Bank holiday eating

I'm not doing too many cooking posts these days, just sticking to baking. But since it was a Bank Holiday weekend, and the lovely husband's birthday, I thought I'd show you some of what we fed him...

Duck salad from Jamie's 30min Meals. It was really delicious, especially as duck isn't something that crops up very often for us. I bulked it out with some plain rice and some sweet potato chips (you have to have these, they really helped complete the meal). The Little One decided he really liked garlic bread. And his pomegranate obsession continued!

We had a prosciutto & melon salad for lunch one day (same book), followed by bread and cheeses. The salad was really good - amazing how a little basil dressing completely changes the bog-standard melon-wrapped-in-ham experience.

And for another lunch, Superb Squash Soup with giant croutons, from a different Jamie book and, again, delicious. We do like a bit of Jamie. We eat a lot of his recipes and the chance of us not liking one, finding it too complicated, or it not filling us up enough is very, very unlikely. In fact, it's hardly ever happened. He's always reliable, our Jamie.

We ate other things of course, but didn't photograph them. If they're not snapped, they don't exist! You really should try all three of these recipes. All are great for entertaining, or just for a pimped-up meal at home

Eat the week... Tana Ramsay's Family Kitchen

We ate from Tana Ramsay's Family Kitchen this week...

• Porridge with Blueberries, p.9... It was Burn's Night, and I'm no haggis eater. So Burn's Breakfast it was instead! The 'recipe' uses too much liquid: just follow packet instructions. But it was just what I needed for the return of winter mornings.
• Lime & Ginger Salmon Fillets with Noodles, p.116... These were good. Always looking for new ways to vary salmon as we eat it every few weeks.
• Pork with Apple & Juniper Berries, p.150... Oh yum, yum. (Pic on right, with peas, cabbage and swede/potato mash) Another wintry meal. Juniper berries are an acquired taste. I've definitely acquired it (despite disliking gin), but if you haven't don't bite down on them, just enjoy their subtle flavour in the sauce.
• Bolognaise, p.154... Want a bolognaise with lots of hidden veg in it that still tastes meaty? Well here you go. Eaten by all.
• Chicken in a Pot, p.168...Lovely flavours (leek, chicken, tomato, carrot, bacon - what's not to like?), but very saucey. Serve with a spoon for the remaining puddle, and potatoes to soak up most of the juices! (Pic on right with broccoli)

There was also another turkey and ham pie made, using Nigella's Chicken Pot Pies recipe as a guide. Our Christmas turkey just keeps giving. This was the last batch of frozen turkey with Boxing Day ham, but I also defrosted the turkey carcass and made stock from it (labelling it Turkey Lurkey - is that wrong?!), and the stock made the pie sauce. Even tried uncharacteristic pastry design in a hurry, which turned out alright. I'm definitely having a pie phase. Perhaps it's down to the lovely round Le Creuset pie dish my brother gave me for Christmas? From stock to tummy - see photos below!

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.

5 days til Christmas

I did something slightly mad today. I fed the Tiny One at 5.30am and decided not to go back to sleep, despite being head-achingly tired, but to lie in bed and read Nigella's Christmas.

The bible, courtesy of Nigella's website (see link above)

Yes, the momentous occasion has arrived: Christmas menu planning and shopping list writing. It is all done! I have to tell you, I am absolutely knackered writing this at 9.30pm. But I am suffused with the bliss of a big tick off the 'to do' list, Christmas culinary indulgence of the reading kind, and the crazy kind of happiness I get from list making.

Other things have been completed too... a postman-style trip around the village popping cards in letterboxes (accompanied by yet another Little One strop - it is now not just daily, but multiplying through the day); a bag for the Little One; and a major, major sort-out of the house so that we start with a tidy and organised canvas before Jackson Pollock-ing it with Christmas debris.

Best thing of all... today is my husband's last day at work for a fortnight. Let the festivities begin!

Eating the week - Nigella Bites

Last week we ate from 'Nigella Bites'. It's much shorter than Nigella's other books and there's less to choose from, but there are some real gems. Here's what we ate and what we thought...

• Soft-boiled Eggs with Asparagus Soldiers (p.157) - Yes, it's true that asparagus and egg go together like - well, like any other perfect flavour combination. But the problem is, you can't get a lot of soft-boiled egg to stick to a stem of asparagus. So it was nice, but the egg/asparagus ratio was off.
• Chicken with Chorizo & Cannellini (p.60) - Oh yum. And easy. And quick. My only 'but' was that there was a bit too much chorizo for my palette. We used spinach to bed it all on instead of kale - we get enough kale in our vegetable box without voluntarily buying more! Also, this is my go-to recipe for poaching a chicken breast. I love a bit of poached protein, but there are so few recipes for it. It's also easier to clean a poached-chicken saucepan than a griddle, frying or baking pan!
• American Pancakes with Wafer-bacon & Maple Syrup (p.10) - A tasty, unusual, filling lunch. But we didn't do enough streaky bacon to go with them, and they are a little bit too decadent for much repetition. And better for brunch I think.
• Salmon Fishcakes (p.34) - These are the best fishcakes I've made, and I've made a lot. Most fall apart on cooking; these don't. Most don't have quite the flavour of a good shop-bought version; these do. I coat them in breadcrumbs instead of matzo meal as I can't get hold of it.
• Italian Sausages with Lentils (p.154) - Another really good, hearty, family meal. I made it for my parents who came to stay and we were all very satisfied! Very filling, and there are usually leftover lentils to pick at the next day.

As there are less recipes in this book, we also dipped into Nigella's 'How to Eat' and had...

• Chicken Patties (p.487) - They were in the children's section but they made for a great family meal, with two sausages adding lots of flavour to what was otherwise a plainish batch of chicken cakes. I'd make them more often but we can't get free-range chicken thighs off the bone up here, so my poor husband spent half an hour de-boning and de-skinning the meat first. Why is it so hard to get free-range chicken portions outside of Greater-London-Foodie-Land?
• leftover hummus from Hummous with Seared Lamb & Toasted Pine Nuts (p.262) - Ha, ha, I made this recipe as it said, as the meat didn't look much for serving four. Big BUT - I failed to read that it was part of a mezze feast for three times as many! Hence a glut of hoummus that had to be gifted to neighbours as well as eaten constantly here. But it was SO good. As good as good shop-bought hoummous. And I was so proud of myself: usually a good meal shows a good reader (it's simply accurate instruction following), but I kept tasting and tweaking to get the lemon/chickpea juice/seasoning combination right, so it felt like a little less Nigella, a little more me.

More weekly menu news next week! Do tell me if it's dull/unhelpful, and I'll stop.