Leek and Asparagus Soup [off challenge]

Not from any of the books, but something I wanted to make because the ingredients were to hand. Marks and Sparks have the first of the season's English asparagus (hurrah!) at an amazing £3.00 for 2 trays. I had some left over and also some lovely leeks, so it seemed logical to turn them into a soup, with a little potato to thicken. This will go down nicely for lunch at work.

Rhubarb Crumble [#243]

I know, this is hardly a challenge, but I do love a good crumble and the rhubard is so fab at the moment. I also wanted to share Rachel Allan's topping, which ALWAYS works. Why should something as simple as a crumble topping cause problems? Well, in the past, I've found that various recipes disappoint, primarily because they don't get the proportions of ingredients right and end up doughy and clarty on cooking. Rachel uses 75g each of butter and soft brown sugar, and 150g of plain flour - and that's it. Nothing else, no fancy schmamcy sugars, ground nuts etc and certainly no baking powder. These proportions produce - for me anyway - the perfect crumble topping, short, crisp all the way through, and a delicious accompaniment to the slightly tart rhubarb with orange, and a proper custard. Lovely job!

Tuna and Bean Salad [#242]

An easy lunch dish from Jo Pratt here, which made a nice change from sandwiches. Make a lemony mustardy vinaigrette, with the zest and juice of a lemon, some wholegrain mustard, salt, pepper and olive oil. Add a tin of drained and rinsed canellini or borlotti beans (we used Cirio brand, simply the best), a very finely sliced red onion, or some spring onion, a diced red pepper and a tin of drained tuna, flaked into chunks. Mix gently, taste and adjust the seasoning, and then add some finely chopped parsley. Scarcely a recipe, really.

Fragrant Persian Chicken Pilaff [#241]

I made chicken biryani recently and wondered if this might not be too similar, but it was a different dish altogether - milder, gentle and very soothing. Brown chicken thighs very well, then sautee an onion in the residual juices in the pan. Add quite a lot of crushed cardamom pods - about 10 - a stick of cinnamon and a few cloves, plenty of black pepper and some salt. Then add part-cooked basmati rice (boiled for about 4 minutes, after soaking in cold water for 2 hours). Also add 2 bay leaves, and a handful each of sultanas and toasted pine nuts. Return the chicken to the rice, drizzle with 2 tablespoons of water in which some saffron has been soaking, then clamp a lid on and cook over a very low heat for 3/4 of an hour. At the end, the rice has fluffed up, and a lovely spiced rice crust will have formed on the bottom of the pan. We'll definitely make this Alastair Hendy recipe again.

Grilled Plaice with Caper, Lemon and Parsley Butter [#240]

Lovely fresh plaice available today, so we adapted a Mitch Tonks' recipe for grilled Dover Sole. Sadly, the budget can't quite run to Dover Sole, and plaice made a very pleasant substitute. Incredibly easy - butter a baking sheet and season, put the fish on the sheet and brush it with melted butter, and season again. Grill under a really hot element for about 5 to 6 minutes until golden brown and the flesh flakes easily. Serve on a hot plate, and spoon over a simple sauce of a little melted butter seasoned with the zest and juice of half a lemon, a dessertspoon of salted capers (rinsed), black pepper and lots of finely chopped parsley. Fluffy mash is essential with this, to soak up all the buttery, lemony juices, and some lovely, seasonal, purple sprouting broccoli added colour and a lovely bitter note to proceedings. I wish we lived by the sea, so we could eat fresh fish every day. Fish is good for the brain too, so I am virtually force-feeding poor old Hubby with the stuff.

Glazed Ham with Fresh Mango Chutney [#239]

Easter Sunday - why do people eat lamb for Easter? (other than for the Passiontide associations with the Paschal Lamb?). The young lambs are really too small at this time of year to have much flavour, so I'd rather save that treat until a bit later. Instead, we had a nice piece of outdoor-reared ham, gently boiled and then baked with a glaze of soy, brown sugar, honey, rum and mustard. This is then served, sliced, with a lovely fresh 'chutney' (really what I would call a salsa) of fresh mango, sweet chilli sauce, lime juice and finely chopped red onion. This was a delicious dish from Bill Granger, bursting with flavour, and the mango would go with lots of things, including a good curry, I imagine.

Before this, we made Bill's little prawn wantons, stuffed with chopped prawn, garlic, ginger and coriander - utterly delicious, but I can only count one dish per featured cook each month!

Bouillabaisse [#238]

After our health scare on Good Friday, hubby (and I) had regained our appetite by Saturday evening - you can't keep a good trencherman (or woman) down! This was just as well as, early on Good Friday, I had bought loads of beautiful fish and shellfish to have a go at Judith Well's low-fat version of Bouillabaisse. So, I was glad to be able to use it up, and we were rewarded with a most delicious, light and appetising fish dinner that we will most certainly make again. I used some sea bass, chunks of cod, prawns and mussels. I know, no mullet, gurnard or rascasse, none of the spiny mediterranean fish that should be in there, but hey, we live in Oxford, not Marseilles! The subtle seasoning of fennel seed, saffron and orange zest sang through, along with the fish stock and tomato. Lots of parsley at the end brought the whole thing together. With some crusty bread, it was food to console and to comfort and to celebrate that we were eating it together.

Potato and Rosemary Fritatta [#237]

So, we had a bit of a drama over Easter, with Hubby being proper poorly on Good Friday. BUT - it takes more than that to get in the way of our food! Before he fell ill, we had a lovely lunch of this simple and wholesome omelette from Marcella Hazan. Being Italian, she calls it a fritatta, but it was perhaps more like a Spanish tortilla. A thinly sliced potato and onion are sauteed gently in olive oil until soft and golden, and stirred into beaten eggs with a fair bit of finely chopped fresh rosemary - about a dessertspoonful. All is gently cooked in a non-stick omelette pan and browned under the grill. Simple and delicious. However, I shall never cook it again, as it is jinxed, as is 'The Sound of Music', but that's another story..............

Zhejiang Mein [#236]

Or 'Mixed Well Sauced Noodles' according to Ching-He Huang. This is a kind of Taiwanese 'Spag Bol', with minced pork (or you could use beef), stir-fried with spring onion, garlic, mushrooms, red pepper and beansprouts, and then simmered in chicken stock, Chinese rice wine, Hoi Sin sauce and red chilli paste until thick and sweet. Toss through some cooked rice or egg noodles along with some coriander, and you have a delicious, sweet/salty/spicy supper. Yum! Just don't put Parmesan on it.........