Cheese Bubble and Squeak [#175]

What a good idea, I thought. Why is cheesy bubble and squeak not better known? Because IT DOESN'T WORK, that's why! Sorry Nigel, after all your recent triumphs, this was a failure, and I think I know why. Firstly, your measurements were imprecise. 'One or two handfuls of cheese' added to leftover mash and cabbage, but no mention of how much of either. Secondly, mixing the cheese into cold leftovers (which IS the point of bubble and squeak after all) meant that, before the potato had time to warm up and be receptive to the melting cheese, it had split and gone all oily. We were left with a slick of cheesy, slimy potato in the pan, that seemed to ooze and suppurate a never ending quantity of oil from the cheese. Yuk! Here's the science bit. I think it needs to be made with the cheese mixed into HOT mashed potato, so it becomes an homogenised mass which can then fry and form a crisp outer, encasing the softly melting cheesy mash insde the crust. I feel churlish complaining at length, especially as there have been so few disasters in this otherwise tremendous book, but....Nigel, Nigel, you spoilt me tea! There is no online recipe which is just as well, and it was too awful looking to photograph, so here's a pretty bunny rabbit instead.

Nigel's Very Good Chocolate Brownie Recipe [#174]

And very good it was, indeed, although much more suited to being a 'dessert' brownie, given its extremely gooey nature. I've never made a brownie by the 'creaming fat and sugar' method before - all the other times, I melt the chocolate and butter together, and mix this, with the eggs, into the dry ingredients. So, this did make for a longer method, and a more 'cakey' mixture, but very good served warm with vanilla ice cream! I used Green and Black's Espresso Chocolate which gave a lovely subtle mocha flavour to the finished dish. Rich, decadent, divine - lovely for the dinner party to follow the pork.

Roast Pork with Grapes, Juniper and Vin Santo [#173]

Another one that went straight into the Top 10. We roasted a lovely free-range pork loin with good crackling, and the resultant sauce, made from the pan juices, roasted Italia grapes, garlic, juniper berries and a mixture of dry Madeira and Marsala (Vin Santo is just too expensive, sorry, Nige!) was totally delicious. We made this round at our lovely friends', Jonathan and Jess, and it was a perfect dinner party dish. We drank a delicious light, fruity Barbaresco with this, which matched the slightly sweet sauce and the succulent pork marvellously. This is a definite candidate to make again, and is special enough for Christmas, I think. Sorry, no pics taken so I have 'borrowed' one to give an idea of what it looked like. photo courtesy of tamarindandthyme.wordpress.com

Pumpkin and Tomato Laksa [#172]

Well, folks, this shot into the Top 10 faster than the latest Vera Lynn release. Totally yummy - udon noodles, tender chunks of steamed butternut squash, chopped tomatoes and (my addition, this) some cooked prawns added at the last minute, all in a coconutty/chilli/lime leaf/lemongrass/garlic/ginger/minty broth. And can I just say a word here about Waitrose's 'Cook's Ingredients' frozen herbs - all of the aforementioned 'aromatics' and herbs come in handy little zip-lock frozen bags from the wonderful retailer, and this means you can whip up an authentic Thai taste quicker than you can say 'The King and I'. Do try this recipe as soon as you can. Heaven.

A Crisp Salad for a Cold Day [#171]

A sparky little salad, this, made for Hubby's lunch tomorrow. Using left over roast chicken from Sunday (in addition to a potato-topped pie and Cock-a-Leekie Soup), mixed with cucumber, tomatoes, carrot and salad leaves with a lime, sweet chilli, ginger and coriander dressing to toss through at the last moment. Can't find this online, but scarcely a recipe anyway, more of an idea

Baked Red Mullet with Pine Kernel Stuffing [#170]

"The fishmonger has Red Mullet!" came the cry from Hubby. In land-locked Oxford, this is a rare thing indeed, so all hands on deck to get this lined up for tonight. Hayman's in the Covered Market in Oxford (I've mentioned them before) did a marvellous job with a handsome big mullet, deboning it, yet leaving it whole and ready for the rich, Sicilian-inspired stuffing of garlic, shallot, sultanas, rosemary, capers, black olives, lemon zest, breadcrumbs and parsley - I know, sounds too much, but it was delicious, almost sweet and sour, and complemented the flaking flesh of the fish beautifully. Another surprise this, as I would not normally have gone for this recipe, but the flavours really worked. If the mullet cry goes up again, we would repeat this recipe, definitely.

Bean Shoot Salad with Coriander and Mint [#169]

This salad was super-quick to knock up with the remains of a packet of beanshoots from Saturday's stir-fry. Mixed with matchsticks of carrot, spring onion and cucumber, it was tossed with a dressing of soy, lime juice and sesame oil. I remembered the mint but forgot the coriander - doh! Still, Hubby says it was a very nice lunch, accompanied by strips of the Sticky Chicken Thighs left over from Saturday. No official online presence for this recipe, I'm afraid..........

Ham and Butter Beans [#168]

The title of this recipe really doesn't do it justice - a lovely piece of unsmoked gammon, cooked in a rich tomato sauce spiked with hot smoked paprika and chorizo, with big fat Spanish butterbeans. Perfect for an Autumn evening with a mound of creamy mash and some bitter, bright green spring greens and savoy cabbage. I have been looking forward to this recipe for ages, and it really didn't disappoint. Loads of leftovers too. Another one for the Top 10 (there are about 25 recipes in the Top 10, by the way.........). I really can't believe that such a fine recipe hasn't appeared in Nigel's newspaper columns or on the BBC, so I can't give it here....but if you have the book, go and dig it out and turn to the October pages right away - you will want to cook this too!

Hot, Sour Beanshoot Salad [#167]

This recipe had been put off time and again since we came across it in the May section, as honestly, raw beansprouts really don't appeal to me. However, Nigel suggested something similar to accompany the chicken (see previous post) so we took the plunge. As always, with me, I slipped in some variations. For a start, I quickly stir-fried the beansprouts and spring onion with some julienned carrot, and I also cooked some slim ramen noodles to give some carbs. Along with a handful of spinach and lots of cucumber, mint and coriander, this came together into a very nice salad/stir-fry hybrid. The dressing was a revelation - the sourness of lime juice, the salty lick of nam pla and the kick of red chilli went very well with the sweetness of the honey-glazed chicken. Low fat too, as hardly any oil, other than a teaspoon or so for the stir-fry. Nom-nom.

Sweet and Sticky Chicken Wings [#166]

...or skinless chicken thighs in my case, as I'm not hugely keen on the skin and bones of chicken wings. Lovely, sticky coating of lemon, honey, mustard and garlic, and the chicken cooked to a glossy umber succulence. Nigel suggested a salad of beanshoots and cucumber to follow, so we went back to the May section of the Diary for a very nice Hot, Sour Beanshoot Salad (see next entry). Washed down with Vintage Somerset Cider, this was a yummy Saturday supper! One tip if you cook this - you should fastidiously and copiously line the baking sheet with foil, or else you will be washing up for a week.

Haddock with Crumbs and Tarragon [#165]

.....except I didn't have any tarragon. Instead, I made breadcrumbs mixed with chopped chervil, lemon thyme and parsley. Nigel adds quite a lot of anchovy fillets to this mixture too, but I added just a little, which was then used to egg-and-breadcrumb some lovely fillets of line-caught haddock. Rather than fry them, as Nigel does, I sprayed the fish with some olive oil and baked them in the oven next to some home-made oven chips and a dish of vine tomatoes. The result was a lovely healthy variation on fish and chips, with bags of flavour from the herbed breadcrumbs. Nice, relaxed Friday night supper with a bottle of Bourgogne Chardonnay from M&S - very nice. I'm afraid I can't hunt down an official online presence for this recipe, but you get the picture - either that or go get the book!

Macaroni with Fontina and Mustard [#164]

Well, no Fontina sadly, so substituted it with Talleggio and grated Parmesan. The end result was a delicious, savoury macaroni cheese, just perfect for a 'dreich' night, as my old Mum and Dad would have said. Delicious contrast of the rich, bubbling sauce with the crisp freshness of the Pear, Fennel and Watercress Salad from the previous posting. Thanks for a great variation on Mac and Cheese, Nigel! Stop licking the screen.

Fennel, Watercress and Pear Salad [#163]

We had doubts about Nigel's suggestion of serving this salad with a dish of haddock, bacon and parsley, so served it, instead, with his Macaroni with Fontina and Mustard, a much more satisfactory combination. Dead simple salad of watercress topped with shaved Florence fennel (it HAS to be paper-thin) and thin slices of a delicious crisp Williams pear from Italy. The dressing was nice too - lime juice and olive oil, simply seasoned with salt and pepper. I think, next time, I might sprinkle over some toasted walnuts or similar for even more texture. Really nice salad, though, do try it!

Poached Pears with Ice-cream and Chocolate Sauce [#162]

Some nice little early season English Conference Pears are currently poaching in a lemon and vanilla syrup, ready to be served with Haagen Dazs Praline Ice-cream (Nigel was very specific about the flavour) and a shot of inky chocolate sauce using 85% Lindt. This is a simple version of Poires Belle Helene but nothing wrong with that! The classics are the best. This will follow a wonderful braised brisket, based on a recipe from Tamasin Day-Lewis's new book Supper for a Song which has just been published and is full of very promising recipes. I do like her books - she is a bit wordy and flowery, but an excellent cook.

Pork Ribs with Honey and Anise [#161]

My other half has just said 'yum', which for him, is quite an emotional outburst. These have just gone into our top 10 of recipes cooked so far in this challenge - but a word of warning....you MUST cook them my way, not Nigel's!!! Nigel puts the delicious marinade/coating of oyster sauce (hoisin in my case), honey, chilli and garlic onto the raw ribs and then bakes them. As any of my Chinese readers will attest, this is anathema! My lovely friend, Gi, who makes the world's most delicious ribs, insists that you simmer them in water first for an hour. This renders some of the fat and tenderises the meat. It then soaks up the marinade much more readily, and cooks in the oven to a succulent tenderness. But, apart from that, top recipe Nigel, with sweet, lightly spiced flavours enhancing the meat to perfection. We served ours with a stir-fry of bitter kale and sweet red peppers, which were a lovely counterpoint to the pork. If you cook this recipe - and I strongly recommend that you do - you might think that 1.5 kilos of ribs is waaaay too much for two. Let me tell you, it isn't, and you will find yourself greedily wondering why you didn't double the recipe as you sink your teeth into your twelfth piece.

Pot-roast Pigeon with Luganega Sausage [#160]

One of the joys of the Aldeburgh Food Festival was that it was held during the season for a lot of game birds (no jokes about me being a game bird, please!). We were able to get hold of a couple of partridges, now safely in the freezer, and also some dinky woodpigeon breasts just right for this recipe. The Wild Meat Company in Suffolk has the most wonderful supplies, and prepares them for the cook beautifully. Procuring fresh bay leaves was more problematic, and I must offer apologies to the stand at the festival selling herb plants - one of your bushes is short a couple of leaves......sorry! The Luganega Sausage was also a wee bit problematic, not because they weren't available, but rather the sausage supplier at the festival had run out!! So, we went with Nigel's alternative of good chipolatas from the stall instead, Proctor's of Ipswich. This was a rich and tasty way of cooking pigeon, although I would shorten the cooking time if I do this again. Lovely with creamy mash and local Suffolk Kale, though, and a good bottle of Chianti. Sorry for the stock photo.

Roast Squash with Thyme [#159]

Nigel has this in the November section of the Diaries, but I got a beautiful medium Onion Squash in my organic box just before we went on our Suffolk jaunt, in the last week of September. So, we packed it and roasted it on our first night in the cottage - beautiful simple flavours and perfect, as Nigel suggests, with some good bangers. I also roasted a couple of tomatoes and some red pepper wedges, and the whole meal sang with sweet, smoky, Autumnal flavours, as well as looking glowingly beautiful on the plate

Radio Silence!

Apologies for the 'radio silence' on here of late - have just returned from a lovely week's break in sunny (yes, honestly!) Suffolk. We stayed in the Old Cookery School in Aldeburgh, until recently a genuine working cookery school run by the excellent Thane Prince. A wonderful Georgian building with a lovely kitchen, and surrounded by great food suppliers. The highlight of the trip was the Aldeburgh Food Festival last weekend, held in Snape Maltings - two days of great cookery demonstrations by Mark Hix, Fergus Henderson, Matthew Fort, Tom Parker Bowles and many more, plus brilliant local suppliers. All in blazing sun in the beautiful Suffolk countryside - such a treat, and why on earth do people go abroad, is all I can say! Anyway, also managed to squeeze in a couple of Nigel recipes, which will follow. Was going to do a third, the Roast Partridge, but the oven packed in, so they are now safely stashed in our freezer to do in the next week or so. Check out the Food Festival website and plan a visit in 2010 if you can make it!