The Sacred Art of Eating

Quick, easy and satisfying. With Lurid Peas.

• Gammon Steaks with Parsley

Another of the ‘Against the Clock’ recipes from Nigella Express, which seem to be designed to come together so quickly that you really have to be absolutely ready to eat from the moment you put the first ingredient in the pan. We are learning though, so had our wee potatoes cooking in advance.

Then, as my gammon steaks fried, all I had to do was overcome a lifetime’s prejudice open a tin of processed peas, heat them up and serve. A little dressing and some pan juices later and we had a proper feast. And the peas turned out to be actually quite nice.

Given that August seems to be the new Scottish word for rain, this was just what we needed.

I left my camera, with all of the weekend’s photos (a frankly staggering five recipes plus some non-Nigella Express) at a friend’s in Glasgow yesterday. It will probably be next weekend till I get it back.

So something else till then…. grainy camera phone shots?

This new, bread making Dougal, is definitely worth living with. Breakfast this morning? Pain Viennois with a slice of chocolate inside. Coffee with blue milk. Tres Francais…. tres bon.

A recipe that we simply wouldn’t have considered had it not been for the challenge. Fabulously, wonderfully successful.

• Goujons of Sole with Dill Mayonnaise

Why would we not have considered this? Well, it seemed a bit of a fankle. Get fish (skinless). Cut into funny strips.

Array some corn flour (seasoned), some egg and some funny foreign bread crumbs. Dip. Rest.

Make some mayonnaise with dill (bleh). Array a plate with lettuce and some cornichons (yum). Ignore the fact that cornichons taste of dill (I’m not sure that bit was in the recipe).

Fry fishy strips. Drain of oil. Serve. With beer.

You see? Horrendously complicated. Worst of all, I took the Nigella Express long view and made a double quantity of the goujons, so that next time we will need only fry these. Ten minutes of frying (and the purchase of some more cornichons) is all that stands between me and succulent, crispy, sweet, tart, easy going laid back (retro) heaven. Thank you, Mr Sowden. You have introduced me to dishes I would have written off for years.