By Ben Lippett

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Is Ben Lippett London’s chef of the moment? He certainly looks to be. He’s built his sizeable social following — 620,000 or so on Instagram, 122,000 on TikTok, both @dinnerbyben — by sharing recipes notable for their simplicity. His is not a feed of soufflés or croquembouche, but of things one might actually be able to cook, and would certainly want to eat: grilled mackerel and tomatoes, chorizo croquetas, caramelised brown sugar tart.

Lippett’s career encompasses more than reels: he is a food writer (once the assistant food editor at Waitrose magazine), and first made his name as one of the chefs for Mob Kitchen, following years cooking in restaurants, notably at Cin Cin in Brighton and Jackson Boxer’s Orasay in Notting Hill. A brief stint learning the trade at a butcher’s followed.

But his recipes are the thing, as readers of his popular newsletter How I Cook will know. His knack is for making the seemingly difficult easy. If you’ve ever wanted to impress with a dinner party, Lippett’s your man. Below are three recipes to get stuck into from his newly released cookbook, How I Cook: A Chef’s Guide to Really Good Home Cooking.

Hear me out, the best baked eggs don’t ever hit the oven… When testing these recipes, I found that simply adding a lid creates a steamy environment to cook the top of your eggs, delivering a gently cooked, perfectly poached egg with a tender white and a warm, runny yolk.

The intense, dry heat of the oven is much more aggressive than steam and can dry everything out and overcook the yolk. A heavy, cast-iron pot or sauté pan is your best bet for an even cook on your eggs. They usually come with a snug lid to trap in the steam and the thick, heavy metal holds on to heat well, and evenly distributes it, ensuring a balanced cook. Oh, and make sure you crack your eggs into an egg cup or espresso cup before gently sliding them into your sauce. This way, if any broken shell sneaks in there, it’s easy to whip out before it gets lost in the sauce.

This is my take on an absolute classic, Schnitzel à la Holstein. Ordinarily, this is made with bashed-out veal cutlets, but as my partner is pescatarian, I go for cod. I actually find it’s much easier to cook breaded fish in this fashion than meat: there’s no panicking about doneness; once it’s browned, it’s ready. The other flavours are like peas in a pod: brown butter, lemon, parsley, capers and anchovies come together to produce a stunningly simple but delicious dressing. A big fat pile of chips on the side wouldn’t go amiss, either.

This recipe is so easy and almost, just almost, impossible to mess up. I say that with confidence, as there’s little to no kneading, no technical shaping or complex dough-making here. Whipping up this focaccia is as simple as mixing the ingredients, folding it over itself a handful of times and leaving it alone until it has that signature bubbly texture. This is free-form bread baking at its gnarly, wild best.

How I Cook: A chef’s guide to really good home cooking, with over 100 recipes by Ben Lippett, published by Harper Collins, is out now.