Ham and Stilton crumpets

I never imagined that I'd be a person who would make their own crumpets, let alone a person who would happen to have all the ingredients in the cupboard and fridge already, but it seems I am that person.  The ham I made on Christmas eve in the slow cooker with coke, forgot about it till Boxing day, when I then did the glazing and the first batch of eating - it was excellent for the leaving of the ham in the coke for a couple of days.  That this delight then went into these tasty little treats made me feel very domestic goddessy, and making my own crumpets already made me feel like one!  This foray into the world of crumpets has made me want to have another go, without the Stilton and ham, but rather with lots of butter.

A Christmas sausage roll

I can't get over how good this looks and not only was it a looker but tasted the business too.  I was worried about the 200g liver in this, having forever been put off liver at school in the 1970s, but I put my trust in Nigel and he didn't disappoint.  Rather than making pastry leaves as decoration with my excess pastry I made an individual sausage roll.  I think that the mixture would have benefitted from the addition of cranberries and my next go at this will contain just that.

Pigeon, parsnip and porcini pie

Well, this was quite special for a midweek meal.  The pigeon was gamey and the sauce was full or porcini flavoured deliciousness. And, despite containing the often maligned chestnut mushroom, the fully daughter both ate and enjoyed this offering - we've come a long way!  We both agreed that if I make this dish again (or more likely a version of it with beef rather than pigeon) I will double the quantity of cranberries as they really made this dish very good.  

September is finally complete

Finally, finally.  It was a straight fight this month between the coconut and coriander lamb and the langoustines with herb butter, the langoustines just edging it.

Orange and chocolate friands

The reason I'm so late making this is not simply due to my general uselessness but once more due to Nigel's misapprehension that those of us living outside of London are able to purchase niche ingredients such as in this recipe - crystallised orange peel.  Mixed peel is widely available in a very synthetic form but is definitely not what he's got in mind for these friands.  I therefore waited patiently for a planned trip to Sorrento and went on a hunt there.     I found a bag of peel in a beautiful little cake shop in the equally beautiful town of Amalfi.  These were very easy and quick to make and incredibly moreish.  My daughter felt they'd have been nicer using milk chocolate but having tasted the peel I felt that plain ofset the sweetness of it perfectly.

Langoustine with herb butter

I had reasonably low expectations of today's lunch - it's hardly even a recipe really.  Nigel said that simple things sometimes take him by surprise but I didn't really believe him.  At my local fishmonger I could only buy a frozen pack of langoustines - 24 in a box.  There was only me for lunch and I only really wanted 4 so the fishmonger suggested I use these giant Spanish prawns instead - I bought 6 and otherwise followed Nigel to the letter.  And wow is all I can say to today's lunch - it was amazing.  If this had been served to me at a restaurant I'd have been delighted with the beautiful flavours I tucked into today - it was sublime and Nigel is right, sometimes the simple things are all you need.

Skirt steak, herbal broth

Once again, skirt steak was not to be found, even in my good local butcher's, so I've used bavette on this occasion - and very nice it was too, this dish being a real showcase for that particular cut.  I was worried that there'd be too much of a herby taste, disguising the meat, and too much broth so kept my broth bubbling away to a beautiful herby gravy and I served this with mashed potatoes and rainbow chard.  When the fussy daughter goes back for more saying that it's really good, then it's really good!

Blackberry hazelnut shortbread

Oh, these were beauties - maybe not to look at, but it's all about the flavour.  I was expecting the blackberry to dominate or perhaps the hazelnuts but the taste that hit the palette first was the gorgeous lemony hit from the zest in there - lovely, and what an interesting way to use up blackberries.

Chicken, tomatoes, garam masala

This was super easy to make - a true no faff mid-week dinner.  For me there was the added bonus of taking off the chicken skin (Nigel was silent on this so I guessed that's what he wanted me to do) and making chicken crackling (simply Nigella) with it as my starter.  I enjoyed the lime notes coming through in the curry and this tasted incredibly fresh but I probably wouldn't make it again as it didn't exactly wow me.

Fig ice cream

Nigel describes this as 'the ice cream of angels' and, whilst I wouldn't go that far (salted caramel is obviously the holder of that title), there is something really pleasing about this ice cream.  Possibly the most pleasing thing is that although it looks like wholegrain mustard it actually tastes fresh and light.  Definitely on the make again list.

A Thai-inspired duck curry soup

As I was eating this tonight I was saying to my boyf how this would be the exact thing if have skipped if I hadn't been doing a year of Nigel as it's down as a soup and who can be bothered going to this extent for a soup?  But this is not just a soup, it's a thin delight with complex flavours which combine into loveliness.  Nigel says that the tender stem broccoli is there rather than noodles but I ate this with noodles too providing me with a very fresh satisfying dinner.  My only criticism of this would be that the chilli is a touch subtle and if I were to make this in the future I'd add some more heat in the form of chilli flakes.

Stuffed summer squash with tomatoes and butter beans

I enjoyed making these very much and they felt quite special for a Monday night - a dinner party main for a vegetarian I felt.  The squash tasted lovely, roasted with stuffing and my only criticism was that more salt was needed.  There was the occasional chilli kick and the whole thing felt so fresh that this could only be a winner.  The fussy daughter liked it - we've come so far!  However, the vegetarian in my life didn't have much to say about it, other than thinking it was a potato - hey ho.

Apple focaccia

By rights this should be 'apple and maple syrup focaccia but I'm not a fan of the maple flavour so left it out.  My house move has brought me the gift of a new cooker, an impressive looking modern range which I'm still getting to grips with timing wise.  You can tell what's coming next can't you?  Nigel suggested 35 to 40 mins with the top of the bread golden brown.  My cooker had it looking perfect at 25 mins so I took it out, tried to get it out on the tin before giving up and putting it back for a further 10 mins - I fear that the damage was done around this point.  The dough was a wet one anyway and the addition of the apples (also a gift from the new house, in the shape of a mature apple tree in the garden) made it worse, and the bread was slightly undercooked/possibly underproved.  Shame.  

Split peas and coriander

The herb paste from the lamb dish is the same for this so I made both this evening treating the vegetarian in my life to a new Nigel.  I had it alongside my lamb and it worked. The boyf liked it and says I could put it on my make again list.  Again it was very fresh tasting. 

Coconut and coriander lamb

I've lost my cooking mojo recently with our house move and jobs to be done in it and I've taken my eye firmly off the Nigel ball, completely missing June, July and August but I'm determined to miss no more! So here we are in September with a real winner.  My photo doesn't do it justice, but the flavours in this lovely dish were just so fresh and subtle and lovely.  This is definitely one to make again.  

Lamb steaks, herb mayonnaise

My barbecuing was not a massive success tonight but I did just about manage to knock this up.  I didn't slather the lamb in the herb mayo as Nigel suggests - I'm not really a fan of mayonnaise and knowing how much oil was in it turned me off it really but that's what I'm prepared to do for the sake of finishing this project!

Cannellini and ricotta salad

I had my first ever attempt at doing a barbecue tonight and made this salad to go along with the meat.  It was a solid steady salad with a good variety of flavour.  I used broad beans in place of flageolet mainly due to being unable to get flageolet but also because broad is my favourite of the beans.  Would make again.  

May is finally complete

I'm well behind but plodding on.  Without a doubt the best dish for me from May's offerings was the prune, apricot and chorizo stew which I've made a few times since and really, really love.  It will be a lifetime recipe. 

A green chicken minestrone

This felt like a massive injection of goodness - both comforting and healthy. I've never liked minestrone - a watery soup with something that doesn't belong in soup (pasta) so once again wasn't looking forward to this.  But this wasn't really a soup, but was more of a hot salad and to be eaten with a fork rather than a spoon.  I really enjoyed it and would definitely make it again.  

A radish gazpacho

I'm not a lover of cold food, or of radishes, so haven't been particularly looking forward to making this, in order to complete May (just one recipe left!). It's been a lovely hot day today though and making this felt somehow right. And I loved this! Just the right amount of vinegar flavour came through and the beautiful sweetness of the baked red pepper meant that you wouldn't necessarily even know there were radishes in there.  A lovely summer soup.

Pork chops, gooseberry, mint and juniper relish

I'm extremely late on this one, mainly due to the lack of availability of gooseberries until this week, but also due to my house move and effectively being unable to cook for a month.  But I'm back baby!  I enjoyed this - the sharpness of the fruit offset by the sweetness of the onions and the pork.  There seemed to be a mistake in the recipe where the onions were mentioned at the beginning but not referenced again so I imagine that I got this right, but really who (apart from Nigel) knows?  Would make again although that may be unlikely due to dearth of gooseberries!

Rose and almond shortbread

These look nothing like the photos in the book, but taste beautiful nevertheless.  My daughter thought they were dry but I thought they taste as shortbread should and were great with a cup of tea. Instead of crystallised rose petals, which were not to be found, I used dehydrated strawberries for the colour on top so strictly speaking these are strawberry and  almond shortbread. 

Asparagus and Roquefort tart

A beauty this.   The pastry was perfect, the cheese lovely and flavourful and the asparagus (king of veg) hiding away deliciously inside.  Takes a while to make, but definitely one to make again (and again).

A salad of spiced chickpeas and puffed rice

I've cast my eye back a couple of weeks here as, finally, I found unsweetened puffed rice (another good test from Nigel!).  I made this as an accompaniment for lunch today, to sit outside and enjoy the sun, for my veggie boyf and his son's veggie girlfriend.  His son is as fussy as my daughter so I wasn't expecting much praise for this from him.  I was pleasantly surprised to find him wolfing the salad down saying how much he liked it whilst the boyf wanted to know exactly what was in it before commenting.  This was very quick and easy to make and was a substantial side dish but it was too 'seedy' for me and I probably wouldn't make it again.

Griddled asparagus, lemon mash

Always delighted to tie in a Nigel with my veggie boyf, I've been looking forward to making this.  It's simplicity also appealed - we're moving house at the moment and so I've not been able to cook as much as I'd like and will once again be behind, although I'm going to try and catch up with May in June.  Anyway, it was lovely - I love a lemon flavour in a meal and wasn't disappointed.  Neither was the boyf.  I didn't make my mash as silky smooth as Nigel suggested and felt I'd need the electric whisk to do that, but it was still good.  One to make again. 

Baked sea bass with tarragon and radishes

I don't eat a lot of fish and I'm not a fan of the radish so wasn't sure about this offering tonight.  I didn't eat the radishes as they were still too crunchy but everything else was lovely - the buttery sauce and red onions were particularly good.  I'm glad I had this as a starter though or I'd have been ravenous for the rest of the night - seriously who chooses to have fish?

Goats cheese and lemon thyme tartlets

Lovely little tartlets these - Nigel says that you need 2 per person but my boyf has just eaten 6 (and I didn't serve then unaccompanied - I don't care though, they are there to be eaten).  The pastry was lovely - I'm guessing because it had an egg in it making it tastier than usual.  

White chocolate and pistachio ice cream

Oh. My. God. Beautiful.  

Pickled salmon and cucumber salad

This is exactly the kind of dish that, unless I'd set myself the ridiculous task of having another year of Nigel, I'd have totally bypassed as not being my kind of thing.  But it was totally my kind of thing! And not just mine but the fussy daughter's too.  We had it as a starter tonight, sharing from one plate and really enjoying it.  A winner.

Asparagus with crab sauce

I thought I'd be decadent and have this as my Bank Holiday Monday brunch. To be honest it's not really enough food to fill the gap for the day and I suspect I'll be eating toast shortly.  What I particularly liked about this dish was the ever so subtle flavour of lemongrass coming through the in the cream sauce - not overpowering but enough to let you know of it's presence.  

April is complete

And early!  The winner for me, just pipping the meringue, was the Cumberland sausage with cheddar mash - it was amazing.

Rosemary and honey bread for cheese

The bakery round the corner from where I live sold me 40g of fresh yeast for this recipe for a grand total of 8 pence!  I've never used fresh yeast before so was a little apprehensive but obviously needn't have worried.  This bread is lovely - a nice colour, a crisp salty crust and an all round lovely flavour. It's ridiculously easy to make too - what's not to like?

Prune, apricot and chorizo stew

In normal circumstances this would be a dish I'd steer well clear of - normal circumstances being not making myself slavishly follow one man's book - mainly due to it having dried apricots and prunes, which I don't use in everyday cooking.  As this was going in the oven it didn't look at all promising and even coming out I wasn't sure.  But this is one of those dishes where pure magic has happened in the pan over a 45 minute period and every mouthful was a joy to be savoured and even celebrated. So I am going to celebrate it - it's a triumph and will join my repertoire on a regular basis. Eagle eyed readers will see that I've skipped ahead to May tonight, 

Meringues with lime curd and pistachios

I've been looking forward to making this all month and it didn't disappoint. I've never made curd before (I know!) and opinions were mixed on this one in the house tonight - it was pretty sharp in taste but that was fine if you had enough meringue.  My other half however had more positive things to say about this than he generally says about any of my other triumphs.

'Nduja bruschetta

An easy one to start the day and one that appeals to both me and the fussy daughter.  We're both big fans of goats cheese and it does work perfectly here with the underlying spice hit of the 'nduja.   No olives on ours though as I'm allergic (And I used walnut oil instead of olive oil).

Roast chicken,lime and mint

Regular readers will know that I'm not a fan of a salad, so I wasn't particularly looking forward to tonight's offering.  From the first mouthful though I was sold on this.  It reminded me of the tastes of Vietnam - I think it was the mint, lime and fish sauce combo that is absolutely beautiful, the cucumber flavour bringing a lovely freshness cutting through the fish sauce.  I really enjoyed this. For the record I swapped spinach leaves for Nigel's watercress as spinach is and always will be my green leaf of choice.

Salmon with mint and citrus salt

And here's one I made earlier - 24 hours earlier to be precise.  I wouldn't have imagined that leaving fish sitting in a citrus salt mixture would so dramatically change the texture as well as the taste and that I would actually want to eat the result but tis true, I do.  I had this as a tapa starter to my evening meal tonight and will have this again with little toasts tomorrow.  

Coffee mousse

I made this with very little positive expectation as I'm not a lover of coffee flavoured things.  Rather than a dusting of cocoa powder I adorned mine with chocolate and honeycomb bites, which really worked.  There were four of us tasting tonight and all agreed (and this is a good thing) that it tasted like Angel Delight).  The coffee taste was very subtle.  I'd definitely make this again - it'd be a fantastic dinner party dessert due to its make ahead nature.

Lamb chops with cider and apricots

Ooh this was good - I particularly liked the apricots sweetly coming through and complimenting the lamb.  I love lamb chops but rarely eat them due to the extreme fussiness of my nearest and dearest but sometimes you just have to please yourself don't you?  Not the best of pictures, but hey ho.

Roast lamb sandwiches with crushed peas and wasabi

I'm not a horseradish lover and have always found the flavour of wasabi too overpowering.  However, in the spirit of completeness I had to make this but I cut the quantity right down from a tablespoon to about half a teaspoon and this was about right for me.  He was a hint of wasabi and that's enough.  This is one of the most substantial sandwiches I've ever made - it took about 5 minutes to make but 40 minutes to eat.  

Roast shoulder of lamb with young greens

Sometimes I love a take away on a Friday and other times (e.g tonight) I love to come home and relax by cooking for a couple of hours.  This is one of the easiest meals to make in this book and whilst I am a huge lamb lover it isn't just bias telling you that this is amazing.  It is just amazing - beautifully flavoured meat with beautiful and simply cooked greens. Winner winner lamb dinner!

Cumberland sausage, shallot and cheddar roast potato mash

Oh, I could eat this all day long.  It's so far up mine and the fussy daughter's strasse that we're walking back down it again.  Magnificent.  Daughter was worried that we'd need a sauce with the mash but the cheese elevated it to another level.  This will go high up on the make again list. 

Warm rabbit and watercress salad

I've been dreading making this for a while as I've never cooked rabbit before and think I've only eaten it maybe once.  My fussy daughter said not to make it for her as she doesn't like rabbit but said her boyfriend was looking forward to trying it.  I gave them a plateful with 2 forks and she not only tried it but had more than one forkful.  The dressing was beautiful and really made this salad into an exceptional light lunch.  I don't think I would have ever mistaken the rabbit for chicken as Nigel suggested as I feel it had a lightly gamier flavour than chicken but I'm no longer scared of cooking with it which is a bonus.  I have used the remainder of the rabbit to try a slow cooked rabbit bolognese sauce so will have to see how that turns out.

Hot cross bun, toffee and banana pudding

I've skipped ahead of myself a week here, mainly because I've been drooling over the idea of this pudding since the book came out in September.  This was everything I imagined it would be - a little decadent, very comforting and easy as easy can be to make.  

Chicken with soured cream and gherkins

I'm not sure what happened here but despite cooking my (huge) chicken leg for a good 10 minutes longer than Nigel suggests it still wasn't cooked through when I sat down to eat and had to go under the grill to finish off, meaning I mostly ate the sauce with my fried potatoes and Swiss chard.  But, oh the sauce was lovely.  As was the chicken when it was finally done.  I'll definitely make this again but if the fussy daughter is involved it'll be a chicken breast next time.

February is complete

There have been quite a few things in February that have been right up my strasse and it's tough to choose a favourite in this month.  So I'm not going to - it was a great month with many highs.  

Chocolate peanut butter cheesecake

Cor!  I've never made a baked cheesecake before and really feel that I have upped my game making this yesterday (it then needed to set in the fridge overnight).  I was worried about it as water got through the silver foil it was baked in but the cake tin must have done its job and kept it at bay as the base was unaffected.  Nigel was right about this - it is the mother of all cheesecakes and testament to his recipe that it has barely lasted out the day (and I was rationing it!). Beautiful and will be made again.

Mackerel toasts

I've been away on holiday and have taken my eye off the Nigel ball!  I'm giving March a complete miss for now but will return to it by next March at the latest.

I've two things to make to complete February and so had this for lunch today. The sousing liquid lent a subtle flavour to the fish but for me the stand out success was the sour cream/smoked mackerel combo - it made a really delicious accompaniment. I had my toast thicker than Nigel suggested as I wanted a substantial lunch but I think these would make excellent canapés if you follow what he says. 

Lamb with beer and shallots

This is right up my strasse - and so easy to make! I started this off and then went to the pub to meet my friend, which in my book has got to be the best type of cooking. I'm not a beer drinker but when I cook with it I love the flavour.  The lamb was beautiful here and the parsnip mash was sublime.  A winner.  

Sunday breakfast toad in the hole

Fortunately I had a dim and distant memory that someone had moaned to Nigel on Twitter that the water had been missed in this recipe so went to his other toad in Real Food to check and sure enough 150ml of water to mix with the milk is missing.  I jumped up eagerly today knowing this was on the menu for me and hoping that my Valentine wasn't going to surprise me with cheese on toast in bed - he didn't.  The fussy daughter and I tucked into this with gusto - a perfect start to a Sunday.