188: Lemon ice-cream tart with gingernut crust, p375

A pudding was required to take to the inlaws for Christmas Eve and this fitted the bill nicely - after a rich dinner, the freshness of the icecream and the sharpness of the lemons made a welcome palate cleanser. The gingernut base was incredibly solid, maybe I didn't need to pack it in quite so tightly, but I was worried it would be too crumbly and wouldn't cut properly when sliced. Halving the recipe made a shallower tart, in one of my smaller springform tins, but it was plenty for five of us to each have a generous slice and there to still be nearly half left over for another day.

183: Warm soused mackerel, p68

Last mackerel recipe ticked off the list - but not our favourite, unfortunately. The fish was beautifully moist, being soused in the vinegar and wine, and lovely herby flavours came through, but we both decided we prefer the crispness given to mackerel when grilled or pan fried, rather that letting the skin end up a bit soggy. Plus T hated the smell of the vinegar, thought it smelt like old socks, bizarrely (I didn't think it did, but the smell was very vinegary, almost eye wateringly). Hey ho. Lovely served with the sauteed potatoes, but again, one fillet was enough for each of us, not two as suggested.

Only 10 recipes left to go!!

181: Baked red mullet with saffron and mint, p124, and 182: Baked red mullet with pine kernel stuffing, p370

Oooh, a bit behind with getting these written up from the start of last week...

Okay. Red mullet. One of the most expensive fishes to buy? 'Buy grey mullet, it's much cheaper and really nice!' cried my boss when I moaned about the price, on more than one occasion... 'Yes but Nigel doesn't use grey mullet in the book, it's always red mullet that is specified, and besides, red and grey mullet aren't even related to each other' - so I'm not convinced I can substitute one for the other.

Anyway, back to the recipes. The first one called for four medium sized mullet to serve two people. The second called for four large red mullet to serve four people. Yikes. I decided to do as I've done in the past and cook even for one person for two recipes at the same time, then the hubby and I swap plates halfway through. Kinda silly but it saves a lot of money and gets the recipes done! Bit concerned about the lack of dinners left between now and Christmas/New Year, and the deadline for finishing the book!

I went to the excellent Sandy's, where they always have red mullet (all pretty big ones), and asked for two. The chap threw them on the scales and they came to over £22 together. I gulped and asked if I could just have one, and then tried to figure out if I could still do both recipes... Taking my one, fairly large red mullet home, I surmised that I could maybe bodge it by chopping said mullet in half (to give a head end and tail end - the pine kernal stuffing needs to be stuffed inside the fish, so this was the only way I could think of doing it) and baking each separately in the oven in my little oval Denby dishes.

The fish halves fit snugly in the oval dishes, and it worked just fine. Although it did look a little odd...

I have to say, the first recipe, with saffron and mint, didn't really bowl me over... but then it is supposed to be a light Spring day meal, not a depths of Winter dish! The saffron and mint were perhaps a little too subtle for the strong, meaty fish, or maybe I should have used more of each, but the fish was cooked to perfection (although it did need another 5mins in the oven, even chopped in half).

The second recipe was by far the better, with a lovely fruity, crunchy, interesting stuffing, which worked beautifully with the strong, meaty flesh of the fish. I'm not a big fan of raisins in savoury dishes, but here they worked a treat, although I did chop them up a bit smaller than they were whole, so they gave little bits of fruity, sweetness to the dish, not bigger lumps. Lots of scrummy Mediterranean flavours. Definitely one to repeat. Should we buy red (or grey) mullet again!

Incidentally, half a decent sized mullet, plus potatoes on the side and some tomatoes, was fine for each of us. The idea of having two whole mullet each seems a little excessive...

133: Roast lamb with cumin and fresh mint, p198

Monday night treat! I made the spice paste in the morning before work and left it to marinade in the fridge all day, and all the garlicky cuminy minty loveliness soaked into the meat, and after 45mins in the oven this evening, it was absolutely delicious and most, and still a little pink (I always overcook lamb by accident...). Can't beat a gravy made entirely out of meat juices and white wine either. Why don't more people make their own gravy - it's sooo easy, so tasty, and cleans the roasting tray at the same time. Genius!

50: Onion soup without tears, p17

Oh yum, yum, yum, yum, this is a winner! Love french onion soup, and this is the super easy version!

Baking the onions, cut into halves, instead of chopping them up finely (hence, the tears of the title) makes it sooo easy, and gives the soup the loveliest caramelised tastiness, as well as a lovely dark, honey brown colour.

Didn't have fresh french bread, but did have a freshly baked regular loaf, which I cut into two big rounds using a cookie cutter, covered in grated Emmental and grilled, before floating on top of the soup.

Will definitely do this again. Tastes much more complicated than it is...

39: Pork chops, mustard sauce, p51

Very simple, pan-fried pork chops - but nice chunky ones, fried in a smidge of butter, and plenty of seasoning. Then the juices used to make a sauce, with cream and lots of mustard. Lots of mustard! Bit much for me, but T liked it. Didn't have any cornichons but decided some capers mightn't be too dissimilar to use instead. Served with the salads in the previous post.

3: Roast chicken with cheese mash and garlic gravy, p342

An easy peasy one now, although the difficulty is stopping myself roasting the chicken with the little bits and bobs I'd normally do - like rub the butter under the skin instead of on top, mixed with a little orange or lemon zest and juice and some chilli flakes, and popping the remains of the zested fruit up the bird's whatnots... I like Nigel's idea of popping the chicken upside down for the first 45mins, and the garlic halves tucked in the roasting tin are smelling gorgeous.

Because the recipe includes cheesy mash, I've skipped roasting potatoes around the chicken as well, fearing potato overload. Although I'd prefer roasties,  the 'with cheese mash' does seem to be an integral part of the recipe, so I'm sticking to that.

I've halved the quantities since it's only me and T eating. Ooooh, lots of lovely leftover chicken!! Very pleased about that - I usually only roast a bird when we've got guests so there's only usually enough left to do a chicken risotto and the carcass to make a great vat of stock. I may have to start doing roast chicken for two more often...

I love roast chicken. It can't possibly go wrong :)

...and it didn't, as predicted. Super crispy skin, meat cooked to perfection, and scrummy mash. Halfway through I realised I'd made a bit of a booboo, supermarket chickens (even the better quality ones) don't come with giblets so couldn't make the gravy with them, damn damn damn. So I snipped the wingtips off the chicken quickly, and brewed them up as per the recipe before adding them to the roasting tin (when the chicken was ready, and removed). Good save, I think.

Served up with a good serving of our family's classic 'Mozzie's Acid Leeks'. Nice bit of vitamin C to cut through those cheesy tatties. And a glass or two of a chardonnay-chenin blanc-viognier blend. Note my utterly in-expert carving...