Thursday, July 22, 2010

FOREVER SUMMER REVISITED



I have rediscovered "Forever Summer" by Nigella Lawson recently, it was one of those books that I bought, tried one or two recipes and then forgot about - this was a mistake as it is jam packed with wonderful recipes that work beautifully and more importantly are easily changed to suit your taste and what you have in the pantry.



I tried the pineapple salsa with some organic ham and a tomato salsa, it was just perfect and was the ideal dinner on a very warm day (warmth - seems like a distant memory now!).The pineapple combined perfectly with the coriander and mint to lift the ham to sublime!

When I spotted some yellow courgettes in my  vegetable basket, I knew that this was the first recipe they were destined for!

It is a light tasty soup, again perfect summer fodder.  It is based on a Middle Eastern dish, where they believe that "eating yellow foods will result in laughter and happiness" - how could you resist trying that!!

I blitzed a couple of portions (faddy eaters!!) and for some strange reason it tasted much more substantial and warming - go figure!!








This is a version of Nigella's recipe for Sea Bass with Saffron, Sherry and Pine Nuts,  this time I used Plaice in place of the Sea Bass and it was excellent, the light delicate sauce  compliments the fresh flavours of the fish.  Neither the saffron nor sherry dominate, they just compliment.  I have cooked this with Sea Bass before and couldn't recommend one fish above the other - both were just right.  The dish would have looked better if I had used the white half of the plaice, but I think there is more flesh on the dark side.




This is the Old Fashioned Tomato Salad, and although it tastes lovely, it wouldn't be great on the "taste/labour ratio" scale.  There was quite a bit of faffing about making the Salad Cream, and I would prefer a nice garlic mayonnaise.









I loved this Short Pasta with Asparagus, Lemon Garlic and Parsley, but then I love anything with asparagus.  It is a super simple dish where you gently fry some garlic in olive oil add steamed asparagus and lemon juice to taste.  Combine with your pasta of choice and sprinkle over some parsley, yumm!





Finally, The Rainbow Room's Carrot and Peanut Salad was totally addictive.  Amo and I ate the whole bowl in the belief that "it's a salad therefore it's low fat and healthy", obviously this thinking was aided by the glass of wine (or two) we enjoyed with the salad!!!!  Well I suppose it was better than eating a bag of peanuts (not lower fat though :-{{ )  Here's the recipe



Carrot and Peanut Salad

4 medium carrots, peeled
75g    salted peanuts
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp groundnut oil
few drops sesame oil

Grate the carrots coarsely.
Combine with the peanuts, vinegar and oils.
Devour as you choose!

15 comments:

Rhyleysgranny said...

Goodness you have been busy. Did you cook the whole book? LOL Like you I have it but have forgotten about it. I think I'll dig it out and have a read. Everything you have made looks superb.

Maria♥ said...

Everything looks delish but I especially love the look of the pasta dish, must try this soon.

Maria
x

Gloria Baker said...

I love all these recipes look awesome and tasty!! lovely pictures too! gloria

La Bella Cooks said...

Wow! You were on a roll with your recipes! Forever Summer is a book that I keep hidden away for some reason as well but tend to take it out come spring. This is a delicious looking collection. Kudos to you!

Anonymous said...

Yes Forever Summer (like all of Nigella's books) is a great read as well as packed with brilliant and inspiring, adaptable recipes. I must dig it out myself- I particularly like the ice-cream section!
You've really done a good job here, well done

Brownieville Girl said...

Thanks everyone :-}}}}

Think I will hit the ice-cream section too!!!!

Anonymous said...

Everything looks great, particularly that pasta. I'm looking forward to seeing what you make from the ice cream section too.

Unknown said...

I just got the same book only now its been republished as "Nigella Fresh". I've only made one recipe from it but yum!! Now I'm excited about making some these cuz they all look wonderful

Cookie Confessions said...

Pineapple salsa sounds DELISH! I've never made any of Nigella's recipes but definitely need to check out that cookbook!
-Krissy

Anonymous said...

my word you've made a lot of stuff! Love Nigela... the lemon chicken is a huge favorite in our home... I love to pull out old recipe books and read them like novels... oooh i'll make that... no i'll make that... no i'll make that... xxx

À LA GRAHAM said...

All of it looks so awesome! The pinapple salsa looks do refreshing...pinapple, cilantro and anything else? And I love the carrot/peanut salad...so yummy!

freerangegirl said...

hi - I agree Forever Summer is a great book - we're addicted to her carrot salad - have you tried Nigellas ham in cola - sounds disgusting tastes amazing!

Brownieville Girl said...

Huge fan of the ham in cola, that and the ginger ale are my two favourite ways of cooking Ham.

Pineapple salsa is pineapple, scallions (spring onions), lime juice, coriander (cilantro) and/or mint and 1 chilli.

Dominic, I go through packets of "post-its" doing that!!!

Edie, the weather will have to improve for a proper delve into the ice-cream!!

Danielle, enjoy getting to know the book!

CC if you are buying your first Nigella book I would get Feast or How to Eat - alot more in them. Though this book is great.

Choclette said...

You've been busy - again. I haven't even heard of this Nigella book. It all looks lovely, but especially like the yellows in the soup.

mrsnesbitt said...

Oh wow! I have been reading your blog for a few days now so thought I had better say Hello! Not quite sure how I stumbled on you but I am so glad I did. Would you believe I have just bought a pineapple for 35p so now I know what to do with it! We are going for a picnic tomorrow and our local shop sells lovely ham - happens I have a plan!