Melon Sorbet [#151]

We had a very ripe Charentais melon sitting in the fridge that needed using up, so this sorbet was just the ticket. Again, I tinkered with the recipe. Instead of lemon juice, I used the rind and juice of a lime. Also, the flesh was so juicy when I blended it that I didn't add sugar syrup, but rather just a tablesoon of sugar, and sharpened it all with a little lime cordial. It froze happily in a plastic dish with some occasional stirring, and the result is one of the most startling tasting (and looking) things I've ever made - just fantastic after the rich pork dish earlier, and again the smells are divine. What a meal we've had, courtesy of Nigel. What a star, and I can't wait for his new programme later in the week on BBC 1.

A Refreshing Salad for a Hot Day [#130]

.......just a pity we didn't have the hot day to go with the salad. I scaled down the recipe to make it a starter. This was essentially a blend of ripe charentais melon, Italian prosciutto cotto, good buffalo mozzarella and watercress, with a lemony dressing with chopped parsley. Very nice and refreshing. No online recipe, sadly, but I'm sure you get the picture.

A Cooling Crab Salad [#89]

This recipe was meant to be for a hot day! Instead, we ate it on a grey and cool late-May evening. Still, it made us think of our warm, sunny holiday in Cornwall and The West Country last week, where I enjoyed Brown Crab on Toast at Mark Hix's Oyster & Fish House in Lyme Regis. This recipe depends utterly on the freshness of its ingredients - so I ordered a tub each of Seafood and Eat It white and brown crab from Ocado. It was spankingly fresh. However, unlike Nigel's recipe which calls for 300g of white crab meat for two people, I made do with 100g of white mixed with about 20g of brown, and this was plenty, being such a rich product. The rest will go into crab fishcakes for tomorrow. Surprisingly delicious and delicate dish - nearly missed the ginger out of the dressing, which would have been disastrous, so thanks to hubby for spotting my omission!

Try as I might, I can't track down an online recipe, which is a shame - essentially it is a composed salad of watercress, melon, cucumber, crab, dressed in lime juice, sugar, grated ginger and masses of mint. Go get the book!