Pork Meatballs with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

A somewhat Swedish vibe for this lovely supper, which can be served with rice or pasta.  For 4 people, mix 500g of minced pork, a thick slice of white bread turned into crumbs, a medium onion, finely chopped, 2 cloves of garlic, crushed, 1 egg, a tablespoon each of chopped dill and parsley, the zest of a lemon, and plenty of salt and pepper.  Mix well with your hands, then form into meatballs - whatever size you prefer, but I got 20 out of the mixture.  Brown the meatballs in oil, then finish off in the oven on a baking sheet at 180C for about 20 minutes to cook through.  Whilst that is happening, melt 40g of butter in a pan big enough to hold the meatballs later.  Over a medium heat, fry a finely-chopped medium onion for 5 minutes until soft and translucent.  Slice 500g mushrooms (I used chestnut mushrooms) and add to the buttery onions.  Stir and cook for a further 5 minutes.  Now stir in a tablespoon of flour and 300ml of vegetable or chicken stock.  Simmer for 5 minutes until thick and the flour has cooked out.  Now stir in a small (150ml) pot of double cream or equivalent of creme fraiche, along with a further tablespoon of chopped dill and parsley.  Taste for seasoning, add a squeeze of lemon juice, and stir in the now cooked meatballs.  Pork mince is good value, and can be substituted with turkey mince if you prefer. Either way, this qualifies for under a fiver!

Linguine with Prawn, Tomato and Fennel Sauce, and Lemon Dill Pangratatta

Phew.  Long name, but an easy and delicious pasta sauce inspired by a recipe from the Barefoot Contessa.  In her version, she baked the prawns and sauce with feta cheese and the breadcrumbs on top, then served with crusty bread, but I thought it would be good turned into a pasta dish - I ditched the feta as I don't think it goes well with seafood myself!  Anyway, make a good tomato sauce with a finely chopped onion and also a chopped head of bulb fennel -saute in olive oil, add a tin of good tomatoes (Cirio brand for me) and a couple of cloves of garlic and simmer until the fennel is tender and the sauce is reduced.  If you have any Pernod in the house, add a slug just before the end to highlight the fennel flavour.  Make the pangratatta by sauteeing about 4 tablespoons of fresh white breadcrumbs in a tablespoon of olive oil until crisp, season well with salt and pepper and grate in the zest of half a lemon and some chopped dill or parsley if preferred.  You can set everything aside at this point.  When ready to serve, reheat your sauce, cook the pasta and 3 minutes before it is ready, add about 100g of chopped, ready cooked prawns to the sauce and reheat.  (Or you could put raw ones in a minute earlier).  Drain pasta, toss with the sauce and serve with the pangratatta sprinkled over and the halved lemon for squeezing.  NO PARMESAN PLEASE!!!

Potted Prawn and Crab Pate[#228]

Yum. I could eat this recipe, from Jo Pratt, every day until I die - which would probably be very soon, with all the butter it contains. Still, as a topping for hot toast to start our dinner, it was a real treat. It stands or falls on the quality of its ingredients - really fresh white crab meat from the Seafood and Eat It company in Cornwall, succulent prawns from Waitrose, mixed with melted butter, lemon zest, chopped dill and cayenne pepper for a bit of zip. Just lovely.

Broad Beans in Their Pods with Dill and Yoghurt [#107]

Well, this recipe is a perfect example of The Challenge making me cook dishes I would just have passed over. The idea of hairy-lined, tough, broad bean pods, stewed for 15 minutes and then eaten with yoghurt wasn't at all inspiring. Well, what a revelation! They were so good, we have decided they have to be an annual treat! You absolutely HAVE to have small broad bean pods - no bigger than your index finger, as Nigel says. Fortunately, we were able to pick them from Binsey's Medley Manor PYO to our specifications. They were uber-beany, the dill lifted the flavour at the end, and a spoonful of sharp Greek yoghurt (Total....of course!) complemented them perfectly. Do try this if you can get the right beans - you won't regret it!

Zucchini Cakes with Dill and Feta [#97]

I love courgette cakes, and these were a yummy variation on the now classic recipe. I reduced the amount of grated courgette, and added a bit of chopped mint too. Served with a little salsa of chopped beetroot mixed with balsamic and olive oil. Eaten with the Baked Tomatoes with Saint Marcellin (see previous recipe) and some chargrilled local asparagus from the lovely Medley Manor Farm pick-your-own in Binsey, Oxford, this was a delicious, healthy veggie dinner. No online recipe sadly - go get the book!

Salmon and Dill Fishcakes [#74]

The Challenge took a back-seat this week, as a busy time at work and socially got in the way. So, nice to get back on track with yet another excellent example of Nigel's brilliance at all things fishcakes, patties and meatballs. He really ought to write a book dedicated to the subject. Anyway, these were delicious morsels that sang with flavour - you do need to be generous with the dill (and, for once, the quantity of mustard Nigel used in the mix was just right!). Served with our first Jersey Royals of the season, some splendid local white sprouting broccoli, and baked mushrooms, we had a healthy and satisfying supper under our belts. Went down well with a bottle of Wolf Blass Yellow Label Chardonnay, a reliable stalwart of ours over the years, whatever the vintage.

Kipper Patties with Dill

I love kippers, so these patties were always going to be delicious, especially with a mustardy dill mayonnaise to accompany it. We dished up huge mounds of savoy cabbage, stir-fried with onions, garlic and carrots. Once again, I turned to the Port of Lancaster Smokehouse for the kippers, as they do marvellous boned ones. If you are ever in the region of Lancaster, do make a detour to the wonderful, atmospheric Glasson Dock, a mysterious, watery, misty place, with a great pub and the Aladdin's Cave shop attached to the smokehouse. The patties went really well with a bottle of Jackson Estate's New Zealand Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc - delicious! PS: We had the remaining patties for breakfast with poached eggs - very nice! The kippery flavour seemed more pronounced than last night. A great breakfast with freshly-squeezed pineapple, lime and orange juice and oceans of strong Assam tea.