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.