Chance to catch up

Yesterday's lunch of Little spring onion omelettes was lovely. Very light and fluffy - definitely suitable for ladies who lunch and want something tasty but not too heavy or calorific! The addition of ricotta cheese was a treat. Mr Slater makes other suggestions, in this chapter, of toppings for omelettes which I will try in the future.
He also says " The more I cook the more I realise that if a piece of kitchen equipment works it doesn't matter if its the correct one or not ".
Well done that man - over the years I have purchased numerous must have pieces of kitchen equipment which I end up not using. One of my favourite pieces of equipment is a lemon parer - it  has a broken handle - but works well, in fact much better than its superior counterpart I replaced it with!!!

Last night I was able to catch up with a recipe I was unable to do when on holiday. My daughter came for tea and we had Crab and coriander cakes. A bit tricky to cook , very easy to make and very tasty.

Back from holiday

May 1st and the recipe is Lamb and mushroom flatbreads
Mr Slater suggests this as a lunch dish but I think most people would find it quite a heavy lunch but for s it was a delicious evening meal and one I will serve again as a supper dish when having guests. The combination of lamb, mint , chillies, pomegranate, and olives ( to name some of the ingredients ) was excellent .

May 2nd

Today's chapter is called "Wrong pan , right job"

Mr Slater confesses to not having an "omelette pan" but rather a black steel pan only non stick " because of the years of service it has given"  I don't have a specific omelette pan, only a useful size frying pan which I have to season so that my omelettes don't stick. Usually works but not always!!!!

For lunch today I am looking forwards to making Little Spring onion omelettes.

These are " tiny free form omelettes the size of a large biscuit"

Will let you know tomorrow how they turn out .

Salad for free

"Salad for free" says Mr Slater - this is dandelions but once again due to our atrocious weather I couldn't find any!!!!!!
So onwards, made this simple supper with rocket and watercress. Tonight's meal - A salad of spring lamb, lemon and olives. 
 The hot salad dressing slightly wilted the leaves but another delicious supper.

A note to anyone following my blog - I am continuing to work my way through the Kitchen Diaries but am going away on a short break until Weds 1 st May.  That means I will have to catch up on the following recipes: April 26 th - Crab and coriander cakes

April 27th - Spring chicken with young garlic leaves

April 29 th - Smoked haddock , mussel & leek chowder

April 30th - Beetroot fritters with gravalax

Looking forward to my holiday but will be back on my blog on Wednesday May 1st Please don't desert me.

A night in on my own.

A night in on my own so decided to half the quantities and try this on my own. Quick and easy to make, ideal after a busy tiring day.
Very , very rich- A version of Alfredo- this is the first time I have been unable to finish a Nigel Slater's meal. As much as I wanted to the richness defeated me!!!!

So hungry !!!!!!

April 22 nd Monday
At the beginning of this chapter Mr Slater talks about his salad spinner with great affection which is unusual because he is not a great fan of kitchen gadgets. He says " I know I would hate to be without mine."
Oh dear ! I threw mine away when I moved house - trying to de- clutter. Another addition to my ever growing shopping list!( Until then I best buy ready washed so I don't get soggy leaves!!!!)

I made today's recipe for lunch - Five spice chicken and pea shoot salad.
We were so hungry - having skipped breakfast - and this smelt and looked so delicious I forgot to photograph it before we ate !!!!!!
My husband said,  " I really, really like this " and when I said I had forgotten to photograph it he replied, " Great, do it again and take a photo!"

In the recipe Mr Slater says to grate the ginger to a pulp scraping every bit from the grater into a mixing bowl. Quite hard to do so a good tip here is to use an old pastry brush - works really well !

This really really is rabbit!!!!!!!!

April 20th and Rabbit with tarragon
Well I guess this really is rabbit. Bit squeamish about this one! I can remember my grandma making rabbit stew and being made to sit at the table ( for hours!!!!!) because I refused to eat it.
The chapter today is called "Eating Bunny" - which is exactly how I felt as a child. Mr Slater talks about "..........simmering bunny bits in stock with onions and fennel...." Oh dear !
Anyway determined to try every recipe onwards and upwards. Sourcing a rabbit involved a day out until we found a farm shop selling rabbit. It was wild rabbit and whole, fortunately the butcher there very kindly jointed it for me.
The sauce in this dish is very rich and I have to confess I quite enjoyed the rabbit. Husband complained there was not enough meat on the rabbit and it being a wild rabbit had, perhaps, been running around too much!!!!!!
Might try this recipe with chicken next time.

I served A salad of radishes and spring onions with the rabbit.

I hate radishes, my husband loves them, I love salad, my husband doesn't! So let's see what we make of this.

Well we made a lot of this salad - very refreshing and an excellent accompaniment to the rabbit with its very rich sauce. Certainly will make this one again. 

Lemon Curd

Wednesday April 17 th and two recipes to make today, Lemon Curd and A heavenly parfait of orange  and lemon.
I shall start with the lemon curd as this is needed in the second recipe.
Mr Slater makes cooking sound idyllic e.g. ".........the timeless bonhomie of a tray of warm oatcakes being taken from the oven..........the intoxicating, ..........almost hallucinogenic hit.........from grinding cardamom "
I guess I need to calm down more when cooking, not rush to prepare but take time and pleasure - and so I did when making my pot of lemon curd. A slight panic when I worried it wasn't thickening - but it did, it just needed a little more time. And yes Mr Slater you are right, a good sharp grater is essential and next on my list of " kitchen to buys "
Verdict on lemon curd - scrummy.

 And this evening on to A heavenly parfait of orange and lemon.
All I can say is HEAVENLY HEAVENLY HEAVENLY!!!!!!!!!

This desert was so delicious I was eating it out of the bowl before it even reached the freezer.