Barney Desmazary's Lobster with Thermidor Butter

Okay, I wimped out in the end.  I just wasn't brave enough to buy myself a real, live lobster and so ended up with a pre-cooked one instead.  In my defence, living a fair distance from a decent fishing port means that live lobsters are hard to come by.  Some research on the t'internet revealed a fishmonger on a farm shop some forty miles from here.  As I was only cooking this for me, I really couldn't justify the petrol and expense of a huge, live lobster.  At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Pinchy's final mug shot

I've mentioned before how I'm a bit of a wuss and if I had to kill my own food, I'd be a confirmed vegetarian before you could say 'peanut butter on celery'.  Had I gotten my hands on a live lobster, I most certainly would've been tempted to be like Homer Simpson and turn it into a pet.

That particular Simpsons episode evoked memories of a holiday on the Isle of Wight with friends of my mother.  I was probably about five or six at the time and they drove an estate car which back then, we kids just used to ride in the boot of.  That particular summer, we got to share the boot with the world's most ginormous live lobster.  I swear blind that it lived in the boot of that car for most of the two weeks of our holiday.  I don't know why it was there or what was meant to happen to it but it definitely happened as there's a picture of us all sat in the back of the boot somewhere at my mum's house.

Anyhoo, having avoided the need to choose between stabbing the poor thing through the head or flinging it into a pot of boiling water, I turned to Dame Mary for advice on how to cut and clean the lobster.  There are a squillion and one online guides on how to do this, but the trusty 'Know How' section in Mary's Complete Cookery Book (the original one, not the re-released one Amazon now peddle) has a step-by-step pictorial and I just knew that I'd be safe with Mary at the helm.

One downside of having a cooked lobster was that the husband failed to be terrorised by it.  He's a bigger wuss than I am and will not remove spiders or moths from bedrooms nor will he collect seaweed with Miss A at the seaside.  On the other hand, Miss A wanted to play with pinchy and had a full on meltdown as I tried to explain that he was for tea.

It's lobster, not mini octopusses.  Or octopi??

I now also know that I wouldn't ever want to get into a fight with a lobster.  It was pretty easy to knife through the shell but ouchy - those claws have got some nasty sharp bits on the outside when you're trying to extract the lovely claw meat.

I'd originally intended to serve it with Thomasina Miers' pumpkin mole but forgot the coriander (next time I see langoustines, I'm so doing that recipe) so I went for thermidor butter instead.  Next problem was assuming it was possibly to change a nappy in the time it would take for the wine to reduce from 150ml to not much at all.  Wrong.  Burnt shallots do not taste good.  Nor do shallots burnt in white wine that has been open for several weeks.  Oops.  Did I mention I rarely drink?

I got there in the end.  I must say the mustard was slightly overpowering - but that may have been just the brand that I had (Waitrose own) or that I used a little too much.  Other than that, it was a really simple recipe and should I ever find myself cooking a meal for another lobster lover, it's great because you can prep both the butter and lobster well in advance of serving.  Chances of that are probably less than zero but hey - you never know what life may bring you.

You can find the recipe I used here.

Chef Geena's Baked Onion Bhajis

With less than three weeks to go, I've realised there are a few things I still need to tick off of my blog to do list.  One of those was to make onion bhajis again.  I had a disaster with a recipe on day four (I have no idea where the year has gone) and vowed that I'd make them again so, having had this recipe in mind for some weeks, I finally got round to trying it.

The good thing about these bhajis is that they are baked and not fried.  Although there is oil involved to soften the onions and to give them a 'fried' taste, it's probably not quite as bad as slinging them in the deep fat fryer.  Plus there's much less risk of them disintegrating.

Bhajis with lime pickle

The mixture is pretty easy to make and, unlike my last attempt, came together and actually looked how I would expect bhaji mix to look.  I used two smallish onions - I didn't weigh them - and this produced two bhajis.  I'm guessing you'd get 6-8 decent sized ones from the 1lb of onions the recipe suggests.

On the down side, I used the full recipe quantity of spices, even though I was only making a fraction of the other ingredients but you couldn't really taste the spicing and I think it would be lost if you had more onions and flour.  I'd definitely recommend doubling the spices if you use the full recipe.

As for the baked vs fried bit.  They were okay, if a little stodgy in the middle.  Then again, if you can put up with the grease, things taste so much better when they're deep fried.  But we all know that's bad for you so let's not go there.

Far happier with this recipe than the last attempt.  I think they'd go well with a healthy curry meal if you're looking for that kind of thing.  I had them for tea with a random leftover Waitrose samosa which also snuck into the picture, just because that's how I roll on a Thursday night.  Sometimes.

You can find the recipe here.

Spicy Cauliflower and Chard Soup

Autumn is my absolute favourite season.  There's something special about crisp sunny days with a slight chill in the air.  Some people see it as sad because the leaves finally fall from the trees, but (provided it doesn't continue to rain buckets), there are piles of shiny brown leaves, just ripe for kicking.  I have been waiting for Miss A to reach two (and a bit now) just so that I can use her as an excuse for skipping through leaves, looking for shiny brown conkers.

One day, I'd love to holiday in New England in the fall.  I've had several failed attempts at getting there in the past but it's on my (overly long) holiday bucket list and I'm determined to make it there one of these days.

The other good thing about September 1st is that it heralds the start of soup making season.  I love soup and could quite happily live off of it most days - provided it was interspersed with lots of toast.  There's just something comforting about a piping hot bowl of soup that takes me right back to my childhood.  My mum was forever making soup when I was a child.  I think back then I really only liked it because it came with deep fried croutons but as an adult, it takes me right back to the tiny kitchen where I grew up.

My favourite was Mum's cream of cauliflower, closely followed by my Grandma's minestrone.  I still cook both of these regularly but don't really expand my repertoire past that.  I've made a few soups (this is #14) during the course of this blog and whilst they were all very acceptable, none of them really made me want to make them again in preference to the default two.  However, today, I may finally have come up with a contender.

I happened across the Soup Tuesday blog some time ago.  It's written by husband and wife team Dan and Kasari.  It's not just about Soup and not just written on Tuesday.  It's about cake too (this is how I found it as Kasari entered the Weekly Bake Off one week when I was judging it) and lots of other things as well.  Dan then participated in the Olympic Food Challenge, putting us all to shame by really pushing the limits of the game by eating Deep Fried Duck Tongues.  They're a great pair and if you're on Twitter, you should definitely follow them for their entertaining musings.

Anyhoo, this week, Dan blogged about the cauliflower soup and I knew I just had to try it.  So yesterday, I dropped in on one of our local farm shops to get the ingredients I needed and this morning, set about making the soup.  It's dead easy - just roast the veg, simmer it in stock and then blend.  What I liked about the method was that by using a potato, there was no need for the faffy making of roux sauce that accompanies my mother's cauliflower soup recipe.  In fact, next time I make hers, I may try potatoes rather than white sauce to see what a difference it makes.

With the subtle Indian spicing and the aromatic coconut flavour, I really enjoyed this soup and will definitely be making it again.  As I only had creamed coconut, I substituted this for the coconut milk along with a little regular milk although when I served the soup it was still pretty thick.  My chard wouldn't wilt either but the texture wasn't a problem.  My soup was also slightly less piccalilli-like in colour than Dan's because I didn't time how long I roasted my vegetables for and they were a little more brown than 'golden around the edges' but thankfully not burnt (just about) and it still tasted good.

You can find the recipe here, along lots of other recipes too.

Olympic Food Challenge - Chicken Momos - Nepal

So here we are on the penultimate day of the Olympic Food Challenge and, for that matter, the penultimate day of the Olympic Games.  Team GB have just clocked up another amazing win from Mo Farah in the 5,000m.  Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I was able to view this feat on my phone whilst perched on the toilet seat in the bathroom as Miss A had her bath.

Sadly for Nepal, their athletes (five competitors, three disciplines) will be returning empty handed.  But thanks to their presence at the games, I got to make one of my favourite recipes from this challenge.  More on that shortly.

They are actually dumplings.  Not garlic bulbs!

As for a bit about Nepal, well this is where I've really failed.  Some years ago, one of my most lovely friends decided that he and I needed to take a trip to Nepal.  I have no idea why he chose this location.  I'm sure he must've said at the time but I was too busy nursing a broken heart after being dumped by my first serious boyfriend.  I think it was something that F had always wanted to do and thought that dragging me along for the ride would be entertaining.  I duly went out and bought a guide book to Nepal, scared myself silly as it was totally not my kind of holiday but thanks to Fate, F got a shiny new job, the moment passed and all I have to tell for the tale is that guide book.

Lord knows where it is.  I'm sure it's probably still in one of the packing boxes from when I finally moved out from the house I shared with the ex (I stayed on for a year after that).  I've moved twice since then and have boxes scattered at my current house, my mother's house, my grandfather's house and there are still a couple at the ex's house that he keeps trying to convince me to take.


Rather than boring you with details you can find on Wikipedia, I will tell you what I know off the top of my head.  It's somewhere in Asia.  It's landlocked.  It's where Everest is.  Those three points alone put me off of wanting to do the trip 12 years ago (although F is an amazing mate and I would have gone despite my misgivings).

Had I made it, I hopefully would've gotten to try Momos.  They're basically a dumpling like Chinese dim-sum but filled with a curry-based mixture of either meat or vegetables.  For real authenticity, I bought a Chinese bamboo steamer (much to the husband's dismay - it's another piece of kitchenware that will eventually end up in my massive box of rarely used utensils in the garage).  I also went so far as to make my own wrappers - mostly because I wouldn't have a clue where to buy them in provincial Wiltshire.

Best flag of the challenge

It was all surprisingly easy.  Chop up some meat and veg finely.  Stick in a shed-load of spices and leave to marinate for at least an hour.  The wrappers are just a flour and water dough, kneaded for ten minutes and then shaped into small balls and rolled out to 3 inches in diameter.  You fill, twist the tops and then steam them for 10-15 minutes.  This also scared the husband because he has a thing about fire and got all twitchy when I put a bamboo steamer over a naked flame.  How he missed the whacking great pot of water sandwiched between the two is beyond me.  I swear he was one digit away from dialling 999.

The filling was tasty.  Kind of like a Chinese-y curry rather than an Indian one.  All the taste but none of the heat (despite me going overboard with the chilli).  It would make a good spring roll filling too and I intend to do this with the rest of the mixture and some filo pastry tomorrow night.  The wrappers came out well too.  I was worried they'd be a little doughy, but they were kind of like a soft pasta.  I must admit, I'd run out of regular plain flour so used 00 pasta flour which may or may not have made a slight difference to the texture.

A gold for this one and I'll definitely be playing with the steamer again.  I can see us investing in a fire extinguisher for the kitchen very shortly though.

You can find the recipe here.  I made a fifth of it and it was enough to make 12 dumplings.  There are also tons of other tasty momo recipes to try on that page (which I'll be doing soon!)

Olympic Food Challenge: Abacate Com Atum - Guinea Bissau

What a weekend it's been.  Personally, I missed most of the sporting action because I was too busy enjoying myself in the bosom (not quite literally) of my extended family as we celebrated two birthdays and a wedding.  And with a huge haul of medals, Britain has literally become Great once more.  I've never been prouder to be British.  I was even pleased that dour old Andy Murray won.  Didn't get to see the final so I don't know if he actually cracked a smile, but I'm sure he deserved it.

Elegantly (not!) served in an avocado shell

As for Guinea Bissau, they have sent just four athletes to London to compete in two disciplines.  Much as I love that Team GB (the real Team GB!) are pocketing medals left, right and centre, I do still believe that it's the taking part that counts and the Bissau-Guineans should be just as proud of their competitors as we are of ours.

Known for its political instability - no elected president has served a full five year term - Guinea Bissau is situated on the west coast of Africa, bordered by Senegal and Guinea.  The official language is Portugese, although this is only spoken by 14% of the population with the rest speaking either Kriol (a Portugese version of Creole) or native African languages.  Having been colonised by the Portugese from the 16th century onwards, the cuisine still retains a huge Portugese influence.

One of the biggest problems I encountered when researching a recipe for today's post was finding something that is definitely from Guinea Bissau.  There are few recipes available online and those that are generally indicate that they're actually a Portugese recipe with no real confirmation that you would find the meal served in Guinea Bissau.

In the end, I settled for an avocado and tuna dish - mostly because I had all the ingredients to hand (I bought a huge pack of avocados last week and wanted to use the last one up).  Although not very photogenic - my food styling skills remain terrible - I did actually enjoy this dish.  I was unconvinced at the start because I thought it was trying to be a fancy prawn cocktail - minus prawns, obviously - but the addition of coconut worked really well and gave it a lovely tropical twist.

Guinea Bissau Flag

As I don't have evaporated milk and didn't want to waste a whole can on a single recipe, I used some Greek yogurt instead.  I also used grated creamed coconut rather than fresh.  I've already had one injury (burnt hand) during the Olympic Food Challenge, I didn't fancy another (hammered hand) by trying to crack open a coconut.

You can find the recipe here.  Definitely worth a try as an alternative dinner party starter.

Olympic Food Challenge: Avocat aux Crevettes Senegalaises - Senegal

Day Four of the Olympic Food Challenge.  Wasn't the opening ceremony amazing last night?  Not normally my kind of thing but I twisted the husband's arm and I'm so glad I did.  Aside from the obvious things I could mention like Becks in a speedboat, Daniel Craig and her Maj and Cav's eyelashes, it was just brilliantly bonkers and brilliantly British.  The only disappointment was Macca at the end.  Why, why, why does he just plain refuse to sing The Frog Chorus?  Just think what Danny Boy(le) could've done with that!

Straight from Abigail's Party

The slight tedium of the countries pouring in one by one was punctuated by my running commentary of 'I'm cooking that country and I'm making....' which just about made Trevor Nelson's inane wittering bearable.  Big up to Sir Tim Berners-Lee for giving us the joy of the internet so we could all complain about Nelson in union.  As for Huw Edwards...

Anyhow, today's pick was Senegal who held Team GB to a one-all draw in the opening men's football match.  They're fielding 35 athletes across a variety of disciplines, having come a long way since Tokyo in 1964 where they were exclusively involved in athletics. (Thanks to the London 2012 website!)  Located on the coast of West Africa, and with a population of just under 13m, Senegal's cuisine is largely influenced by French, Portugese and North African cooking.

The recipe I selected today is a starter to a menu for dinner for eight.  I wanted something I could make for lunch and I just loved how delightfully Seventies the dish is.  Basically, it's a posher version of prawn cocktail with avocado, eggs, chickpeas, tomatoes and peppers thrown in.  The recipe says that it's a bit complicated.  The most complicated part was dragging all the ingredients from their various locations and then attempting to follow the faffy plating up.  I've admitted before that my presentation was lacking so in some ways it was refreshing having someone instructing me exactly what to do but even then I did my own thing - using three Little Gem leaves rather than a pile of shredded lettuce and adding an extra quarter of egg to keep the 'power of three' layout evenly balanced.

Flag of Senegal

It was so Seventies-tastic, right down to the instruction to garnish with parsley (I had flat leaf and curly to hand but this just screamed for curly!), that I duly Instagrammed it with the 1977 filter.  The first time I've ever used that one.

Taste wise, it was an interesting combination.  The avocado, lemon and yogurt worked well.  The chickpeas were a bit of a curve ball and not something I'd look to do again in a hurry but they bulked it out nicely to make a decent lunch.  I liked the vibrant reds and yellows as prawn cocktail, much as I love it, can often look a bit insipid.

Probably a bronze in the grand scheme of things.  You can find the recipe here.

Rachel Khoo's Terrine Forestiere

One of the questions I get asked most about this blog is how much has it cost me since day one.  Part of me wishes I'd kept track.  But like when we got married, I just engaged advanced ostrich mode and pretended that it didn't matter.

I'm very lucky to earn a decent salary that allows me to do this although with things rapidly heading south for us financially, it's a good thing that there are only two months left because otherwise I'd be writing about the different ways to serve beans on toast.  Okay, that's a little flippant because I know you can eat really well on a budget if you shop wisely.  And maybe that's what I should try to do over the course of my next blog.  But pretty much with the exception of cooking with expensive seafood (I really wanted to do lobster, scallops and oysters but continue to be put off by the cost), I've not really considered too much about what I've spent.

The most expensive things are fresh herbs which I never would've bought previously.  They really make a difference to so many dishes.  I know I could grow my own - I used to have two huge herb pots when I was a kid and loved the smell of the basil on a hot summer's day - but I've not had any success with growing them at our current house.  Other more expensive items have mostly been meat-related.

So today, I gave some consideration to the cost of this meal.  The recipe is basically a baked mushroom omelette using wild mushrooms.  It's the wrong time to forage and I'd probably end up making myself ill anyway.  I know that our local Morrisons has a good selection of fresh wild mushrooms but last time I bought 100g they cost me a fiver and this recipe called for 450g.  I'm not that stupid - not even for a special occasion.

Low fat and great value

In the end, I made half of the recipe and used 250g of chestnut mushrooms (£1) plus a handful of dried mushrooms (quarter of a £1.99 pack).  The eggs were about 20p each (2 of), half a 90p tub of creme fraiche, quarter of a 60p pack of parsley (15p), three spring onions because I didn't want to buy a huge bag of shallots I won't use (so about 25p-worth).  And some salt, pepper and garlic which don't really count in the budget but probably about 15p worth.  So around £2.75 for the recipe.  Which cuts into about eight small slices if you're using it for an appetiser and would serve four with salad.  I've already road-tested it for a snack and will have another serving for tea.  It will go in my lunchbox tomorrow and I'll probably snack on the rest at some point over the next two days.

At 70p per portion, that's not too bad.  But if you were making it with wild mushrooms, it's ridiculously expensive.

But it's very tasty.  The herbs absolutely make a difference.  And I like the way it was baked in a loaf tin, making it easy to slice and transport rather than faffing around with trying to fry and then grill a round frittata to get it to set.

The only thing I will recommend is using full fat creme fraiche as mine was a bit watery. I used low-fat to keep the calories down.   Or maybe I should've dried my mushrooms in kitchen paper after frying them off.  


And if you're on a carb-free diet, it's a really filling and tasty option.


You can find the recipe on page 130 of Little Paris Kitchen.

Rachel Khoo's Asparagus with Lemon and Mint Vinagrette

During a recent meeting at work, I was accused by my colleagues as being a control freak because I'd taken possession of both the remote control for the overhead projector and the air conditioning.  Despite the fact that I was leading the meeting, they (all males) seemed to think it was because I wear the trousers at home and naturally assume control of the telly zapper and, consequently control the viewing of my household.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

Between 7am and 7pm, if the telly is on, it will either be tuned to CBeebies, football or cricket.  With Miss A and the husband doing battle for supremacy if there is a conflict of interests.  After 7pm, the husband is in sole control of what is shown on the lounge telly.  It's one of about three things.  Football.  Reality TV.  Or CSI/NCIS/Law and Order/insert other annoying American drama series in this space.

I am sometimes permitted to join the viewing of programmes, provided I limit my commentary about poor continuity, improbable circumstances and '(s)he is the killer' (usually said within the first five minutes and proving to be correct fifty minutes later) to a minimum.  Likewise, I get red-carded from the football if I utter 'Didn't he used to play for....?', 'Isn't that....?' or 'xyz used to play for Southampton. All the good footballers played for Southampton once upon a time'.

The only time I've ever been able to convince the hubby to watch something out of the ordinary was when I introduced him to Michael McIntyre.  The husband doesn't do funny.  Invariably, I have to explain jokes to him which then means they lose their humour.  But one rare night when I did manage to get a hold of the remote, I tuned in to Comedy Roadshow and because MM was doing his routine about his kids and the husband now gets the harassed parent references, he actually laughed.  And so once in a blue moon, I'm allowed to now watch that too.

Of course, if I had my way, the viewing would predominantly include food programmes.  And comedy.  But certainly at the moment, mostly food.  I used to love Saturday Kitchen (I have a thing for James Martin) but of course, now if I put the telly on on a Saturday, James is rapidly replaced by Justin (aka Timmy the sheep, Mr Tumble, Jake the Tweeny, the man from Gigglebiz etc etc....).  When I was on maternity leave and snowed in (pre baby) I whiled away the hours watching so many back-to-back episodes of Come Dine With Me that I started dreaming about it.  Now, I just fill the Sky box with episodes that never get watched.

And so it will be no surprise to you that I've never seen Little Paris Kitchen.  I know of Rachel Khoo because many of my Twitter friends have raved about her cooking and her amazing sense of style.  I've read articles in Good Food about her.  I meant to Sky + the series, but knew I'd only get to watch it if I got up at 2am to get my mitts on the remote.  And then the dogs would probably pounce on me and insist on watching re-runs of Crufts or something.

Today's recipe is by Khoo, but only because I was desperately Googling at 3am (couldn't sleep - should've caught up with CDWM back catalogue) to find something to do with the bunch of asparagus that was slowly wilting in my fridge, coupled with the now meagre other contents of the fridge which is being cleaned out in preparation for the holiday.

Luckily, I managed to tick all of the boxes, save for lemons (purchased on the way to work).  And even got further use out of my little pack of mint that I bought for Monday's recipe and used again yesterday.  Am pleased with self for being thrifty and actually using up nearly a whole pack of fresh herbs rather than letting them wilt into submission.  In fact, I should declare this as National Mint Week.  Or 366 Recipe Challenge's Mint Week.  Or ....Mint Four Days as I now only have enough left to cover tomorrow's recipe.

Anyway, I'm aware that I've done a whole lot of waffle and so without further ado, this makes a really lovely starter (or main if you're greedy like me) and brings out the best in seasonal asparagus with a few simple ingredients.  Will definitely make again and again.  I just love asparagus and goats cheese.  It pressed all my buttons.  Only had regular green asparagus, and I used a crumbly Chevre with it.  Served with the last bit of the foccacia I made the other day.  Winning tea.

You can find the recipe here (and no, I didn't see it on the One Show!)

Duck Spring Rolls

If you're expecting a witty post today, I'm afraid you're going to be sorely disappointed.  Or maybe none of my previous posts have been witty.  Maybe anyone who finds them funny has just been laughing at me rather than with me.  I've been told in the past that that's been the case (not about the blog specifically, just in general).

The reason for this topic?  Well I read an article last night on the difference between male and female humour in the office.  Working in IT, I've always considered myself 'one of the boys'.  It's a very male dominated environment (despite what some people may have you believe) and although I'm very competent and good at what I do (I hope!), I'm sure I've been hired in the past because I fulfill the 'equal equalities' ratio.

I sometimes suspect because I once worked somewhere where my boss (jokingly!) asked me if I'd care to 'bat for the other side' and use a pair of crutches so that I could fulfill all his minority requirements (being that I'm mixed race - he was too which is how he just about got away with the comment).  But that's male humour for you.  It can cut close to the bone and whilst I could have gone running to HR screaming discrimination, I took it for the light-hearted bit of banter that it was.

Can you see the duck Peking out?  Not funny....

However, as I woman, I could pretty much guarantee I could make a similar joke in a room full of men and there would suddenly be an elephant in the room.  With a few tumbleweeds rolling around and some doors blowing noisily too and fro in the background (think Westerns here).  You see, men aren't used to women being funny or trying to be funny.  It's not necessarily anything to do with a lack of comic timing. Just that we're not meant to be funny in the office.

If I take the mickey out of myself, I might just raise a smile from the assembled ranks.  Apparently it's common among women in business to be self-deprecatory.  You just have to be careful not to do so to the point of being needy.  Which I think I sometimes do.  Like when I think nobody will be interested in what I have to say when I write these epic blog posts.  And yet I'm now averaging over 200 views a day on this blog (okay so there are a lot of posts to choose from) and have had nearly 16,000 page views in eight months.  At the six-month mark I was still a few views shy of 8,000 views.

Sometimes I just like to waffle about my day and then give a brief nod to the recipe I made.  Unless it was a recipe that particularly lit up my world or was such a disaster (like yesterday's chocolate cakes).  Today is one of those waffle days.

I bought some Gressingham duck mini fillets the other day with the intention of making a duck and grapefruit salad.  It sounded really nice when I picked out the recipe.  It would be perfect on a sunny day like today.  Except that I really really didn't feel like eating (not even the leftover bits of cake, nor the Flake that is stashed in my desk drawer for emergencies).  But of course, I needed a recipe for the blog.

So, I figured I'd give making my own low-fat duck pancakes a go.  With the help of the recipe on the back of the rice pancakes packet and a bit of my own making up, I found a great alternative to the calorie-fest that is Peking duck pancakes.

I love duck pancakes.  It's the best thing about going out for a big fat Chinese meal.  Not that I can remember the last time I did that - but still.  Using rice pancakes to make your own though is a bit of an experience.  They're like little disks of plastic which you then soften in hot water for a while.  Not difficult.  Until you take them out and try to flatten them out.  Then it becomes like playing with clingfilm as they annoying fold back on themselves and will not be spread flat without ripping for love nor money.

Third time lucky and I managed to fill them with gem lettuce (I used the tiny, inner leaves), bean sprouts, spring onions, carrot matchsticks and thin slices of duck that I marinated in hoisin sauce before pan frying for a few minutes.  Quick (aside from wrestling with the pancakes), low fat (less than 200 cals for three pancakes) and a simple show piece starter.  In fact, a great addition to a meal if you're having a Chinese 'fake-away' (healthy, home-cooked versions of takeaway food).

Really pleased with these and will definitely make again as a light lunch.

Duck Pancakes - Serves 2 (easily doubled)

• 6 rice pancakes (I used Blue Dragon)
• 100g duck mini fillets
• 3 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 1 carrot, cut into julienne strips
• 2 spring onions, cut into julienne strips
• 1 little gem lettuce
• handful of beansprouts
• spray oil

1. Place the duck fillets into a bowl and toss with 1 tbsp of the hoisin sauce.  Leave for 15 minutes.
2. Place a frying pan over a medium high heat, spray with oil and then pan fry the fillets for 4 minutes.  Once cooked, slice into thin strips.
3. Soften the pancakes according to the packet instructions.  Place a small piece of lettuce onto the centre of a pancake, fill with a selection of duck and vegetables then roll to form a cigarette shape.
4. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.  Serve with the rest of the hoisin in small bowls for dipping.

Leith's Warm Sushi Salad

I lost my sushi virginity at the relatively ancient age of 23.  I was going through a difficult time and a good friend phoned me and told me he'd take me out for a swanky dinner in London to cheer me up.  I was cheered merely by his call because I had a little crush on him and the thought of dinner together made they dark day suddenly seem rosy.  He asked where I'd like to go and being completely indecisive and not knowing London very well, I said I'd leave it up to him.

He met me from the tube and walked me past many fabulous restuarants around Long Acre and Covent Garden before arriving at the doorway to a Japanese restaurant.  He asked if this was okay and not wanting to seem fussy/difficult/demanding I nodded a hesitant consent and stepped inside.

I'm not *that* old but I swear a decade ago, you couldn't buy Sushi in the local Tesco Express (did they even exist then??) so the concept was still novel to someone as green and naive as I was then.  He's a very traditional, slightly posh chap so I left the ordering up to him.  A nine course taster meal at £40 a head.  A lot of money in those days when you've not long left uni, have a huge student loan to pay off and can't actually afford to buy yourself a winter coat, let alone go Dutch on a meal (plus the drinks) like that.

I did at least know that I'd be expected to eat raw fish, but nothing prepared me for the arrival of caviar the size of Maltesers and something that looked remarkably like fish eyes.  I did manage to enjoy some bits like the gorgeous tempura prawns and the vegetarian sushi.  But it was spoiled by him betting me that I could eat the rather odd ball of pea-green paste on the side of one dish without my eyes watering.  The deal was that if I won, he'd pay for us both.  And if he won I'd settle up.

Of course, I lost (I just about held onto my dignity before I had to dash off to the ladies to fix my mascara) and whilst I was gone, he proceeded to order a rather expensive bottle of wine to toast my first foray into the world of Japanese food.

Needless to say, the bill hurt more than the wasabi and maxed my previously just-shy-of-the-limit credit card right out.  I spent the rest of the winter without a coat.

Luckily, it didn't put me totally off sushi and I'd love to have that meal over again so that I could appreciate it.  And in case you were wondering, we are still friends.  We don't speak often and see each other even less, but I count him as one of those people you can call on in a time of crisis or happiness.  Life and work just gets in the way far too often.  Last time I saw him I accidentally locked him outside of a meeting room in the snow.  It wasn't revenge, honestly!

Sharing that tale makes me wish I could go back in time and give that me a hug and tell her that things got better and a lot different and that she'll become a survivor.  What doesn't kill us only makes us stronger!

Anyway enough of the deep stuff!  The Nori, sushi rice and the wasabi I used when I made my own sushi back in January has been clogging up my store cupboard and so this recipe seemed like the perfect alternative to all the faff of trying to make perfect sushi shapes.

When I made it, it didn't look like much but it was really filling.  It's probably double the amount of sushi you'd get in one of those pre-packaged lunch boxes.  And I bet if you found it in a restaurant it would be called something trite like 'Deconstructed Sushi' and come with an astronomical price tag.

Serves 4 - Adapted from Leith's Simple Cookery

• 225g/8oz sushi rice
• 4 tbsp sushi rice seasoning (I used Clearspring)
• Wasabi paste
• 1/2 cucumber, peeled and diced
• 225g/8oz smoked salmon, sliced (I used Waitrose Smoked Salmon Trimmings)
• 1 avocado pear, diced
• 2 sheets Nori - shredded
• Japanese Pickled Ginger to serve (I didn't have any of this so decorated with bits of salmon)

1. Cook the rice according to the package instructions.
2. Mix the sushi seasoning with enough Wasabi paste for your taste and mix with the rice.
3. Stir through the cucumber, avocado, smoked salmon and most of the shredded Nori.
4. Divide between serving plates and garnish with the shredded Nori and ginger

Leith's Carrot and Coriander Soup

Today was one of those rare days when the 'rents take Miss A out, meaning that hubs and I get some precious peace for a few hours.  Of course, I made a lot of noise about welcoming the time to catch up on all the long overdue housework that I don't get time to address (most notably the epic mountain of clean laundry that lives on the bed in the spare room) but having successfully decided to bake some gingerbread butterflies to restock the biscuit barrel, made a fruit loaf and started the soup for my tea, I killed the hour that it took the husband to get organised so only had time to give the floors a cursory mop and off we went for a walk along the Wilts and Berks Canal.

What's up doc? Uninspiring soup, that's what.

A couple of hours later, we returned home to trade wellies and mud-spattered jeans for something a little more suited to an afternoon in Tetbury and let the dogs out for a while.  The spaniel was suspiciously loitering in the corner of the kitchen near a puddle of yellowy liquid and I assumed that he'd had a little mishap (he has a dodgy tummy so sometimes hews up on the floor).  Further floor mopping meant I'd done more housework in one day than I'd done in the last month so consoled myself with insisting we went for a club sandwich at the Blue Zucchini in Tetbury.

I love that place.  It's one of those really cool restaurants-cum-coffee bars where you should go to eat brunch and read the Sunday papers.  When it's sunny, we normally sit outside on the pavement tables and watch the world go by.  In fact, last time we were there, I was on day two of my blog and wondering what the hell I'd committed myself to.  In all honesty, I really didn't expect that I'd still be writing daily by now.  Or at least if I was, I assumed it would be a quick one or two lines saying 'I liked this recipe or this recipe was crap'.  Not boring the world to tears with the trivial details of my life.

Having planned to starve all day to allow me to eat one of their gorgeous clubs, I was....erm....mightily disappointed to see that they've changed the way they serve things and you now get double the amount of chips in a little bucket on the side.  In fact, there were so many that for once, I couldn't finish mine (of course, hubs managed to help out!) and now I feel like I won't eat again for about a week.

Blue Zucchini Club Sandwich Sept '11

Blue Zucchini Club Sandwich May '12

Returning home, I went to put the cooled gingerbread into the biscuit barrel and noticed that the worktops were covered in sticky, wet liquid.  And then it hit, that the dog hadn't made the floor messy - he was cleaning up the liquid part of the soup.  In a vain attempt to be tidy, I'd poured the soup into the blender ready to liquidise later and the stock had seeped out of the jug and run everywhere.  Grrrrrr!  Another black mark against my Kenwood Prospero!

Luckily I managed to salvage the soup by just adding more stock and blending it.  But still being full from lunch, I only had a spoonful to test the seasoning was okay and it's now gone into the fridge for a meal tomorrow.

Wilts and Berks Canal

So the verdict on one spoonful of soup?  Well the recipe is from my Leith's Simple Cookery book.  When I first got the book, I flicked through and was disappointed that a book by an institution such as Leith's should use lots of pre-prepared sauces and the like in their recipes so I've barely looked at it since.  But now I'm so short on time I realised that there can be compromise.  And if some of the recipes call for a shop-bought tomato sauce, there's no reason that I can't make my own if I feel so inclined.  So you will see more Leith's inspired recipes as I crawl towards the finish line of this year.

And of course, soup isn't exactly known for being a complicated thing to make.  I picked Carrot and Coriander because I bought a giant bag of value carrots for a cake I promised one of my colleagues I'd bake this week and needed another way to use them up.  I normally only use one or two carrots a month (hubs doesn't eat veg and Miss A doesn't like carrots - yet) but had a fit of thrift and bought the 1.5kg bag for 50p as it sounded like a good deal.

The flavour was good and nice and light for springtime; although I think I overdid the herbs a bit and consequently, it tasted like a sweet chicken and coriander soup, such was the subtle flavour from the carrots.  I think I would probably make it again if I had a need to use up a massive bag of carrots, but I wouldn't go out of my way to make it if I didn't have any carrots in.

You can find the recipe on this website.

Parmesan Asparagus with Soft Boiled Egg

The best laid plans never go smoothly.  With the weather being positively Baltic, I'd decided that I'd give Carrot and Coriander Soup from Leith's Simple Cookery a whirl today.  And because the soup is so low in fat and uber-healthy, I thought I'd make a lovely fresh Tiger/Giraffe loaf to go with it (thus undoing most of the soup's virtuousness).

Of course, I'd not bargained for losing an entire night's sleep thanks to the cold; my husband then getting into bed just as I was falling asleep and doing Miranda's "Cold Bed Dance' (can't find a video of it though - the Miranda version, not my husband's); my toddler daughter waking up feeling poorly and wanting the entire Maisy Mouse back catalogue read to her; returning to bed and just dropping off to sleep only for the husband to shout 'Boo' in my ear (he reckons he was having a nightmare); Miss A reawakening after the Calpol wearing off and wanting to watch back-to-back episodes of Justin's House on the Sky Box and then eventually ending up not being able to prise myself away from her limpet-like, poorly girl needs in order to make said soup.

I did manage to make the loaf one-handed (thank goodness for my Kenwood).  I have muscles like Popeye in my left arm now after holding a 15kg toddler whilst making said bread.

So when I finally got her into bed for a nap, I figured that I had better find something quick and easy to cook - especially as I'd not eaten at all by 2pm and I was hungry.  Flicking through Leith's again, I picked the very first recipe in the book - simple, healthy and supposed to be served with a wedge of crusty bread which I had plenty of.

Is that a Tiger or Giraffe in the background?

The recipe calls for a soft-boiled egg cooked in a pan of water from cold and boiled for three minutes.  I came unstuck here.  Unlike the shell on my egg, which wouldn't come unstuck.  As I was trying to peel said egg, the shell just wouldn't come off, and I ended up ripping the egg apart and the middle ran out.  So after cooking the asparagus, I quickly poached an egg instead.  Similar result as the soft boiled egg in the end dish - much less faff in my opinion.

This is a really simple and tasty dish although not really one to be serving in the depths of winter.  If I was a good girl, I'd only cook it in May when asparagus is in season.  It's a variation on another recipe I'd been promising myself I'd try from Nigella Bites - Soft Boiled Eggs with Asparagus Soldiers.  But this is a bit posher.

It would make a really good breakfast or brunch dish on a special occasion.  If I was serving it to a non-veggie, I'd consider adding a little crisped prosciutto to the plate too.

I bought a box of Maldon Sea Salt for the first time yesterday and now understand why it could seem special.  But regular sea salt would work just as well too.  Would also advise warming the serving plates if making this mid-winter as mine was cold by the time I'd finished faffing with the photograph.  It still tasted good though.

Recipe - Serves 2

• 150g asparagus spears, woody ends trimmed
• 2 eggs
• Parmesan shavings
• Maldon sea salt and black pepper
• Crusty bread to serve

1. In a deep pan, cook the asparagus for 2-4 minutes until tender.  Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon, dry on kitchen paper and keep warm.
2. Using the same pan of water, poach the two eggs.  My thoughts on the best way to poach an egg can be found here.
3. Just before the eggs are ready, divide the asparagus between two plates and arrange so the spears all point in the same direction.  Scatter the Parmesan over the asparagus.
4. Remove the eggs from the water using a slotted spoon.  Pat dry with kitchen paper and place on top of the asparagus.  
5. Season with salt and black pepper.  Serve immediately with lots of crusty bread.

Borek

Today's recipe was scuppered by a burst water main on the one way system, meaning I couldn't get to the supermarket for fresh veggies for Thai chicken noodle soup. Apparently the whole of Chippenham is at a standstill.  I am just grateful that I was able to slob around working from home today!

Contents of the fridge are rapidly dwindling.  So out came the filo again.  A small piece of feta.  And hey presto, we have borek.

I absolutely adore these little gems.  I fell in love with them on holiday in Turkey when I was nursing my first teenage broken heart.  We were upgraded to a four star hotel where all the other tourists complained that there were no full English breakfasts and decamped to the local McDonalds, leaving my mum and I to indulge in traditional Turkish fayre at our leisure.

I've never tried making them until now and am amazed at the simplicity.  Will definitely be making again.  A similar recipe I have to try during this year was given to me by a good Serbian friend.  It's a similar dish which he calls Cheese Pie and uses a mix of cottage and feta cheese and baked into squares rather than little cigarette rolls.  I've eaten his offerings many times, but never got round to using the recipe myself.  So watch this space.

The recipe today was courtesy of the Good Food Channel and can be found here 

I only made a quarter of the recipe otherwise I'd've eaten the whole lot!

Caramelised Onion and Goats Cheese Tarts

Back last year, I asked the husband to buy me a proper cookery book.  And by proper, I don't mean one of these glossy, celebrity-chef endorsed, tv-series inducing bestsellers, but a real proper cookery book like my mum used to have when I was a kid - one that explained the basics of cookery, teaches you how to cook simple food that tastes great and is all about the instruction rather than the presentation.

I picked Leith's Simple Cookery and spent about a week reading through it but never got round to making anything.  Despite a few poor reviews from some cynics on Amazon (well there were some on there when I ordered my copy), it seemed to be a great book for getting back to basics and learning the art of how to make classics well and recipes that can be adapted and won't fail if you've only got low fat creme fraiche rather than soured cream.

So last night, I figured that I'd use it to find a good recipe for that French onion soup I've been meaning to make ever since Ocado delivered eleven million tonnes of onions that the child accidentally ordered via the Android app.  And would you believe it?  It's obviously not simple enough to make the book.

My pictures would be so much better if
the husband would lend me his X100!

So instead, I plumped for the caramelised onion and goats cheese tartlets, thus using up yet more things (pastry, cheese, onions) from the fridge that is due to go to fridge heaven tomorrow.

It's a great light lunch or tea and would make a fab starter too.  Lovely combination of salty feta with meltingly sweet onions.  Must admit I cheated a bit as I was supposed to caramelise the onions in the oven for 45 minutes but after a long day (up running at 5am, full day's work, mummy duties, three different dinners to cook) I caramelised them in a frying pan - and I was only doing a quarter of the quantity so it probably made more sense anyway.

Recipe as follows to serve four

• 500g block of puff pastry - one day, I will get round to learning how to make my own
• 600g onions, finely sliced - roughly six medium onions
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2tbsp brown sugar
• 60g feta cheese, crumbled

1. Roll the pastry out into a rectangle until it's about 5mm thick.  Cut into four.
2. Score a line around the edge of each piece about 1cm from the edge, taking care to not cut right through.
3. Use a fork to prick the inner rectangle of each piece.
4. Bake for 15 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, lightly fry the onions in a frying pan until they start to soften and caramelise - add a little water as necessary to stop them burning.
6. When soft, add the vinegar and sugar and continue to cook over a low heat for 3-5 minutes.
7. Remove the pastry from the oven.  Top with the onions, crumble over the cheese then return to the oven for a further five minutes.
8. Serve with a green salad and a glass or several of Chablis (not that I had any...sob...sniff)