Pork and onion pies with goose fat pastry

I hadn't expected the pastry to be so wet so was uncertain if this would work as expected.  But, wow, it really worked and these were little beauties.  

Pork belly with apple and thyme batter pudding

I've hosted this year and although everything seemed to come together in the end it felt disastrous in parts.  I did the the pork at the wrong temperature because I turned the wrong one of two ovens down and then the foil tray I decided to use to save in washing up split and leaked all over the oven so I had to do the batter pudding separately- the pork and pudding both turned out just fine though so no harm done.  Also, the potatoes were lovely.

Pickled ginger and beetroot

I made this last week and just tried it to see what it was like.  I have absolutely no idea in what circumstance I would try it again.  It leaves quite a pleasant aftertaste but too gingery for my tastes.  I'm going to gift it to my friend who is a very good cook and hope she enjoys it, but it's a no from me I'm afraid!

Port-braised venison with oat dumplings

Oh! Oh! Oh, Nigel! Nigel, Nigel, Nigel! You are spoiling us - us being me and, wait for it, the fussy daughter too.  I know that venison appears a little decadent for a Monday night but I don't work on Mondays and I've got a busy week ahead so I am moving on to December while I can.  This was really really good - a proper winter treat.  I was a little worried that the dumplings wouldn't work as they were too sticky for a while and I had to keep adding extra flour to the mix but they tasted perfectly fine. This dish was incredibly easy to make and the venison was beautifully cooked.

November is complete

I feel like Nigel took November at a gentle pace and know it will probably pick up speed in December.  My personal favourite this month would have to be the Thai fried chicken wings - I love that kind of thing and know they'll be made again and again.

Beetroot leaf sauté

I'm always happy when I can incorporate a night of Nigel into general feeding of my loved ones and, as the fussy daughter is out tonight, I'm left with my vegetarian boyfriend to feed (and coincidentally finally managed to find the beetroot stems on a market). And so voila.  I was really sceptical about this dish when I was making it and it only really came together at the end of the cooking time when it was really delicious. My boyfriend wolfed this down - I made fried eggs to go with his.

Thai fried chicken wings

Not one for the fussy daughter but her boyfriend got stuck in to these with me. We agreed that they were really good and we'd definitely have them again. The book made them look far trickier to make than they actually were and definitely benefitted from using good quality butcher's chicken wings.

October is complete

At last! I'd like to think no month will be as difficult as this again in terms of ingredient searching but I'm already struggling to get hold of beetroot with their leaves which is the next thing to cook.  Sigh.

Mograbia, shallots, lemon

I found it, I found it!  Finally!  I wouldn't have found it if Nigel hadn't given the tip that it is also known as maftoul and I think there is only one place in Manchester that sells it.  For me, the stand out ingredient here is not the Mograbia, the shallots or even the lemon but was the cornichons - the mint flavours with the lemon juice toning the pickliness down and making them quite delicious.  Being allergic I've left the olives out.  I think this would make a lovely salad in a summer buffet. 

Hazelnut maple biscuits

As the rubbish photo here will show you, these looked nothing like Nigel's perfectly formed offerings.  I think that partly this was due to not using skinned hazelnuts, which I simply couldn't find, and so everything is a bit darker.  My biscuits were also cut into 24 rather than 16 and were small and thick rather than perfectly biscuit shaped.  None of the above detracts from the flavour however and these were little gems of a biscuit and are now on my make again list.

Potatoes with smoked garlic

Smoked garlic is not something I've come across before and was rightly sceptical to see Nigel's assertion that most supermarkets sell it - not up north they don't Nigel.  However, it was Nigel's comment about how he used to pick these up from fish smokeries which led me as a final resort to visit my local fishmonger and lo and behold there was a whole bag of them, minding their own business hanging from a shelf.  I nearly did a jig, I was so delighted.  Now that I've made this dish though I'm not convinced that normal garlic wouldn't have done the job just as well but there you go.  This went down a treat in my house tonight and i'll definitely make it again. 

A salad of red cabbage, grapes and almonds

I had significantly more success tonight with this salad, even though it was this I was worried would be left completely uneaten.  I grated my cabbage and carrots, which I don't think is what Nigel intended but felt right to me and I'm sure he wouldn't criticise me for it.  We loved it and the fussy daughter is taking the remainder to work for her lunch tomorrow.  It looks a bit of a mess, but trust me, it's all about the taste.

Chicken liver ragout with potatoes and chive oil

I made this by hiding the key ingredients (chicken livers and mushrooms) and also the recipe from my fussy daughter.  When she was eating it and asked if the meat was beef, I'm ashamed to say I lied and said yes.  She smelt a rat though and I eventually came clean.  It is a testament to how far we've both come since Nigel entered our lives in such a significant way, that I haven't skipped making this dish due to squeamishness and she still gave it a go despite not loving it.  I won't be making this again and she tells me that she certainly won't be eating it again, but do you know what - I enjoyed it.  

Smoked mackerel pilaf

Nigel uses haddock but helpfully suggests that smoked mackerel would be good too.  I would never normally choose to eat a dish like this, preferring a wet sauce with rice, and, whilst this hasn't changed my mind on the subject, I did enjoy it - it tasted like clean and healthy eating to me, which is just what I needed after 3 days of eating out during a weekend away.  I've noticed in this book that Nigel appears to be liberally peppering his dishes with dried fruits, cranberries and sultanas is this case - it works!

Butternut and red onion gratin

And I've skipped ahead to November 8th to make this accompaniment for the steak pie.  Regular readers will recall that I'm not a huge fan of mustard so this was just a little too mustardy for me - the others all liked it though so it's just my personal mustard discrimination at play.  I would make this again as it was very easy to make and quite showstoppy when served.  

Steak, Stilton and thyme pie

This was a huge hit in my house tonight (not with the vegetarian in my life though) with all of us (the fussy daughter, her boyfriend and me) really enjoying this.  I didn't make extra pastry as suggested by Nigel because I'm just really not a pastry person - although it was really nice, just a little is enough, so I'm glad I didn't overdo it.  

Pot roast pheasant with artichokes and bacon

The fussy daughter of course refused this but her much less fussy boyfriend agreed. We loved this, although for me there really isn't enough meat in these small birds and so it's not something I'd make often, or even again - but I would certainly make the artichoke and bacon sauce again, probably with a chicken.  The flavours were beautiful. 

Roast pork and pumpkin

My fussy daughter is back from a trip to Dublin and wanting to eat with me so i had to shelve the idea of making the pheasant tonight and skipped straight to this - which I am coincidently making on the right day again.  This was totally up our strasse and we had with another portion of amazing kale (my new vegetable crush).

Grilled partridge, orange and lemon marinade

I'm taking a trip back to October 4th tonight with the appearance of the elusive partridge - wholly thanks to the lovely Robin at work who came to my rescue with not just the partridge but also the pheasant (October 23rd - which I'll make tomorrow).  Such a relief to be catching up (although Mograbia continues to evade me).

Whilst I love the flavours here - the marinade becoming the most beautiful of sauces - the small bird is far to fiddly for me (and I dread to think what the fussy daughter would  have said if presented with it!).  However, what I am taking away from this episode is the revelation that is kale.  I've only had kale a couple of times and have then shunned it as being a bitter unpleasant taste - I'm a big fan of green food so this is extremely unusual for me.  But pan fried with butter and having the sultanas added transforms this ugly sister into a beautiful princess.  Enough that I'm considering having kale cooked this way on my Christmas table this year.

Apple and Stilton dumplings with onion pickle

A rare occurrence: making something on the same day as in the book - I love it when that happens.  This was not only quite simple to make (pre bought puff pastry = fantastic) but quite simply amazing! The onion pickle was a revelation and one I'm sure I'll return to again and again. The flavours here were intense with the strong cheese flavour wonderfully balanced out by the apple and pickle combination.  I had another ratio/size disaster though - I suspect Nigel intended me to make 8 really small pies - I went large and so made just 4.  I gave a quarter away to a friend who brought me some Jerusalem artichokes from her allotment (this is intended to go with the pheasant dish (October 23) but again I cannot source a pheasant) leaving one each - my other half is eyeing my daughter's portion up as we speak (she's out and will no doubt enjoy this as a post pub snack when she comes home).

Mushroom pies

I've messed up a bit here!  I've just reread the recipe and realised I've not made the pie into the right shape.  I was going to complain about having made too much filing for the amount of pastry put perhaps if if done in exactly as Nigel suggested i wouldn't have had that problem.  I went out for a walk with my friend and her dog whilst these were in the oven and we just got back in time.  Another minute and they'd have been ruined!  They were lovely. 

A Mushroom Bourguignon

Whilst I'm not a vegetarian (far from it), the man in my life is and consequently I'm always happy when Nigel offers up an interesting vegetarian option.  This is very much a weekend dish as it took a good while to make all told but it was worth the time invested.  This most definitely will go on the make again list.  The addition of the fried bread really made it for me - it was delicious.

Smoked mackerel and celeriac remoulade

I've been dreading making this since I bought the new book, at one point considering starting in November in order to put this one off for as long as possible but last night I bit the bullet and made this for today's lunch.  I'm not a fan of celeriac or radishes and long time blog readers will know I'm relatively new to mustard and don't like it if it's a dominant taste and so as I put this together last night my heart was sinking.  As I was about to eat this just now my mate at work reminded me to keep my faith in Nigel - good advice. I've no idea why I would have doubted him - it was a really amazing combination of flavours that just work.  It's days like this that remind me how good it is to be led by someone else and not just stick to what you know. Once again, thank you Nigel!

Duck, prunes and red cabbage

Wow is really the only word I can use here. Wow. After 40 minutes simmering, the sauce for the duck legs became a thick rich delight and the flavour so perfectly complemented the duck, it was like magic.  Of course, this recipe was not without an ingredient hindrance in the shape of sherry vinegar which was simply not to be found and so was replaced with red wine vinegar.  It seemed not to matter.  Even the fussy daughter liked this.

An ingredient update

Still looking for Mograbia but also running in to trouble on the partridge front (grilled partridge, orange and lemon marinade - October 4th).  My local very good butcher says that it will be a couple of weeks before they are available so I will come back to that at some point.  I do hope that this isn't going to be a theme with this book!

Grilled Mussels with thyme and Parmesan

Look at these beauties - oh my days!  The flavours were excellent and deeply satisfying.  I'd make this as a show stopper dinner party starter - beautiful.

Fig and red onion tartlets

It is not clear whether Nigel intends this to be a tart to eat as part of your evening meal or as it's dessert.  As it contains figs and creme fraiche I went for the latter.  I'm still not sure!  I'd forgotten to season the filling before baking and the first mouthful was consequently a little bland. But the addition of a little sea salt transformed these tarts and I really enjoyed them.  I was particularly pleased at how much like the photo in the book these were.  

Beef, chilli and sun-dried tomato burger

Well, a burger is a good place to start in my opinion and this makes an easy start.   I love burgers and this was good, with the occasional fiery heat of the chilli and the sweetness of the sun-dried tomato giving an interesting contrast and I ended up piling my 'avocado salad' on top of my burger.  I really do feel like I'm back, with my interest and joy in trying new things renewed.  

A new one!

I've been so excited about the new Kitchen Diaries (the kitchen diaries 111: a year of good eating) and made a date to start recreating it from October 1st - October being the time my thoughts seem naturally to turn to cooking and being more adventurous.  However, I've almost immediately and inevitably been delayed by events beyond my control such as already having planned to eat out most days of this last week (which sounds decadent I know!). So I'm already going to slightly be playing catch up.  I also discovered that recipe 2 in October (October 2nd) contains 2 ingredients which are a problem: firstly, and less importantly olives, which I'm allergic to (I already replace every recipe containing olive oil with walnut oil) and will simply just leave them out of this dish, but more importantly the main ingredient being Mograbia which Nigel says he picks up bags of whenever he sees it - that's sounds to me like it's difficult to find in London let alone up here in Manchester. This has made me take stock of what I'm trying to achieve here which actually is to enjoy myself whilst I 'cook along a Nigel' so I'm not going to beat myself up about it if I need to skip recipes/days and come back at a later date for completeness sake. Let's see how I get on.  Oh, and here I am taking delivery of the book the day it came out.