Baked Salmon with a Spiced Lime Crust [#225]

I had a good big piece of organic farmed salmon delivered by Ocado yesterday, so baked the whole thing with a lovely crust of a few breadcrumbs, mixed with lime zest and juice, ground cumin, 5-spice powder, grated ginger and garlic, and lots of chopped fresh coriander. This was adapted from Judith Wills and certainly didn't feel like it was a worthy low-fat dish! The fish emerged after 20 minutes in a hot oven, sumptuously moist, with a lovely topping. Loads of leftovers, which I'll turn into a luxury kedgeree tomorrow. The pleasure was extended by a bottle of NZ Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2007 - sauvignon nirvana

Gyoza [#224]

These are so addictive, aren't they? Little dumplings of minced pork and prawns, flavoured with garlic, spring onion, ginger, chives, sesame oil and sake, wrapped in wanton pastry skins, which are then fried in a little oil and, finally, steamed. Dipped in a mixture of soy, chilli and sake (or rice vinegar if you have it), they are irresistible, and we polished off 16 of them between the two of us! Another successful dish from Harumi Kurihara, the Japanese Delia. We balanced it out with a super-healthy stir-fry of sprouted mung and edamame beans, pak choi and red pepper. As for the question of what to drink with them, Hubby couldn't get any Japanese beer, but we had some excellent St. Peter's Organic Ale from Suffolk, which he said was very similar to the beers he had in Japan.

Honey and Mustard Baked Pork Fillet with Parsnips [#223]

I love Donna Hay. I could so easily have made her the subject of the Challenge for the entire year, and might well do in 2011! Her recipes are elegant, simple, healthy and always work. This could scarcely have been simpler - pork fillet spread with grain mustard, honey and oregano, and roasted over chunky parsnips, which in turn absorb the fragrant juices from the pork, emerging tender and soft, not tough and charred, like roast parsnips often do. Loads of leftovers for tomorrow, too. We drank an Alsace Pinot Gris with this - crisper and less sweet than a Riesling, but still with enough fruit and honeyed sweetness to match the pork.

Chicken Yakitori [#222]

Little skewers of marinated chicken breast, chargrilled until stickily caramelised. Soooooo much better than anything Wagamama throws at you! Put on the chargrill to heat, open the back door, put on the extractor fan, and griddle away! You must marinade the strips of chicken for a good 24 hours so they become tender and totally inbued with the soy sauce, sake, mirin and caster sugar. You then thread the chicken onto wooden skewers, and reduce the remaining marinade in a pot until sticky. This is then brushed over the chicken as it cooks on the grill to help caramelise the surface. We served these with Saketinis (Sake, vodka and triple sec) to start our Sunday dinner tonight - we do spoil ourselves. These little treats came courtesy of Ching-He Huang.

Roasted Mackerel with North African Spices [#221]

Hayman's fishmonger in Oxford's Covered Market had beautiful, ultra-fresh mackerel, so rare to find away from the coast. So, we had to do this superb recipe from Mitch Tonks. The North African Spices are actually something called Chermoula, a vivid green, slushy rub made up from masses of fresh coriander, parsley and mint, blitzed in a processor with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, paprika, chilli, ground coriander and cumin. This is spooned over, and rubbed into, whole mackerel, that has been slashed a couple of times, and left to marinate for an hour or so. Then, roast the fish on a foil-covered baking sheet in a really hot oven (220C) for 12 minutes or so and serve with more lemon for squeezing over. I accompanied it with saffron rice mixed with roasted peppers, onions and aubergines. Really great dish, and fantastic, I imagine, for the barbie in the summer.

Stir-fry Duck with Orange, Honey and Lots of Greens [#220]

Jo Pratt's recipe uses raw duck for the stir-fry but we had so much left over from the roast last night, that we used this instead. I started off by cooking some egg noodles and tossing them in sesame oil. Then, the duck shreds were stir-fried in a little oil in a stonkingly hot wok, until crisp and set aside. Then into the pan went a little more oil, spring onions, tiny florets of broccoli and shredded baby spring greens. All is then united in the wok and tossed with a sauce of orange juice and zest, honey, soy, grated garlic and ginger, and served with noodles. Duck noodles, at their very best!

Roast Duck with Orange Gravy [#219]

Is there anything better to eat than a deeply burnished, crisply roasted duck? Our version tonight was courtesy of Alastair Hendy, and used Seville oranges to create an intensely-flavoured rich gravy. The rendered duck fat also produced probably the best roast spuds in the world. Bliss. We drank a bottle of Riesling that luxuriates in the marvellous name of Domdechant Werner' sches Weingut Rheingau Hochheimer Domdechaney Riesling Spatlese Pradikatswein Erzeugerabfullung 2004. Whatever, it was like angels dancing on my tongue.......

Tharri Wale Anday (Egg Curry) [#218]

I have long been a fan of Delia's Lentil and Egg Curry, so it is very good to have another version of egg curry to fall back on, and this is great. A tomato 'gravy' with finely chopped onion, garlic and ginger, spiced with a little red chilli, turmeric, ground coriander, cumin and garam masala, with fresh coriander added at the end. The hard-boiled eggs go in at the end too to warm through. I served this with a lovely vegetable pilaff - more onion and garam masala, with frozen organic peas, carrot and sweetcorn, all slowly braised with basmati rice and water until fluffy and tender. A very satisfactory Saturay night curry, better than any takeaway could ever be - naturally, this is from Anjum Anand

A Rich Dish of Brussels Sprouts and Cheese [#217]

This could only be Nigel Slater, with a title like that! This is, in essence, Brussels Sprouts in a cheesy, mustardy sauce, grilled until bubbling brown and piping hot, then served, as Nigel suggests, with pasta. Just the ticket for a cold February night, with the snow flurrying around the door. Cheap too! Nigel suggested Stichelton Blue cheese, but I'm not a fan of blue cheeses, so we went with a good-quality Cheddar and Parmesan - not too much, just enough to give a tang of cheesiness to proceedings, yet not enough to make your eyelids sweat - LOL! This is a moveable feast, so go with what you have - Gruyere would be good, I reckon, and even some Mozzarella. Basically, trim and halve some sprouts, boil for 3 minutes, until tender but still vigorous (a bit like how I like my men). Make up a good cheese sauce using about half a pint of milk for two people. Unite the two ingredients in a gratin dish, top with Parmesan and grill till brown and bubbling. Picture courtesy of www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk

Bergamo style Cabbage and Chickpea Soup [#216]

This sounds a bit worthy and heavy on paper, but is, in fact a lovely thick vegetable soup to warm the cockles. Dark green leaves from the outside of the cabbage are shredded and simmered with pancetta, carrot, potato, celery, onion and chickpeas in a light stock. I'm not sure whether Marcella Hazan's recommendation to peel the skins off the chickpeas is strictly necessary, though! It took us about 20 minutes to go through a tin of them, and there is no discernible difference to the eating quality, but it does show her fastidious approach to Italian food. Before eating, drizzle over good olive oil and plenty of grated Parmesan.

Hummus [off Challenge]

Some things are so much better made at home.......I find that supermarket hummus is often sharp, with too much tahini in it. Homemade is creamier, cheaper, and you can adjust the seasoning to suit. My recipe:
1 400 g tin of good organic chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon tahini (or to taste)
2 cloves of crushed garlic
the juice of a lemon
3-4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil - a peppery Greek Kalamata works well
salt and pepper, and a little cayenne pepper

Bung it all in a food processor and blend well, scraping the sides of the bowl every now and then. If too thick, add a tablespoon of hot water. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve with a spoonful of reserved whole chickpeas, if liked, with more oil poured over and a sprinking of cayenne.

Chocolate and Hazelnut Toffee Tart [#215]

A stonker from Rachel Allen. If you like millionaire's shortbread, then you'll love this - a fully baked shortcrust pastry base, spread with a hazelnut toffee sauce (soft brown sugar, butter and cream, bubbled together for 3-4 minutes, then chopped toasted hazelnuts folded in). Once this sets, spread with a ganache of dark chocolate and more cream, and leave to set. Do they eat this in Heaven? Or perhaps Hell? It makes a difference, you know, 'cos I ain't going to whichever doesn't serve it.........

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.

The Challenge - 1 month in

Well, the first month of the Challenge has flown by - how does this differ from the Nigel Slater Challenge last year? Well, one didn't have to think too much last year, you more or less stuck to the recipes in each month's chapter. But, having 12 books to cover means I have to keep referring to them (although I have already book-marked the likely candidates). Having said that, though, there is much more freedom - the bliss of being able to choose from Harumi's Japanese book one night or Marcella's Italian on another. Anyway, loving it so far, so is Hubby!

Keep checking what we are up to and I love getting your comments - if any of the recipes tickles your fancy, let me have your email address and I'll send them to you - I don't like to publish them on a public blog for fear of breaching copyright, but I'm happy to forward in private messages.

Torta di Arance all'Anconetana [#213]

Or, Orange Cake, Ancona-style, but it sounds so much better in Italian! The first in the challenge from the peerless Marcella Hazan, the doyenne of Italian cooking. This is an egg-rich butter sponge, flavoured with orange zest, Cointreau and Absinthe (in the absence of ouzo), and then drenched in a blood-orange syrup. This is a stunning cake, moist and tender, and it keeps for up to a week in the fridge, apparently (although it won't last long in our house!). Perfect for this time of year - get the really good, rich, blood oranges from Sicily, if possible. It has been an 'orangey' day in the flat today, but it brightens one's life to have such vibrant ingredients that make you think of the sun...........

Vin d'Orange [off challenge]

We are in full swing with the Seville Orange season. I shall make marmalade next weekend, but in the meantime, we have knocked up a batch of Vin d'Orange to sit and mature in the fridge. If you have never had this delectable drink, you really haven't lived. It is so easy - the hardest part is getting a big enough container in which to steep the ingredients. The recipe we used, adapted from Sally Clarke's eponymous book (and served in her wonderful restaurant as an aperitif) is as follows:
2 seville oranges, washed and sliced
1/2 lemon, washed and sliced
200g caster sugar
vanilla pod, split
cinnamon stick, broken
1 litre good rose wine, preferably a Provencal one
200ml cognac
50ml white rum

Wash a large kilner jar or similar - probably a 2-litre or 2x1 litre container and sterilise in an oven - or put through a hot dishwasher cycle.

Put everything in the jar, or divide equally between two jars. Stir well with a clean metal spoon and then seal with the lid. Store in the fridge for 6-8 weeks, shaking from time to time (the jars, not you, although feel free to shake yourself if wanted).

Then, strain through a coffee filter or muslin-lined funnel into sterilised bottles (we have been saving suitable screw-top wine bottles and liqueur bottles with corks for a while), seal and keep in a dark place. It can be drunk straight after bottling, or will just keep getting better in the bottle. Serve chilled, over ice, with an orange twist. Total heaven, but quite alcoholic!

I shall post a picture of it when it is all nice and filtered and ready to drink.

Yakisoba [#212]

As an occasional visitor to Wagamama, I thought I knew what Yakisoba was - a big pile of noodles fried with chicken or tofu or prawns with some veg, sesame seeds and quite a bit of oil. A nice dish, but nothing at all like Harumi Kurihara's version, the first from her book for this challenge. Rather, what she does is to fry cooked egg noodles in a flat 'pancake' on both sides in a little oil until crisp. This is then served with a saucy stirfry on the top of pork and pak choi, with mushrooms added in my case. The sauce is made from chicken stock, soy sauce, hoisin or oyster sauce, sesame oil and rice wine, lightly thickened with cornflour. It was unexpected, with really interesting textures and quite delicate flavours. As Harumi is generally hailed as the Japanese 'Delia', I am sure this is more authentic than the Wagamama version!

Oriental Meatballs with Spicy Coconut Noodles [#211]

So, the first recipe from Ching-He Huang. Her approach to Chinese food is informed by a) being Taiwanese and b) being raised in the UK, so she isn't a purist. This recipe was taken from her 'East meets East' chapter, and was her interpretation of Meatballs and Spaghetti - a very loose interpretation, I would say! Very nice though. Imagine, if you will, slippery udon noodles, bathed in a coconutty sauce flavoured with garlic, ginger, chilli, lemongrass, shrimp paste and fish sauce, with masses of coriander. Buried in amongst the noodles are little meatballs, made with beef and seasoned with yet more garlic and ginger, chilli and coriander, chopped spring onions, fish sauce and Chinese wine. Are you hungry? You should be! Anyway, a very successful first dish, more Thai than Chinese. I added a spritz of lime at the end, just to lift the final flavours. The shrimp paste and fish sauce, by the way, should be used as chemical agents in wartime. I used considerably less than in the recipe, and they do fade to a savoury background flavour on cooking. I am looking forward to trying more from her book.