Torta di mele (Apple cake)

One of the complaints Husband has of my wheat-free, grain-free cakes is that they often have a grainy texture. Though he tries to soften the blow by stating that it's only a minor criticism and in all fairness, I don't think any wheat substitute can ever achieve the wheat result, I still want to find a way to improve upon the texture.

With that in mind, coupled with the feeling that my relationship with my new kitchen has evolved from casual acquaintance to devoted friend, I decided to try out a new apple cake recipe last week.

Torta di mele

Wild pigeon with honey roast beets & onions

I had pigeon first on holidays last summer at Marcus Wareing's restaurant 'Marcus' at The Berkeley, and it was perfect. But pigeon isn't something one finds at the local butchers or supermarkets that easily. Imagine my surprise and delight when I happened upon wild pigeon fillets at my local supermarket.

As it was my first time cooking pigeon, I decided to keep it simple and pan fry the fillets and dress with a beurre noisette. Honey-roast beetroots and red onions and paprika Rooster wedges accompanied the game.

Wild pigeon, honey-roast beets & red onions, paprika Rooster wedges

Malaysian chicken curry

After a couple weeks of sun and warmth, a glimpse of spring, the temperature dropped to a cool 7°C during the day and as low as 0°C at night. What better, then, than to have a steamy bowl of rice with hearty curry for dinner?

Malaysian chicken curry with wholegrain basmati 

Baked garlic chilli chicken drumsticks

Garlic chilli chicken drumsticks with mixed leaf salad and steamed baby potatoes

Taiwanese 3-cup chicken 三杯雞

One of my favourite dishes from home is 三杯雞, or, literally, three cup chicken. Cooked in sesame oil, rice wine, and soy sauce with a load of whole garlic cloves, fresh slices of ginger, and Thai holy basil (九層塔), this dish is always a reminder of how an over-abundance of flavour can work. Thai holy basil can be hard to find, but my local Asian market sometimes stock it.

Three cup chicken

Courgette loaf (2)

It dawned on me recently that even though I like courgette bread, I've only made it a couple of times and never without grain flour (the previous ones were with spelt). So I thought it would be fun to experiment with a wheat-free, grain-free loaf. 

Courgette loaf

Apple compote

Ever since I started shopping more at my local butcher's, I'm eating more pork than ever and I've come to enjoy pork chops (though still not a fan of ham fillets). Lately I've been trying to think of new ways to cook or serve pork. While classic, plain applesauce isn't something I like all that much, perhaps because it reminds me too much of baby food. But inspired by the classic combination of pork and apples, I made an apple compote to go with the pan fried pork chops for dinner tonight.

Pan fried pork chop with apple compote on a bed of blanched Romaine lettuce, served with fried sesame aubergine

Pork chops with mango & peach salsa

This is the dinner that almost didn't happen.

Last week, I bought a perfectly ripened mango and some peaches and decided to make a salsa to go with pork chops. I had trimmed and marinated the chops, made the mango and peach salsa, prepared the baby potatoes and Brussels sprouts. Husband came home around 7pm and said he was hitting the gym and probably wouldn't be having dinner when he returned. Then he walked into the kitchen and saw all the raw ingredients for dinner and apologised for not letting me know of his plans before I went to all this trouble. While I was a bit irked, I did appreciate how hard it was to keep fit, particularly when one hit middle-age, so far be it for me to thwart his endeavours.

And off his went. When he got home around 9.30, he said he was hungry and would like the dinner. So I fired up the grill and pan and within 20 minutes, I came up with two plates of beautiful food. 

Grilled pork chop with mango & peach salsa, served with sautéed Brussels sprouts and crackling, steamed baby potatoes

Clementine cranberry cake

Reprising last Christmas' dessert, but with a few tweaks. 

Clementine cranberry cake