Maple pork ribs

I had the meaty pork ribs in the freezer and so decided to give this a go.  Eagle-eyed readers will see the absence of tomato chutney - I’ve cut tomatoes out of my diet recently in an effort to heal my ills from within, so left the chutney out.  I’ve got to say I didn’t miss it.  With all the other ingredients these ribs were so delicately and perfectly flavoured that tomatoes were not required.  I really felt as I was making and eating them that I was eating Chinese ribs - possibly the inclusion of the star anise giving that illusion.  I’d definitely make this again. 

Braised steak, sake and shallots

• To be correct here, I substituted sherry in for sake as per Nigel’s suggestion, as I had sherry in.   This is one of the missing March recipes - I will finish this book!!      I haven’t made anything new for so long and really miss it so feel like I may be about to get my cooking mojo back.  This dish so was so easy to make and really delivered a wow factor - it felt like I was in a restaurant.  I would make this again but think I’d substitute for a different cut of beef - something more substantial than braising steak.
  

Pork with blackberries

Casting my eye back to August which I have still shamefully not started, let alone completed, I used this as my Sunday lunch meat dish. As the others in my regular household are either vegetarian or vegan, it’s a real treat when my boyf’s son comes to stay and we can have a meat fest.  This was incredible - the meat beautifully tender and delicately flavoured but the gravy was out of this world, really make the dish work as a whole.  I’d recommend this recipe to anyone - it’s a real showstopper.

Summer cake

It won't escape anyone's notice that it is now firmly autumn, but today felt like an early summers day, with sunshine and a light breeze and as I was in a baking mood I cast my eye back to July and gave this a go.  For a simple almondy cake, this really delivers on complex flavour and is wonderfully moist.  Luckily it worked out as the temperature wasn't included in the recipe and so was anybody's guess.  I thought of it as a technical challenge on the Bake Off and as I already had the oven on 160 for 3 hours making pig cheeks (Nigel's recipe, with apples and cider), I bobbed the cake in alongside and hoped for the best. 

Salmon and courgette cakes

The best I can honestly say about this is that it was alright.  I would never actively choose to make myself (or even choose to eat in a restaurant etc) a fishcake - it's just not my bag.  This was such a faff to make too, taking the best part of 2 hours all told (obviously with resting time included) and so was just not worth it and I wouldn't make again.  Let me make clear though that there was nothing intrinsically wrong with it, just not for me.  You can't win them all Nigel.

Fideuà

Again, I've deviated from Nigel's original recipe by not using fresh seafood to make this, mainly because my fishmonger doesn't open on Mondays and I really wanted this for lunch - I'm also cooking just for me rather than for 6 and didn't want loads of expensive seafood to go to waste.  My pasta was the thinnest I could find but was clearly not thin enough as you can see in the photo, but all of this mattered not a jot as this baby was all about the flavour.  It was so delicious that every mouthful was a total joy.  Well done Nigel!

Gooseberry ice cream

Blink and you miss them is the case with gooseberries so I got straight on the case when I saw them in the shops today.  Oh, and this ice cream is top notch!  Really flavourful and the natural sourness of the gooseberries make it fantastically refreshing.

Gazpacho

I'm sure I've said before, but I don't like cold food and so never look forward to making this kind of thing but was pleasantly surprised today.   Today is a baking summer's day of the type Nigel suggests is required for gazpacho.  A vegetarian friends was round and so I offered this and we both absolutely loved it.  It was also a great way to use up some of the odd bits I'd bought for salad early last week.  I'm a convert - it is delicious.

Warm roast chicken. Chilled sweet melon.

I deviated from the recipe here and used a thigh and 3 legs rather than the 3 breasts suggested by Nigel, as that's what I had left in the fridge having been barbecuing a couple of days ago.  I think Nigel is right that this is all about the juices, but I found it ultimately a little unsatisfying as a main meal - even on a blisteringly hot day, as it has been today, so I'd probably not make this again.

Fillet of beef with basil and lemon courgettes

Initially, I thought the meat was slightly on the peppery side for my tastes, but the sharpness of the lemon in the courgettes toned down the pepper heat.   This was a perfect meal for me, combinine two of my fave ingredients, although at £40 per kilo fillet will remain a rarity in my household, particularly when I love fat in a steak!

Roast lamb with ciabatta

This should be roast lamb with olives and ciabatta so, again, I've had to deviate as I'm allergic to olives and therefore simply left them out.  I also, as I always do, swapped olive oil for walnut oil.   I love lamb, I love fried bread, so I was really looking forward to tonight but I actually found this far too sickly, the bread soaked uall the oil and was just too much for me.  The lamb was beautifully cooked though and I'll have leftovers, minus the bread for lunch tomorrow, possibly with the mayo left over from earlier today.

Salmon in chilli mayonnaise

Nigel fans, and who knows maybe even Nigel himself, may be sat at home right now wondering what has happened to his actual recipe, which was for wasabi mayonnaise.  But I really, really dislike the flavour of wasabi and so couldn't do it to myself.  I almost didn't make the mayo at all due to last week's disaster but gave it another go - and I'm very glad I did because I now know how to do it properly - I reckon I was using the wrong bowl and utensils last week.  I added a little bit of crushed chilli paste to the mayo to give it a kick but for me the umami loveliness in this dish comes from the salted crispy skin crumbled in at the end with the purple radish sprouts.  Obviously I wasn't able to buy the radish sprouts on their own but spotted them in a bag of mixed leaves and so picked them out - I managed to get 10 individual leaves I think.  Also, I am no lover of cold food so again deviated from Nigel's recipe by baking my salmon first.  For a meal that I was dreading making and thinking I'd just have a mouthful to taste it, I wolfed it all down and it was amazing - yes, amazing!  I think that this would be a lovely starter with little toasts maybe.

Mint frozen yoghurt

Not sure about this.  I think I went wrong in the instructions and weighed out leaves only rather than leaves and stalks and consequently there are too many leaves in there.  Also, it's too yoghurty for my liking and if I were to give this another go I'd use a custard base for it I think.

Roast duck and apricot salad

Oh, I've been looking forward to this all day! And it did not disappoint.  The apricots, ripe as ripe can be, were the perfect counterpoint to the rich meat and the limey dressing beautifully sharp.  This felt quite special.  Easy to make and really delivering in flavour so it's a definite to make again.

Chicken with new potatoes and sherry vinegar

The recipe in the book is for rabbit with new potatoes and Nigel says 'I daresay you could use chicken' - I did not need telling twice.  As I only cook meat for one these days, the fussy daughter having gone to the fussiest side of food fussiness and gone vegan, and obviously I still have the problem of the chips and cheese eating vegetarian boyf, a rabbit seems a bit of a waste, extremely time consuming in terms of bones and I'm not overly enamoured by the flavour either - it's just alright.  As I get older, and I'm not sure if there is an actual proper reason for this, I like chicken more and more and choose to cook with it more frequently than not.  As with many recipes in this book, those that appear the simplest and least interesting can take you completely by surprise and wow you with every mouthful.  This is the case here.  I am a vinegar lover anyway but the sauce made with the oil, the juices and the sherry vinegar was amazing and the crunch of the cucumber with the chicken meat just worked.  I will most definitely be making this again.

a piquant salad of potato and chicory

And to go with my BBQ (and his mushroom tart) is this lovely offering.  However, I had 2 attempts at the mayonnaise, failing miserably on both occasions - neither thickened to the correct consistency - so I had to resort to shop bought I'm afraid, in this instance a low fat caesar dressing stood in for the failed mayo.  And it worked.  The overriding flavour was a vinegary loveliness from the cornichons and it all just worked.  A good salad (and anyone who knows me will know I don't say those words lightly!).

new garlic and mushroom tarts

On this, what has to be, the hottest day of the year I decide I'm having a barbecue.   I'm very much a Johnny come lately to the barbecue as I've never lived anywhere in my adult life before with the outside space to have one.  When we moved last year to a house with a lovely big garden and patio I put that right, buying a cobined pizza oven/BBQ.  I've not quite mastered pizzas in it though, preferring the barbecue rack.  My vegetarian boyf is obviously not impressed or enthused by a barbie so I made these tarts for him alone for when I'm gnawing on a bone.  I was really pleased that when I handed the plate to him he said in a really impressed sound way 'have you made these?' and he very much seemed to enjoy them, wolfing down two quick smart.

Baked salmon,beetroot and ginger

I've not been particularly looking forward to making this one, truth be told - I'm not a very willing fish eater in general.  Before tucking in I scraped away the majority of the marinade as the flavour was far to gingery for my taste but from then on everything improved.  The flavour combination of beetroot and ginger having coloured and lightly flavoured the fish was so delicate without being invisible and the fish itself, the recipe having been followed to the letter, was perfectly cooked.  I wouldn't make this again for myself but might for a fish loving friend.

Finally, I made beetroot crisps with my peelings today - they were fantastic.

Pigeon and peas

The weather is glorious once again and the barbecue has been pulled out, cleaned and fired up.  I never look forward to the more random recipes that Nigel throws at my, and by random I mean the less usual, like pigeon or rabbit.  But pigeon it is today.  I am also not a particularly confident barbecuer either so completely took Nigel's advice on timing and I have to say it was spot on.  The flavour of this little bird was beautiful and it was cooked perfectly.  My gripe though is about the extreme fiddliness and teeny tiny quantity of actual meat on a pigeon.  The pea puree was outstanding, the flavour perfectly complementing the pigeon and I would definitely make that again.

Sirloin steak with aubergine

Depending on your point of view I have either skipped ahead to June or cast my eye right back to June (if you remember I did very little cooking last summer due to a house move and general chaos).  I was looking forward to making this, as steak and aubergines are two of my faves, although I generally prefer a rib eye steak.  I let Nigel guide me today for what is most definitely quite a decadent lunch.  Once again the sun is shining and this just felt right.  I'm kicking myself though,  that in my haste to start tucking in, I forgot to add the lemon juice which I had ready to squeeze on the side.  Was still very good and I'd make again.