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.

17.08.08: Pork piccata, potatoes and spinach

Sunday can't get much tastier: the pork version of Ramsay's veal piccata, lush with capers and créme fraiche, made boiled potatoes and spinach steamed with nutmeg feel like swank restaurant fare. The salad borrowed panache from some asparagus grilled earlier for lunch, plus radishes, leftover lime-zest beets, and lots of curly, spicy watercress.

HE SAYS: A winter-warmer-comfort-food-esque dinner in August - with the summer we've had it's not so strange. The pork was tender and perfectly seared on both sides, and the gravy was so moreish with the capers adding that extra rich deliciousness, I thank the lord for those spuds which helped mop up that tasty elixir of life. The asparagus injected the salad with bold, salty chargrilled yumminess that played well with the can't-be-beat beets.

SHE SAYS: It's that Sunday dinner feeling...kinda brown, kinda roasty, kinda salty, kinda creamy...offset by some virtuous veg. I'm always a little concerned about cooking pork and tend to nurse it along to a cardboard consistency, but this batch retained a nominal tenderness. The sauce was a little thin compared to previous efforts, but pooled nicely throughout the plate. Potatoes and spinach made excellent sauce conveyors, and the potats themselves had a nutty, sweet flavour (charlottes?).

23.06.08: Smoked salmon fillet, potatoes with panch phora, and grnz

She's slightly adventurous for a Monday: broiled smoked salmon fillet and boiled-senseless grnz with a touch of liquid smoke played supporting roles to Ramsay's panfried potatoes with panch phora. A salad of young mustard leaves, Apetina, and peach slices nudged in on the side.

SHE SAYS: I've been wanting to try the potato recipe for some time, esp since I was conned into buying a container of oh-so-special nigella seeds at a market for the required spice mix, only to find out they're black onion seeds. Hmph. The flavour was very good, and I'd def. use it again: cumin-y yet sweet, esp with the fennel and nigella. That said, the Maris Bard potatoes, sampled when simply boiled, were way delicious on their own, with no frills. Grnz did their virtuous-veg job well, and the salmon was filling, firm and didn't cross the smoky line. Salad was salty-sweet and almost too much!

HE SAYS: The lightly smoked salmon is becoming my preferred choice for the Monday fish dish these days. This batch was cooked to perfection: crunchy top and moist centre. The potatoes added a twist to proceedings and added a little spice to my life. Apetina was back in full effect in the salad, oh, I luv those little cubes of goodness.

01.03.08: Pork piccata with roast potatoes and a speshy salad

A decadent Saturday night special: He made a pork piccata, including creme fraiche, capers and white wine, adapting the recipe from Ramsay's Fast Food, while She roasted potatoes in duck fat and plopped a delicious sweet potato, green bean and goat cheese salad from Mei (a tiny cake cafe in Putney on Upper Richmond Road) in a bowl with a few extra salad leaves.

HE SAYS: Gotta start with the sauce: dee-lish! Could have done with a few pieces of bread to mop up. The pork cutlets were a good substitute for veal - I would have used it, but Waitrose was closed, and they're the only ones who sell it around here. It takes a while to get them golden brown, but it was worth making the extra effort. Did I mention the sauce? The white wine, capers and creme fraiche...what a combo. Anytime a sauce requires you to deglaze the pan with wine and scrape up all the remnants, you know you're in for a treat.

Enjoyed the salad for the sweet potatoes and green beans, but although I like feta, I didn't like this cheese - too goaty. The roasty potatoes were tasty as usual, and seemed very fancy with the duck fat infused with five-spice. Would pay top dollah for this meal.

SHE SAYS: The sauce was divine - we licked not only the plates, but the pan AND the spatula. Pork was a perfect substitute for veal, and certainly cheaper. The duck fat endowed the potatoes with that unbeatable crispiness, and I was happy to discover Mei's salad was as yummy as it was gorgeous. Agree the cheese was v. goaty, but I like that.

20.2.08: Lemon & pepper chicken fillets w/Moroccan sweet potato salad

She made pan-roasted M&S Lemon & Pepper chicken fillets with red cabbage (3 more to go!) and Moroccan sweet potato salad from The art of simple food plus a Piquant sauce from Ramsey's fast food.

HE SAYS: The bread-crumbed chicken cutlets turned out crispy and were a swift replacement for Tesco pork chops which despite being well within their sale by date when cooked smelled and tasted off and were binned in favour of the quick and easy cutlets. Thankfully no pan juices were added to the sauce and it turned out to be a nice dinner anyway. The new addition for the evening - the sweet potato salad was sweet, zesty and yummy and was a perfect companion to the tart, tangy red cabbage.

SHE SAYS: What he says plus boycott Tesco's fish and meat.

18.02.08: Mediterranean salmon

Tomato heaven: He made Ramsay's Salmon with Mediterranean Flavours (studded with sundried tomatoes, basil leaves and olives), then whipped up some sundried tomato and basil pesto to toss with trofie pasta and pan-roasted red pepper and portobello mushrooms. Her Mardi Gras salad - mango, beetroot, cucumber, and spinach - looks on with envy.

HE SAYS: Lovely meal. Salmon was very tender and had a poached-like consistency. Pesto was not as intense as I had hoped, but there's some left over, and hopefully it will intensify in the fridge for next time. Overall very happy and will try the salmon again. Also, I love the beetroot.

SHE SAYS: This made a Monday evening much nicer. The unexpected combination of flavours with the salmon worked very well and made for a pretty plate. The pasta was cooked perfectly this time, and I thought the pesto fragrant and lemony. New odd-combo discovery: mango and Sweetfire beetroot make a delicious duo.

15.02.08: Pan-fried hake with tomato relish

Another one from Ramsay's Fast Food: He tried out the pan-fried hake with tomato relish, adding polenta and smoky kale on the side.

HE SAYS: Agree with Her. Next time I'll put less sugar in the tomatoes and cook the polenta minutes before serving. Otherwise, the hake was a good, cheaper cod-like alternative.

SHE SAYS: I really like the hake, but the sauce was a little sweet for me. Greens could have done with less liquid smoke. Polenta was a bit firm.

12.02.08: Baked pork chops and polenta

This was one of those dinners where all the different elements complemented each other really well: Baked pork chops with a piquant sauce from Ramsay's Fast Food, quick-cook polenta with parmesan stirred in, and a leafy salad with avo and cucumber.

HE SAYS: I thought the pork was tasty with the tomato-based sauce, but the polenta was the best thing on the plate. Haven't had it for a while, forgot how much I enjoyed it. Makes a nice alternative to rice. Think I'll choose thinner pork chops next time.

SHE SAYS: Would def. make this again - even though you have to bake, saute, and boil, there's very little prep, and it all goes pretty fast. The sauce was a perfect mixer for the polenta, and made for a fairly healthy way to enjoy pork chops. Really glad I thought of doing polenta last nite!