Next up was Miss Dahl’s Voluptuous Delights by Sophie Dahl. This was Sophie’s first cookbook, and we think it’s really rather good. Sophie doesn’t eat meat herself but does cook it for her family. The recipes in the book are generally lighter than many of the cheffy cookbooks we’ve looked at over the year or so. Her recipes are always interesting and inviting to try. The week started with her Sunday Roast Chicken and Trimmings. The roast chicken had the rather unusual addition of the herb dill. On reflection, I suppose is not that strange given that chicken and Tarragon are tried and tested, so Dill with a similar aniseed taste should work. The trimmings were a lovely parsnip and celeriac mash, spiced carrots (with cumin, ginger) and gravy. Sunday lunch was delicious and felt much lighter than a typical Sunday lunch with trimmings.

Next up was Sophie’s banana bread and her take on flapjack. The banana bread was ok, nothing really to write home about – the Ginger and White one is better. Sophie’s Flapjacks have some molasses in them, making for a darker coloured flapjack and a more black treacle-like taste. The flapjacks were good, but the addition of molasses was a really nice touch – something we’ll add to our go-to recipe (a recipe from Stephen Jackson, who used to be the chef at one of our favourite restaurants in Huddersfield, the now very much missed Weaver’s Shed).

Next up was Grilled Salmon and Baked Onions – another lovely little supper dish. I think the onions could have roasted a touch longer to be sweeter, but it was a nice idea of onions and cream and cheese. For lunch one day, we did Baked Acorn Squash which we used butternut squash. It was tasty – I think it would be even better had we just roasted the squash rather than the way Miss Dahl cooks in a roasting tin in a couple of cm of water. Next up were Chicken and Halloumi Kebabs, a hit for parents and children alike. We did Buttermilk Chicken with Sweet Smashed Potatoes to round off the week. This was a cracking recipe with tender chicken and gorgeous potatoes. The buttermilk tenderises the chicken, which is then pan-fried. It makes for a healthy fried chicken fix without the deep-fried secret recipe.

All in all, Miss Dahl’s Voluptuous Delights was a winner of a cookbook and decidedly lighter recipes. Next week we head to Spain.