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.