For students, cooking is never top of the to-do list. There's always something much more pressing to do - like write tomorrow's essay, or catch the latest episode of Scrapheap Challenge. But food is important - not just to soak up all the alcohol, but to keep you going through a lifestyle that would make Paris Hilton weep. If you're not eating well, you won't be performing your best academically. And beside, being able to cook a few staple meals will make you a minor celebrity in the eyes of your hungrier housemates.



That's why we're be asking celebrities to share their kitchen secrets - student-scrounger style. So you too can live like a star - or at least, like they did once. That's almost the same, right?


Andy McNab - Bubble & Squeak

If your student kitchen feels like a battlefield, spare a thought for Andy McNab. Although the ex-SAS soldier has now swapped his mess-tins for le Crueset, he still favours the take-no-prisoners approach to cooking. His Bubble and Squeak is perfect for those 4am "what the hell are we going to eat" moments. And, if you turn up the volume on the discovery channel, you can even pretend you're cooking under fire (even if the closest you've got to "hostile movement" is the flies on last week's pizza).

"I used to cook anything in a frying pan," says McNab. "We even used to boil things in the frying pan. But mostly we'd fry. Well, it's either that or a Pot Noodle, isn't it? Bubble and Squeak is the best. First you cut and mash up the potatoes, then mix in anything you've got left over in the kitchen. Bacon, eggs, onion, anything. Get it hot, then leave it in the pan until it burns. It's only done when underneath you've got a layer of burnt potatoes." Mission accomplished.

Ingredients (serves 4)

450g cold potatoes
1 onion, finely chopped
250g cooked cabbage, chopped
Bacon / 100g cheese / 1 egg (optional)
Salt and pepper
4tbsp oil

Directions:

1 Peel and finely chop the potatoes and crush slightly. If you've got any, grate the cheese, crack and whisk the egg, and chop up the bacon.
2 Heat half the oil in the frying pan, and lightly fry the onion and bacon.
3 Add another tbsp of oil, then mix in the potato and everything else and season well. Press the "bubble" into the hot fat and fry over a medium heat until browned underneath.
4 Turn the bubble over, add the last of the oil and fry until the other side is browned (or burnt, if you're ex-SAS).

Next time: Boris Johnson.

Top cooking links:
www.waitrose.com/food_drink/recipes Ok, so you can't afford to shop at Waitrose, but you can at least cheekily recreate their brilliant recipes using Asda's own brands. The facility to browse by category such as "Quick and Easy Snacks" is good if you're looking for inspiration, and the cocktail-creator promises weeks of inebriation.

www.hub-uk.com Hub is a foodie favourite, with lots of information and advice on all things edible, and how to cook them. Run by a semi-professional chef, Hub's recipe collection is particularly well stocked (although disappointingly, the section on "Desserts, Puddings and other naughty things" doesn't include anything more risqué than Crispy Rhubarb Pie).

www.timesonline.co.uk/foodanddrink Yes, I know recommending the Times' own cookery section smacks of nepotism, but don't let that put you off. The Times' Food and Drink section has a huge archive of articles, and often carries offers on eating out. And if you're tired of drinking corner-shop plonk, Jane MacQuitty's Best bottles under £5 is definitely worth a look.

www.ucook.com Ucook (or GSN's Recipe Box, as it's now called,) is a staggeringly large database of recipes. It can tell you 957 things to do with a carrot, for example, should boiling them get a little boring. It also has an "Ask the Chef" page where you can send the experts your kitchen questions - though "Who's been sick in the sink?" probably won't get answered.

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