24.12.08: Black bnz and a pomeflowertini

He decided to make the Eve a little more festive with the purchase of some pomegranate-elderflower cordial for an after-dinner drinx mixer, resulting in the aforementioned pome-flower-tini (cordial, vodka, pom seeds). Purty, innit?

And She was more than happy to make black bnz for Christmas Eve complete with the usual polenta and avo accompaniment. Salad of pear, radish and soft leaves contributed to the celebratory atmosphere.

SHE SAYS: A good spicy batch of bnz, and this time the polenta came out thick and plain, just the way We like it. always good to have something easy and delicious in your pocket for the evening before a big holiday...though I daresay he had it less easy, bzzy as he was with a special b-day project for Moi in the kitchen...

HE SAYS: Nish batch o' bnz. They were very herby and aromatic yet again and the polenta demonstrated the best consistency we've had, not too solid and not too mushy. The pear added the shweet to the radishes' salt, and so all was well in the salad kingdom.

23.12.08: Veal piccata, mash, veg medley

It was a nice idea: since She jumped on the beef bandwagon, He decided to make Ramsay's veal piccata with - veal! (Normally we adapt it with pork.) Maris piper potato mash plus a side of steamed mangetout and baby sweetcorn filled out the plate, while a salad of baby leaves, pomegranate seeds and avo sparkled nearby.

HE SAYS: I thought I would splash out on the expensive veal tonight so We could both experience the joys of this recipe done authentically. Unfortunately for Her, She couldn't eat it and left Me with the job of eating two portions of the tasty, milky meat. Although the veal was great, I think pork works just as well or even better, adding a little more fulfilling, salty tastiness to the gravy. The mash worked well as a sauce sponge, and the mangetout & sweetcorn reminded us to eat our veg. Yum was the salad.

Her top-up of goat cheese and Dr Karg seeded spelt

SHE SAYS: I don't know what happened to my newfound beef tastebuds, but they conked out on this one. I've had veal before and liked it well enough, and the sauce smelled divine, but the main item grossed me out. It just tasted rancid to me, though He had His and Mine and was perfectly fine. Dang. I ate the rest of my meal with a good heart, esp the creamy-yet-chunky mash, and had a little snacky top-up (above) for good measure. The tarty little salad helped put it all to rights as well.

07.12.08: Fusion broth with fruity salad

Just the ticket for a sniffly Sunday: He pulled together the fusion broth with dry-grilled chicken, rice noodles, and Chinese greens. Salad of tomato, watercress, pear, pomegranate and avo looked on.

HE SAYS: The broth was a little on the spicy side (I think some stray shreds of chili got in the pot as it was cookin'). Good thing it had loads of ginger which made it still fragrant and light. I especially enjoyed the addition of the baby corn, which added a crunchy element to each mouthful. The salad was a shweet affair, maybe too shweet. An experiment with salad fixin' combinations gone too far, perhaps?

SHE SAYS: The chicken was perfecto, but the broth was way too spicy for a fragile throat - I normally prize this dish for its mild nourishment. Still pretty good and I did spoon up my fair share. Could be I was just in a sickie mood all-round, but the salad seemed a bit damp with too many ingredients (not a fan of pear and tomato mixin').

12.11.08: White bnz, chorizo and greens with carrot and pomegranite salad

She made the white bnz tonight with canellini bnz, chorizo, curly kale and onions, then got out the KTOTY, julienned a carrot and added it to the slightly familiar spinach and pomegranate salad.

SHE SAYS: Good but not as good as some previous incarnations; I think the kale blanded it out a bit, and possibly stole most of the brothy and chorizo flavours, b/c when tasted alone the kale was fab. We keep noticing how nice the onions are in beany dishes, they add a lot more texture than you'd think. Nope, not tired of pome-spinach salad yet, esp when guest star j. carrot is in the house - made it extra juicy and injected some sly sweetness.

HE SAYS: This was another big bowl of steaming goodness. The kale was a little heavy as greens go and added little flava to the broth but the onions and bnz more then made up for it. The carrot helped pep things up in the salad bowl and succeded in making the pomegranate (wow that exotic fruit does yield a lot, but then again it's a pain to harvest their seeds) seem less of a tired old rerun, like Bill Murray in Groundhog day.

11.11.08: Lemon chicken with radish and pomegranate salad

The week of family faves continues with the obligatory lemon chicken, lovingly prepared and roasted by Him. A spinach salad of pomegranate and radishes crept into the picture.

HE SAYS: After weeks away I began to question my love for the lemon chicken; how foolish I was to ever doubt the power of this hearty, zesty treat. The 'taters were crunchy outside and fluffy inside; the chix was tender, juicy and crispy; the green bnz, garlicky, lemony and light. What more could you ask for? The salad offered two types of peppery sensory experiences with the pomegranate and radishes competing for my attention.

SHE SAYS: Like He says, never was the deeply familiar such a good surprise. This time I think the green bnz absorbed more than their fair share of flavour, but draping my chicken with the jammy lemons added plenty to the palate-teasing taste o' chicken. Salad continues to add extra-satisfying crunch after weeks mostly without.

10.11.08: Nigella's chickpeas with pomegranate and avo salad

After a while away, a week of classic meals was in order to get back on track. Thus, she cooked up the chickpea staple, adding the ho-made harissa for good measure. A spinach, avo and pomegranate salad nudged into frame.

SHE SAYS: Now I'm feelin' it - that evening pleasure that only the classics can deliver. Velvety soft chickpeas with cumin-seed fragrance got the necessary garlic and coriander spice kick from the harissa, and the salad was just what I'd been missing from our travels: a cool, fresh, tart counterpoint to savoury bliss.

HE SAYS: As good a batch as ever, the chickpeas still silky and flavorsome with the harissa propelling it skywards in taste and yuminess. The salad was sproused up with the pomegranate seeds, which added a certain fruity, tangy and peppery touch that only pomegranate seeds can deliver.

09.11.08: Pork vindaloo with fennel and pomegranate salad

She craved some home-cooked Indian-inspired nosh, and so whipped up this family fave consisting of: pork loin, vindaloo sauce, fragrant brown rice and a spinach, fennel and pomegranate salad in record time.

HE SAYS: Nice to have a home-cooked meal after 3 weeks of restaurant food (I could never be a restaurant critic however much it looks like the best job in the world) and one we haven't had in a while to boot. I think one jar of the vinderloo sauce was plenty in this version. The flavas were intense, especially the rice with the added cinnamon, and I was grateful for the mild fresh salad which offset them. The pork was a little overcooked, but all in all, a very nish winter warmer of a meal.

SHE SAYS: I wasn't sure how much cooking mojo I could muster - still jet-lagged after long intervals of slumber and waking - but once I thought of Indian food, I had to have it. This is probably the easiest of Indian dishes we make, and it's the only one that uses a bottled sauce to good effect. It was deeply satisfying, esp paired with the tart, bracingly crunchy salad. I think I probably feel asleep again as soon as I put down my fork...

08.08.08: Ready-roast chicken, snap peas, oniony rice salad and more salad

He pulled together an unexpected feast of coconut-lime rotisserie chicken and a spring onion rice salad (both courtesy of Waitrose); cooked up some snap peas; and mixed in a colour treat of a salad with cherry toms, pomegranate seeds, and leaves. More of last nite's wasabi dressing rallied for an encore performance.

HE SAYS: I didn't really enjoy the taste of the chicken, I think they muddled them up in Waitrose and I got this one instead of the bbq variety. Snap peas were okay but I should have steamed 'em instead of boiling (I like them nice and crunchy, which these were not).The pomegranate added a sweet and sour touch to the salad and the rice was savoury good, wholesome and on sale, what a bargain!

SHE SAYS: Salad was crunchy and tart, just the way I like it, and tho' the oniony rice salad imprinted its scent indelibly upon the tongue for the evening, it was delish - I found myself spooning up the last bits from the carton by way of seconds. That funky chicken, tho' - not so yummy, with an overpowering, very odd artificial coconut flavour. Waitrose chicken is usually moreish, so we'll overlook this little hiccup. Snap peas played the role of virtuous veg rather limply, I'm not sure even finished mine before we headed out to the gig.

22.06.08: Lamb tagine with couscous

Slow-cookin' Sunday: She prepared the inimitable lamb tagine, plus a crunchy salad of romaine, watercress, pomegranate seeds and avo with the remains of last nite's lime dressing.

HE SAYS: Oh Tagine, it's been a looong time. How I missed thee? Well, I have every right to be dramatic, I thinks - 'cause it was super tasty and incredibly more-ish. This one may be up for an award at the end of the year (def. in my top 5 best meals to date). The lamb was tender, the gravy was not too sweet, the couscous was light and fluffy, bellisimo! I also managed to remember to drizzle the leftover dressing from last night on me salad, all is right with the world.

SHE SAYS: Mmm-mmm good - that's what She said. Sunday comfort food at its best, with perfectly tender lamb. Could have done with more salt, it was a bit sweet with all the apricots and sultanas, but some freshly prepared ho-made harissa took care of that. Salad balanced out the soft, silky texture of the tagine and added satisfying tartness.

21.06.08: Tofu Vindaloo and salad of seeds and stone fruit

Comfy on a Saturday nite: She concocted a casual curry with some bottled vindaloo, tofu fried in curry and chili powder, plus aubergine, sweet pepper, onion, and mustard seeds. Brown basmati and wild rice soaked up the sauce, while a salad of spinach, pomegranate seeds, and sliced nectarines brought colour to the plate. Nigel's lime dressing pepped it all up considerably.

SHE SAYS: That's it - no more of these Bombay sauces unless it's for the original pork vindaloo dish. This was perfectly ok, but only thanks to a last minute addition of concentrated chicken stock paste and a dash of leftover single cream. We need to move on to other 'luxury' sauces. One bright spot: the spice-coated tofu fried up crisp and tasty in safflower oil, with good spongy texture. Salad lifted the spirits and the flavour quotient.

HE SAYS: A curry not in a hurry, but instead laid-back at home on a Saturday night in. The substituting of tofu for pork didn't hurt the taste and perhaps made it a touch lighter then usual. I don't think we've reached the curry sauce zenith with this particular variety; it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't utterly crazy delishy either. Salad was on its usual satisfying form although I forgot to drizzle the dressing, something I regret even now.

14:06.08: Veggie Indian nite

Spicing up a Saturday nite: She prepared the much-loved saag paneer with the even-more-loved subs of halloumi for paneer, and filled out the plate with a too-good-to-be-true microwave recipe for eggplant curry. Since it was the weekend an' all, She pushed the boat out with ho-made raita, our favourite lime pickle, and some mini-poppadoms. An ultra-quick salad with pre-peeled pomegranate seeds provided cooling crunch.

HE SAYS: The saag went up against the eggplant curry and won convincingly. The eggplant dish was a not really a curry but a dry flavourless impostor, and well, I ate what was on me plate like a good boy but didn't feel the need for seconds. The saag, on the other hand, performed beautifully as per usual, I say it was a fix. The salad was a mixture of tart and aromatic, I have noticed that pomegranates have a nice horseradish-y aftertaste to them - discuss.

SHE SAYS: I'm now firmly committed to halloumi over saag in the paneer recipe stakes: it's so salty and yummy, and the extra kick from the spices puts me in culinary nirvana. That bogus eggplant curry recipe from the NYT, tho' - f'shame! It was, in a word, icky, with a cardboard flavour and limp, dryish texture. I could have cooked it even longer (already went over the tme suggested), but it wouldn't have improved the flavour. The only good thing to come out of this experiment was learning that you can toast dry coconut by microwaving it. Well, that's neat. But even my raita couldn't make the eggplant worth eating. Normally I'm opposed to packaged pomegranate due to the ripoff price, but the pack I bought was on sale, plus the seeds were ruby red and full of juice, yet taut and satisfying to pop between the teeth. All good.

14.02.08: Valentine Chickpeas

She decided to put a serendipitous discovery to the test and give Nigella's chickpeas with rocket and sherry a little Valentine's colour by way of pomegranate seeds. Faithful salad of mixed leaves, beetroot and cucumber was standing by.

SHE SAYS: I'm always impressed by how v. tasty this recipe is for something so simple - no chopping! The pomegranate seeds proved themselves fully up to the chickpea challenge when liberally sprinkled on top: juicy and tart, they made a delicious counterpoint to the soft, dry chickpeas and slightly bitter rocket leaves.

HE SAYS: Chickpeas were nice and tender and delicious. Thought the pomegranate seeds added a nice crunch and a little bit of Crystal made it perfect.

23.01.08: Chickpeas with rocket and sherry

Another one from Nigella Express: these chickpeas are laughably easy and quick to make. Salad was spinach, mozzarella, and freshly scooped pomegranate seeds.

HE SAYS: A nice light dinner. Pomegranate seeds were a great addition to the salad.

SHE SAYS: Mellow and filling. Nice accidental discovery: pomegranate seeds and chickpeas complement each other perfectly!