CHARLES HUTCHINSON keeps the wolf from the door with an easy supper recipe.

Book: A Wolf In The Kitchen, Easy Food For Hungry People, by Lindsey Bareham, Penguin Books, paperback, £9.99.

Chef's CV: Freelance food-writer and broadcaster, who writes a daily recipe column for London Evening Standard and contributes regularly to Woman's Hour and You And Yours on BBC Radio 4. Made her name as restaurant critic. Her past books: In Praise Of The Potato; A Celebration Of Soup; Onions Without Tears; Supper Won't Take Long; The Little Book Of Big Soups; The Big Red Book Of Tomatoes.

Presentation: As economical as the theme of this basic cookery book: "eating well every day without much fuss and bother". No photographs; a minus for those of a nervous cooking disposition but a plus for those who usually feel deflated when their final culinary result is more school drawing than oil portrait. Information-packed pages have about as much light as a solitary-confinement prison cell; the writing, however, is concisely instructive, flavoured with humour, and calmly efficient.

Ingredients: Food for the lone wolf and the pack; food for bigger appetites than wallets; quick and not-so-quick food. Where a can can do, a can will do, hence The Right Cans chapter. Advice on How to Shop and Tools of the Trade, plus a cookery book reading list. Favourite tip: water comes to the boil faster if you don't add salt at the beginning; add the salt as soon as the water boils. Among the recipes are The Ultimate BLT; Corn Creole; Savoury Bread and Butter Pudding; West Indian Macaroni Cheese; Ants Climbing Trees (relax, it's a stir fry dish); Very Crisp Roast Potatoes; Plum Hazelnut Crumble.

Recipe chosen: Anglesey Eggs

Ready, steady, cook: Comfort cooking for comfort eating: 50 minutes and far less frantic than the cup-tie football on the radio. Usually for creamy leeks in a cheese sauce, I have prepared the sauce separately, but Lindsey's method - adding flour then milk, then cheese to the butter-cooked leeks - works more efficiently, cutting out the extra pan. Opt for hard boiled eggs; the 'soft' option would be messy.

Taste test: Aesthetically, Anglesey Eggs are not a 'looker', but the compact combination of flavours turns this chunky cheesy concoction into a substantial, energy-boosting winner.

Verdict? A no-frills bible of basic cooking, but not an idiot's guide, which makes the most of budget-priced food to wolf down rather than linger languorously over the flavours.

Recipe

Anglesey Eggs

2 servings

15 minutes preparation

35 minutes cooking

Ingredients:

500g floury ('old') variety of potatoes, such as King Edward

50g butter plus an extra knob

200ml milk

3 leeks

salt and black pepper

I heaped tbsp flour

75g grated Cheddar cheese

4 very fresh (organic) eggs

3 tbsp fresh breadcrumbs

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400F/200C/gas mark 6.

2. Peel the potatoes, cut them into even-sized chunks and boil in salted water until tender. Drain and mash with 25g of the butter and sufficient milk - one to two tablespoons - to make a firm mash. Keep warm.

3. Meanwhile, trim the leeks, slice them in rounds and wash thoroughly in cold water. Drain.

4. Melt the second 25g of butter in a medium-sized pan and add the leeks. Season with salt and pepper, and adjust the heat so the leeks soften without burning. Then sift the flour over the top and stir until integrated before gradually incorporating the remaining milk, while stirring constantly, to make a lump-free thick sauce. Simmer for several minutes before stirring in half of the cheese. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

5. Meanwhile, put the eggs in a small saucepan and cover with water. For soft-boiled eggs, simmer for four minutes. For hard-boiled, cook for seven minutes. Carefully crack the shell all over and leave under cold running water for a couple of minutes before peeling. Leave soft-boiled eggs whole. Cut hard-boiled eggs into quarters lengthways.

6. Butter a souffl-style dish and spoon in the mash, leaving a decent-sized whole in the middle. Fill with the eggs and pour over the leek sauce. Mix breadcrumbs and remaining cheese together and sprinkle over the top. Cook in the oven for about 15 minutes until crusty and golden brown.

WIN the book!!

WEEKENDER has five copies of Lindsey Bareham's A Wolf In The Kitchen for readers to win, courtesy of Penguin Books.

Question: For which newspaper does Lindsey write a daily recipe column?

Send your answer with your name and address, on a postcard, to Charles Hutchinson, Bareham Book Competition, Evening Press, 76-86 Walmgate, York, YO1 9YN. Winners will be the first five correct entries drawn next Friday.