Chicken broth with noodles, lemon and mint

Apart from the absence of chilli this transported me back to Vietnam - it's similar to the chicken pho that you can get for breakfast. This was a light lunch and used up the remainder of last night's chicken. It was ok but I doubt I'd make it again.

Bulgar wheat with aubergine and mint

Oh Nigel, you've changed me! I wouldn't in a million years have made or considered making this dish prior to undertaking this project but this is truly gorgeous and a huge hit in my house tonight. I had it with roast chicken which was perfect. I can see this dish becoming a staple. Tastes better than it looks.

Spiced crumbed mackerel with smoked paprika; cheese smothered potatoes

I'm back and forth in January tonight in my effort to catch up. I have actually broken one of my rules in that I've made the cheese smothered potatoes before but was struggling to think what to make alongside the fish - I'd forgotten that they could be a bit too rich but they did go well with the fish so hey ho. The fish was good. The crumb worked really well giving a really interesting texture and complementing the flavour of the fish and it was very easy to make so I would make this again.

Double ginger cake

Now, those who know me know I'm partial to ginger!!! It was my daughter's first day at work today and this was in the oven for her for when she got back. 3 hours later the house still really smells of ginger but having tasted this cake it's worth it. It's a lovely moist cake with a deep ginger flavour - I've left the sultanas out because we don't like them (and Nigel has given me the confidence to tinker).

Ice cream with roast rhubarb

Nigel's dish was frozen yoghurt that he had churned in an ice cream maker - something I don't possess. My cold treat therefore was shop bought vanilla ice cream which I reasoned was ok as it's actually the rhubarb which is the star of the show here. I love rhubarb so was looking forward to making this but was unfortunately a little disappointed. I think it was my fault rather than Nigel's - the orange I used was ridiculously juicy and so I think the liquid/fruit ratio may have been skewed and I only guessed, rather than measured, the amount of necessary honey. So, all in all it was not quite right and a little disappointing.

A salad of fennel, winter leaves and Parmesan

As I've said many, many times before I'm not a salad person at all and in the last 3 months whilst recreating The Kitchen Diaries I've eaten more salads than I've eaten voluntarily in about 3 years! This is one I probably won't return to because it didn't wow me the way some of Nigel's salads have but I liked it well enough. My daughter thought it would feel more like a meal if it had included anchovies.

Dal and pumpkin soup

Back to New Year's Day for me and this lovely, slightly spicy soup. The onion topping really made this soup special.

Stew

Back from Vietnam today and have been really looking forward to getting back to Nigel, so straight back to the kitchen for me. I must say though, that this is one I wasn't looking forward to - mainly due to pot barley being an ingredient and the fact that the thought of barley has made me gag for many years, due to it being served up in various indelible forms at home in the mid 70s to the mid 80s and I haven't been near it since. This project however is designed to change my habits and become a better cook so I went for it. And guess what? Yes, once again Nigel didn't let me down and the barley was actually nice. My daughter thought the stew didn't have enough flavour but she is a bit of a spice freak - it had plenty of flavour. Also, the lamb was beautifully cooked and fell away the bone easily. The recipe says to leave the stew overnight before eating but I couldn't wait. I will have the leftovers for tea tomorrow so I'll update if it's any better.