July is complete

Yay, I've crammed it in but I did it nevertheless.  Fave this month was the strawberry water ice. 

A soup of roasted summer vegetables

I don't doubt that if I had this Chez Nigel, made by Nigel, I'd have really enjoyed it but to be honest this wasn't my finest hour. I took my eye off the ball and burnt the veg so it was all a bit meh! Still edible mind.  For the record I left the pasta out of mine.

Nigel's delightful trifle

This was really good - my mum was raving about it (she is a true trifle connesseur) so that's a good sign.

Baked salmon

And the centrepiece of today's lunch was an enormous whole salmon.  My sister brought a lovely sauce to go along side it, the main ingredients of which were, I think, sour cream and dill and which really worked - a beautiful sauce complementing a beautiful fish.

A lunch of baked tomatoes

Well, to be fair, the lunch today consisted of far more than baked tomatoes but we loved these as part of a vast lunch.  The Parmesan baked on top really made these and stopped them turning into a sloppy tomato dish.  Would make this again.

Peach and blueberry soured cream cobbler

And finally, pudding.  This didn't deliver for us I'm afraid - the fruit part of it was lovely and I would never previously have thought of using peaches and blueberries but they were lovely as a combo - but the cobbler bit just wasn't our thing.   Even the boyf, who doesn't really eat dessert, said that the cobbler bit wasn't sweet enough and I'd have to agree with him just this once.  I would love the fruit part if it was sat under a crumble topping though, so maybe next time.

Zucchini cakes with dill and feta

Now, for this I was totally faithful to the recipe and, whilst I am fully aware that the picture makes them looked burned and hideous, quite the opposite is true.  I could see why Nigel suggested a good chutney as the flavours here were delicate and creamy and the chutney complemented that.  

San marcellin with tomatoes and basil

Well, mine was mozzarella with tomatoes, but the principle was the same.  It is just not possible to buy San Marcellin in the shops near to where I work (in one of the most deprived areas of the country), so mozzarella it was.  This was the first course of last night's dinner and, as it turned out, possibly the best.  Simple yet tasty and perfect for the weather we've been enjoying recently.

A refreshing salad for a hot day

And this was todays lovely lunch - and what a hot day it was!  I don't think that there are 3 things that go together as well as melon, Parma ham and mozzarella (apart from caramel, peanut butter and ice cream) and the rest of the salad made that holy trinity sing.  Regular readers will know I'm not a salad person but this worked for me.  Again, Thanks Nigel. 

Melon sorbet

I also made this today to use up the melon I'd had at lunch - I always feel very domestic goddessy when I do that.  I didn't straightforwardly like this as much as I liked the strawberry one, but it is different and I'm glad I gave it a go.

Strawberry water ice

My daughter pulled her face yesterday when I said I was making this but was as amazed as I was by the gorgeousness of this sorbet.  I would urge everyone with the book (and a freezer) to make this, especially when the weather is as hot as it has been here recently.

Roast tomatoes with anchovy and basil

And to have alongside the lamb this delight.  The photo is so bad that it doesn't do anything justice but did make me laugh which is why I'm using it.

Lamb filled flatbread

What today has taught me is that, having not cooked properly for two weeks,  I love cooking.  Before starting this project I liked cooking but making so many different things which turn out so well (clearly more of a testament to Nigel's writing and recipes than my capacity to follow them) I now LOVE it and have missed making new things over the last couple of weeks.  I have returned to Nigel with gusto today and have made 5 of July's dishes.  This one is right up my strasse and I do believe that it could become a staple in my house - even the lamb hating daughter liked it - adding chilli sauce to hers.  

Roast lamb rolls with oregano and garlic

I had this without the roll to keep the carb count down but the daughter had the full on experience.  We both liked this (yes, even her!) - to be honest, anchovies and lamb are such a perfect combo I could eat this kind of thing all day long.

A lunch of grilled mackerel and tomatoes

Those who know the book well will know that Nigel's was a supper and the tomatoes are described as 'more tomatoes'. Those who know this will also have spotted that I'm not following a sequence, have skipped ahead a little and have done any tomato dishes recently. I'm going on holiday in a couple of weeks and in a bid to lose a few pounds before I go have dropped carbs from my diet where possible, meaning that Nigel has had to go on the back burner just for a couple of weeks. This dish, however, is a good high protein meal so still could be enjoyed. It is also boiling hot today and we sat outside with this lovely lunch - it felt like we were already abroad, reminding me of some of the lovely yet simple dishes you get in Spain. The flavours in this were perfect and even the daughter tucked in with gusto, which considering there were bones was quite unlike her. So, once again Nigel, well done you for changing us!

Red mullet with lemon and rosemary with a simple tomato salad

Except I forgot the lemon, which would have properly perked this dish up - although, don't get me wrong, it was perfectly edible without it and the rosemary worked really well. I wouldn't think of putting rosemary with fish generally but to be honest, in my pre Nigel days, I wouldn't have thought of making fish either so there you go.