Eat the week... Nigella's Feast

It was Nigella's Feast this week for our menu planning...

• One-pan Sage-&-Onion Chicken & Sausage, p.226... I made this when my parents were here, to stretch a pack of 10 sausages around 4 adults and 3 children. It worked, it tasted great, and it was all in one pan. Only downside: I like that the fat cooks out of sausages and you leave it behind in the roasting dish, but in this recipe it mingled to make a very fatty sauce and I'm not sure we'd all want to eat that in virtuous January.
• Chicken Pot Pies, p.240... I varied the recipe a bit, to use up some frozen leftover Christmas turkey (this bird just keeps giving), and making one big pie rather than several small ones. It was oh so good. Great recipe for leftovers and everyone ate it. I was in a silly mood so the holes I cut in the pastry to let the steam out made a big, happy pie face. I thought it looked fab. The husband took the photos for this post though and said it looked silly (that was the point!), so no picture for you today!
• Scotch Pancakes, p.254... Made for the boys. Always a winner. Every time I make them I wonder why I don't make them more often, and why anyone would ever buy them. Invariably, I then forget to make them for ages and end up buying some.
• Nursery Fish Pie, p.451... I am trying various ways to use fish bought frozen (because it's cheaper), as it never tastes great when on its own. Pasta and pie are the answers, and this fish pie (pictures above and right) really was the business. Except I'd run out of frozen peas (used in the chicken pie), so made do with a mixture of soya beans and sweetcorn.

I didn't cook a lot of recipes this week, as the husband was working late shifts. I like to have easy, basic suppers with the boys in case they surprise me at cooking time with tantrums, battles or misery! But I did make a few things from the Baby & Child Vegetarian Recipes cookbook by Carol Timplerley (a classic I return to over-and-over, that I cooked from when the Big One was small and we were both vegetarian). One was hummous (see left, with hand-processor still in: much enjoyed), one was parsnip and apple soup (they didn't like it; I ate it).

That's it! See you next week when I start my Tana Ramsay fortnight.