i’m sorry about the quiet blog – life seems to be getting in the way of me cooking anything particularly exciting or new. and when i do try something new i seem to be excelling at choosing incredibly unphotogenic dishes which i can’t bear to photograph.

this noodle salad should have looked good but somehow it doesn’t quite manage it – i think i was hungry and focussed on getting to the table rather than getting a  good picture. never mind, it tasted wonderful. it’s based on a hugh fearnley-whittingstall recipe which he published in celebration of fairtrade week last month. his recipe was for a mango avocado and steak salad.the steak is marinated with a mix of oyster and soy sauces, sherry, garlic and ginger. the salad is then dressed with a zingy mix of thai fish sauce, soy, lime, garlic and chilli.

i added some egg noodles to bulk it out and the end result was pretty good and i’ll make this again. one change is needed though, next time i think i’ll wilt the spinach into the noodles. or shred it so it is easier to eat!

since our latino party in january i’ve become a bit obsessed with quesadillas. initially we had them to use up a pumpkin and cheese mix which was leftover from a batch of empanadas. having found out how easy they are to make (i’ve always defaulted to the roll-your-own approach with soft tortillas) i pulled out an allegra mcevedy recipe i bookmarked last year for spicy black bean quesadillas.

as well as being easy to assemble these have the advantage of only taking 5 minutes to pull together the filling, which mostly uses store cupboard ingredients. since then i’ve made a batch of spicy bean quesadillas each week, using different beans depending on what i have in.

for me, what really makes this dish is the pile of avocado salad which is place on top of the quesadillas when serving. this adds a dose of healthiness and freshness which is perfect for ushering in the spring weather which is finally arriving.

my bread-making efforts have been put on hold recently – i’m still keen to perfect sour dough but have lost faith in the river cottage method so need to check out alternatives. i think dan lepard will be my starting point having had success with his potato bread.

so, to keep my hand in with all things yeasty i decided to try a different pizza base recipe. my usual pizza dough needs to be started the day before which is a level of menu-planning that i don’t always have. the river cottage recipe comes together over a few hours and the result was very good. as ever i think this is at least partly due to my use of a pizza stone so the dough cooks quickly and evenly – if you haven’t tried one yet, and enjoy pizza, you really should track one down so you can see what a difference it makes.

toppings on this were wilted spinach, salami and jalapenos plus the standard tomato base and mozzarella cheese.

jerusalem artichokes are in season and i’m loving them. skye gyngell’s recipe for roasted jerusalem artichokes with goat’s cheese and agresto is a good place to start if you fancy trying them. and, despite the dreadful photo, so is this risotto.

i followed a dennis cotter recipe which had an unusual approach to making the risotto – instead of using vegetable stock i cooked half the jerusalem artichokes with some onion and garlic before adding vegetable stock and simmering until the ‘chokes were soft. this was then blitzed together and sieved to create a thin artichoke broth which is used when you make the risotto, in place of stock and creates a wonderful intensity of flavour (i'm interested to try this method with other root vegetables, perhaps parsnips). the rest of the ‘chokes are roasted and added at the end. in the picture above, which i took the first time i made this, i kept the roasted artichokes quite large which didn’t work well- the second time the cubes were c1cm which was much better. it’s up to you if you peel them – my first batch were very knobbly so i didn’t bother.

when i was looking up recipes i found several which suggest serving the risotto with scallops – i didn’t do this the first time i made this recipe but did the second, when i was cooking this dish for friends. the flavours work wonderfully together and i thoroughly recommend it. ‘tis easy enough too -  i melted some butter and when it had started to brown i added the scallops and fried them for a minute or two on each side.

st killian cheese. with celery and crackers. i wish i'd picked up some grapes as well.

i’m trying to empty my freezer at the moment and bags of frozen peas, broad beans and edamame beans are among the final things which need using up (a giant pack of squid, some pheasant breasts and chicken giblets are the other bits – let me know if you have any favourite recipes using these which i should try).

the peas went into this risotto, half of which were blitzed to make a puree and the rest were added whole. nothing special about that but the packet of watercress which i finely chopped and stirred in at the end, with a handful of grated parmesan made all the difference. the sweetness of the peas and the peppery watercress worked perfectly together. i shouldn’t have been surprised as it’s not that different from the pea and rocket soup which i make and love.

i always find it interesting to realise that there are some very basic dishes, which people refer to having on a  regular basis, which i have never tried. carrot and coriander soup was, until recently, one such dish.

i think it’s because i’m not a huge fan of carrots so rarely think of them as the focal point for a dish. however, the gift of a couple of kilos of carrots (from my friend sandra who recently fell foul of the internet shopping gremlins, receiving excessive quantities of both carrots and leeks!) got me looking for carrot recipes and i decided it was time to give this classic a go.

i used a delia smith recipe and was pleasantly surprised. i think i’d assumed it would be all about adding fresh coriander leaves, resulting in quite a fragrant soup. the reality is that it uses coriander seeds as well as the leaves which makes a earthier, gently spiced soup which is perfect for the miserable grey weather we’re having.

i still owe you a few final recipes from our latino-themed party last month - two black bean dishes. these were both very delicious and i will definitely be making them again. the recipe for the spicy black bean chipotle dip (pictured above) came from matt bites. the frijoles (pictured below) were based on a recipe from thomasina miers.

the recipes use very similar ingredients but the resulting flavours vary enormously. the black bean chipotle dip had a rich smokiness from the chilli and spices. the frijoles are simultaneously milder and richer – there is less of a spicy backdrop which means the bean flavours really shine through, which is emphasised by the richness that the butter adds.

i struggle to say which i prefer – i think they are very different and would happily make both and mix and match. david definitely preferred the chipotle version, probably because it wasn’t quite so “beany.” if you try them, let me know what you think.

a friend recommended the black pudding and apple sausages which waitrose sell on their deli counters. i picked up four earlier in the week and adapted the jamie oliver bloke’s pasta recipe to create a super-delish supper.

the sausages don’t have a high black pudding content but you can definitely taste its presence. i didn’t notice the apple. i added cavolo nero and cherry tomatoes for extra vegetable oomph. i also added a glug of cream as the chilli i used was hotter than i expected, which added an extra layer of richness which balanced really well with the freshness of the lemon and parsley.

last week i spent four fascinating hours participating in a chocolate masterclass. organised and hosted by l’atelier des chefs and taught by chocolatier damian allsop it felt like i was stepping into the future of dessert-making. as a result, i learnt a lot which i can apply to both sweet and savoury cooking. i also feel inspired to make a bit more of an effort with my puddings.

damian was determined to get us excited about chocolate, understand it’s subtleties and to treat its nuances with respect when cooking with it. he also wanted to showcase the modern techniques which he and other top pastry chefs are using these days.

we made foams, we made gels and we learnt how to cook with chocolate using water, rather than the more traditional cream. the dishes we made were the sort of things which get served up in posh restaurants but were all entirely accessible to the home cook, with one whizzy gadget (for making the foam) and a couple of more unusual ingredients (such as xantham gum, which is made from a type of cabbage).

the recipes we made were:

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dark chocolate mousse with mandarin compote

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dark chocolate and cherry cremosa

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cacao nib financiers

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raspberry foam and milk chocolate gel

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