Porterhouse Steak, Braised Fennel and Mustard Rollini

We take our weekly stroll to the butchers' and pick up a beautiful Porterhouse steak, which we plan to sear for 90 seconds each side and split between us. Enjoying the beautiful sunshine and pottering about the house, we leave the main grocery shop until Sunday. When I come to cook our lovely steaks, I find none of the accompaniments I'd usually use, not even potatoes! I still crave that sticky, carby counterpoint to the steak, so I take some inspiration from a 'nursery classic', and also try out a new kind of pasta hanging around the cupboard.

At the bottom of the vegetable drawer sits one folorn fennel, left 'til all of the easily-prepared vegetables are already eaten. I flick through Nigel's recipe books but find he's not really a fan of fennel, dedicating it a mere two paragraphs in his massive British vegetable compendium. However, there's plenty of ideas in those few sentences, one of which is exactly the way my dad prepares chicory. I give it a go, and it's absolutely amazing.

Ingredients:

• a large fennel
• 250g rollini, or other shaped pasta
• 4-6 tbsp crème fraiche
• 2 tbsp dijon mustard
• a seriously good steak, or two

Cut any discoloured parts from the fennel and slice off the toughest part of the root, but leaving most of the base intact so that the sheaves still hang together. Cut into large lengthwise wedges; a small fennel could be quartered, a large fennel cut into sixths or eighths. In a frying pan large enough that all the fennel can lie flat, melt a couple tbsp of butter and a little glug of olive oil. Add the fennel wedges and stir around gently until coated in fat. Set the heat to low, cover the pan and braise for 20-30 minutes, turning once or twice. You want the fennel to be gently caramelised where it touches the pan, but not burnt, and for the trapped steam to cook the vegetable through.

10 minutes before the fennel is done, set your pasta to cook in plenty of boiling water. Meanwhile, pan-fry the steak; 90 seconds each side will give a lovely rareness, but of course feel free to alter depending on your taste and the steak's thickness. Set aside to rest. When the pasta is al dente, drain it and return it to the pan, along with the crème fraiche and mustard; warm through over a low heat, stirring so that it doesn't stick. Taste and season, then serve with the steak and braised fennel.

Lemon and Mustard Seed Rice

I first ate this out in the Murchison desert at the excellent Boolardy station, after a long day working on our telescope. We were very well looked-after and the food was amazing. One of the dishes particularly stuck in my mind because it was a really nice way to make rice, subtle but tasty at the same time. A wonderful side dish and somewhere between steamed and egg-fried rice in preparation time. I've scaled this to two people.

Ingredients:

• half a white onion (optional)
• a ladelful of rice - about 100g
• 2-3 ladelfuls of vegetable or chicken stock
• a lemon
• 2-3 bay leaves
• 2-3 peppercorns
• seeds from inside a cardamom pod
• two tsp black mustard seeds
• a large chunk of butter

If you feel like including onion (depends on what you're serving this with), finely chop the onion and fry gently in vegetable oil for 5-10 minutes until golden and translucent. Zest the lemon and set the zest aside. Juice the lemon into a separate bowl. Add the rice, stir, and then add the stock, juice and bay leaves. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed.

Meanwhile, crush the spices gently in a mortar and pestle until a little broken up - not pounded into powder. Melt the butter in a small frying pan and add the zest and spices, then fry for a minute or so, until fragrant. Stir through the cooked rice, taste for seasoning, and serve.