Last month’s mountains of meat are but a faded memory now, and all that goodwill isn’t going to pay the heating bill is it?

You might have spent like mad men in December, but now it is down to the discount supermarket with you, and all you have to pay with is a handful of coppers scrounged from the back of the sofa that all your freeloader “friends” seem to have spent the past five weeks sitting and sipping upon.

This, then, could be the book that will save you from cracking under the strain of January deprivation blues. In The Hard Times CookBook(€9.99, Liberties Press), chef and former restaurateur Éamonn Ó Catháin collects a host of recipes, hints and tips on how to cook on a budget without skimping on variety or flavour. Seasonal produce, local food and growing your own is the key here, with 100 recipes to get you on the road to homemade foodie heaven.