1 June - mushroom pasta and kedgeree

With one more portobello mushroom left in the fridge, I couldn't resist baking it again; this time coated in a simple mix of garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and a bit of parsley. I then chopped it up, mixed it with some cream and some lardons and stirred it into some pasta for lunch.

A busy day didn't leave much time for shopping and I nipped into Waitrose feeling completely uninspired about what to cook for dinner, so went for an easy fall-back option of kedgeree.

• Boil enough basmati rice for two (I use a 1/3 measuring cup and fill it twice with rice and three times with water) with some salt and a few cardamom pods.
• Fry a sliced onion in some butter until soft, then stir in a good teaspoon of curry powder. The curry powder I happen to have in the cupboard has a nice flavour but is very mild, so I add a pinch of chilli powder too.
• Add a small bag of spinach and let it wilt down.
• Tip in the cooked rice and stir it until coated and yellow - you need a low-ish heat at this point to stop it sticking.
• Flake in some hot-smoked mackerel fillets, stir in, then add a squeeze of lemon juice.
• Serve with boiled eggs and a scattering of parsley.

I used to cook this with Sainsbury's Taste the Difference smoked mackerel which was absolutely delicious, but sadly, they don't seem to do it anymore. It's never been quite the same with any other brands, but still makes an easy, tasty supper.

2 May - Sri Lankan greens, dahl and rice

Trying to come up with a way to use up the rest of the spring greens from Saturday, I found a Sri Lankan recipe for 'spring onions and greens with coconut milk' from High Fearnley-Whittingstall in Saturday's Guardian magazine. I used coconut cream instead of milk simply because it comes in a smaller carton and I didn't want to open a whole tin of coconut milk just for a splodge.

2 cloves garlic - sliced
bundle spring onions trimmed, left in big chunks
150g spring greens - shredded
1tsp curry powder
c.150ml coconut cream

Gently sweat the garlic in some groundnut oil for a couple of minutes in a large pan. Add the spring onions and fry for a couple of minutes, then add the greens and stir until they're wilted. Then stir in the curry powder and add the coconut cream and simmer for five minutes.

As the greens didn't seem quite substantial enough on their own and I wanted to stick with the healthy, veggie theme, I made up a bit of dahl to go with them using a favourite Keith Floyd recipe (from Floyd's India):

100g red lentils (rinsed and soaked in cold water for an hour)
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin seeds
a red onion, finely chopped
one garlic clove, crushed
grated ginger (about equal to the garlic)
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tin tomatoes

Cook the lentils with the turmeric and some salt in just enough water to cover until they've absorbed most of the water. Heat some vegetable oil in a frying pan, add the cumin seeds and then the onions and fry for a few minutes. Stir in the ginger and garlic with the chilli powder, then add the tomatoes and mix together. Finally add the lentils, mix it all together and simmer gently until you're ready to serve.

With some simple basmati rice, the whole thing made a really tasty, substantial meal. The greens had a lovely subtle creamy flavour, although they were perhaps a bit crunchier than I'd like and I wonder if shredding them a bit more finely would have been better.

21 April - cod with Bengali-style mustard sauce

Today was a bit hectic, but I was determined to find the time for some proper cooking with lots of ingredients before we head off tomorrow for another week in a self-catering cottage. I chose a recipe from last Sunday's Observer Food Monthly magazine by Vivek Singh for fish (the recipe used halibut, but my local fishmonger only had cod) with a spicy curry sauce. I'm never 100% about fish curries, but in this one, you cook the fish and the curry sauce separately and just serve them together, which appealed to me. The original recipe includes three parts, the fish, the sauce and an onion garnish, but after a busy day, I gave up and omitted the garnish.

Fish & marinade:
two chunky cod fillets
a few black onion seeds
a few fennel seeds
salt
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Sauce:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
bay leaf
1/4 tsp black onion seeds
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
small onion finely sliced
1 tsp mixed grated ginger and garlic
1/4 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
small tomato finely chopped
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
250ml water
large green chilli slit lengthways
salt
sugar
pinch garam masala
fresh coriander
c. 200ml coconut cream

For the sauce, heat the oil in a frying pan and add the bay leaf, onion seeds and fennel seeds, then the onion. Fry gently, then add the garlic-ginger paste, chilli powder and turmeric. Fry for a couple more minutes, then add the tomato. Cook, stirring and mushing for a couple more minutes. The same with the mustard. Then pour in the stock and bring to the boil. Add the green chilli, a pinch of salt and sugar, the garam masala, coriander and coconut cream and leave to bubble gently.

Mix together the marinade ingredients and rub them over the fish - set aside for 10 mins or so. Then sear the fish on both sides for a couple of minutes in an oven-proof frying pan, before popping it in a hot oven (200C) for just over 5 minutes.

I then quickly wilted some spinach, put this in the middle of a deep dish and surrounded it with the sauce, before putting the seared cod on the top, sprinkling on a little more coriander and serving it with rice in separate bowls.

The verdict? It looked great and although the sauce was quite sharp and seemed a bit overpowering at first taste, it really grew on me. And because the fish isn't cooked in the sauce, you still taste it rather than it being drowned out by the strong sauce. Definitely one to try again, perhaps with the halibut if I can get some next time.