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...

Aubergine with Pomegranate

As ever, i have to make something special for tara when i'm having meat.  And of course, i have to eat meat more often these days because there's loads of meat recipes in nigella's book!  a good excuse, i know.

- Slice 2 aubergine's lengthways about 1/2 cm thick.
- If using a griddle (which i did) brush with olive oil, and if a frying pan, heat some olive oil in a pan.
- Fry on a high heat for a few minutes either side until the outside is crispy and inside soft.
- Remove and place on some kitchen towels.
- Halve a pomegranate and remove most of the seeds by hitting the outside with a wooden spoon.
- Arrange the aubergines on a plate and squeeze the juice of the remaining pomegranates in the shell over them.
- Sprinkle with salt, handful chopped mint and the pomegranate seeds.

Mmmm aubergine, the king of vegetables...

Panchphoran Aloo

I cooked this to go with the previous duck and with tara's aubergine with pomegranate and it seemed to work.  It's hard not to burn the potatoes in the frying pan, but the crispy bits add to the flavour.

- Dice 900g potatoes into 1cm cubes and fry in some oil until half done, on a high heat to begin with, then a low heat.
- Add 1/2 teaspoon each of red chill powder, turmeric, fenugreek seeds, nigella seeds, black mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds and some salt.
- Stir regularly to stop the potatoes from catching and stop cooking when the potatoes are done.
- Garnish with fresh coriander.

Duck with Orange Salsa

The uncooked salsa (i assume salsa is always raw?!) really lifted the roasted duck - its a salsa to always bear in mind whenever you cook duck, particularly as its so easy to make.  Nigella suggests duck breasts but i used a duck leg which worked just as well.

- Slash the skin of 4-5 duck breasts, sprinkle with soy sauce and cook for 20 mins on a rack at 200C.
- Meanwhile, peel 2 oranges (i used clementines) and slice into small chunks.
- Finely chop 1/2 red onion and a fresh chilli, and add to the oranges, along with a good clump chopped coriander and 1/2 as much mint.
- Sprinkle with salt and squeeze 1/2 lime over it.
- Take the duck out of the oven and add the salsa.

I cooked this back in camden, together with the panchphoran potatoes and the pomegranite aubergine for tara, and it all seemed to work together.

Clementine Cake

Having accidentally made Queen of Puddings instead of this clementine cake a few weeks ago, i thought i'd make this now for Marni's 5 week birthday.  Actually, i made the chocolate pudding for marni's 5 week birthday, but it was so awful, i made this as well!  This was more like it - if Marni could eat as well as suck, she would have loved it.

- Boil 4-5 whole clementines in a pan for 2 hours, then drain, cut each in half and remove the pips.
- Pulp everything in a processor.
- Beat 6 eggs and add 225g sugar, 250g ground almonds, and 1 teaspoon baking powder.
- Mix well and add the pulped clementines.
- Pour the mixture into a buttered/lined 20cm tin and cook for 1 hour at 190C.
- You may need to cover the top after 40 mins to stop it burning.

Nigella calls it the easiest cake she knows, but you wouldn't know it to taste it - delicious.  By the way, that's 50 recipes down - a pretty good start if i say so myself - deserves a glass of champagne!

Seven Minute Steamed Chocolate Pudding

Easily the worst thing i've cooked so far.  It's cooked in a microwave, which rang alarm bells immediately, and seeing as we don't have one at home, i thought i'd better cook it at wittering, where surprisingly, there is one.  The ingredient list sounded nice, but putting everything in a bowl and then into a microwave for 7 mins, sounded dodgy - and it was.  I didn't have any clingfilm so i used baking parchment, which is maybe the reason it didn't work - however, i'm not going to try it again to find out!

- Grate 250g dark chocolate into a food processor and process together with 120g of butter and 100g brown sugar until combined.
- Add 1 teaspoon vanilla essence, 125ml double cream, 40g flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, and 3 eggs and process until smooth.
- Put into a buttered pudding basin, cover with clingfilm and cook at 100% for 5 mins in a microwave.
- Pierce clingfilm, cover with a plate and let stand for 10 mins.

Good luck!

Quinces Poached in Muscat

Quinces aren't around outside november/december, so i had to grab my chance this year to cook with them and am i glad i did - they were truly amazing.  As you can see from the picture, the quinces go from rock-hard and white/lemon in colour, to a soft gorgeous pink and taste delicious.

- Fill a bowl of water with cold water and a squirt of lemon juice to put the quinces in and stop them turning brown.
- Peel 4 quinces, quarter and core them, putting them into the water and keeping the peelings/cores.
- Add 700ml muscat, 300ml water, 500g sugar, 1 stick of cinnamon, 2 bay leaves, 4 cloves, 3 cardamon pods and 6 peppercorns to a pan and bring to the boil.
- Put the peelings and quinces in an ovenproof dish, pour over the wine, cover and cook at 150C for 2 1/2 hours.
- Remove from the dish, strain the syrup into a saucepan, and reduce for a few mins.
- Serve the quinces with the syrup poured over them.

Nigella warns about over reducing the syrup and creating quince toffee, which of course, i did!  In fact, the syrup i was left after 2 1/2 hours in the oven, didn't need reducing at all once it had cooled a bit.  I do however now have quince jelly which is delicious on toast.  So i suggest taking half the syrup out, to have with the quinces, and creating quince jelly with the rest.  You can always increase the quantities for the syrup to have more of both.

Aubergine Moussaka

This is a great recipe - a good moussaka with a lebanese theme according nigella.  I think the addition of the chick peas makes it a bit more middle eastern, as does the use of pomegranate molasses.  However, given that i was at wittering rather than home in london, this was a bit tricky to find.  I had to use dark sugar with a squeeze of lemon as a substitute which seemed to work.

- Peel 500g aubergines in lengthways stripes, cut into 1.5cm cubes and saute for a few mins in 3 tablespoons olive oil.

- Remove to a dish covered in kitchen roll.

- Add 2 more tablespoons olive oil and saute 1-2 thinly sliced onions and 10 cloves thickly sliced garlic for about 5 mins until soft.

- Add 150g chickpeas (don't use the whole 200g tin or they will dominate) and cook for another 5 mins.

- Add 1 1/2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses and return the aubergines to the pan.

- Peel and quarter 500g tomatoes and add to the pan together with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon allspice, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and 200ml water.

- Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for about 1 hour.

- Serve sprinkled with parsley or coriander.

We had this a couple of times, once with the couscous, which didn't really do the moussaka justice, so the second time, i made some fresh chappatis which were perfect with it.

The chappati recipe i got, not from nigella, but from a guide on a 2 day camel trek in the Great Thar Desert in India.  In the middle of the dunes, he got out a small bag of flour, added a bit of salt and water to it, and gently kneaded it for a few mins.  Then he flattened it out as thin as possible into small chappatis, heated a metal pan over the fire until very hot, then cooked them without oil for a couple of mins on each side.

I have used this method of making bread many times since, and its as easy as bread making gets.  Whether or not, you've ever made bread before, i suggest you give it a go.

Fine Pasta with Crab

Along with the dover sole and king prawns that we bbq'ed, we also bought a couple of crab from the fisherman's hut in east wittering.  It makes a perfect seaside lunch for 2.  

- Gently cook 1 chopped clove garlic, 1/2 finely sliced red chilli, 1 tablespoon coriander, grated zest 1/2 lime and 2-3 finely sliced spring onions, until soft.

- Add 35g brown crab meat, 150ml white wine and simmer for 10 mins until quite a thick texture.

- Cook some 150g linguine.
- Just before the pasta needs draining add 60g white meat to the brown meat, together with another tablespoon coriander, the zest of the other 1/2 lime and a squeeze of lime juice.
- Add about 1 mug of the pasta to the sauce, then drain the pasta, add to the crab and sprinkle with parsley.

The chilli gives a lovely bite, and the cooking of the brown meat, gives it a great strong flavour that is missing from some crab dishes - a great recipe.

This recipe also reminds me that with nigella's cooking, you really to have quite a lot of white and red wine on the go - best stock up on some cheap wine otherwise it gets expensive!

Mushroom Ragout

While Ian, Annabel and I had the lamb, i made this mushroom ragout for Tara.  The key is obviously in the mushrooms you use. I used large portabello mushrooms which give a lovely meaty texture.  This has a good depth of flavour.

- Saute 1 finely chopped white onion, 1 red onion and 2 stalks of thinly sliced celery in a pan with 1 teaspoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter.
- When they begin to soften, add 3 chopped cloves garlic, some salt and pepper.
- As the garlic and onions brown, add 90 ml red wine, 35 ml marsala, a bay leaf and 1/2 teaspoon thyme.
- Simmer gently until the wine boils away.
- In a separate pan, saute 800g mushrooms in 2 teaspoons olive oil and 2-3 tablespoons butter.
- Add some salt and a pinch of cayenne pepper.
- When they colour, add 85ml red wine and 40 ml marsala.
- Allow the wine to cook down, then add the onions.
- Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a pan, add 1 tablespoon flour and stir for a few minutes while it browns.
- Then whisk in 500ml hot vegetable stock.
- Add this sauce to the mushrooms, add 3 tablespoons parsley and simmer for a further 10 mins.

Cinnamon Hot Rack of Lamb

Cinnamon and lamb don't sound good bed-fellows, but this dish was great.  So good, ian, annabel and myself had eaten most of it before remembering to take a photo!

- Mix 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon and 1 tablespoon chilli oil.
- Rub over the meat, place on a baking tray and cook for 30 mins at 220C and the meat should still be pink.
- Let stand for 5 mins and serve.

Simple but delicious.  As you can see, we had it with the couscous and some mushroom ragout that i made tara.

Treacle Tart

This was much more successful, although i slightly overcooked it, so it was nice and chewy as nigella says it should be, but perhaps 10 mins per mouthful is a bit much even for toffee lover!  I exaggerate of course, but i should still have listened to tara when she told me it looked done.  But being faithful to nigella, i gave it another 5 mins.  Nigella and her cooking times - what can i say!

- Make the pastry as before, using 100g plain flour, 50g butter, a few tablespoons iced water and 2 tablespoons lemon juice, but leaving out the icing sugar.
- Roll out to line a 20cm flan dish and put in the fridge for 30mins.
- Heat 225g golden syrup in a pan and when runny, add 60g white breadcrumbs and the zest and juice of 1/2 lemon.
- After 5 mins, stir in 3 tablespoons double cream and add the mixture to the pastry case.
- Cook for 25-30 mins at 180C (nigella says 15 mins at 200C then 15 mins at 180C).

It was delicious and would have gone great with vanilla ice cream, but the freezer was broken at merula, so no ice cream for us.

Couscous salad

A week without internet access and it looks like i haven't been making much progress.  In fact the opposite is true - a week at west wittering, and the main thing i did was cook!  Although not many of nigella's recipes require a bbq on the beach, i was still able to tick off 9 recipes.  Now all i have to is write them up.  Here goes:

Couscous salad was easy to do but a bit disappointing - not sure i need a nigella recipe to tell me to add tomatoes, red onion and cucumber to couscous - and the end result was okay.

- Put 200g couscous in a bowl with 1 teaspoon of salt, add 250ml boiling water, and leave covered for 15 mins.
- Fluff up with a fork, and add 6 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, and pepper.
- Blanch, peel, de-seed and dice 6 good tomatoes and add this to the coucous, along with 1 small chopped red onion.
- Add 1 diced cucumber and a chopped bunch of parsley and salt/vinegar to taste.

As you can see, pretty unexciting.  It went well though with the dover sole and king prawns that my brother bbq'ed on the main beach at west wittering.

Cambodian Hot and Sour Beef Salad

There were some lovely crisp flavours in this recipe, and what is great about Cambodian and Vietnamese cooking is the raw-ness of the cooking and the ingredients.  I don't think though that grilling the beef, complements the other flavours - next time i would definitely sear the beef in a pan.

- Cook 225g fillet steak - Nigella says grill but I say sear in a hot pan.
- However you cook it, thinly slice the beef and keep the juices from the cooking and slicing..
- In a bowl, mix 1 tablespoon fish sauce, the juice of 1 lime, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1-2 red/green chillies and 1 finely sliced shallot.
- Add the beef juices to the sauce and pour over some rocket and lettuce leaves.
- Add the thinly sliced beef.

I think i slightly overdid my beef on the grill, which i think is also part of the problem with grilling.  Overall however, a simple tasty way of enjoying beef.

Queen of Puddings

I had planned to make a clementine cake for Marni's 4 week birthday, but i started on the wrong recipe (they are on the same page!).  By the time i'd added orange blossom water and caster sugar to breadcrumbs, it was too late.  But am i glad i did - it was a triumph.  So good, that Tara and I just had 3 helpings each for our dinner.

- Put 150g breadcrumbs (or brioche crumbs) in a bowl with a desert spoon caster sugar, zest of 1 orange, and 2 drops orange blossom water.
- Heat 575ml milk and 40g butter in a pan until hot but not boiling, then add to the breadcrumbs.
- Leave to steep for 10 mins, then beat in 5 egg yolks.
- Pour the crumb custard into a buttered oval oven dish and bake for 20-30 mins until custard is set on top, but may still be runny underneath.
- Heat 3-5 tablespoons marmalade in a pan, add 2 teaspoons golden syrup, stir and then pour over the custard.
- Whisk 5 egg whites until stiff, whisk in 60g caster sugar, then fold in another 60g.
- Cover the pudding with the meringue mixture, sprinkle with sugar and cook for another 20 mins until meringue is browned.

And yet another lesson hard learned - i put the mixture too close to the top of the oven and bizarrely, the meringue rose a bit into the grill, so that when i pulled it out, the lovely brown crispy topping was left behind!  Very annoying, and not something i will not do again.  I put it back under the grill to crisp up the top, but the meringue peaks i had created were lost forever...

Fish Pie

I made this a while ago, but forgot all about cooking it until i came across it again today.  I do remember being slightly disappointed by the flavours.  The main reason i think is that nigella doesn't suggest using smoked fish, which i think is a mistake.  I do like the mini stock method that you make at the start, which i'm sure you could use with a lot more recipes.

- Heat a carrot, cut into 8 lengthway pieces, a bouquet garni, and a pinch of salt in 125ml water and 125 ml white wine.
- Bring to the boil and let let cool.
- Cook 1kg potatoes in salted water and mash with 80g butter.
- Put 225g cod fillets and 225g haddock in the carrot water, bring to a simmer and poach for 3 mins.
- Remove the cod and haddock, add 225g salmon fillets and poach for 3 mins.
- Add the salmon to the cod and haddock, strain the water (keeping in the bouquet garni) and make up to 450ml with single cream.
- Melt 45g butter in a large saucepan, add 4 tablespoons flour and a pinch of mace.
- Cook for a few mins, then take off the heat and slowly stir in the 450ml cream mixture.
- Put back on the heat and keep cooking for about 5 mins until thick, add 0.25g saffron and cook for another 5 mins, then remove the bouquet garni.
- Butter an oven dish, add the fish, broken up, pour over the saffron sauce, mix up and add the mash potato.
- Grate over some nutmeg and cook for 20-30 mins at 190c.

Restrained Mushroom Risotto

A low fat version of Nigella's mushroom risotto, but almost too low fat.  I found myself, for the first time, thinking i might have to supplement the amount of butter suggested, rather than halve it!  10g butter is suggested in the recipe, but i used 20g in the end, as there wasn't enough to coat the rice, which i think is the unlying point of risotto.  However, it's still quite a low fat version, particularly when compared to her Pea Risotto, but still has a great depth of flavour, if not the extreme silkiness from using more butter or cream.

- Melt 20g butter and 2 teaspoons olive oil in a pan and gently fry 1/2 onion.
- After a few mins, add 200g mixed sliced mushrooms and cook for a further few mins.
- Stir in 125g arborio rice and cook for 2 mins.
- Add 60ml vermouth or white wine and allow to bubble until absorbed.
- Add a ladleful of stock from 375-400ml hot stock (either mushroom stock or stock with 10g porcini added)
- Cook until absorbed, add another ladle, and so on, until add the stock is used up and the rice is just cooked and creamy.
- Stir in 2 tablespoons parmesan and sprinkle with parsley.

I also added a slice of lemon on the side, because i think a squeeze of lemon is generally delicious with risotto and added at the end, lifts the whole dish.

Beef Stroganoff

A deliciously simple and quick recipe.  It's particularly good if you use really good fillet steak.  Nigella recommends cooking the steak through, which i did, but i reckon if you like your steak rare, then cook the steak for less time.

- Gently fry 1 large finely chopped onion in 30g butter and a drop of oil.
- Add 30g more butter and when melted, add 225g sliced mushrooms, and cook for 5 mins.
- Grate some nutmeg and add some pepper.
- Stir well and remove to a plate.
- Add another 30g butter with some more oil, and turn the heat to high.
- When the butter's hot, stir fry 750g beef fillet, cut into thin strips.
- Return the mushrooms/onions to the pan, add some more nutmeg, 1 teaspoon dijon mustard, and 200ml creme fraiche.
- Season, and sprinkle over some paprika.

Fried Prawn Cakes

These turned out okay, but somehow just managed to miss the mark. They were a bit floury and lacked a bit of bite. I reckon adding some chilli to nigella's recipe would lift them. She also recommends having them with mayonnaise, but they were better with just lime juice squeezed over them. I only had cooked prawns, which maybe meant they lacked the flavour that would come from using fresh raw prawns.

- Mince 250g raw prawns and put in a blender together with 1 clove garlic, 2 chopped spring onions, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 50g flour, 4 teaspoons sherry and 2 tablespoons of water.

- If you want to add some bite, add some cayenne pepper or a finely chopped chilli.

- You should have a firm mixture that can be spooned into a frying pan.

- Fry in olive oil for 1-2 mins on each side depending on their thickness.

- Eat with some lime juice and chopped coriander.

Mayonnaise

The first recipe in the book and i've only just got round to making it. It was to accompany the prawn cakes above. It wasn't a great success - too oily and too strong a taste of olive. I should have stopped when it looked about perfect, but this being my first time making mayonnaise, i thought i'd better carry on and follow the recipe exactly. Maybe the eggs i used were too small for the amount of oil, but either way, nigella suggests far too much olive oil i think.

- Whisk 2 egg yolks, preferably from room temperature, with a pinch of salt.

- Very slowly add 225ml groundnut/sunflower oil, whisking all the time.

- Then continue with 25ml olive oil (nigella suggests 75ml), followed by the juice of 1/2 lemon, still whisking all the time.

- Season with salt and white pepper.

So not too bad a recipe, but next time i'm going to stop adding oil when it gets to the consistency i want.

Mushroom Crostini

You wake up, get up, make a cup of tea, feel hungry, think about having some breakfast, and of course, if you are me, you turn to nigella for another recipe to tick off. But, nigella doesn't really do breakfast, at least not in "How To Eat". Tara wasn't really on for the suggested Jam Tarts and Custard for breakfast, so mushroom crostini it was, turned basically into mushrooms on toast.

- Put 2 tablespoons olive oil in a pan, add 2 finely chopped sprigs thyme and 1 finely choppedclove garlic, and heat for a few mins while the oil hots up.

- Add 200g finely sliced mushrooms and cook until soft.

- Add 1 tablespoon grated parmesan, season, and sprinkle with parsley.

For mushroom crostini, nigella suggests finely chopping the mushrooms rather than slicing, and also combining everything afterwards in a processor. It makes a tasty mushrooms on toast recipe, although maybe using butter instead of olive oil, would make it even tastier.

Lemon Chicken

Quite a few times now, i have slightly altered the recipe, or in the light of the cooking, wish i had. Mainly this has been to cut corners when nigella has been overly laborious, or because my oven seems to be much more efficient than hers and i end up over-cooking things. So, instead of repeating exactly what nigella recommends, i am going to put in my slight amendments.

And a classic example of this is this lemon chicken. Lemony - tick; chicken - overdone. Nigella suggests cooking it for 30 mins at 210c, but in my modern, efficient oven, i'm going to suggest 25-30mins at 200c.

- Take a large chicken cut into 8 portions (or simply take 8 portions of chicken) and cook them for 2 mins in an oven dish of 6 tablespoons of hotolive oil.

- Add the zest of 2 lemons, 1 tablespoon of oregano, 300ml white wine, and salt and pepper.

- Allow to bubble, then add 300ml water.

- Put in the oven and cook for 25-30mins at 200c.

- Remove the chicken and measure out 300ml of chicken juices.

- Whisk together 3 eggs and the juice of 2 lemons until frothy.

- Slowly add the chicken juices whilst still whisking to create an "avgolemono sauce" to create a thin custardy, but tasty sauce.

- Season and pour over the chicken.

The result is very lemony, but the sauce is slightly disappointing. You could have just added some lemon juice to the cooking juices and then use these as gravy. I'm not sure i really get avgolemono sauce, but maybe i didn't make it properly.

Custard Tart

Hmmm.... Not the best birthday cake ever made, but hopefully she won't remember! Nigella says this is tricky and it is. The problem is making sure that the pastry base is completely water-tight so that when you add the custard mixture, it doesn't all leak out. I lost about half of my custard this way.

Nigella also cooks her pastry far too hot, so that the sides burn before the base is done. She says she covers the sides top prevent them burning, but i'm not convinced. When i tried this on the second bake, all that happened was that the tin foil stuck to the pastry, hence the uneven pastry sides.

The leaking was however, all my own fault. A few tears appeared when moving from worktop to flan case, and i thought i'd patched them up with pastry, but not good enough it seems. Basically your rolled out pastry needs to be perfect and you need to move it perfectly into the flan tin. Sealing the pastry with the egg white just isn't enough.

- Bake the pastry blind for 20 mins at 200C (using pastry beans on top to weigh it down)

- Beat an egg white and brush this onto the pastry base and cook it again (without the beans) for a further 5 mins.

- Lightly whisk together 3 eggs, 1 egg yolk, and 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar (or plain sugar with a drop of vanilla essence).

- Warm 300ml single cream and 150ml milk in a saucepan with a pince of ground mace.

- Add the egg/sugar mixture, stir and strain into the pastry case, (the pastry case on a pulled out oven shelf so It it doesn't spill when putting in the oven).

- Grate over some nutmeg and cook at 160c for 35-45 mins.

It tasted pretty good. The pastry was delicious (where it wasn't burnt!) but i was disappointed with the custard. It tasted a bit bland to me, although Tara seemed to think this was classic english custard. I prefer the sweeter, richer Portuguese style of custard. Maybe a touch more sugar next time.

Sweet Pastry

I normally make pastry by hand, but Nigella's method is simpler (i know, i couldn't believe it!) and turns out better. She uses the blender and it just seems to work, and this is without doing the fiddly bits of putting things back in the freezer.

- Sieve 120g flour and 30g icing sugar into a bowl and add 80g cold cubed (1cm) butter.

- Put this in the deep freeze for 10 mins.

- In a small bowl, mix 1 egg yolk, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, a tablespoon of iced water and a pinch of salt.

- Beat together and then put back in the fridge.

- Remove the flour/butter bowl and add to a blender.

- Blend for a few mins, until the mixture resembles oatmeal.

- Add the egg yolk mixture to the blender and blend until the mixture nearly comes together - add slightly more iced water if necessary.

- Just before it totally amalgamates, remove it and combine into a round ball.

- Cover with clingfilm and put in the fridge until its ready to be used.

Just perfect for the custard tart coming up...

Red Wine, Cumin and Onion Gravy

One of nigella's simpler recipes. It gives a lovely silky gravy and i'm not quite sure how! maybe its the caramelising of the onions or maybe the cooking in flour before adding the stock. Either way, its pretty good gravy and great with sausages and mash, even though they were vegetarian sausages courtesy of Tara.

- Cook 225g of thinly sliced onions in 30g beef dripping or oil for about 10 mins, or until soft, on a low heat.

- Add 1 teaspoon cumin and cook for a further 5 mins.

- Turn up the heat and add 1 tablespoon sugar, cooking for 3 mins to let the onions caramelise.

- Add 2 tablespoons flour and continue cooking for 2 mins.

- Add 500ml meat stock and 150 ml red wine, heat to boiling, then simmer for 20-30 mins, stirring occasionally.

I would loved to have used beef dripping and meat stock, but i can only dream of what this would have tasted like. The vegetarian version was good enough though.

Cream of Chicken Soup

Having cooked this, I'm not sure i've ever had a proper cream of chicken soup before - ever! It's not something i've ever cooked before, i never order something like this in a restaurant, and no-one has ever served at a dinner party. The closest i have come is out of a packet, and that's not very close. I can heartily recommend it though - a true classic that is definitely under-represented on today's menus.

- Melt 30g butter and cook 200g finely sliced leeks in it for 10 mins or until soft.

- Put 300ml chicken stock and 300ml milk in a saucepan, add a clove of garlic, 2 bay leaves and a chicken breast and bring to the boil.

- Simmer until the chicken breast is just tender, probably only 5-10 mins after the mixture has boiled, then remove the chicken.

- Add 1 tablespoon of flour to the leeks, cook for a couple mins, then add the milk/stock mixture, keeping on the simmer.

- Finely shred the chicken, add this to the sauce, add a pinch of salt and cook for a further 5 mins.

- Add 15g butter and cook for a further 5 mins, adding extra milk if it starts to look like white sauce.

- Put it in a blender, and sieve into a saucepan.

- Put back on the heat, add an egg yolk and 3 tablespoons double cream.

It sounds quite complicated for a soup, but basically it's cook, blend, sieve. The chicken gives up its flavour really well and makes it taste delicious. It's worth it just to know what a proper cream of chicken soup tastes like.

Onion Sauce

This is another one of Nigella's slightly more laborious recipes, which often result in superior flavour and are worth the effort. However, i'm not sure this one is. I cooked it for a lunch at tara's parents, and it took me the same time to cook it, as it took fiona to cook the rest of the lunch and 2 puddings!

- Heat 600ml of milk in a saucepan with 2 cloves and a bay leaf, and just before it boils, remove and let steep for 20 mins.

- Quarter 6 onions, cover in a pan with cold water, bring to the boil, add salt, and simmer for 20mins until the onions are cooked and soft.

- Sieve and add 500ml of the onion water to the milk.

- Melt 90g butter on a low heat and add 90g flour, mixing for a couple of mins.

- Take off the heat and slowly add the milk/onion water and when incorporated, put back on the heat and cook for 15 mins until smooth and thick.

- Stir in the onions, 100ml of double cream, some nutmeg and season.

I wasn't allowed to add the double cream, but i reckon it's worth it - just eat less of it!

Dijon Mustard Dressing

This is a zero fat dressing, with an ingredient list that sounds like it won't work, but actually does.

- Mix 1/2 teaspoon of dijon mustard with 1/2 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar and the juice of 1/2 an orange.

- Add a few drops of soy sauce to taste.

simple, but pretty good.

Pea Risotto

Wow! This pea risotto is worth the additional effort. I think sauteeing the peas in butter to begin with certainly adds some flavour although at some calorie cost.

- Melt 20g butter in a pan, add 150g peas and cook for 2 mins.

- Remove half the peas and cook the remainder for 5 mins in a ladleful from 1 litre of hot stock.

- Puree this mixture in a blender with 1 tablespoon of parmesan, 20g butter, and some grated pepper and nutmeg.

- Melt another 20g of butter and cook a finely chopped onion (0r 2 small shallots) in it for a few minutes.

- Add 200g arborio or canaroli rice and stir until each grain is covered in the fat.

- Add 80ml of white wine or vermouth and let it be absorbed.

- Add a ladleful of stock and stir until absorbed, then add another, and so on for 10 mins.

- Add the sauteed peas and then continue adding ladles of stock for another 8 mins, by which time the rice should be cooked, the stock all absorbed and the mixture creamy.

- Stir in the puree mixture, season, add additional parmesan to taste and sprinkle with parsley.

As you can see, its a bit of a pffaff to saute the peas and puree half of them, but believe me, its worth it.

Basic French Dressing

This dressing is a bit heavy on the olive oil and light on the mustard in my view. I prefer my dressings with a bit more bite. Nigella also uses a bit of water which just reduces the flavour.

- Mix 1/2 teaspoon of mustard, 2 teaspoons of red wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon of salt, some pepper and a drop of water.

- Whisk in 6-8 tablespoons of olive oil.

To add some other flavours, you can substitute some of the olive oil for walnut or hazelnut oil.

Lamb with Garlicky Tahini

An unusual marinade and sauce for lamb, but one that really works. The tahini and cumin sauce is great with it.

- Mix 1 chopped onion, 300ml olive oil, the zest of one lemon, and 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin.
- marinade 10 lamb noisettes or chops in this for at least 10 mins.
- remove the lamb and seat both sides for a min or 2.
- cook the lamb for 10-15 mins at 210c.

- mix 8 tablespoons of tahini, 4 cloves of crushed garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and the juice of 2 lemons.
- slowly add up to 150ml of water until you have the consistency of double cream.
- sprinkle with ground cumin and have with the lamb.

Proust's Madeleines

These madeleine's are very quick and easy to do, particularly if you ignore the instruction to leave the batter to sit for 1 1/2 hours, which i did. I'm afraid i never leave batter to sit, and i'm not sure what difference it's meant to make. In any case, i didn't have time to find out as i was on my way out to meet Matt at the Affordable Art Fair drinks reception - my first evening out since Marni was born! Above is the simple print i bought, by a brighton based artist called Helen Brown.

- Beat 2 eggs, 75g caster sugar and a pinch of salt for 5 mins or until the mixture is as thick as mayonnaise.

- Sprinkle 90g flour and fold in.

- Melt 90g butter, add 1 tablespoon of clear honey, and mix both into the mixture.

- Rest for 30-60 mins, then add a tablespoon of the mixture to pre-buttered madeleine moulds.

- Cook for 5-10 mins at 210C.

- Sprinkle with icing sugar.

I don't have madeleine moulds so i used plain cake moulds. They tasted delicious - the sweetness of the honey really showing through. Maybe even a bit too much - it made them taste great on their own, but makes it slightly more difficult to use them as part of a pudding.