News and farewell...

This is going to be a hard post for me to write. But I have good news and bad news...

The good news is that we are expecting our first child in May. I had no idea until the middle of last month, when all the clues suddenly dropped into place. A couple of the clues are scattered throughout October, such as complaining that I was getting fat and craving food other than Nigella's. We shan't talk about all the food that I ate that is on the banned list of pregnancy foods.

The bad news is what it means for this blog. Once I found out, I've been trying to eat healthier with a greater variety - food that is generally healthier than Nigella's. I'm restricted in what I can make - mayonnaise, home-made ice cream, feta, rare meat and a long list of others are restricted. I'm just not sure that I can complete this blog with full commitment.

And I hate doing that. I don't like half-finished projects (or in this case, one-third). But I have a new project now. I want to do what's best for our baby.

I will still continue to cook Nigella's recipes in the background, just not at the cracking pace of months previous. There are some recipes that are too good not to repeat, such as the butternut pumpkin and pasta soup. I also want to write about that dense chocolate loaf cake, but sadly I've also cut down on my chocolate intake as it has caffeine so we won't even think about it.

So, what have I learnt by doing this blog?
1. I don't get intimidated at looking at a long or exotic list of ingredients anymore. The list of ingredients used to determine whether I would make the effort to cook something or not.
2. I can cook with wine now, and not grape juice substitute.
3. Micro-graters are a great tool.
4. I do enjoy cooking, but appreciate a good meal when someone else cooks too.

Well, it looks like the "Feeding Babies and Small Children" chapter in How to Eat should be read carefully after all. Thanks to all for reading and supporting my blog, and welcoming me into your online community; and enjoy your cooking of Nigella's recipes.

Lots of love to you all,
The ex-Next Nigella

October 2006 assessment

Number of recipes made this month: 16. I was away though...

Assessment by book:

• How to Eat - last month at 85, this month at 89 (4 recipes)
  
• Domestic Goddess - last month at 10, remaining at 10
  
• Forever Summer - last month at 4, remaining at 4
  
• Feast - last month at 41, this month at 51 (10 recipes)
  
• Nigella Bites - last month at 18, this month at 20 (2 recipes)

Size of repertoire: From 97 to 109 repeatable recipes.

Cost: $154.

New toys: I did get a new blender as part of my visa rewards programme.

Cooking skills/experiences: Involtini.

New ingredients: Lavender, kaffir lime leaves.

The best photo: Definitely not #162 - how blurry! Nothing stands out, but #164 only cos it's from a different angle.

Best savoury dish: The involtini.

Best sweet dish: French-Canadian toast.

Crunchy pork chops and an itty-bitty salad

Recipe:
174. Crunchy pork chops with garlicky spinach and tomato salad

Source: Feast

Weird ingredients and substitutes: I hope that by 'breadcrumbs', Nigella means breadcrumbs that came out of a packet and flavoured with italian spices, from memory. Because that's what I used. Unfortunately, I only had one tomato left in the fridge, so had to cut down on the salad quantity.

Preparation: Trim and beat pork chops. This was quite fun. Dip into egg mixture and then Parmesaned breadcrumbs.

Cooking process: Fry pork chops. In the meantime, deseed tomato and dice. Add garlic, oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and spinach.

End result: This was delicious. The pork chops were crunchy (a little oily though), and it would have been nice if there was more salad to counter-balance the slab of meat. Oh well, next time.


Repeatability: Yes.

Cost: $10 for both of us.

Mess: There was a bit of mess created when frying, a few oil splatters here and there.

Special utensils: A meat basher.

Caesar salad

Recipe:
173. Caesar salad

Source: How to Eat

Weird ingredients and substitutes: Nil.

Preparation and cooking process: There are 3 steps to this. Firstly, cube potatoes and roast with garlic and olive oil. Yummy. Secondly, boil the eggs (I hard-boiled mine). Thirdly, prepare the salad with dressing. I do admit that I was tasting the potato croutons when they came out of the oven, and had to stop myself, to ensure that there would be enough for the salad...

End result: Served with baked chicken. I did however, forget to add the parmesan cheese at the end. The potatoes were so nice though - we enjoyed this so much.


Repeatability: Yes.

Cost: $5 for both of us (not including the chicken).

Mess: Not really. I used a non-stick tray for the potato croutons which meant they came off easily.

Special utensils: A non-stick tray helps. A citrus zester.

Baby burgers

Also made a few weeks ago.

Recipe:
172. Baby burgers

Source: Feast

Weird ingredients and substitutes: I didn't have garlic oil.

Preparation: Add salt and sugar to the mince. It is supposed to be left in the fridge for a couple hours at this stage, but typically, I am making this 10 minutes before we are looking to eat dinner.

Cooking process: Nigella does say to fry the burgers, but given the lamb meatballs and how hard it was to ensure that they were cooked through, I just put the patties into the oven to bake.

End result: Oops. I did forget to take a photo until I was halfway through the burger. It was okay, not fantastic though.


Repeatability: Nah.

Cost: $12 when I doubled the recipe, but I should have kept it as specified, as we didn't finish the rest.

Mess: It's messy to form the patties.

Special utensils: Nil.

Aromatic lamb meatballs

I made this a few weeks ago.

Recipe:
171. Aromatic lamb meatballs

Source: Feast

Weird ingredients and substitutes: Nil.

Preparation: I couldn't find minced lamb at the supermarket, so bought the nicest lamb steaks I could find and minced my own. So, mince lamb, add spring onions and spices, semolina and egg. Mix together and put in fridge for half an hour. Then roll the mixture into balls.

Cooking process: In an oiled frypan, cook the meatballs, turning while cooking. I did find it difficult to ensure that they were cooked through.

End result: Served in a pita bread, with hummus, lettuce leaves, tomato, red onion and chilli sauce. Yum. We really enjoyed this.


Repeatability: Yes.

Cost: $12 for about 5 servings (including the pita and hummus).

Mess: It is messy making the balls themselves, and it is messy cooking them.

Special utensils: A food processor (if you can't find minced lamb).