Recent culinary activity
Tuesday evening, on our return: a simple dish of penne with sliced grilled artichokes and toasted pine-nuts.
Wednesday: a sardegnera (pizza-type thing with an enriched dough crust) with a tomato filling and cream cheese (the only sort I can eat), served with a green salad in walnut oil and sherry vinegar dressing.
Thursday: made a small loaf of oatmeal soda bread. For our main meal made the smoked haddock and butter bean thing (turned out a little too runny, but quite edible), served with a salad of tomatoes in balsamic vinegar and crushed coriander seed, and a green salad.
Friday: for our special New Year's Eve meal, I made the following: starter of pickled quail's eggs with salmon and lumpfish 'caviar', on wild rocket, then the (by now traditional) partridges pot-roasted in brandy and madeira (and note for brisingamen: Waitrose partridges come already dressed in neat little bacon weskits), served on corn pancakes, with a salad of lambs' lettuce, rocket, roasted asparagus and grilled peppers. To conclude, shop-bought Christmas pud with brandy butter and cream.
Saturday: no breakfast rolls, as I had been doing other cookery-related things the previous evening, and later we went out (Cafe du Jardin in Covent Garden, quite good).
Sunday lunch: sweet potatoes and blue potatoes roasted together in pumpkin seed oil (excellent), with roasted sugar snap peas (most of which unfortunately got spilt onto the floor when I dropped the dish), and portabellini mushrooms lightly brushed with toasted sesame oil and grilled in the Healthy Grill.
This morning's breakfast rolls: Tassajarra Cinnamon and Raisin, turned out v well. Lunch: kedgeree made with flaked hot-smoked salmon, served with broccoli florets steamed with fennel seeds.
This week's bread: 'Max's Loaf' from Bernard Clayton, a v nice wholemeal loaf with toasted sunflower seeds.