follow recipes from Nigel Slater's 'The Kitchen Diaries' in 2006

Due to my impending holiday (+ many other ‘secret’ machinations) – I am going to sign off this goal as completed.

Mucho enjoyed working through the book, esp in the summer months and some of the recipes have made it into my weekly repertoire (Tomato curry being a popular favourite). Nige does get slightly repetitive at times, and obviously has particular ingredients that he likes to use a lot, but I love his writing and his simplicity.

I will be continuing with the seasonal cookery in 2007 in a much more involved way (all being well). [bites nails]

If you’re going to cook one deeply satisfying dish from this whole book – try this recipe. It’s not particularly healthy, but tasty as.

Rich and flavoursome. Cooking this again for dinner tonight.

Tricky to bake and doesn’t keep too long so eat quickly! Worth perfecting.

A great recipe to use up stuff in the cupboard. Nice change from pasta.

Nothing special here. I did use white mushrooms instead of chestnut mushrooms though so that could have made a difference.

Received a whole vine of juicy ripe toms in the organic box this week so thought it the perfect opportunity to try out this recipe. Also, I knew that I was doing a run tonight so wanted something quick & easy.

Roasted the toms with garlic cloves and olive oil then mixed with anchovy and basil. Soaked up juices with a freshly-baked ciabatta.

Zingy and fresh. Followed a fish curry from the ‘Appetite’ recipe book.

Making the most of my day off, I finally made it down to Fishworks in Islington to buy the largest, most sumptuous clams that I have seen in a long time. Even better, they were all washed and ready to go. Steamed them in white wine, garlic and parsley then mingled in with some linguine (liberally coated in extra virgin olive oil and freshly cracked black pepper).

Heaven on a plate.

Been going a bit pudding crazy with all the fresh fruit that’s around. Substituted blueberries & raspberries for blackcurrants. Al made one of his amazing home-made sponges and then added dollops of whipped cream/mascarpone to the melange. Not one for the waistline, but lush and decadent on a summer evening.