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I made Jerk Chicken for the first time recently, from a recipe in my Spice Bible cookbook, and it worked out really well. One of the next recipes in the book was for sweet cardamom mango. I liked the idea, but instead of sticking with the recipe and having it for dessert, I took the idea and went my own way, turning it into a side to have with the Jerk Chicken. As the mango was a very tasty side, I thought I would include it. Ingredients: 2 tbsp butter 1 mango, peeled and sliced 2 tbsp tomato purée 1/2 shallot, sliced 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp cardamom powder 1/2 tsp ginger 1 black cardamom pod, crushed 1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar Juice of 1 lime 1) In a small frying pan, melt the butter. Add the ingredients, and stir, cooking until combined and mango is beginning to caramelise, about 8-10 minutes, then serve warm as a savoury side dish. And it was that simple. We also had coconut and raisin rice with the mango and the chicken, and the whole meal was a hit (except with Little Bit, who, having said he was excited, decided he didn't like coconut, chicken or cooked mango for the purposes of this particular dinner. And then promptly went back to liking them again afterwards... The joys of toddlerdom!)

This is a dish which I first saw in a video by Chef John a few months ago, and then I saw pop up on the internet and Instagram in the mean time. With left over tomato sauce on hand from making pizzas, and extra cacik (Turkish tzatziki) in the fridge, I decided that my own version of this would make a perfect lunch on a cold windy March day. Fast and easy, it came together in 10 minutes from start to finish. It was tasty and had a pleasing variety of colours and textures, and I found it easy to modify the heat level for Little Bit's palate and our own. Normally cacik also has cucumber but mine didn't this time. You can use a variety of different herbs in it too, but this time I opted for thyme which is one of my favourites. Ingredients: For the cacik: 2 c yogurt 2 c blanc battu (a fresh cheese, the consistency of very thick yogurt. If you don't have any available, simply use only yogurt) 1 head garlic, crushed 1 - 2 tsp thyme 1 - 2 tbsp olive oil Salt and pepper to taste 1/2 - 3/4 c tomato sauce per person 1 -2 eggs per person enough oil to shallow crispy fry the eggs 1tbsp jalapeño peppers (I used pickled ones as fresh weren't available) 1 tbsp (ish) coriander leaves 1 tsp olive oil Stale bread, toasted 1 tsp sumac Salt and pepper to taste 1) To prepare the cacik, mix together the yogurt and blanc battu until smooth and creamy. Add other ingredients and mix well. Taste test. 2) For the jalapeño and coriander sauce, place them and a little olive oil in a bowl and blitz. 3) In a deep frying pan, heat about 2 cm of oil. When it is shimmering, crack two eggs in, not too close to each other. Using two wooden spoons, as the eggs fry, fold them back over themselves. Cook for 4 minutes then remove and drain. 4) To serve, place some tomato sauce on a place and spread. Into the middle of this, spoon some cacik, then place a poached egg with the yolk still runny on top. Drizzle the green sauce around and over the rest, and sprinkle some sumac salt and pepper over the whole. Serve with toasted sliced of bread. This was really tasty! The biggest issue was convincing Little Bit that, despite his love of eggs, he could not have my egg as well as his own. I can't believe that it took me this long to try this, but I'm glad that the stars (or at least the ingredients and left overs in my fridge) all finally aligned for me to make this! Book Pairing: Not an audiobook, so this is cheating a little, but my association in my mind with cooking this dish is overwhelmingly of reading The Wolf's Secret by Miriam Dahman and Nicolas Digard, illustrated by Julia Sarda, to Little Bit. It was cold and windy and he was just in from a chilly walk, so we curled up under the covers to read this while the tomato sauce warmed up. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Continuing on my citrus adventures for this winter, I present you with lime curd. Using the same base recipe as my Pink Grapefruit Curd in December, but obviously replacing the large pinky yellow orbs for smaller green ones. And more of them too - by a ratio of about 4. If you recall, I discussed in my pink grapefruit recipe the fact that there are recipes using both whole eggs and egg yolks for curd. In December, because of other, non-cooking related circumstances, I used whole eggs. This time though, I decided to really test the hypothesis, so I made two batches of lime curd, one using egg yolks, and the other using an equal number of whole eggs. Both worked, but because of accidents of... shall we call it life? ... I had some light issues with both. The egg yolk version was interrupted about 6 times by phone calls, so a quiet, chill time that was perfect for it suddenly was not and there was a lot of stop-and-go cooking, involving bringing things back up to temperature, then walking away again etc. The second time, I thought I had picked a good time to make it and had everything prepped along with dinner prep. But then things became rather more complicated than anticipated with Little Bit, including just after adding two of the eggs, so I ended up with little bits of egg white solidifying in the curd. Not ideal! Whisked with the rest of the eggs as they were added though, it came out better than I had hoped. Ingredients: 200 g butter 200g sugar 6 limes, juiced and zested 5 eggs / 5 egg yolks 1) Over a bain-marie, combine the butter, sugar, lime juice and zest and heat gently until the butter has melted, Whisking to combine as it all heats up so that an emulsion is formed. 2) Add the egg 8 (whole or yolks) and whisk continuously over gently heat until the mixture thickens. 3) Meanwhile, sterilise clean jars in boiling water for 15 minutes. When the curd has thickened, spoon into jars, wipe the rim and cap tightly. Place upside down on a clean cloth until cool. So first things first, both of these taste amazing! The egg yolk version thickened less than the other, despite taking a lot longer, but then, I am not sure if that was due to the interrupted nature of the cooking, or down to the yolks or something else. The other has those unfortunate tiny bits of egg white. Both taste equally rich and creamy and the zesty lime flavour comes through equally well in both. (In the centre picture above, I tried a little of each on one piece of bread, for real side by side taste testing). All in all, I stand by my statement from the introduction to my Pink Grapefruit Curd recipe saying that both work and it is up to you whether you want to use whole eggs or egg yolks. And it is especially right about now, after an experiment like this where both parts were interrupted and affected by life in general, this makes me wish even more that I were able to make use of a test kitchen...

A traditional Cheese Tart, or a Tarte au Fromage, is an old favourite. My dad has made it for years, and I absolutely love it, sometimes with a little twist. This time, to cut down the richness a little, I added leek and some of our Carrot Top pesto (well, proto pesto as it doesn't yet have nuts or cheese added). The combo had some zing, and some fresh greenness, and some leeky freshness, as well as all the cheesy richness. I was in a hurry, so I'm afraid that it was a store bought crust, first one in two years, but the tart didn't suffer for it. Ingredients: Crust for 1 tart 2 - 2 1/2 c grated cheese (something mature!) 3 eggs 2/3 c cream 2 /3 c milk Nutmeg, freshly grated 2 tbsp flour 1 tbsp butter 1 leek, sliced 2-3 tbsp carrot tip pesto 1 tomato sliced Pepper 1) Melt butter in a pan and sauté leek over medium until softened but not browned. 2) Beat together eggs, cream, milk, flour and nutmeg. Line a tart pan with the crust. Spread pesto along the bottom. Layer leeks over the pesto, and spread the cheese over the leeks. Pour the egg and milk mixture over the cheese. Lay tomato slices over the whole. Liberally grind pepper over the top. 3) Bake at 180°C for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown on top. Eminently satisfying as a quick easy supper before a walk in the snow, but this would have worked equally well as a lunch, or alongside soup. I was very happy with how this turned out.

As mentioned in Day 45 of The Challenge This is a recipe I haven't made in a long time, and it is always slightly different. It is a little involved, with multiple steps and three different parts that then need to be assembled, but it is tasty and warming. It is easily varied by putting different twists on the flavouring or tweaking the sauce or the filling. This time we did a tomato and lentil filling and a spinach cream sauce. I then sprinkled it with breadcrumbs and cheese before baking it. The flavourings were warm spices rather than herbs or sharp. It came out beautifully balanced and tasty - a big favourite especially with Little Bit. Ingredients: For the Crêpes: 1 c flour 2 eggs 1 - 1 1/4 c milk For the filling: 1 onion, chopped 1 tbsp olive oil 200g tin of tomatoes 1/2 c tomato passata 3/4 c green lentils 1 c celery, chopped 1 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp cloves 1/2 tsp allspice 1 tsp garam masala 3/4 c red cooking wine For the cream sauce: 2 tbsp butter 2tbsp flour 1 1/2 c milk 1/2 c spinach 1 tsp grated nutmeg 2 tbsp breadcrumbs 2 -3 tbsp grated parmesan salt and pepper to taste 1) Mix the ingredients for the crêpe batter. Add liquids to the flour slowly, beating thoroughly to avoid lumps. 2) Grease a crêpe pan, and pour 2 tbsp of batter into the pan. Tilt the pan to spread it and allow the first side to cook. When it lifts cleanly and easily, flip the crêpe. Cook for a further couple of minutes and then remove. Repeat until the batter is all cooked. Adjust the batter after the first one by adding a little milk if it seems to thick to spread out thinly. 3) Meanwhile, heat oil in a saucepan and sauté the onion until translucent. Add the other ingredients and simmer until lentils are tender. 4) In another sauce pan, melt butter. Stir in the flour and then gradually add milk, stirring to avoid lumping. Add in the spinach and nutmeg and cook until it is the right consistency. Again, add milk as needed if it is too thick. Salt and pepper to taste. 5) Grease an oven proof dish. Carefully place 2-3 tbsp of filling along the centre line of each crêpe then roll it up. Line up the crêpes in the oven proof dish until there is no more space. Add any extra filling at the feet of the crêpe rolls to fill the dish. 6) Spoon sauce over the crêpes and sprinkle breadcrumbs and cheese over the top. Grind pepper over the whole, and bake 25-30 minutes at 180°C. Serve hot. Hot filling and comfort foody while being healthy and not too heavy. Perfect for a rainy autumnal evening!

I had never had vegetarian lasagne before meeting my then boyfriend (now husband).

Tattie scones are an essential part of a full Scottish breakfast. Browned on the outside, soft on the inside and warm enough to melt the butter a little, I've made them myself since leaving Scotland, but it occurred to me recently, with all the sweet potatoes on sale, that a sweet potato version of these could be tasty. With my sister's recent return from the UK with a delivery of Cumberland sausages and British bacon, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to try it out. We had a full Scottish breakfast - or as near as possible over here where black pudding isn't available. The Tattie Scones came out beautifully. The sweet potatoes needed more flour to come together than regular ones, but the texture was good and they were a little sweet without being overwhelmingly so. Ingredients: 400g sweet potatoes 2 c flour 3 tbsp butter Salt and pepper to taste 1) Boil the sweet potatoes until soft. Mash in butter (peeling or leaving the peels of the sweet potatoes as you prefer). 2) Mix in flour to form a dough- enough for it to be non-sticky but not so much as to make it dense. 3) Roll out the dough to about 1 cm thick on a clean, floured surface. Cut into large circles (I used a soup bowl) and score quarters on the surface. Melt a little butter on a gridle or frying pan and cook over medium heat on both sides until golden. I am really happy with how these came out. The taste wasn't slap-you-in-the-face different but did certainly have its own twist on the originals. Certainly an alternative which will be making it into the repertoire!

So I'm a little late in posting this, but we get spectacular apricots here in the summer, so while they were in season I decided to make jam. Rather than going traditional though, I thought I would try something a little different and add port to the jam to deepen the flavour a little. We then had to try them with scones and clotted cream... Ingredients: 2.5kg apricots, stoned and sliced 3c sugar 2 c Tawny port Water 1) Place apricots in a heavy-bottomed pan. Add enough water to cover the fruit and bring to a simmer. Stir in other ingredients. Put a saucer in the freezer. 2) Stir occasionally to prevent the jam from sticking. As it thickens you'll need to stir more consistently. 3) Taste test to check for sugar. I go light on sugar, you might want to use more. 4) When the jam looks as though it has thickened enough, drop some of the hot jam on the saucer from the freezer. If after a minute it starts to solidify and the top wrinkles and pulls tight, it should gel nicely once cool. If not, then boil it a bit longer or add sugar (or both). 5) To sterilize jars: boil clean jars and their lids for at least 15 minutes. Fill them with the boiling jam immediately on removing them from the boiling water (canning tongs make this so much easier and make it less likely that you'll burn yourself, but you can do it with a spoon or a spatula and a dishcloth). Fill to just below the rim, wipe the grooves clean and screw the lid on tight. As the jars and contents cool, the centre of the lid should be sucked down and the jars will be sealed properly. Place the jars upside down on a clean cloth. Label when cool. I was very pleased with the result. The balance between the apricots, the port and the sugar was delightful. The jam worked well on scones or muffins but also in oatmeal and such. I will definitely be making this again!

I do love a soufflé, and since our time in South Africa when we got into making both sweet and savoury soufflés on a regular basis, they are something I come back to as an easy throw-together comfort food. With apple sauce and cheese on hand, this seemed just the thing for a light lunch with people coming around. Apple and cheese are flavours which I like so well together, too that it seemed an excellent opportunity to try them in this guise. Ingredients: For the flour mix: 1/4 c flour 1 tsp sage 1 tsp thyme Pepper 2 tbsp butter For the roux: 1 1/2 tbsp butter 1 1/2 tbsp flour mix 1/2 c milk 1/2 - 3/4 c apple sauce 1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar 1 1/2 c cheese, grated (I used medium aged Gruyère) 2 egg yolks For the soufflé: 1 1/2 c roux 7 egg whites 1/2 c cheese, grated 1 tsp sumac 1 tsp thyme Salt and pepper to taste 1) Assemble the flour mix in a small bowl. Set aside 1 1/2 tbsp of this. Use the butter to grease the soufflé dish thoroughly. Dust the dish with the remaining flour mix, ensuring good coverage right up to the rim. Dump any excess flour out. 2) Make the roux. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour mix that was set aside, and stir well. Lower the heat and gradually stir in the milk, stirring continuously to avoid lumps. Add apple sauce and vinegar, and stir in cheese. Finally, beat in egg yolks. Set aside and cover the sauce pan to prevent a skin forming. 3) Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form. Mix about 1/3 of the egg whites into 1 1/2 c of the roux in a large bowl. Gently fold in the remaining whites. Salt and pepper to taste. 4) Carefully pour the roux and egg white mix into the prepared soufflé dish. Sprinkle the grated cheese, the sumac and the thyme over the top. Use a butter knife to gently loosen the soufflé from the side of the dish. 5) Place the soufflé dish in a larger oven proof dish at least half the depth of the soufflé dish. Pour boiling water into the larger pan, coming midway up the soufflé pan. Bake at 180°C for 25-30 minutes, leaving the oven door closed until the end of the bake time to prevent collapse. I was pleased with how this came out. I would be tempted to use sliced apple with it next time too, either lining the bottom or arranged on top of the soufflé. Once you sort of know what you're doing, these come together pretty quickly, and I love the cloud of flavoured egg that is scooped out onto plates. It works either as a main or as a side. Caveat. I did make a little too much roux for the size of my soufflé dish and so had some left over to use up in the following days.

These are essentially just salted egg yolks. The salt sucks all the moisture out by osmosis, and leaves the yolk hard and preserved. You then air dry it and then use it grated over food in much the same way as parmesan. It is supposed to be rich and add a depth of flavour to food, not to mention a little salt! At least, that's what I have heard. I thought I might as well try it, so a couple of weeks ago I put some yolks in salt, two in plain salt and two in spiced salt (garlic and onion powder, some thyme and Kashmiri chilli powder). I covered the dish with a cloth and left it. The intention had been to leave it for only 3-4 days, but we went away for the weekend and were gone longer than planned so they were in for 6 days in the end. When I took them out of the salt they still felt a little squidgy in the centre, but solid. I brushed the salt off and put them in the dehydrator for another couple of days. Coming out they were now hard and a little reduced. We tried them grated on a micro-plane over eggplant parmesan the other day, and although a little crumblier than I had expected, they were rich and salty and eggy and delicious. I will keep you posted on how further experiments with them go!