If there was an Elizabeth Craig cult, I would be tempted to join. The other morning a parcel arrived, a book bought through eBay. 'Cooking in Wartime' was written in the 1940's. When I read the back cover I felt myself sit up straight and reach for a sensible pinny. "Are you worried?" it asked me. "Because the butter ration won't go far? Because your family will eat meat? Because the children need puddings and cakes, but the eggs make them so dear? Because you won't have enough sugar to make jam? Because you've got a dog to feed? Because fuel costs you more? LET THIS BOOK HELP YOU - It can take that load off your mind!" Ms Craig could be writing in 2008 and not 1941. She wants me to make satisfying tasty dishes from cheap rationed cuts. And who am I to say no? Ox cheek is being marketed in some supermarkets as a 'forgotten cut' which is an odd phrase a bit like 'heritage' vegetables. I went to the butchers to buy some. The butcher appeared to have come directly from central casting. He looked like an Enid Blyton butcher; round, red cheeked and wearing a striped navy and white apron. And when I asked for my ox cheek, small dimples popped out from his plump cheeks and he cooed at me approvingly."You won't be disappointed with this. All my older ladies love ox cheek." I left wondering whether I had now joined the ranks of the older ladies with their sensible shoes and quilted jackets, smelling of talcum powder. I shuffled home to make my ox cheek casserole. The butcher was right. Noone was disappointed. Freddie took a mouthful, smiled and asked, "Exactly which cheek on an ox is this from?" Then he gave the dish 10 out of 10. And Alex asked for the leftover portion to be out aside for her next school lunch. And I thought that Elizabeth would have approved of us. Alex walked off to school the following morning swinging her lunch box with its hot ox cheek casserole in a thermos flask. I leave you with her stirring words, "Never allow it to be said that we British women, whose job it was to cook in the war, failed at our post. Armed with wooden spoon, basin, and saucepan we'll keep the pots boiling whatever happens."

Ox Cheek Casserole

4 large carrots, scrapped and chopped

1 sweet potato, scrapped and diced

1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 large leek, thinly sliced
1 tablespoons of olive oil
500g ox cheek, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 tin butter beans
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
1 pint of vegetable bouillon or beef stock
half a teaspoon of dried oregano, thyme, rosemary
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon of cornflour
Salt and pepper to season
Trim and dice ox cheek. Prepare all the vegetables. Heat the oil and saute the onions, garlic and leeks for about 4 minutes. Add the ox cheek and brown for about 3 minutes. Add the rest of the vegetables and saute for another 2 minutes. Add the vegetable stock, herbs,bay leaf, salt and pepper and bring the casserole until it just starts to boil and then turn heat down to simmer with the lid on. Place in the oven at 170C for around an hour. Check every now and again to make sure the casserole isn't becoming too dry. Add a little more stock if it is. After an hour, mix the cornflour with a few spoons of stock ( you can take this from the casserole itself) until it is smooth and add back to the casserole, stirring in to thicken it. Cook for another 30 minutes.