Banana Butterscotch Pudding

Well, now that the sun has returned, you may not feel like this pud, but it was lovely a few nights ago when the dreich days of April and May seemed like they were never going to end.  Tuck it away in your memory banks and bring it out when you want a bit of comfort.  It is a Bill Granger recipe and is one of those miraculous puds which go in upside down with liquid poured over the top and then somehow the sponge ends up on top with a yummy sauce underneath.  When you make it, you WILL think "what the....?" as it looks a mess, frankly, but just persevere, it does work.  The simplest thing to do here is to link to Bill's recipe on the Good Food Channel.

Carrot Fritters [#249]

These are a cross between a Nigel Slater and a Bill Granger recipe, so I suppose they count for the challenge? Essentially, grated carrot, grated onion (a good-sized one in each case) mixed with an egg, a heaped tablespoon of flour, and a little milk it it is all too stiff. You should have a mixture that coheres, yet plops gently off a spoon if tapped. You now have some seasoning options: I added a finely chopped green chilli, mainly as I had one in the house and wanted to add a bit of 'poke' to proceedings. I crumbled in a little feta too, which is the Bill way, but Nigel suggests grated cheddar. Not too much, an ounce or two. Season well with pepper and some salt if the cheese isn't included. A herb is needed - I used coriander, but parsley would be nice too, as would some mint.

Now, heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a non-stick pan, spoon tablepoons of batter into the pan, and flatten a little. Cook for a couple of minutes each side, drain on kitchen paper and serve with Greek yoghurt into which you've stirred some sweet chilli sauce, more of your chosen herb, and perhaps some chopped or grated cucumber. Lovely with a green salad and some roast tomatoes for a hearty veggie supper and enough for 2.

Cooking note: these are quite fragile, so don't worry if they break up when you turn them over, just squidge them back together again. I placed them on a parchment lined baking sheet and finished cooking in a hot oven for 10 minutes - this helped them firm up and also allowed some of the oil they inevitably absorb to come out.

White Chocolate Vanilla Cheesecake [#245]

Based on Bill Granger's now famous (and much copied) recipe, this is a lovely foil for seasonal fruit. Today, I pureed an exceptionally ripe mango, and over subsequent days we'll finish it off with strawberries and blueberries to accompany it. Lovely creamy cheesecake, using Green and Black's vanilla white chocolate and mascarpone. The base is shortbread crumbs - the more usual digestives would overwhelm and be too 'dark' for this light filling.

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!

Pasta with Mushroom and Prosciutto Sauce [#226]

An ideal mid-week quick, easy and tasty pasta sauce from Bill Granger - brown or chestnut mushrooms, sliced and sauteed with a little garlic and chopped Parma Ham. Add some chicken stock and double cream - about 2 floz of both, so hardly wicked - and reduce a little. Stir through some parsley and then add your drained pasta, toss and serve with Parmesan. The sauce was made in the time the pasta took to cook, so dead simple and deliciously tasty. Thanks Bill!

Moroccan Monkfish and Chickpea Stew [#214]

The second Bill Granger recipe. A lovely, delicately-spiced Morrocan dish - chunks of monkfish gently cooked in a tomato and onion sauce rich with garlic, fresh ginger, turmeric, cumin and cinnamon, with a touch of cayenne to add an echo of heat in the background. Sweetened with honey and sprinkled with chopped coriander at the end, it ate very well with a new ingredient for me - giant couscous. This had a curious texture, a little like eating barley, and not really like standard couscous, but very pleasant all the same. This dish also had the advantage of being really quick - ready in under half-an-hour. You can find the recipe on the BBC website should you be interested. We drank a refreshing Italian Rose with this.

Spiced Chicken Meatballs and Cherry Tomatoes with Fusilli [#207]

The first Bill Granger recipe of the challenge - I LOVE Bill Granger's food - healthy, simple yet packed full of flavour. This one didn't disappoint - chicken thighs, smoked bacon, breadcrumbs, ground coriander, chilli, garlic, shallot and parsley, all sazzed in the food processor. After forming into small meatballs, they are sprayed with oil and baked in a hot oven for 20 minutes, next to a big dish of baby plum tomatoes. Brought together in a pot with a little stock, and then served with pasta and Parmesan, we had a wholesome, filling supper, with plenty for work tomorrow. Quite a lot of washing-up, but who cares? That's what husbands are for :o)

The Kitchen Diaries Challenge 2010 - the books being used

Well, I loved last year's challenge so much. Cooking from Nigel Slater's 'Kitchen Diaries' was a marvellous experience, and one that forced me to look at new recipes, techniques and ingredients. It was the perfect book to chose, being seasonal and extremely varied. Finding another single book to match the experience in 2010 was impossible. So, this year, I have chosen 12 books instead. Every month, I will cook at least one recipe from each of these books - 12 a month, and 144 in total for the year - at least - I might cook more!

So which books have I chosen?

I focused on everyday cooking, but to stretch myself and increase my knowledge, I have also selected some books from other cuisines - Japanese, Indian, etc. Here they are! (with links to them at Amazon)

1. 'Tender' - Nigel Slater (well, I couldn't abandon Nigel altogether, could I!)
2. 'Harumi's Japanese Cooking' - Harumi Kurihara
3. 'China Modern' - Ching-He Huang
4. 'Home Cook' - Alastair Hendy
5. 'Everyday' - Bill Granger
6. 'Indian Everyday' -Anjum Anand
7. 'Favourite Food at Home' - Rachel Allen
8. 'Off the Shelf' - Donna Hay
9. 'Marcella Cucina' - Marcella Hazan
10. 'Fish' - Mitch Tonks
11. 'In the Mood for Food' - Jo Pratt
12. 'Top 200 Low Fat Recipes' - Judith Wills

This list is a blend of my favourite authors (Slater, Hendy, Granger, Allen, Pratt), the challenging (Tonks, Hazan), the exotic (Kurihara, Anand, Huang) and the healthy (Hay and Wills). Together, they will give me loads of choice for everyday cooking, and the more challenging stuff at the weekend, along with the realistic and healthy. Some are old friends and may even be out of print now, although Amazon seemed to have them all in stock one way or another, along with the new and relatively untested.

I hope you enjoy hearing about them as much as I know I will enjoy cooking from them!