21 July - scallops with minty peas and apricots with pistachios

I've just realised that I'm a whole week behind with this blog, so I thought I'd better sit down and have a catch-up! So, a week ago today ... Tris was out for the evening, so I bought myself a handful of scallops from the fish man, them pan-fried with a bit of pancetta and ate them on a pile of crushed minty peas ... you can't beat a classic combination!

I'm not generally a big fruit fan, but I'd seen some apricots the other day and I was drawn to pop them in my basket more by the lovely colour than anything else. This evening, I got round to cooking them up for pudding. I cut them in half and baked them, covered in foil, with a spoonful of sugar and a splash of orange blossom water. Then I had them with a dollop of Greek yoghurt and a few chopped pistachios scattered over the top. It was an idea borrowed from Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries and proved really delicious.

18 May - fantastic crab cakes

I always like the idea of homemade crab cakes, but previous attempts have tended to come out rather wet and collapsed into mush in the frying pan. So I was in two minds about whether to try out a Nigel Slater recipe from last weekend's Observer Food Monthly magazine. I was feeling quite enthusiastic when I bought the ingredients in the morning, but less so when I got to the end of a busy day and couldn't really be arsed with the hassle! I'm really glad I made the effort though because they turned out to be a real triumph - perfect consistency and really tasty, with just the right balance of crabbiness and zing. The pea puree was great too and worth the extra bit of time (and washing up!) it took to whizz up.

So for the crab cakes, I mixed together:

• 100g white crab meat
• 1 stalk lemongrass - chopped soft centre only
• 1/2 chopped red chilli
• small knob of grated fresh ginger
• zest and juice 1/2 a lime
• handful chopped coriander
• 1 finely chopped spring onion
• 4-5 tbsp fresh white breadcrumbs
• 1/2 a beaten egg
• 1 tbsp flour

Then I shaped the mixture into four little cakes and put them in the fridge for half an hour, as per the recipe.

When they came out, they were still a bit crumbly looking, so fearing another frying pan collapse, I redipped them in the rest of the beaten egg and then some flour in an attempt to keep them together. It was an inspired decision as it gave them a lovely crispy outside coating. So then they were fried gently - about 8-10 mins altogether. For the pea puree I just boiled a big pile of fresh peas with some sprigs of mint, drained them and whizzed both to a puree with a splash of olive oil and a hand blender. Served with a few saute potatoes, the result was really as good as anything you'd get in a restaurant ... even if I do say so myself!