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.