Orecchiette with roast tomato and basil sauce

I've sprinted on to 17th June to make tonight's meal. When you cook regularly and are trying new recipes it's easy to forget the pleasure that a simple, fast pasta dish can bring. This was lovely, and a great fresh addition to my pasta sauce repertoire.

Steamed sea bass with ginger and cucumber

I've made an early start on June as I saw sea bass on offer today so couldn't resist. Anyone who has read this post regularly will probably guess what's coming - yes, the daughter was not impressed! Her words were ' the flavours are bland. It's a bit route 1 for me'. I liked the flavours, and not being a smoker could taste them - yes, they were delicate flavours and so didn't overpower the fish itself. I probably wouldn't make this recipe again though.

May is complete

For me the goat's cheese puddings were the highlight of May with the daughter saying that tonight's ice cream came a close second. I also really enjoyed the lemon flavour in many of this month's dishes.

Lemon ice cream

We liked this very much and can see it becoming a regular visitor to my house. It's been a lemony month for Nigel!

Asparagus and lemon risotto

When I was in Vietnam my favourite meal was a lemony fish dish with rice - this risotto was as lemony and as creamy and it took me right back there. I loved it. However, I'm the only one who did with the other voices saying 'it's too lemony' and 'I don't like asparagus'. I would make this again but probably only for myself.

White bean and tarragon soup

The tarragon gives this soup a unique flavour and I really liked it. It's super easy to make too.

Five spice quail

Not big fans of the small fiddly bird in this house, so I wasn't really looking forward to making this. I thought it was ok but the daughter struggled with the fiddliness (similar to her dislike of bones in fish). I would use the five spice marinade again but on a chicken next time I think.

Goats cheese puddings

I quartered Nigel's recipe to make these perfect little babies. These proved to be a big hit - they were absolutely gorgeous and will definitely be made again.

A really fast cake with blueberries and pears

We LOVE this! I made this cake at 3pm today and it's nearly all gone at the time of writing (11pm)! That's scandalous actually. What is particularly lovely about the cake is that the blueberries taken on a sweet chewy texture with the baking. The cake itself is also lovely and moist. Another Nigel winner.

A deli sandwich

I'm allergic to olive oil (which can be a pain when it comes to eating out) and so use walnut oil where olive is called for. Nigel uses loads of it in this sandwich (as well as olives, which, naturally, I can't eat either) but I've run out so, rather than drizzling with oil, I spread leftover home made pesto on the bread. It really works and makes me feel a bit more domestic goddessy! Delicious lunch.

Lemon amaretti cream pots

Lovely lovely lovely lemony pots! I would definitely make these again and they would be perfect for having friends over due to the make ahead nature. Next time I make them I think I'll double the amount of amaretti biscuits.

Roast pork with lemon and potatoes

With added Yorkshire pudding (as it's Sunday). I've jumped ahead a little in the book to the end of the month to make this delight. I enjoyed this, particularly the roast new potatoes - the lemon slices they were roasted with gave such a delicate lemony flavour to the whole dish.

A hot, sour, bean shoot salad

Well, not quite. I had to substitute bean shoots for mixed young leaves as bean shoots just couldn't be found but it didn't seem to matter. The coolness of the cucumber really helped balance out the heat from the chilli and the flavours, all strong, worked well together. I loved the spring onions, grilled, here.

Orange and ricotta pancakes

These are the spring version of the raspberry ones I made in November. I preferred these - the raspberry ones fell apart a bit in the pan but these worked perfectly and were really light.

Salmon and dill fish cakes

I was very sceptical about these as I was making them as they seemed far too wet. I added in extra flour and even though they were still wetter than I imagined they were supposed to be I hoped for the best as they went in the pan. Obviously I shouldn't have worried because the frying of them firmed them up beautifully and they cooked and tasted great. A definite winner and one to make again.

Chickpeas with harissa, basil and ham; lamb chops with lemon and mint and potatoes crushed into the pan juices

I combined 2 dishes for my evening meal tonight and they went together really well. In fact the 'salad' was absolutely delicious and will be made again. I used half the amount of chickpeas that Nigel recommended as I was having this as a side dish rather than a main - any more chick peas would have been far too much in my opinion. The daughter moaned about lamb again but the flavours were lovely and she did eat it.

April is complete

A little late, yes, but complete nevertheless. This month's highlight was today's cake.

An impromptu sorbet

I don't have an ice cream maker so these recent sorbets have involved regular trips to the freezer to fork through random ingredients. This is yoghurt and icing sugar and Nigel made it to go with the cake. I can see what he was going for but yoghurt as dessert is not my kind if thing really so this won't be becoming a staple in my house.

Lemon and basil tagliatelle

Nigel used linguine but tagliatelle was what I had in. This dish is perfect for a spring day with the lemon flavour cutting through the Parmesan. Very quick, very nice.

Lemon frosted pistachio cake

I have only one word for this cake and that word is magnificent. It's a beautifully moist cake and we loved it.

Lemon trifle

This is a winner! I'd been dreading making this all month because trifle is another bad 1970s memory which makes me totally heave at the word, but my 'Nigel rarely lets me down' mantra made me persevere. I took this round to a friends tonight and shared it out amongst 12 of us - I think everyone liked it, even those amongst us who had the same bad trifle memories as me. I would make this again - it would be a great dinner party pudding due to the making ahead nature of it.