook.com/gilkesstreet.artists

Navigator North are a Tees Valley based, artist led

Platform Arts Limited is committed to providing

organisation who initiate activities to raise the profile of

affordable studio provision for professional artists and

artists and creative practice in the North East – inspiring

the development of art practice within the region.

visual artists and creative communities to thrive. Over

Consisting of established and emerging artists, Platform

the last 10 years they have provided over 100 artists

Arts Limited provides opportunities and support for

with studio space across 15 different sites in Tees Valley

their member’s careers.

and County Durham.

www.platformarts.net

www.navigatornorth.com

An introduction from the collective voice of the artists As a kid, the people

I drew told the story.

this was important work.

‘What am I going to do with my life?’ An apprenticeship? The armed forces? ‘You need

to get a job for life at ICI’.

Maybe the empowering force was my mum? Probably.

I went to a Bridget Riley exhibition at the Tate Britain, seeing the way her early paintings were made (you could see slight imperfections and brush marks) was a pinnacle moment for me.

W

I was four at the time, and

I practiced

for a few years, PORTRAITURE, ABSTRACT,

LANDSCAPE

AND PRINTING, MOKU HANGA, DRYPOINT, LINOCUT,

ENGRAVING,

MONOPRINT. It can be very frustrating at times.

Having no money, only being able to afford an unheated,

damp studio.

I learned to speak Pidgin, and met a bunch of time-travelling Atlantean magickians from Damanhur (who taught me to function as a multimind).

Around 2001 I was speaking to my window cleaner in Pudsey who was leaving his round

D We

to study for a Fine Art degree and I realised that was what I really wanted to do.

We DREAM of putting on big shows,

travelling to other cities and showing work in unused spaces and on the streets.

I have left secret works all over the

world and recently returned to places years later to find the work still there, still being seen.

m rea

It’s the comments left on social media with admiration and wow emoji’s

I am not looking for

external permission to gauge value or

cultural significance.

Picking up a pencil or a paintbrush, lose yourself, forget the

outside world, Pave the way for

It comes from reputation

a better future.

thing and treat people with

Question

the care and respect you would want for yourself.

Let’s be realistic; it is much more than that. It’s on the streets, in

the parks, in fields - without art and the arts we’re a working

class, post-industrial, poverty stricken northern town.

We have to hold onto the narratives of the North as resources reduce

the norm

Socially engaged practice

and trying to do the right

Be sound and

include everyone Make mint work and put on mint shows

I am

And make sure that we are not silenced or side-lined

Being stuck inside alone is

And. Ok I admit.

It’s more difficult than it looks.

incredibly frustrating, but

As someone who values traditional drawing and painting techniques, I found myself in a world of romanticism – quiet walks along the hills, silence from industry and cars We moved into livestreaming our performance platform

and have had artists from all

over the country and indeed

the world appear - Who knew Zoom was even a thing

before March this year?!

Having to adapt to

situations all the time.

Sparking ideas for

shows that respond

to social distancing.

The Artist Support Pledge initiative on Instagram, this has really helped

We are working… me out financially

I’ve also been pretty

productive in making cloth face masks…

I have been drawing for as long as I can remember.

m still working.

Artists

Loucey Bain Loucey Bain is an installation artist and recent graduate from The Northern School of Art. Working with construction materials she creates delicate sculptural work that contradicts the material’s original purpose. She is currently the Gallery and Studio Assistant at The Auxiliary Project Space. www.instagram.com/louceyhodgsonbain/

photography: Kev Howard

Emma Bennett Emma Bennett is an artist who produces paintings, drawings, sculptures and site-specific wall paintings. Through the use of colour, pattern and place she uses her personal connections and memories of Modernist and Post-War Architecture to comment on social histories and nostalgia.

photography: Kev Howard

www.axisweb.org/p/emmabennett/

Bordello Theatre Bordello Theatre are a Queer artists collective creating arts interventions which wrap us up in Queer space. They are masters of making work that responds to space, place and people. www.bordellotheatre.net

photography: Ros Iredale

Mia Braine Mia Braine is a contemporary stained glass artist. She has recently finished a BA in creative writing at Teesside University. www.facebook.com/babulous.glass

Hannah Campion Hannah Campion reverses the usual hierarchy of painting: her work escapes from the traditional canvas photography: Corey Bartle-Sanderson

surface and spreads into the surrounding space.

Paintings and objects are shredded, crushed, nailed, taped, pinned, torn, collaged, and re-assembled into entirely new works creating ongoing dialogues with each other.

photography: Colin Davison

photography: Colin Davison

www.hannahcampion.com

Aimee Charlotte Aimee Brown is an artist and businesswoman from Teesside.

That’s all the information we have. www.instagram.com/aimeeandcharlotte

Sarah Cooney Sarah Cooney is a painter who combines a personal sensibility with an approach to abstract painting visualised, perceived and imagined through tacit knowledge of painterly processes.

Each painting occupies its own internal sense, nuance and rhythm with attention focused on the nature of the painterly image and the medium of paint. www.sarahcooney.co.uk

Dovetail Joints Dovetail Joints are an independent Teessidebased arts events organisation. The Dovetail Joints Virtual Gallery (DJVG) is a response to recent circumstances leading to the closure of exhibition spaces. DJVG utilizes the digital realm to create new interactive exhibition spaces. www.dovetailjointsvirtualgallery.co.uk

DYAD Dyad is an artist working with text, installation and mixed media.

Dyad’s work is grounded in a social consciousness that puts the act of questioning the power structures we inhabit to the forefront of our minds www.instagram.com/dyad_dayd/

Hellen Edwards Hellen Edwards draws on the industrial shoreline and rugged landscape of the North East as inspiration for her textile paintings. She uses hand-made felts, free-embroidery and paint incorporating the wild, organic flexibility of these materials to suggest and recall the ebbs and flows of weather, water, nooks and crannies. www.hellenedwardsartist.co.uk

Robyn Fyfe Robyn Fyfe is a multidisciplinary artist based in the North East of England. Her work focuses on ideas around the female form and the gaze. www.instagram.com/robyn_fyfe_fineart/

Phil Gatenby Phil Gatenby is currently working on an ongoing series of paintings titled Stag - started in 1989 to explore power, containment, rebellion and belonging. The meaning of this tiny word, Stag is ever fluid and illusory; devotionally troubling and an empowering aspect of historicism rolled into one. www.materialityinpainting.com

Nicola Golightly Nicola Golightly is a visual artist and designer with a passion for illustration, design and print, through a multidisciplinary approach. Her work has included the design and delivery of participatory projects, a variety of artist led projects and collaborations. She also works with clients and to commission. www.nicolagolightly.co.uk

photography: Sophie Ingleby

Jane Gray photography: Kev Howard

Jane Gray is a freelance Project Manager, trainer and evaluator specialising in arts education and participation with children and young people. She is a co-founder and Co-Director of Creative Learning North East, an Associate with Blue Cabin and Riverside Associates, and a Trainer and Moderator for Arts Award (Trinity College London). www.clne.org.uk

Claire Harrison Claire Harrison is a graduate of Northumbria University where she specialised in Sculpture, later retraining in Psychology and spent 18 years working in the field of addictions in prisons and the criminal justice system. In 2017 Claire returned to her art practice creating mixed media installation, sculpture and drawing. Claire’s work is about the thresholds between the physical and spiritual, light and dark, seen and unseen. www.claireefharrison.com

Gail Henderson Gail Henderson has a predominately drawing-based practice with inspiration drawn from her experience of an ongoing therapeutic project. Her personal creative journey is increasingly important as drawings emerge and the process flows. www.outsidein.org.uk/galleries/gail-henderson/

Vicky Holbrough Vicky Holbrough is a visual artist working across drawing, sculpture and printmaking practices.

She has a long history of working in engagement and learning settings through commissions and residencies including several public art commissions in Darlington and County Durham.

photography: Joanne Coates

www.vickyholbrough.co.uk

Will Hughes Will Hughes is an artist exploring human themes with anthropomorphic shapes and objects acquainted with our everyday. www.willhughesartist.com

Stephen Irving Stephen Irving is a multimedia artist, using both traditional and digital processes.

He uses a variety of mediums to allow him to realise ideas - choosing the method that best works for each piece. Painting, video work, sculpture, light and sound all play a major role in the work he is currently producing. www.irvingart.co.uk

Sara Jacobs Sara Jacobs is an artist designer whose practice includes interior architecture, 3D Visualization, interior design and lighting.

Recent works of art, including paintings are intended to remind people of giving gifts and the idea of adorning walls with jewels. www.sarajacobsagency.co.uk

Cameron Lings Cameron Lings is a fine artist and sculptor. His work is influenced by natural and urban landscapes and he is the recipient of the Metals4U Sculptor Award 2019. www.instagram.com/cameron_lings_/

Lisa Lovebucket Lisa Lovebucket is a poet, playwright and performer.

She is the organiser of a multitude of multifaceted cultural offerings including but not limited to The Red Room, Teesside Rising and ALTered States. www.twitter.com/Lisa_Lovebucket

Andy Newcombe Andy Newcombe is a multi disciplinary artist working across sound art, film, performance and visual art. Under the moniker of vision 25-C they produce filthy rhythmic industrial noise; pushing visual and sonic boundaries. For their work with Bordello Theatre they producing intimate, temporaral queer performances. www.instagram.com/vision25c/

photography: Michael McGuire

John James Perangie John James Perangie is an artist/performer based in the North East of England working with sculpture, painting, installation and fashion.

Their work is fluid, gestural and colourful and is concerned with the found object and the alteration of materials. www.instagram.com/john_perangie/

photography: Cal Carey

Adam Shaw Adam shaw is a painter and sculptor. His work uses a contemporary and abstract expressionist approach – challenging the boundaries of landscape and portrait painting while exploring the depths of atmosphere and composition. www.shawadam.co.uk

Liam Slevin Liam Slevin is a sound artist, curator and a maker of space. His practice is concerned with the rendering of space and sound into an immersive experience, using sound’s materiality as a potent enabler for the disruptive and antagonistic. www.instagram.com/slevin.liam/

photography: Jason Hynes

Simon Smith Simon Smith is a Co-Director of Creative Learning North East CIC and a freelance marketer working with Ten Feet Tall promoting a range of comedy and music events across Teesside. www.clne.org.uk

photography: Kev Howard

Dot Sneddon Dot Sneddon is a Tapestry Weaver, Dyer and Felt Maker with a practice spanning 40 years and is inspired by the Medieval tapestries of the 15th and early 16th centuries. She runs workshops and community projects passing on her skills in weaving and dying.

Chris Suttie Chris Suttie is an artist working with ceramics.

His work is influenced by place, its materials and explored through the making process. www.instagram.com/travel_and_clay/

Jenni Thirlwell Jenni Thirlwell uses hand and machine embroidery as well as Linocut printmaking, often combining the two mediums. She looks to finds the beauty that isn’t always apparent or obvious - taking influence from film noir and her surrounding environment including nature, buildings and discarded objects. www.artfinder.com/jenni-thirlwell#/

WAX WAX is a photography collective made up of Amy Owens, Rachel Deakin, Antony Chambers and Jason Hynes. www.waxwork.org.uk

WET Productions WET Productions is a family made up of artists, curators and project runners from the North of England. www.instagram.com/wetproductionsofficial/

John Wheeler John Wheeler is a painter and printmaker interested in the everyday. Working from his studio at Gilkes Street, he utilizes materials to explore ideas of memories and past experiences.

We asked:

You’ve 20 quid and need to feed a heap of people at your studio.

What do you make?

Recipes

Boiled rice with a tin of Mulligatawny soup thrown in (Not really a recipe I know but it has personal meaning for me ok) John Wheeler

Red pepper curry with basmati rice and mint yoghurt Makes 3 Portions 2 red peppers 2 teaspoons ground cumin 1 teaspoon ground coriander half teaspoon of turmeric small red onion

Cajun chicken and rice

50g flaked almonds 5 cloves of garlic 2cm cube of peeled ginger Put the above in a blender to make a paste.

4 chicken breasts (omit and adjust for vegetarian version)

Dissolve 1 veg stock cube in 600ml of boiling water.

4-5 teaspoons cajun seasoning (to taste)

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan, add paste and cook for approx 8 mins (you can add meat after this stage and brown, though I am not).

Add a can of drained chickpeas and a quarter of the boiling water and cook for a few minutes, add more of the water (leave about 150ml in jug) and simmer while cooking the rice, add more water if desired.

Takes about 20 mins, then serve with the rice and mint yoghurt, which is a bowl of natural youghurt with 1 teaspoon of mint sauce added.

Enjoy!

Emma Bennet

rice, uncooked approx 1 pint chicken/veg stock 1 whole bell pepper Marinade the chicken in half the seasoning.

Brown chicken for 2 min each side and then remove from the pan.

Add peppers, rice, stock and the rest on the seasoning, bring to the boil.

Reduce the heat, add chicken and cover letting it simmer for 20-25min until the liquid is absorbed and chicken cooked.

Jenni Thirlwell

Although I have lived in the North East for nearly 50 years I am still a Lancastrian and in the mill town where I grew up there wasn’t much money around.

When there was a ‘Do’ on like a ‘Beetle Drive’ or a ‘Whist Drive’ with lots of people to feed, the Mums all brought

big pots of ‘Tatty Ash’ often with a lovely

suet crust on to be

accompanied with pickled red

cabbage and beetroot.

Cheap, cheerful, tasty and filling!

Dot Seddon

Vegetarian macaroni cheese I don’t cook much, so here are my two most often-made recipes (I take no responsibility for you making these)

This actually receives compliments when I make it. It’s a basic recipe, so feel free to customise with vegetables, breadcrumbs, other spices etc.

100-250g mild or medium cheddar 40-50g soft blue cheese 500ml whole milk 4 tbsp plain flour 50g butter salt mixed italian seasoning oregano onion powder garlic powder 125g quorn mince

Aimee Charlotte

250g dried macaroni

Peanut butter on toast Imagine you’ve had two hours sleep and now you have to go to work.

2 slices of bread (stale or not, doesn’t matter) butter (10-20g) peanut butter (20-30g) Toast the bread until golden, either in a toaster, or under the grill.

While the bread is warm - spread the butter on one side of the bread’s surface.

Then spread peanut butter over the same surface. Repeat this on the other pieces of toast. Enjoy with coffee.

Now go to work.

tomato purée Start to boil the pasta in salted water – add herb/spice mix to the pasta while it boils.

Put the milk in a large pan and set it on a lowmedium heat, add the butter, flour and herb/ spice mix. Grate the cheeses, then slowly add them to the milk mix and keep stirring until it thickens into cheese sauce.

Add the Quorn to a frying pan and start to gently brown it, add the tomato purée over the Quorn and fry for 5-10 minutes.

Drain the pasta, and add it to the cheese sauce, stir until the pasta is completely covered. Add the cooked Quorn and stir around again.

You can either serve this as-is, or place it in a tin, add more grated cheese to the top, and oven cook it for 10-15 minutes until the top is crunchy and brown. This will feed 2-4 people; serve with garlic bread, or with a side salad if you’re a monster.

Steak and Foie gras?

a curry!

Boil potatoes in a pan until medium soft (halfway cooked)

Ingredients potatoes

Cut butternut squash into bite sized chunks.

carrots mushrooms

Dice garlic, pepper, mushroom, onion & carrot

onions coriander butternut squash red pepper tomatoes garlic salt pepper turmeric paprika cumin plain rice

Chop coriander finely.

Blend half of tomatoes Cut rest into quarters/8ths (whatever preference) Throw tomatoes (blended & chopped) into pan, with garlic, pepper, mushroom, onion, carrots & coriander.

Throw in 3tbs per 10 people to feed of each: Tumeric, Paprika, Cumin Bring to a simmer and cook for around 30 minutes to reduce acidity of the tomato Add in potatoes and butternut squash

Cook for a futher 30 minutes on a low heat to further reduce acidity of the tomato and to allow potato & butternut to absorb the flavours of the curry.

Serve over rice.

Bone apple tea.

Bon appetite.

Adam Shaw

Spaghetti Bolognese

Only joking - Let’s make

cause I make the best spag bol :) :) Robyn Fyfe

Due to working at Greggs I have a half price code, so I’d throw in another 20 quid and buy

100 pasties for everyone to enjoy,

can’t get more of a North East buffet than Greggs pasties.

WET productions

Radgie PinaColada 8 tins of Coconut Milk 8 tins of pineapple segments 1 carton of Pineapple Juice 1 bottle of rum Bag of ice Put everything into a blender and blend. Serve in whatever is close by.

Liam Slevin

My recipe for lockdown is to

maintain emotional wellbeing with mindfulness, stay in contact with family and close friends as much as you can, within the perimeters as we are stronger together.

Distract yourself from the situation sometimes with creativity that does not necessarily concern lockdown as there is time to examine it later from a better place emotionally. Exercise to lift your mood, eat well and don’t drink much! The routine involved in the discipline of drawing has helped lift my mood as has exercising. One of the main ways of getting through the tedium is to walk outside as much as possible and enjoy space to cope with the imposed limitations.

Gail Henderson

Lentil soup If it’s winter, definitely tomato and lentil soup.

In summer, I’d do a cold buffet – salads, houmous, cheeses, gorgeous bread and a fruit platter (that’s for you Vicky and Nic!) So, for a very straightforward, but delicious tomato and lentil soup: Serves 4 people 1 large onion 3 garlic cloves

Jason makes a proper good

vegan chickpea curry, although it’s a secret recipe…

2 carrots 2 sticks of celery 2 400g tins tomatoes

We’d make a

200g (ish) red lentils 500ml - 1 litre chicken or vegetable stock pinch of demerara sugar henderson’s relish / worcestershire sauce Finely slice the onion and fry on a medium heat for 5 mins, until it turns translucent (don’t let it brown), add the diced carrot, celery and crushed garlic. Stir and fry off for 5-10 mins, or until the carrot is softened. Add the tomatoes and some stock. Bring to a gentle boil for about 10 mins. Add the lentils and simmer for 30 mins, or until the lentils are cooked. Add a sprinkle of demerara sugar, to reduce the acidity of the tomatoes, and add a few splashes of Henderson’s Relish or Worcestershire Sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper. I like mine smooth, so blitz with a stick blender and add any remaining stock until it’s the consistency you like. Serve with crusty bread. Enjoy!

Jane Gray

tequila chaser of verdita for desert:

Pineapple juice,

coriander, chilli,

lime, fresh mint whizz together in a blender and strain...

WAX

I would have to bribe my partner to make his amazing Thai veggie curry! (To make vegan / vegetarian remove fish sauce and add more garlic and Thai basil. Or veggie fish sauce. Or all three.)

Hannah Campion

Thai veggie curry For the paste

For the curry

4-6 medium green chillies, de-seeded and roughly chopped

1 bag thai jasmine rice

2 shallots, chopped

sweet potatoes 4 large, peeled and chopped into 5cms squares

5cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated

aubergine 2 large chopped into 2cms squares

2 garlic cloves, crushed

courgette 2 large, peeled and deseeded chopped into 2cms squares

small bunch of fresh coriander, stalks and roots attached if possible

carrots peeled and cut into 1 cm chunks

2 lemongrass stalks, soaked and chopped

onions 4, quartered

1 lime, grated zest and juice

1 can coconut milk

8 kaffir lime leaves, torn into pieces (if unavailable, use the grated zest of 1 extra lime)

1 cans worth of water

2.5cm/1in piece galangal, peeled and chopped (if available)

coconut oil 1tbsp honey peanuts, mange tout and lime to garnish

1 tbsp coriander seeds, crushed 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp black peppercorns, crushed 2 tsp thai fish sauce or light soy sauce 3 tbsp olive oil Make the paste by putting all ingredients into a food processor and blitzing into a paste, leave in the fridge overnight for extra flavour.

Soak the rice in warm water.

Rinse the peanuts to remove the salt.

In a large pan add 2tbs of the coconut oil and turn onto a medium heat.

Add the sweet potatoes and cook for 5 minutes with a lid on stirring occasionally.

Take the lid off and add the onions cook until they have browned slightly and the add the paste cook for 2 minutes and then add all of the other vegetables and stir well.

Add the coconut milk and leave to simmer for 15 minutes.

Fill the can with water and stir the curry every 5 minutes adding 1/3 of a can of water each time.

Take of the heat and add the Mange tout and honey.

In a separated pan fry the peanuts until browned.

Take the rice and add to slightly salted water until fluffy.

Quarter lime. Serve the curry on a bed of rice, peanuts sprinkled on top with lime squeezed on top to taste.

Quiche/SoufflĂŠ PREP 15 mins | COOK 30 mins 1 onion sliced thinly 1 tablespoon butter for cooking 140g mushrooms (around 4 medium mushrooms) 100g ham chopped 115g grated cheese (strong cheddar cheeses or similar work well) 60g self-raising flour 375ml milk 4 eggs lightly whisked 2 teaspoons mustard salt & pepper to taste Preheat the oven to 200C. Melt the butter in a large frying pan or saucepan, cook the onions slowly for about 10 minutes or until soft and beginning to caramelize.

Grease a standard quiche dish (or other round pan) with a little butter, then spread the onions (and other fillings of your choice) evenly over the bottom.

Scatter over the chopped ham and cheese.

Slowly add the milk to the flour in a large jug. Whisk continuously so that there are no lumps, then whisk in the eggs, mustard, and salt and pepper.

Pour the egg mixture over the fillings in the dish/ pan, then bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until the mixture is just cooked in the centre.

Serve!

You can add anything for the filling. - leftover veg, spinach, feta cheese. We find a strong cheese is best for the filling, to give it a kick! If there’s any leftovers (there never is in our household!) - the quiche freezes really well. Just make sure you defrost thoroughly and cook in the over for about 20 mins.

Nicola Golightly

Feeding 3 teenagers through lockdown, and over 6 months of no school has literally been a full-time job. Never ending boredom and addictions to the kitchen cupboards have been a challenge. So, to combat this I decide that each morning I would start the day with a batch of scones! The thought of feeding a heap of people visiting my studio seems so much less intimidating than feeding bored teenagers.

The beauty is being able to substitute the flavours with whatever you like, hopefully with something to please everyone... even teenagers.

Favourites in my house are Date & Walnut and Cherry & Coconut.

Hellen Edwards

Date & walnut scones Makes approx. 10 scones.

450g SR flour 100g butter 100g caster sugar ½ bag of chopped dates ½ bag of chopped walnuts 100ml milk 1 egg Brush each scone with egg and cook at 180F for approx. 25mins.

Chickpea curry serve with rice

Cider and white onion soup

Fry together in oil:

My favourite food is soup. Any soup.

1 chopped onion

120g unsalted butter

2 cloves of garlic, chopped A piece of ginger, peeled and grated 1 tablespoon curry powder

5 large onions 6 sprigs of thyme 1 tbsp sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon powder

1 tsp salt

½ teaspoon cardamom powder

400ml vegetable stock

1 teaspoon salt

450ml sweet cider

1 teaspoon sugar

200ml creme fraiche

Add:

Place a pan over a medium heat and add the butter. When this has melted, add the onions to the pan, together with the thyme, sugar and salt.

2 tins chickpeas 1 tin chopped tomatoes 1 tablespoon tomato puree 1 sweet potato, cut into chunks ½ tin coconut milk.

Simmer together until the sweet potato is soft.

Double or triple the recipe, depending on how many people you expect.

Serve with rice. (Add the left over coconut milk to the water when you cook the rice) Recipe serves 4-6.

Mia Braine

Cook over a medium heat, stirring regularly, until the onions are lightly caramelised and golden – about 12 minutes.

Add the stock and cider, bring the soup to a simmer and cook for 10-12 minutes.

Take the pan off the heat and stir in the creme fraiche. Remove the thyme sprigs, blend until smooth.

Andy/ vision C-25

I’d make a batch of

Sausage casserole with mashed potatoes and banana bread for dessert.

Bog standard student meal prep chilli chopped tomatoes x2 tins mixed beans x1 tin kidney beans x1 tin chili powder x2 tsp

JJ Perangie

Nigella’s chicken and chick pea tagine!

cumin x1 tsp paprika x1 tsp garlic powder x1 tsp onion x1 red pepper x1 cheap tortilla chips Fry off chopped onion and pepper in bottom of saucepan with garlic powder.

Throw everything else in (minus the chips) and wait 20 mins.

Bon appetit Dovetail Joints / Connor Clements

Super easy, comforting and can be scaled-up to any amount of people!

Clare Harrison

Cheap gin and tonic

Hummus Hummus, everybody loves fresh homemade hummus. It’s really cheap so you can make a lot and still have money left over for chips to dip!

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas or 1 ½ cups (250 grams) cooked chickpeas

DYAD

¼ cup (60 ml) fresh lemon juice (1 large lemon) 1 small garlic clove, minced 2 tablespoons (30 ml) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving ½ teaspoon ground cumin Salt to taste 2 to 3 tablespoons (30 to 45 ml) water Dash of ground paprika and some fresh coriander for garnish.

Traditionally you would also add ¼ cup (60 ml) well-stirred tahini - but I never have tahini, so I just leave it out or alternatively I add a spoonful peanut butter!

Easiest recipe ever - Get everything, put it in a food processor, and blend till its a paste. The water can be added at the end if your hummus is too thick, just add a bit at a time till you get the texture you are after.

This will make enough for a meal, so if I am making it for a group I just times everything by 5 or 6.

Stephen Irving

A Veggie pasta dish

4 bags of multi coloured pasta twists 4 large onions diced 2 or 3 large garlic parts chopped and pasted in salt 4 Bell peppers diced 2 punnets of mushrooms chopped 1 large broccoli chopped 1 large cauliflower chopped 4-5 bottles of pasata sauce Then cook it! However, writing out a recipe for others to follow & test is way beyond my knowledge and expertise.

Phil Gatenby

I’ve never made it but a great North East dish I used to love that my Mam would make growing up was a dish called Panackelty so here’s the closest recipe for it that I’ve found: Simon Smith

Panackelty Serves 4 people One tin corned beef, sliced One or Two large onions, peeled and thinly sliced Three large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced Two large carrots, peeled and thinly sliced (optional) Two oxo cubes dissolved in 3/4 pint of water Layer the onions, corned beef, carrots and potatoes in an oven proof casserole dish, finishing with a top layer of potatoes.

Pour over the oxo stock.

Cook in the oven, gas mark 5, 190°C for an hour to an hour and a quarter, until the potatoes are cooked.

Serve with extra veg if required.

I am bloody rubbish at cooking. However, I do think that eating together is an important and powerful act, and I always provide free food at my events. I’d use my usual MO: buy

a load of bread, butter, cheese, crackers, grapes, tomatoes, and crisps.

Not exactly high cuisine but definitely rather writerly food, and hopefully enough to go round.

Lisa Lovebucket

Low carb peanut butter biscuits 275g Peanut butter (smooth or crunchy crunchy is lower carb, Sainsbury’s organic is a good one or Whole Earth) 165g granulated sweetener (I use Erythritol) 30g ground almonds 1 large egg 1 tsp vanilla extract Set oven to 175C. Prep two baking trays lined with greaseproof paper.

Mix everything together. I use a tablespoon scoop levelled off to measure the amount per biscuit to get between 24 and 26 biscuits from the mix.

Roll each one into a ball and evenly space out on the two baking sheets.

Press down with a fork on each ball to give criss cross effect and flatten a bit.

Bake for around 12-15 mins.

Leave on the tray until pretty much cool, as otherwise they might fall apart.

Optional - finish with a drizzle of melted dark chocolate.

Serve with cups of tea, coffee or milk of choice!

Vicky Holbrough

3 large pizzas from Sainsbury’s

cooked in store always goes down a treat. One Raw cacao margarita, one veggie and date supreme and one meat brownies feast and everyone My recipe is raw cacao and date brownies in lockdown. We all is happy. look forward to food and its easy to gain weight so by eliminating the following... sugar free, gluten free, wheat free, dairy free makes the feeling of indulging less guilty and more rewarding.

Makes 10 brownies.

2 cups of medjool dates (they’re the squishier, stickier, tastier kind of dates) 1 cup of pecans 2-3 tablespoons of raw cacao powder 2 tablespoons of maple syrup (optional and can be replaced with any other liquid sweetener) Sara Jacobs

Loucey Bain

Notes

Thank you to all the artists taking part.

Loucey Bain / Emma Bennett / Bordello Theatre / Mia Braine Hannah Campion / Aimee Charlotte / Sarah Cooney / Dovetail Joints DYAD / Helen Edwards / Robyn Fyfe / Phil Gatenby Nicola Golightly / Jane Gray / Claire Harrison / Gail Henderson Vicky Holbrough / Will Hughes / Stephen Irving / Sara Jacobs Cameron Lings / Lisa Lovebucket / Andy Newcombe John James Perangie / Adam Shaw / Liam Slevin / Simon Smith Dot Sneddon / Chris Suttie / Jenni Thirlwell / WAX WET Productions / John Wheeler