One of the best so far!!!!! And on a Monday night!

Tonight's recipe was Duck with ginger and citrus 
Poor Jim ( husband ) missed out on this one as he was going out, so my daughter joined me for tea instead. The duck was marinated throughout the day with salt and ginger syrup " .....that way they stay incredibly juicy & succulent...." And indeed they did. The sauce evolved as the duck cooked and was wonderful, sweet with the ginger syrup yet sharp with the citrus.
I served this with brown rice ( Mr Slater's suggestion)  but would try greens and potatoes next time. And there certainly will be a next time.
A good dinner party recipe. Just re read the recipe and realised it is a meal for four, but Kim and I managed to scoff the lot!!!!
( Duck portions can work out quite expensive  and a whole duck is a much cheaper option. If you are not happy jointing it yourself a good butcher will do it for you.)

For desert we had Espresso and dark chocolate ice cream.

Had to adapt this recipe as I don't have an ice cream maker, but it worked very well hand churning it every 30 mins or so for a few hours. Using ground coffee caused me problems as it seemed to go through my sieve so had to strain my mixture through muslin which worked quite well. If you love coffee you will live this ice cream as it has a very intense strong coffee flavour. I might add more chocolate to counter this next time as I found the flavour too intense .

Have saved some for husbands return but alas no duck!!!!!!!!!!

Stir fry for lunch

Lunch today was A stir fry of greens and mushrooms.
My husband loves a stir fry and loves to make them so I left this one to him - under strict supervision of course !!!!!! And with all his ingredients ready prepared.

Mr. Slater says of this dish " Hot and satisfyingly savoury, it does the trick. "  And it certainly does.

Snow or frost Mr Slater?

"A luscious pie for a cool day " heads this chapter. Mr Slater begins by saying " one of those bracing March days that feels as if there should be frost on the ground......."
Well March 23rd 2013 saw us having thick snow on the ground , six inches deep in places!!!!! So today's Lentil and spinach pie  was ideal fare.

Was it worth all this effort ?

Not sure!!!!!

I just love the idea of a "......a cupboard cooking day" . I only had to go out and buy spinach and mushrooms, everything else was in the store cupboard making this quite an economical dish - excellent. Or so I thought. This dish took me one and a half hours to prepare and an awful lot of washing up as you can see from the photo.

From Poland

Today's recipe " Sauerkraut and mushroom pierogi"  - little pastry parcels from Poland.

Couldn't wait to try this one, I love the jars of sauerkraut we buy when on holiday, I usually use them in salads.
Well my quantities didn't work out quite the same as Mr Slater's . I used a 9 cm cutter as recommended but managed to make 36 little pastries rather than the 16 I was supposed to !!! And I had over half the filling mix left.
So waste not want not as they say, I have tried freezing some  to serve at my book club supper next week. If it doesn't work well I am sure no one will notice as copious amounts of wine is consumed!
The dill and sour cream sauce went extremely well with the little pastries.

These ..." Tiny edible parcels" which are dainty and filling at the same time. Ideal for sharing with friends and a few beers .

Left overs

Reading Mr Slater's chapter "Getting most from a roast" my mouth was watering before I got to the end of the first page. And how refreshing for a chef to turn our leftovers into something delicious.
Following Saturday night's pork shoulder, Sunday lunch found us having a main course soup Pork broth with pepper and green leaves.

We had been to Chatsworth farm shop searching for rabbit ( a recipe later this month)  and had had a long walk in the freezing cold so this was a welcome dish. Quick and easy to make using some of our left over pork and juices from the roasting tin.

Tonight we had  Pulled pork baps with carrot and galangal slaw
Again using left over pork - this time shredding the meat and putting the reserved skin and fat under the grill to make crackling to accompany the baps. I have to say this is a very successful way to make really crunchy crackling.

What is galangal?  I had to look this up. It is a root from the ginger family, looks a bit like a knobbly Jerusalem artichoke. Needless to say not widely available in any of my local shops so used ginger instead.

I also served the baps with fat chips making this a very naughty but nice tea!!!!

Not a roast as we know it!!!!!

Last night ( Saturday) saw me cooking a boned and rolled shoulder of pork, but not as I would usually do it. This meat was cooked in stock with the addition of star anise and other flavourings. No crackling, the skin and fat to be reserved for another day. The pork was cooked slowly at a low temperature.
When finished the meat fell apart but was still very moist and full of flavour.

It was difficult not to eat it all and reserve some for the pork broth with pepper and green leaves to be made today and the pulled pork baps tomorrow!!!!!

How do you eat your bananas?

I have to agree with Mr Slater on the subject of bananas. Like him I need a banana to be ".....firm and crisp, almost under ripe......."
When I was a child I had an aunt who insisted bananas had to be black before eating, and there they were, in the fruit bowl black and squishy - ugghh.
A question - Should bananas be hung above the fruit bowl or put in it ?

Moving on to today's recipe Nigel's Chocolate , muscovado and banana cake.
Couldn't wait to get started this morning - well to taste it actually - as Mr Slater said, " according to the monumental Twitter activity, this cake trended"

Ingredients at the ready I made a start only to realise I had perhaps bought the wrong kind of sugar. The recipe simply said " muscovado sugar " but the supermarket offered dark or light ?  I plumped for the dark variety but when creaming the butter and sugar together and not achieving a fluffy pale coffee  colour as the recipe stated , I realised I should have got the light version. Undeterred and with my dark strong coffee looking mixture I continued.
Mr Slater did warn to take care in case the mixture curdled when adding the eggs , mine didn't Yippee! However it did when I added the banana!

Finally ready for the oven and 50 mins + cooling time to go before tasting so I did something I haven't done since a child and licked the bowl!!!!!

My cake took another15 mins after the recommended time but was finally cooked.

And the verdict? Very sweet ( more walking required!!!!!) and dense in texture but the combination of chocolate and banana in a cake is sublime. Definitely one to be made again.

My husband said " I love it but can't taste the banana" I worry about him sometimes!!

Skin-on-mash?

Tonight's meal was Leek and mushroom pie with skin on mash.
New for me, mashing potatoes with the skins left on. My husband doesn't like mash, he thinks its bland so I wondered what he would make of this. Mr Slater says that roughly mashing the potatoes with a fork and leaving the skins on gives " a rather wholesome, rustic quality........an earthy, rough meadow feel of the potato ..."
Well as usual  he is right. My mashed potato has always been creamed to perfection with butter and milk - or sometimes a drop of cream if I have some available, so I found it quite hard to leave the potato " lumpy".
But it does work, the texture and taste are wonderful - might try this on a shepherds pie next time.
Husband's verdict " Very tasty".  Praise for mashed potato indeed!
I wonder if this could be used as an accompaniment to meat, maybe a piece of gammon? Although the leek and mushroom sauce beneath the mash is delicious - could that be due to the addition of dry Marsala?

Surf and Turf

Tea tonight was Bacon wrapped salmon.
A combination I was not sure would work , the rather delicate taste and texture of the fish against the opposing texture and taste of the bacon -  but I guess that's surf and turf.

Well it did work and was rather nice. A useful recipe to keep in mind for unexpected visitors as it is always possible to keep salmon fillets and bacon in the freezer.

As cold as Oslo!

For lunch today we had Herrings, soured cream and rye toast.
The main ingredient being pickled herrings. Mr Slater says these are sold by the kilo in the markets of  Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Oslo. After a long walk this morning we can certainly say it is as cold here as there I should imagine.

Not the ideal lunch to warm us through but the taste of  the sweet pickled fish, the sourness of the cream and the stickiness of the rye bread was good.  A light refreshing meal  - perhaps better in the summer served outside, will give it a try.
I used sour cream but could have used labne which apparently is a type of yogurt strained through a bag or cloth to give it a distinctive sour taste.  Always learning with Mr Slater.

Quite an education

Following Mr Slater's Kitchen Diaries is quite an education as well as a lesson in cooking. Yesterday I learnt all about capers. I have tried them in the past but avoided them since, as not really to my taste. Mr Slater however says  ".......they are without doubt one of the most used seasonings in my kitchen...." So I learn all about capers ( did you know the caper is a flower bud, pickled before it becomes a flower?) and give them a go in yesterday' s recipe.
Sea bass with rosemary and capers.
Friday night so I wait for my husband to arrive home from work as this is the one night we make dinner together, us and a bottle of wine ! I tend to issue orders and get him to do most of the prep. As such he now thinks he' s becoming Johnny to my Fanny Cradock - sorry you have to be quite old to understand this, but Johnny was the long suffering husband of one of the first ever TV chefs.

Straight from the oven before serving

Mr Slater suggest serving the fish with a squeeze of lemon but we had to disagree, the flavour of the dressing was so tasty nothing more was needed, it really came through the flesh of the fish which was very moist.

Gosh - that really works

Thursday's ceviche of sea bass and passion fruit  Comments from family members varied.

"Peculiar" said my daughter but cleared her plate !

"Oooohh that's really fruity."

"Gosh , that really works" said my husband. " Quite a surprise, intense flavours which all work well together"  I think we are beginning to sound like a certain TV cookery programme!!!!!!

I think it would make an excellent starter for a dinner party and would impress any guest.

Homemade v Heinz !

No recipes for 4th and 5 th, so Mon saw us having poached eggs on toast  - needed something quick as we were going out - and Tues we had toad in the hole - so by Weds really ready for another Nigel Slater recipe.
March 6 th and Mr Slater is making homemade beans on toast. " A little more trouble than opening a can but much more satisfying when you have the time" he says.
I have never been a great fan of beans on toast and was a little disappointed that such ordinary fare was the next recipe but had a go.
Quick and easy to make, the addition of black treacle really making a difference,  and served with warmed sourdough bread it was far from ordinary fare and much , much nicer than the tinned variety.

This morning -  March 7th - I have just made  A ceviche of sea bass and passion fruit.
It comes under the ch titled " A tropical marinade and a shoal of sea bass"  Sounds very exotic!
This is basically raw fish cooked by its marinade. The photo is of the fish prepared, ready for the fridge for the rest of the day . I intend to serve it as a starter tonight, although Mr Slater suggests serving it as a light lunch.

Not sure about this one, I do enjoy sushi, so raw fish is not an issue. Anyway will report back tomorrow.

The casserole - cooking vessel or stew?

My second recipe this weekend was Lamb shanks with black eyed peas.
Mr. Slater talks about his selection of casseroles - "......the pots, not their edible contents" and I am pleased to say they are like mine, no longer in pristine condition but scarred from the various things cooked in them!
His advice about timing in this recipe is useful and easy to understand. Of the lamb shank he says"....once under the ownership of the frugal home cook, such recipes are now standard gastropub fare..."
I have to say the frugal cook would be hard pressed to buy two lamb shanks for under £10. I can remember when butchers almost gave these away.
My husband and I are both meat eaters and really looked forward to sampling this meal.
We were disappointed. It seemed a meal of two halves, delicious tender lamb falling from the bone on the one hand and tasty pulses on the other, just didn't seem to go together. The breadcrumb topping was an unnecessary addition.
The quantities were very generous, enormous helpings for 4 people, but how do you divide a lamb shank into two? My husband suggested eating half and passing on !!!!!! Yes typical man! I guess the meat could be taken off the bone before serving but then this would spoil the crust.
Husbands overall verdict, "Lamb shanks should be served with gravy"
Philistine!!!!!

Please try the recipe and see what you think

In a word - AMAZING

Desert thisweekend was Passion Fruit creams.
Wow, what an absolutely fantastic desert. Simply made in 15 mins  with only 4 ingredients, perfect for any dinner party where you want to wow your guests.
My daughter was the first to sample, calling in just after the creams had set and said "Amazing" between mouthfuls and couldn't be persuaded to take home to share with her partner.
Husband's comments ranged from "Blown away," "Very professional," to "Ecstasy with each mouthful".
So as you can see a great success and one I will definately do again, but not sure I will want to share!!!!!

-with juice and seed topping

If you try this recipe( and please, please do - you won't be disappointed) you may find as I did that the quantities are more than you would expect . Mr Slater says the recipe will make 6 to 8 espresso cups. I found it made double this amount. Also passion fruit are quite expensive (50p each at my local Sainsburys) and as you need 16 you may want to make half quantities - enough for 6 espresso cups or a greedy 4 desert bowls!!!!

A spurtle?

Today's recipe is under the title of  A spurtle, some oats and a beautiful bowl.
I love porridge but have always made it with milk ( in the microwave ) and served it with honey. Mr. Slater makes it traditionally with water and salt ( ugghh ) and serves it double cream and jam ( more like it ! )
A spurtle is a thick wooden stick purely for stirring porridge and would you believe I have a spurtle! I couldn't resist buying one when on a bike trip around Scotland last year. Mr Slater says he has been using his spurtle the wrong way round, a discovery he made when he was having a porridge making lesson - but Mr Slater you don't tell us which is the right way !
Apparently one is supposed to stir in a clockwise direction " lest the devil gets you ".  I have discovered I naturally stir in anti clockwise direction and so kept forgetting to stir the correct way . Oh dear.