Here’s how I eat: first with my mind, and then with my body.

I’m the sort of person who is thinking about what’s for dinner while they’re still munching on their breakfast. A planner who plots a big shop at the beginning of the week, and an improvisor, who then adapts those plans as the days unfurl around him.

I am also - whisper this - not exactly rolling in cash. I don’t know if anyone’s told you, but shit is expensive right now. And so a lot of my cooking is based around the food that will offer me the most value. Affordable ingredients are a key part of my eating at the moment, and chief among these is the humble chicken leg.

Chicken legs are easily the best bit of the bird. Full of flavour, the perfect size for an individual portion and, above all else, really affordable. Even Waitrose and Ocado will sell you a pair of the bad boys for less than £1.50.

Annoyingly, though, the leg doesn’t get a whole lot of attention in cookbooks. Plenty of room for skinned, boned thighs, yes. Not so much for the simple, cost-effective full leg.

So I’m starting Ideas with Legs - a regular recipe newsletter that will explore the best ways to enjoy chicken legs. Each month I’ll share a new recipe with you, drawing on cuisines from around the world, giving you a new, delicious thing to cook.

If you want to delve into food a little deeper with me, I am offering a subscription version of Ideas with Legs too. You’ll get extra recipes that go beyond the leg: I’ll share Offally Good Ideas that make the most of some of the most overlooked cuts of meat. Occasionally I might offer up Ideas with Veg(etables) too. Oh, and everything I share will be gluten free. Mainly because I don’t get a choice in the matter.

Subscribers will also get access to a Cookbook of the Month email, which will highlight a recent recipe collection that’s worth your attention.

I don’t expect to make much money from this, and I’m not really doing it for that reason anyway, so subscriber fees have been set at the minimum Substack will let me get away with. I know this because I tried to make it cheaper and they told me off.

Hopefully some of you will join me. I’ve already got some delicious ideas I’ve been working on, and even managed to get some gorgeous artwork for the newsletter by former Children’s Laureate Chris Riddell!

Join me, and let’s eat some really tasty food together.