Beetroot soup

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Mascarpone with rum and lime cream

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Chicken with spring onion and greek yoghurt

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Beetroot salad

I bought some beetroot the other day, and we are off to france for xmas in a couple of days (assuming the eurostar starts up again!) so i needed to use them up.  This salad was simple, delicious and nutritious - i would highly recommend it - and i don't really like beetroot.  Just tara's kind of food as well - she loved it!

- Process good handfuls of mint and coriander together.
- Add the grating blade to the processor and grate 3-4 peeled beetroots.
- Toss these in a bowl with the herbs and the juice of a lemon.
- Top with greek yoghurt or creme fraiche and toasted mustard seeds.

Hazelnut cake

Clare and some friends of hers came round to the house for tea before going off to Matt, Dan and Ginny's xmas party, so i made this hazelnut cake - although we did already have the remnants of tara's delicious banana cake and our night nanny's homemade mince pies she brought round the other day.  This recipe requires such a lot of egg whites that i would never make it again unless i happened to have loads of egg whites left over.

- Whisk 8 egg whites with 1/2 teaspoon salt until stiff peaks.
- Mix 285g ground hazelnuts with 300g caster sugar and fold this into the egg whites and add zest 1 orange or lemon.
- Gradually sift 85g flour into the mixture, folding it as you go.
- Put the mixture into a 20cm cake tin and bake for 50 mins at 175C or until a skewer comes out clean.

I think i slightly overdid mine, even though i knocked off 10 mins from nigella's 1 hour time.  It did have a lovely chewy texture from all those egg whites, and its nice to use ground hazelnuts which give a much nuttier flavour than almonds.  It's quite a plain cake, so i made a quick raspberry sauce to go with it.



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Steak Mirabeau

I've just cooked this for myself while tara is out buying a winter coat, in a snow storm, and marni is sleeping soundly like the dove she is.  This must be a new fastest record - it took me about 7 mins.  1 min to heat the oil and butter, 2-3 mins each side  for the steak, and 1-2 mins for the sauce.

- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter in a pan on a high heat.
- When hot and foaming, add 4 fillet or sirloin steaks, and cook for 3 mins either side (for medium-rare done).
- Add black pepper and remove to a plate.
- Criss-cross each steak with 2 anchovy fillets and add halved black olives to the 4 quarters.
- Add 4 anchovy fillets to the pan juices, mash up, then add 1 glass red wine and reduce.
- Add to the steaks and serve.

Nigella seems to love olive and anchovies with her steaks and it does seem to work.
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Quick custard

Nigella has 2 recipes for custard and this is the quick foolproof custard.  Although actually i found the previous method nigella used easier, mainly because i couldn't seem to thicken the custard without putting it back on the heat.

- Heat 600ml double cream with the seeds of a vanilla pod and the empty pod until boiling point.
- Whisk together 5 egg yolks, 1 teaspoon cornflower, and 2 tablespoons sugar.
- As the cream boils, pour onto the egg mixture, whisking continously for about 10 mins until thick.

I gave up whisking after about 10 mins, and just put it back on the hob for a couple of mins, stirring constantly.  It made delicious custard (i think the double cream helps!) which went perfectly with the bakewell tart.

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Bakewell tart

This is the first bakewell tart i've ever made, and it won't be the last.  Having been to Bakewell only a couple of days before - we took marni on her first walking trip to peak district - and seen but not tasted the "tarts", i thought i'd give this a go. Simpler than i imagined, although the bottom of the tart wasn't quite as done as it could have been, even though the top was definitely done.  Nigella doesn't bake the pastry blind first, so i cooked it at a lower temperature than nigella says and at the bottom of the oven but to avail.  i think a quick 10 mins baking the pastry first before adding the topping would help.

- For the pastry, put 175g flour, 130g cold butter (cubed), 30g ground almonds, 65g icing sugar and 1 egg yolk in a processor and blend.
- Slowly add tiny amounts of ice cold water while still processing until the mixture starts to clump together.
- Bring together by hand into a ball, cover with clingfilm and put in the fridge for 20 mins.
- Beat together 3 eggs and 125g sugar, stir in 125g of melted butter and then add 125g ground almonds.
- Roll out the pastry to line a 20-26cm quiche tin.  I would then bake it for 10 mins at 190C before adding the topping.
- Spread 3 tablespoons raspberry jam on the bottom, then top with 300g raspberries.
- Pour the mixture on top of that, sprinkle with 15g flaked almonds and bake for 35-45 mins at 190C.

And this also counted as Marni's 10 week old birthday cake - been to Bakewell and had a bakewell tart cooked for her - she's ticking them off.

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Grilled pepper salad

This is the last time i'm going to make this - much as i like peppers, the pain of removing all that skin is not worth it!  This is just yellow and red peppers as Nigella never uses green peppers in anything and tara agrees with her apparently.

- Chargrill 4 red and 4 yellow peppers under the grill until slightly blackened.
- Peel them over a bowl to catch the pepper juice.  (Alex said putting them in bag to steam first helps get the skin off).
- Cut the peppers into strips and put in a shallow bowl.
- In a pan, heat 5 tablespoons olive oil and add 2 cloves minced garlic.
- After 1-2 mins, add 3 finely chopped anchovy fillets heating until they've melted into the oil.
- Take off the heat, add juice 1/2 lemon and pour over the peppers.
- Leave to macerate in the fridge until ready to eat.
- Should be enough for about 6 people.



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Baked sea bass with rosemary

Alex and Amy came over for dinner and i bought a couple of large wild sea bass for which nigella's recipe did us proud.  Buying large whole fish though, means you have to get the flesh off the fish to serve - rather than giving each person a whole fish and let them get on with it!  Luckily Alex was a bit of a dab hand at this as you can see.

- Oil 2 pieces of foil and 2x1kg sea bass on top.
- Stuff each one with about 10 sprigs rosemary
- Dribble each with about 1 tablespoon olive oil, season and wrap the foil around the fish so its baggy but tightly sealed.
- Cook in the oven for 20-25 mins at 190C.

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Beef fillet with red wine, anchovies, garlic and thyme

Another of nigella's beef with anchovies recipes, this one with red wine, garlic and thyme.  This recipe makes enough for 8 people.  I made it just for 1!

- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and 30g butter in a casserole dish or heavy baking tin.
- Add 8 finely chopped shallots and a little salt and gently fry for 5 mins until soft.
- Then add a few sprigs of thyme and 8 cloves of garlic, just peeled and squashed.
- After 2 mins, add 12 anchovy fillets and cook on a low heat, until they've fused with everything else.
- Remove this mixture, turn up the heat, and sear 2 x 750g fillets of beef, sprinkling with 2 teaspoons sugar as you do.
- Add 4 tablespoons brandy, let it bubble up and then add 300ml red wine.
- Return the shallot mixture to the pan, turn the beef in it, reduce the heat, cover and cook for 10 mins.
- Check it and give it another 5-10 mins if necessary, then remove from the pan.
- Turn up the heat to bubble up a bit, add 30g butter and use as a sauce for the beef.

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Prawns with garlic and chilli

This is cooking at its easiest but with great results.  The prawns taste delicious cooked in the hot, garlicky, winey sauce and ready to eat in 10 mins!  I cooked it for lunch for myself, home alone while Tara had taken Marni to see claire, george and family.

- Cook 1 clove chopped garlic and 1 fresh red chilli in 1 tablespoons olive oil on a low heat for 2 mins, trying to infuse rather than fry.
- Turn the heat up and cook 150g fresh raw (300g frozen) prawns for a couple of mins so they are still tender.
- Add 75ml white wine, allow it to bubble up, then season to taste and serve with chopped parsley.

Nigella recommends eating it with baguette but i had it with soba noodles.

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Mostarda di Venezia

Nope, I've never heard of it either, but is apparently eaten all over italy as a relish to have with cold meats.

- Peel, core and chop 1.8kg quinces and put them in a pan covered with 750ml white wine.
- Cook for 40 mins until soft, then puree in a mixer.
- Weigh, and add the same weight of sugar (about 1 kg).
- Dissolve 6 tablespoons english mustard powder in a little hot water, then add to the mixture., together with 1 teaspoon salt and 250g candied peel.
- Cook gently for about 20-30 mins until the mostarda becomes dense and deep-coloured.
- Bottle and keep for a month before eating.

I haven't tried it yet but here's hoping.

Tarragon French Roast Chicken

There are a lot of roast chicken recipes in nigella's book so i thought i'd better tick another off.  And I had some tarragon which i bought to make bearnaise sauce, but haven't yet.  Most roast chicken recipes are slight variations on the same basic theme - add lots of herbs, lemon and butter and cook covered until the last 15 mins.  This one is quite different in that you cook the chicken on a base of chicken stock which i guess slightly steams it and makes it juicier.  And the tarragon flavour is makes a great change from lemon chicken.

- Mix some chopped tarragon, 1 teaspoon sherry and 30g soft butter, then smear this over the chicken and under the breat skin.
- Put the chicken in the a roasting pan, but raising it off the bottom with a grid or some such (i used pastry cutters!)
- Pour in 250ml chicken stock in the bottom.
- Cover with tinfoil and cook at 200C for 1 hour.
- Remove the foil and cook for the rest of the time (20 mins per pound and 20 mins over)
- Leave the chicken to rest for 5 mins upside down to let the juices drain into the breast.
- Pour the stock into a saucepan and reduce to make gravy.


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Salmon in den miso

The black cod at E&O in notting hill is amazing - one of the best things to eat on any menu in London.  And a sister restaurant called XO has just opened down the road in Belsize Park, so we had the black cod only the other evening.  In fact it was over the black cod, that i gave Tara her new sparkly ring as a thank you for Marni.  This is nigella's approximation to black cod it and it works pretty well.  You can also try with cod, which i'm definitely going to, but nigella's suggest salmon because its easier to make work with the fattier fish.

- Mix 150g white miso (i used brown) with 2 tablespoons each of mirin, sake and sugar.
- Cook in a pan for 10 mins - nigella suggest 20 mins but mine was so sticky it was difficult to spread over the salmon.
- Marinade the salmon in the miso mixture for 1-3 days.
- Grill the salmon for a few mins on each side

This worked so well, that Tara said she's always going to cook salmon like this from now on. Praise indeed!

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Real custard

I've never made custard the proper way before, and this was so easy, i don't why we use packet custard.  There's no more to it than using packet custard anyway.

- Slowly heat 500ml single cream or half milk, half cream, in a pan with the seeds of 1 vanilla pod in it, and also adding the empty pod. Before it boils, take off the heat and leave to infuse for 10-20 mins
- Whisk 5 egg yolks with 40g sugar until creamy, then slowly add the cream, whisking continuosly.
- Put back on the heat for 5-10 mins, whisking or stirring all the time, until its at the thickness you like.



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Mushroom udon soup

I increasingly like making eastern style soups since they are so healthy and tasty.  You do need some unusual items in your store cupboard though.

- Soak 5g shitake mushrooms in 300ml hot water for 10 mins.
- Strain the water into a pan, add a few drops of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon instant dashi (japanese stock apparently) and then the mushrooms.
- When the water boils, add 50g udon noodles.
- When cooked, pour into a serving bowl, add a few drops of sesame oil and sprinkle with coriander.
- Should be enough for 1.

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Lentil and olive crostini

These were delicious crostini - the lentils really soften the olive tapenade, which is perfect for me because i find olives a bit aggressive by themselves.

- Cook 60g puy lentils in 500ml salted water for 35 mins.
- Drain the lentils, reserving 75ml water, and let cool.
- Puree the lentils with 3 tablespoons of tapenade, adding 40-75ml of the cooking liquid to taste.
- Remove to a bowl and stir in 1 teaspoon brandy.
- Serve on toast with chopped cherry tomatoes.

We found that the following day the taste had mellowed a bit, tasting better for it.

Chambery trout

Again, another simple way of cooking fish, but one that keeps the fish very juicy.

- Grease a baking tray with butter or oil then add the trout.
- Pour over 150ml chambery, noilly prat or white wine.
- Loosely cover with foil, making sure the foil doesn't touch the fish, and cook for 2025 mins at 200C.

Worked a treat, although i'm not sure it needed 150ml chambery - i reckon 75-100ml would have done the same job as there was quite a lot left swilling around the bottom.

Miso dressing

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Gorgonzola crostini

I don't really like blue cheese - i find that they are dominated by the smell and taste of ammonia.  That is until you cook with it - George once made us a stilton and broccoli soup with an entire stilton in it.  I tried it slightly nervously given my aversion to blue cheese, and this had a LOT of it in!  It was delicious - the cooking of the stilton, combined with the broccoli transformed it, taking the ammonia'ness away, and just leaving sublime flavour.  The same thing happens with this crostini - the marsala and the mascarpone take the edge of the gorgonzola, and without even needing to cook it, makes it taste great even to me.

- Chop 120g gorgonzola in a bowl and add 40g mascarpone.
- Add 2 tablespoons marsala, some grated nutmeg and mash together with a fork.
- To make the crostini, brush 1/2 - 1cm thick slices of bread with olive oil on both sides, and put in the oven for 5-10 mins at 200C.
- Add the topping and sprinkle with chopped parsley.



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Bechamel Sauce

As Nigella says, the most useful of sauces and one we make all the time, probably without realising it.  I made it yesterday for instance, for the pea souffle.

- Melt 15g (1 tablespoon) butter in a pan.
- Stir in 15g (1 1/2 tablespoons) flour and cook for 2-3 mins.
- Gradually whisk in 300ml milk, off the heat - don't add the next bit of milk, until the previous bit is smoothly incorporated.
- Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste.

Nigella recommends using "Dove Farm" flour, which i always buy now because its Marni's middle name!

Rich Shortcrust Pastry

I made this other day for the onion tart, using one of nigella's simpler recipes.

- Put 120g flour in a processor together with 60g cold butter, cubed.  Nigella recommends putting it in the freezer for 10mins as well, but i have so far ignored this.
- Process until mixture resembles oatmeal.
- Beat an egg yolk together with 1 teaspoon of yoghurt or creme fraiche or orange/lemon juice.
- Add the beaten egg to the flour and process until the mixture is just about to clump together.
- If it doesn't, add tiny amounts of iced water, until it does.
- Remove from the processor, cover in clingfilm and keep in the fridge until needed.

If you want ordinary shortcrust pastry, then ignore the egg, and just use iced water to bind it.

Pea souffle

I've just made this for lunch for Tara and I. Not sure I've made a soufflé before and it went surprisingly well. It was slightly runny in the middle which I thought was quite nice - like pea version of a chocolate fondant!

- Grease a soufflé dish or casserole dish with butter and dust with grated parmesan (that what she says!?)
- Melt 15g butter in a pan and cook 120g peas in it until soft.
- Puree the peas together with 85g grated gruyere (i used cornish yarg and a french cheese i had left over)
-  Melt another 15g butter in a pan and stir in 15g flour.
- Cook for a few mins before slowly whisking in 125ml milk and cook for a further few mins.
- In a large bowl, whisk 3 egg whites until you get soft peaks.
- Beat 2 of the egg yolks into the white sauce, followed by the pea puree, followed by a dollop of the egg whites.
- Season to taste and grate in some nutmeg.
- Gently fold in the rest of the egg whites and add to the souffle dish.
- Cook at 180C for 25-30 mins.

I made it "pea-tastic" by having it with the pea, avocado and mint salad i've made before.







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Chicory salad

The chicory salad was very simple and went well with the onion tart.

- Separate 5-6 heads of chicory into a bowl.

- Whisk 1 tablespoon sherry, 1 tablespoon dijon mustard, some salt and 2 tablespoons creme fraiche in a bowl.

- Continue to whisk and slowly add 6 tablespoons olive oil, and add to the chicory

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Onion Tart

Originally uploaded by andrewhull72

Lunch was slightly behind schedule because of marni issues and 2.5 hours cooking issues, so everyone dug in before i could take a photo - here's what was left. That's some chicory salad next to the tart, in case you were wondering!

- Make a rich shortcrust pastry as outlined here.
- Melt 30g butter and a drop of olive oil and cook 500g thinly sliced onions on a low heat for 12 mins.
- Stir in 1-2 teaspoons sugar, cover and cook on the lowest heat for 20 mins.
- Slightly turn up the heat, add 4 tablespoons marsala and cook for a further 8 mins and by this time, the onions should be a lovely stewed dark brown.
- Season to taste.
- While this has been cooking, bake the pastry blind (with baking beans on foil) in a 20cm tin for 15 mins at 180C.
- Remove the beans, cover just the edges and cook for a further 5-10 mins.
- Make a custard by beating 2 eggs, 1 egg yolk, 300ml creme fraiche, some grated nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
- Line the pastry with the onions, pour over the custard, grate over some nutmeg and cook for 30 mins at 180C.

Onions in the tart tasted delicious, but i think it would work better if you mixed the onions in with the custard mix, rather than just having the custard on top.

Minestrone Soup

We were lucky enough to have Anu, Joan and their baby daughter, Niah over for lunch, as well as Ginny and Matt.  Tara had decided to go shopping for the morning, leaving me with Marni.  So i had to look after marni, go shopping for food and then cook it.  Feeding marni - tick; putting her down to sleep - tick; trip to sainsbury's with marni - tick; mani staying asleep at sainsburys - tick; getting all the ingredients - tick; me reading recipe beforehand - not quite - managed to miss the "cook for 2 1/2 hours"!  So i had to curtail the simmering process slightly, but it was none the worse for it.  1 hour or so was fine, particularly as its just vegetables.

- Cook 3 onions, thinly sliced in 40g butter and 8 tablespoons olive oil in a large pan until soft.
- Add 5 diced carrots and cook for a further 3 mins.
- Then add the following 1 at a time, with 1 min or so in between - 2 sticks chopped celery; 300g diced potatoes; 3 diced courgettes; and 100g french beans in 1 cm lengths.
- Add 200g shredded savoy cabbage and cook for a further 8 mins.
- Add 1 1/2 litres stock and the end of a piece of parmesan if you have one.  Season to taste, cover and cook for 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 hours.
- Soup should be thick but with enough water to cook some pasta in it.
- Add 120g dried white beans or 400g tin cannellini beans and cook for 5 mins.
- Add 150g small pasta such as ditalini (i used Alfabeto - yes, it is small pasta letters) and cook for 15 mins.
- Take out the parmesan rind, add 40g grated parmesan and serve with a slug of olive oil.

Here's ginny demonstrating just how good it tasted!

Black Bean Soup

A lot of soups can have very flavours and textures - wholesome, earthy, etc.  This had a texture unlike most other soups you get.  This was light and fresh which surprised me for soup with beans in it.  The red peppers and lime juice lift it, and the beans are left whole.  Definitely one to try.

- Place 450g dried black beans in a pan with 2 bay leaves, cover with 2 litres water and simmer for 1 1/2 hours (or use tinned beans.which i did!)
- Saute 2 chopped red peppers, 2 chopped shallots, 2 chopped onions in 200ml olive oil for about 15 mins.
- Add 8 cloves chopped garlic, 1 tablespoon ground cumin, 1 tablespoon dried oregano, the zest of 1 lime and saute for a further 5 mins.
- Puree in a blender.
- Add the puree to the cooked beans (still should be covered in water) together with1/2 tablespoon muscovado sugar, 1 tablespoon salt and cook until tender for about 20-30 mins.
- Season and add 2 tablespoons dry sherry.
- Serve with bowls of chopped coriander, chopped red onion, quartered limes, and sour cream and tabasco, for people to add as they wish.

I made this for tara and I as a weekend lunch - an unexpected hit!

Sage and Onion Lentils

What can i say - no flash on the iPhone and only 2 megapix, so not a great picture - come back nokia, all is forgiven.  Here's the sage and onion lentils we had with the cod, although i think i'm going to recommend more sage than nigella suggests as i couldn't really taste it.  12 sage leaves in 500g lentils and 3 onions get lost a bit i reckon.

- Put 500g puy lentils in a pan, and add 3 whole cloves garlic, 2 whole peeled onions, 10 sage leaves, and 1 stick celery halved.
- Cover with cold water, bring to the boil, add 1-2 teaspoons salt and simmer for 35 mins.
- Drain and remove the lentils and add 6 tablespoons olive oil.
- When hot, add 1 finely chopped onion and 10 more shredded sage leaves.
- Cook for 10 mins, then add 2 cloves chopped garlic and teaspoon mustard.
- Cook a further couple of mins, then add back the lentils and stir well.
- Season and add olive oil and lemon juice to taste.

You can just see them poking out from under the cod...

Cod Wrapped in Ham

This is one of Nigella's dinner menus - "early autumn dinner for 6" she calls it, and having it in late November isn't too far off. As you can see, jocky, julia, angus, sam and dan were the lucky recipients, although jocky is looking doubtful.  The cod i thought was cooked perfectly and the ham added a lovely salty, meaty flavour to it.  We had it with some sage and onion lentils, which were tasty with it, even though i over-cooked them. The simplest recipe list in the book:

- Brush 6 cod fillets with 75g melted butter, wrap each with a slice or 2 of parma ham and brush again with melted butter.
- Cook in the oven for 15 mins at 200C.

I was provided with a plethora of quotes - "utterly delicious" and "I really really like this" among them (angus's words are his tool as you can tell) - i think mainly said in order to get a mention in this somewhat backwater of a blog.  cheers anyway everyone - i'll treasure every  kind word...