I have decided to make all of Nigella's "basics" in How to Eat as a project.

Yesterday was mayonnaise. It was an exercise in patience, tedium, highs (when things seemed to be working, and I was thinking "this is so easy what is Nigella talking about I AM THE MAYONNAISE QUEEN") and curdled lows. I was incorporating oil drip by mean little drip, and it was taking so long and I started to get cocky, letting it glug into the bowl instead. All was going well for a few glugs, I thought I had been too careful before, too cautious and slow, until... curdled. And this happened more than once.

Nigella says to start with two room temperature egg yolks with salt, beat them for a few minutes and then slowly start adding sunflower oil. I probably got 100ml of oil incorporated (going sloooowly) before it curdled for the first time. Nigella suggests adding a drop of boiled water to fix curdling. It didn't work for me. I started again with another room temperature egg yolk in another bowl, beating. I held the bowl with the curdled mess above the second bowl, allowing the separated oil to drip slowly into the fresh egg. Eventually I moved to spooning the curdled mess in with the fresh egg too, things going okay, confidence increasing again. I then went back to my original jug of oil to continue adding from where I stopped when it curdled the first time. Things going well, oil dripping slowly from jug to bowl. And then... curdled. This time I added another egg yolk, straight to the bowl and beat and beat and beat. It thickened, and I thought okay, I have finally triumphed. Started adding more oil... curdled. Wondering why anyone bothers with this. Another egg yolk, straight in the bowl, beating, beating, beating, beating - finally a thick ointment. Thoroughly chastened, I chickened out of adding any more sunflower oil and started slowly dripping extra virgin olive oil in the ointment. I definitely didn't put enough, stopping with my thick yellow paste. I then beat in salt and lemon juice. The lemon juice lightened it to more of a butter yellow, but it was still brighter in colour than any mayonnaise I've seen (probably because I used so many yolks!)

I've done it now. It tastes good, but man it was not worth the effort.

Grilled Orange Garlic Chicken, with Orange Broccoli

You will need

• chicken tenderloins
• 3 garlic cloves
• sea salt
• 1/4 cup chopped basil leaves
• zest of one orange
• oil
• one head of broccoli
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• juice from orange
• 1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
• handful peanuts

Directions for chicken

1. Crush garlic cloves with the blade of a knife, peel and roughly chop.
2. Sprinkle chopped cloves with a pinch of sea salt and then grind with side of knife until garlic moistens and begins forming a paste.
3. Combine garlic with basil, orange zest and oil in a bowl.
4. Place chicken in bowl and ensure it is covered with marinade. Leave for 30 minutes.
5. Grill chicken on hot grill pan, until fully cooked.

Directions for broccoli

1. Chop broccoli into florets.
2. In a bowl, combine broccoli florets with sesame oil, orange juice and sweet chilli sauce.
3. Lay flat in one layer in a roasting pan and roast for 10-15 minutes at 180 degrees celsius.
4. Remove from oven and sprinkle peanuts over broccoli, then put dish back in oven and roast for 5 more minutes.

Serve with roast vegetables and pita breads.

Feeling slightly disillusioned after last night's election result. A post on my Facebook feed sums it up well, "Can I get a sticker saying, "yes I voted and I might as well not have"?"

It rained on and off all day and I spent the afternoon in the kitchen. Raspberry Jam Slice, Nigella's Italian Apple Pie and Nigel Slater's Mildly Spiced Beef. For the Apple Pie (which is really a cake) I used red and green apples, and melodramatically considered myself to be roasting the hopes of Labour and the Greens. Maudlin.

Italian Apple Pie

slightly adapted from Nigellissima

You will need:

• 100g soft butter
• 250g flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• pinch salt
• 150g sugar
• 2 eggs
• juice of half a lemon + zest
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup milk
• 3 apples
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in the group before milk in the bowl of a food processor and blitz until mixture forms a smooth batter.
2. With food processor running, pour milk slowly down funnel.
3. Cut one apple in half, remove core, and roughly chop. Add chopped apple into batter and pulse to mix.
4. Pour batter into lined springform tin.
5. Cut remaining applies into thin wedges, and place on top of batter in a fan pattern.
6. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle on top.
7. Bake for 45 minutes at 180 degrees celsius.

This is very very easy, and visually stunning. The batter is dense and moist, and the apples provide texture. I used Jazz apples and Granny Smiths. The Jazz worked the best, the Granny Smiths got a bit mushy, though that might have been because they were old. I have a bad habit of buying fruit and then not doing anything with it.

Earlier this year, I flirted with a philosophy of "branching out" - a personal do something new/different/scary on a consistent basis. I started out well, attending a cooking class at Main Course where I made a mushroom tart, duck breast, and creme brulee. From never liking mushrooms, never having eaten duck breast, and never having made creme brulee, that was branching out for me. A little bit uncomfortable (mostly because it upset my strongly held assumption that I don't like mushrooms, turns out I do), but worthwhile. We went to a Japanese restaurant early on in the year, where I tried sashimi. I didn't like it, but I tried it. I applied for, and got, a job for next year that wasn't even on my horizon at the beginning of this year. Last night I went to the opera for the first time (Don Giovanni), and next weekend I will go skiing for the first time. But I feel like I'm not doing enough, apart from some standout examples I'm letting testing my limits slide. I've never been a risk taker but this year is turning out life changing. The least I can do is try some seafood.