Banana Bread

A sudden and unexpected over ripening of a bunch of bananas this week prompted my other half to suggest I make banana bread.  I remember a time a few summers ago when he was making huge amounts of banana bread and that I was underwhelmed by it.  It had been the first and last time I'd had it and had no intention to go there again.  Then I remembered my faith in Nigella and went to her baking bible 'How to be a domestic goddess'.  I saw the addition of rum, walnuts and sultanas and so agreed to the suggestion.  And, well all I can say is wow!  This is a light, flavoursome slice of banana based heaven.  

Chicken with spicy peanut sauce

And once again, it's Ken! I love anything that contains peanuts so this is right up my strasse.  The first few mouthfuls were amazing but I've got to say I found this a little on the salty side and would cut right down on that it I made it again.  This book has been a really good purchase for me though and I'm sure I'll be using it for years to come. 

Thai-style chicken with chillies and basil

Ken again.  I'm very much in the habit of a Friday night takeaway but tonight chose the healthier option of a Friday night fakeaway.  Oh, and how good this was!  Mine had less sauce than Ken appeared to have but it was a sticky, sweet, spicy plateful of deliciousness.  Would make again.

Green vegetable curry

Another Nigella Summer.  I think this should called Vegetable green curry so that it's clear that this is a green curry of the Thai variety rather than a curry with green vegetables.  There, I've got that off my chest.  There has been substituting going on again here as I've still been unable to get lime leaves locally, but fortunately now that I'm a Ken Hom aficionado I know that lime zest is a good  enough substitute.  I've also subbed the fish sauce for light soy sauce (another Ken tip) as my boyf is a true vegetarian (although this doesn't seem to trouble Nigella).  Again, scandalously, I've never made a Thai green curry before but I'm a definite convert.  This was so fresh tasting with subtle flavours and perfectly cooked veg.  Lovely.

Baked pasta shells stuffed with spinach and ricotta and a courgette and bean salad

Nigella Summer is beckoning once again, particularly as it's been a lovely warm day  and I'd really like to make a dent in this book by the end of summer.  Although not billed together by Nigella, this was a great combo.   I'm not a huge salad fan and so edge towards the substantial end of the salad genre (as opposed the evil lettuce end).  My only criticism of this one would be that I once again found the parsley flavour slightly overwhelming and so have made a mental note to cut right down on recommended parsley quantities in the future - thinking about it, this is a Nigella issue, not a Nigel one and I can't think of any Nigel recipe which has turmed out to have overwhelming parsley flavour, so she must really like parsley.  The original recipe is called 'double courgette and bean salad' but I couldn't find a yellow courgette to add to this and just used what I had in.  I really enjoyed making the pasta dish even though it was slightly fiddly and will definitely make this again.

Bulgar wheat salad with pink seared lamb

I saw this in Nigella Summer and was taken with it, mainly due to already having all the ingredients, lamb aside, in. My lamb wasn't pink seared - I was short on time and unable to get to the butcher so supermarket choice was all the choice I had meaning the cut was not as Nigella suggested.  But this was a nice change for dinner - very straightforward to make and tasting so fresh that the herbs sang.