mozzarella, peach, basil and parma ham salad

We've got crossed wires tonight, although not in a terrifying "you're not the person I thought I married" way. More in a "I'm making salad because I thought we were going out... oh, that's next week. Well, we've still got salad because I've made it." It's a fairly drama-free marriage round our way.

So, salad tonight because I thought we were going out to look at the prints from a free photoshoot Ana and Milo went to last week. And because the Bank Holiday has mangled Ocado's deliveries, dinner is entirely dependent on what the John Lewis Food Hall on Oxford street has in stock. Mozzarella, peach, basil (from my homegrown plant) and prosciutto crudo salad it is...


You can't go wrong can you? It's weird how some dishes just catch the imagination though. It's been one of our staples since 2005, and I've made it at least eight times this year alone but suddenly there's variations of it popping up everywhere, and most of them feature griddled peaches. I might give that a spin next time...

Food of the Milos
I can't really remember what he had for tea today, suffice to say he spent most of it riding it around Barnes. For dinner *however*, he had a large splodge of last night's pasta with cherry tomato sauce.

sources
mozzarella, peach, basil and parma ham salad - Delicious, August 2005

pasta with cherry tomato sauce

It's a beautiful sunny Bank Holiday Monday, Barnes is freakily empty so what better reason do you need to go riding on your new bike, all day, with your new wellies?

Having cycled up and down the hall, relentlessly, we cycled to Orange Pekoe for some coffee, we then cycled to Vine Road to paddle the new wellies in the pool, and then to the pond to show the new bike to the ducks (and to have a celebratory ice cream), before washing up at The Treehouse for a late lunch. Having cycled home, and then up and down the hall whilst we're out in the garden Milo sparks out in bed by seven. Wowzers, we're going to need to get another bike before he wears this one out...

Knackered and broke, we settle down with spaghetti and tomatoes (which costs less than a fiver) to accompany ITV's marvellous Marple mystery, The Pale Horse. Hurrah for Bank Holidays!



Food of the Milos
His good day of being lovely and entertaining was equally matched by a good day of food, naturally leavened by ice cream...

Inspired by The Tiger that Came to Tea, Ana created an amazing breakfast of banana slice cakes, raisins and waffles *all* of which got eaten in double-quick time. Having ridden around the major sights of Barnes, he has sausage, chips and broccoli at the pub. Actually, it's such a late lunch he doesn't really need any dinner when we get home, but he does help make and eat some popcorn.

sources
pasta with cherry tomato sauce - Donna Hay, Instant Cook, p58

folkestone

Crikey, are Bank Holidays contractually obliged to be this busy? Milo and I have been sojourning chez Folkestone with two main aims in mind:

1. Visiting my mum, who has managed to break her foot visiting Dover Castle (long story);
   
2. Playing rugby at the Spitfire Tournament for the mighty Stella Hands;

In the end we managed all of this plus so much more. The least of it was having taken a bunch of Milo's old things to store in mum's attic (car seats, bits of cot and old toys etc ), we returned with the car almost twice as full as we left, including a new car seat, some wellies, a luminous bat t-shirt and a spanky new bike for Milo - woo!

In between the retail therapy we do manage some eating, but looking back at it not very much. This particularly becomes clear in the last two games of the tournament where I completely run out of steam...

So on Saturday night mum cooks up a big vat of Spanish rice, which was aces. We have porridge for Sunday breakfast and then, other than another bowl of rice before going home, that was it. Who needs to diet when you can have two bowls of dinner (okay, I had seconds so three bowls) over two days, and then play four games of rugby...

As we're so thin on the food front, how about a picture of Milo's new photo face? It's called 'Castle Face' as he developed it during our trip to Pembroke Castle. No doubt we'll be seeing a lot more of this soon:


Food of the Milos
Unlike me, he has a fairly full weekend of scoff - not all of it good. Due to the fact the rice takes a some time to cook, Saturday night he gets some microwave macaroni cheese, which he loves. For Sunday he gets a largish bowl of spaghetti of meatballs, and in between he has three packets of crisps, three ice lollies (one homemade), porridge, a KitKat, some Jelly Tots, a chocolate cake and a babycino. Hmmm, for the good of his help the end of holidays can't come soon enough.

rich beef ragu

Do you know, left-over spiced cauliflower curry *doesn't* make the best next-day lunch? Don't get me wrong, it's okay (although you do need to find some rice from somewhere to soak up all the leftover gravy), but the cauliflower does tend to have gone a bit soggy by the following lunchtime. And it stinks out the kitchen.

Needs must though, and following a frugal-friday lunch, we've got another dose of cheap eats tonight with a life-saving batch of frozen batch of rich beef ragu:


Once it's defrosted I chuck in some courgette and left-over peppers from the salad crisper, but weirdly despite having had time for the flavours to further infuse, it's less intense than when I originally made it last Saturday. I suspect the addition of the half-carton of passata also malingering in the fridge to bulk it out may have thinned out the flavour. Point to remember there...

Food of the Milos
Pretty much the same as yesterday, and include the games involving pouring mummy wine viz waffles, banana and grapes for breakfast, and more sausages and mini-broccoli for dinner.

sources
rich beef ragu - Delicious, March 2007, p51

spiced cauliflower curry with red pepper and peas

What is going on? That's two nights in a row of returning home absolutely sodden, and tonight I had a coat! What happened to summer? However I'm spurred on by the certain knowledge I've got a warming curry for dinner.

Certain because I know we've got peas in the freezer, an onion in the veg bowl and a red pepper in the fridge. All I need to do is pick up a cauliflower and some curry leaves at lunchtime. Again, we're leaning heavily on trying not to spend too much money ahead of Tuesday's payday, but also this dish is great for warming me up, and for waging hearty war on Ana's cold. It's all the ginger and turmeric I think...



I'm going to go a bit random here and admit something odd: I've become obsessed by killing the greenfly on my windowsill chilli plants. Honestly, everyday, at least twice a day, I spend a good 20 minutes crushing the little buggers which is immensely satisfying. They burst like nature's bubble-wrap. I could do with some ladybirds to finish the rest off though.

Food of the Milos
Milo has clearly been affected by the past couple of weeks. Breakfast (waffle, grapes, cheese, apple and raisins) was taken in his tunnel in the front room, which he referred to as a pub, with his friends sat in the pub garden. This was later followed by a new game in the bath - pouring mummy glasses of wine. Hmmm, nursery is going to be a shock to his system. Either that or we'll be having to explain a lot of things to his new teachers.

Beans on toast for lunch, and for dinner he had carrots, broccoli and sausages with strawberries for pudding. Not only that he actually fed himself for once - hurrah!

sources
spiced cauliflower curry with red pepper and peas - Delicious, June 2010, p153

baked chicken, green beans and tomatoes

It's juicier (yay!), but I forgot to finish it off with the lid off the pan, so the chicken is anemic rather than bronzed. Bugger.
sources
Jamie Oliver via Ana via Kendra via Rosie Marinelli

tomato, red onion and creme fraiche tart

After four days living it up in Wales, we've come back to a demi-empty fridge, definitely empty bank accounts and sleep deprivation. Who said holidays were relaxing?

I know I've got enough in the freezer and fridge to make tomato, red onion and creme fraiche tart, if I nip to the shops at lunchtime to get some creme fraiche and salad, so it's budget-friendly. I also know whilst a little bit labour-intensive, the fact it quite happily cooks for 40 minutes in the oven means we've got time potter around after the first day back at work.

However, I don't think I let it cook or rest enough so the end result is a little bit sloppy. Nothing disastrous, just a bit annoying. The apple, walnut, watercress and spinach salad was good though, and hopefully it'll firm up (steady!) in the fridge for lunch tomorrow.


Holiday-wise it was like the Brittany trip only on a smaller scale: Lots of day trips, one day of good weather and excellent evening drinking and cards.

Here's a picture of Ana and Milo enjoying the medieval weather at Pembroke Castle:



sources
tomato, red onion and creme fraiche tart - Delicious, 2005 or 2006

mozzarella, peach, basil and parma ham salad

It's second holiday minus one so obviously, and this is despite the fact we know the weather is going to be awful in Tenby this weekend, ana insists on *another* salad. Like she's going to be wearing a bikini at any point now.

I can't say it enough, but the key here is to have ripe peaches, which we do. Honestly, it makes all the difference. Tonight the heat is again supplied by the chilli plant currently going mental in the garden. At least something is, the rogue tomatoes have done naff all.


All I've got to do now is pack as we're off straight after work tomorrow.

sources
mozzarella, peach, basil and parma ham salad - Delicious, August 2005

white bean polpettine

Looking back I realise the last few days have been fairly uninspiring blog-wise, apologias. If anything it's because M Magic has hit the "Full On" button, so we're both knackered, so rather than approaching the blogosphere with a cold, single-minded focus, I'm usually tired and/or emotional.

To be honest tonight isn't any different, as will become rapidly clear. As you may have gathered Tuesday night is now rugby night, so it's usually a matter of going directly to the club for an hours touch and then home for a swift meal and then sleep. Tonight that selfish harridan my wife changes it all by going out for dinner at Kate's, so I seek solace in Sharpe's Honour, three bottles of St Helier cider and culinary rewenge.

Well I *say* rewenge, but she actually requests I make polpettine so she can have them for lunch tomorrow, but what she doesn't say is "make the polpettine, eat your portion then drink a load of gin whilst watching Sean Bean, and then make two large chip butties using the oven chips my mum left in the freezer". She didn't say it, but I think it was implied.

Back to the polpettine, finally I've cracked them as this time they were the best I've ever made. I think the key is getting them the right size, so they're crispy on the outside but cooked through, rather than crispy and doughy - *urgghh!*


Actually, the steamed spinach is the closest I've got to demi-perfection as well. Yay for me and relentless, surly drinking.

Food of the Milos
The usual continental breakfast in (our) bed, before a day of running around Richmond Park and being visited by Claire and Isla. Park and visiting mean he's heavy on sandwiches and snacks again, but for dinner he wolfs some ratatouille we made when we got back from France.

sources
white bean polpettine - Jilly D, Delicious 2005 although now it's in the vegetarian Cow Parsley book - woooo!

Incidentally Miss Lucyfer Guson has supplied some random fiotos from nights which have made it onto the blog, and I'm proud to add the following to the backlog:

• The classic C4-drinks-to-cheese-sandwiches-continuum. We've all been there...
• Pride before a fall. To be honest, if you look at the mad expression on my face, and the fact Lucy can't even focus her camera, is it any wonder I broke my bike?
  

thai beef salad

Back to work so consequently there's not much to report today. Obviously we're still eating salad (on Ana's orders), and based on trying to trying to avoid any repeat of the Great Salad Sticking to the Back of the Fridge debacle, tonight we've got an experimental thai beef salad.

Unlike the other varieties I've made, this one uses gem lettuce, mint leaves and coriander as a base, with sesame oil and lime juice. Once again the chillis and mint leaves come from the garden...


This is one of those recipes which have been kicking around in a folder for ages, but I've never tried it until now, and to be honest we probably won't be trying it again any time soon.

It's not terrible, just a be meh! If anything the combination of the dressing and the mint make it taste like the chicken and rice salad, but not as flavoursome. *Somewhere* I have a recipe for the best thai beef salad which I first made in 2005 (ish), but I've yet to find it again.

Food of the Milos
Another day of maximum food intake for the blonde beast, beginning with *another* double-dose of breakfast. In fact I have to fight him off last night's lamb stew, which he wants as soon as he sees it whilst making his milk this morning. Things naturally change by dinner time, as Ana has to spoon-fed him as he's playing up.

sources
thai beef salad - Angela Boggiano, formerly of Delicious but now in the famed Owl Book.

slow-cooked lamb with spring onions, cherries and lemon

Having tested it out when Ana was whooping it up on the island, today is built around the three hours it takes to slow cook lamb shoulder to a point where just touching it with a spoon makes it fall apart.

Davisss makes an excellent point Brenda RE doubling the amount of cherries. This time I used a packet and a half of sour cherries as the fresh ones don't work as well, particularly as the stones are a bugger. It's still not quite enough, and the packets are demi-to-fairly expensive too...


More surprising is the fact not only does Ana like it, but she has two servings which puts my lunchtime left-overs in jeopardy. Luckily there's enough for Milo to have at least one dinner tomorrow.

Food of the Milos
After yesterday's mainly snack-based day, today we have to beat him off the fridge. It's like we've never fed him. He had two breakfasts today - TWO! One consisted of waffle, apple, banana, pineapple and cheese, the other was a medium-sized bowl of last night's ragu. Here's stage one:


Lunch was a slightly more sedate affair of more cheese, tomatoes and grapes, this time in a large cardboard box filled with his animal friends. He had a second bowl of ragu with pasta for dinner, followed by two yoghurts. Maybe he's on a growth spurt? We measured him this morning and he's currently 3 foot 4, and weighs about 20kg.

sources
slow-cooked lamb with spring onions, cherries and lemon - Silvena Rowe, Purple Citrus & Sweet Perfume. Reviewed in Delicious, July 2010, p17

mediterranean halloumi salad & rich beef ragu

I never realised it was Friday 13th yesterday...

Anyhoo, today is busier than a really busy buzzy bee, and by the end of it only a large dose of booze keeps us upright.

Knackered from splashing about at our new favourite swimming pool, scooting to the back-end of Barnes, getting his hair cut and generally oafing around the shops of SW14, we get the cheeky one into bed by seven-ish and then I embark on a mini-cooking marathon - and one I have to say I'm pretty pleased with...

First on the hob is massive batch of rich beef ragu, enough for about six portions in the freezer for Milo, and large lunchbox for me and Spana. I have to say, it's probably my most flavoursome one yet, I have no idea why - maybe the homegrown rosemary, or the ice cubes of red wine? - but after three hours bubbling it's absolutely perfect!

Ragu simmering, attention turns to our dinner and Ana insists on halloumi salad. She's so adventurous.



sources
mediterranean halloumi salad - Delicious, June 2010, p24
rich beef ragu - Delicious, March 2007, p51

lamb tagliata

I typed too fast last night, as whilst it's great to have my family back half of them are really excited to see me, and the other half complain I smell too garlicky. And I'd left some dead flowers in a vase. I mean honestly - H-corners!

Anyway, I take my garlic breath to work whilst they potter around Barnes. On return, having wrestled a silly blonde baby into bed we're *still* on a diet, apparently. Maybe for an intense weekend of bikini action next week in Tenby?

With nothing in the fridge apart from a bag of rocket, ana takes the executive decision to have Jilly Dupleix's lamb salad for tea. It's healthy, it's tasty and after two years of cooking it I finally get the amount of rosemary salt right:


Top tip on this one, do it for slightly less than 20 minutes so the lamb is a touch medium to rare, rather than well done. Also, get some good mothers to supply a lifetime's worth of rosemary: Half of the fresh rosemary comes from a plant my mum gave us for our anniversary, and the other half comes from a pot I bought last year expertly re-potted by Kayosaurus. Well done mums!

Food of the Milos
Snack-a-doodle today, but the odd thing is after a couple of weeks of waking up at the crack of dawn he sleeps in till 1000! Aye caramba indeed. Breakfast and lunch are the usual fayre though: cheese, apple, grapes, dry cheerios, boiled eggs etc However, for dinner he gets and actually *eats* one of the left-over fishcakes from last week! Sleeping in, eating fishcakes, will wonders never cease?

sources
lamb tagliata - Jill Dupleix, Delicious, October 2007, p138

garlic, chilli and olive oil spaghetti

Having used up everything in the fridge last night (apart from the courgette and rocket), I've sold myself a bit short tonight. Hmmm courgette and rocket sandwich anyone?

Lucky our lush garden provides sudden inspiration and two out of three of the required ingredients for Donna Hay's garlic, chilli and olive oil spaghetti: parsley and chilli.

Look at our cocking chilli plant! Despite Jude's misguided and made-up advice, it's gone freaking mental in the garden. Hopefully they'll all go red soon, particularly as there is literally several-to-many chillis to play with:

It's more than I can say for our feral tomato, which although it has tomatoes on, they're showing no sign of going red...

Despite appearances I *promise* this isn't just a big bowl of spaghetti, there is definitely chillis, parsley and garlic in this. They are just hidden.


I think Donna is the pasta queen, she's got so many ace pasta dishes. Incidentally, the trick here is not to let the chilli or garlic burn otherwise you end up with a harsh aftertaste. I caught them just in time and with the addition of ground black pepper and parmesan, it was really top dinner. Deffo having it again.

Best news of the day? Ana and Milo are on their way back as I type. Hurrah!

sources
garlic, chilli and olive oil spaghetti - Donna Hay, Modern Classics Book One, p148

tomato curry

Questions questions. I've been working from home today waiting for someone from the National Grid to come and exchange our gas meter (thanks for not turning up National Grid), so I've been pondering tonight's dinner all day.

Mainly this is because I'm sat opposite the fridge, which gives me ample opportunity to gaze at it's many many ingredients to use tonight:

• six odd tomatoes
  
• cheese (cheddar, apericubes and parmesan)
• a courgette
• half a bag of rocket
• a lemon
• a bag of coriander
• lots of condiments
• milk
  

Hmmm, For a while it looked like it was going to be an experimental pasta dish, but do one courgette and some tomatoes make a decent pasta sauce? I'm unconvinced and look to the blog for inspiration. I can't believe I've been so blind to be honest.

A quick trip to the cornershop for some coconut milk, and two bottles of St Helier pear, raspberry and lime cider (to remove the taste of the awful Bulmers left lurking in the fridge) - and I've got everything I need for Simon Hopkinson's classic tomato curry.

It's the perfect accompaniment for another night's Sharpe-ing, and a good blast of sticking old recipes into the variety of notebooks I've bought.

Incidentally, the St Helier's stuff is marvellous, two bottles gone almost instantaneously and weirdly a really nice combination of flavours. Magners! Gahh, you need to move back to Tewkesbury if that's your attitude Les Bren!

sources
tomato curry - Simon Hopkinson, Delicious, November 2007, p86

rainbow tortilla

After a drizzly-yet-muggy evening on the training paddock, I want something quick, easy and which uses up whatever is malingering in the fridge - step forward Rainbow Tortilla!

Inexplicably there's two peppers in the salad crisper, plus I manage to create an almost entire Franken-avocado from the collection going soft in the draw. All I need to buy is salad and some more eggs on the way home and I've got the perfect accompaniment to Sharpe's Eagle:


Outside of dinner, two culinary things serve to annoy me today. The Delicious website is the first point of vexation with it's piss-poor search tool. I just wanted to check if I needed to get anything else on the way home, but could I find "rainbow tortilla"? Could I bobbins, and it was only in the June issue, so not that long ago.

Secondly, I got distracted by booze in Sainsbury's but couldn't face warm beer or fizzy lager so I opted for some Pear Cider from Bulmers. One - why isn't it called Perry, because that what it is, and Two, it was disgusting! A really chemically taste which no amount of French dead could remove from my mouth. This is why I don't drink big brand beverages...

sources
rainbow tortilla - Delicious, June 2010, p148

kebab bi karaz

Back from a weekend on the Diamond Isle, I've not really got any shopping in the house (apart from a Scotch Egg), and I haven't got an awful lot of cash to get any so this week is going to be all about stretching the fridge to breaking point.

Tonight, to use up some frozen lamb, and some drying lemons I revisit the lamb meatballs from a month or so ago. I've got salad growing in the garden, so all I need is some sour cherries.

Or am I? It turns out my lettuces have gone from 'bushy' to 'entirely eaten by caterpillars' in a single weekend, the buggers. At least I remembered to double the sauce recipe this time, in fact it's slightly too runny this time but as I also I over-delivered on spices in the meatballs, it's a much happier, punchier dinner and with plenty for lunch tomorrow:



sources
kebab bi karaz - Tom Kime, Australian Delicious

the great british beer fest

This week I've suffered a peculiar typing spasticity. Every time I've wanted to write "Great British Beer Fest" - as in "I'll meet you outside the Great British Beer Fest at 1900 hours" - I've inexplicably written "Great British Beef Fest". Just trying to explain it here, I've written it three times, surely that's Freudian or something?

The upshot is tonight is not about food, it's about the finest company Channel 4 Legacy Employees can supply, and real ale. Preferably with the word "Badger" in the title.

Scene set, all you need to know is the majority of the evening is spent gossiping in a rather large hall in South West London, trying desperately to drown Hank Wangford out, and supping fine fine real ale:

From left to right: Me, Geeky Tom, Mandy, Sasha, Jody, Jon, and Bad Lucyfer Guson (Hank Wangford moaning in the background)

For the record I drank the following CAMRA-approved Real Ales: SA Brains Gold, Robinson's Bizzy Bee, Wentworth Gryphon (on Jon Salt's recommedation), Yate's Undercliff Experience (from the glorious Isle of Wight), Red Squirrel Colarado American, Portsmouth Oatmeal Stout (USA, half) and an Elland Beyond the Pale. Sadly there was no boutique Canadian Ale - sorry Dr Harlock...

With only some pork scratchings in me, I've got plenty of space for left over fishcakes when I get home. And this time I do the poached egg properly...


I can only apologise Tom, that they weren't the fish cakes you told me about but, you were very tipsy when you gave me the recipe, and I may have had a couple of shandy bass' too many.

marinated goats cheese and walnut salad

I love Jilly D, and I've been over-excited about cooking this dinner all week. So much so in fact, I planned to have it last night for "Meat Free Monday", but fail to take into account the cheese needs to marinade over night.

Twenty-four hours later, I'm genuinely very excited to get home after rugby and looking forward to cooking this. I had a goat's cheese salad in harbour-side restaurant in Roscoff on holiday and thoroughly enjoyed it, so if I could sum up one more time: Goat. Cheese. Salad. V. Excited.

The marinade smells amazing, and it the whole thing only takes as long as the french beans need to cook to be ready, obviously discounting the 24-hour marinading. It looks fan-bloody-tastic:


However, I think I got over-excited because after the first few mouthfuls, going to myself "This is the best thing you've cooked all year", I decided it was far from the best thing I'd cooked all year. The marinade was lovely, the beans were great but next time I'm going to forget the toasted walnuts as they were just too bitter, and maybe I'll swap the garlic paste for chopped garlic, just to take the edge off.

Don't get me wrong, it was very nice but I think it could be better. Also, after an eight mile cycle ride and two hours of the best rugby since Robert Jones showed Nick Farr Jones how to manage a scrum, it's not the most filling of meals.

sources
marinated goats cheese and walnut salad - Jill Dupliex, Delicious magazine cull so 2005 or 2006

Incidentally - and I knew these pictures would eventually come in useful - here's a shot of me recreating that great R Jones - Farr Jones moment at the same stadium in Brisbane. I'm R Jones *obvs*, to the wheelie bins N F Jones.


And here's me recreating Jerry Guscott's series-levelling try in the same match. Although I think I'm at the wrong end. Even so, how many stadiums can you walk into these days where they'll let you recreate your team beating their team? None I should think...


If only Ron and Sarah could renew their vows, I could do it all again.

smoked mackerel and coconut fishcakes, with hollandaise

Possibly feeling guilty after the week befores manhandling of their crabs, I've been thinking about Barnes Fish Shop a lot recently, and how we should really eat more fushty-fush. Particularly as the 'mongers are so nice when somebody wants to look at all the fish in the window - generally they pick up the biggest fish they can find and pretend to let it eat him...

Anyhoo, I spot this recipe in the August Delicious from hot young Cannuck-Kiwi chef Anna Hansen and despite my bad memories of attempting to cook fish cakes in Lacy Road (Damn you Bill Granger!) I figure 'why not'?

Rather than tea-smoking my own salmon (really?), I replace it with a couple of fillets of smoked mackerel and do you know what? They were really easy to make, and really tasty. Who knew?

A couple of points to note:

• I didn't make the hollandaise but I would say if anything they need something to moisten them up, especially if you over poach your egg
• Also, they could probably do with some time in the fridge pre-cooking just to firm them up a bit
• The combination of the coconut, lemon zest and spring onions give them a hint of thai fishcakes. Only a hint mind
• You need lots of spinach to have a decent amount post-wilting
  

In the end I made six, so I've got a couple for breakfast this week and maybe two for lunch with a salad. Ana louise, quake in fear because we're definitely having non-tea smoked mackerel and coconut fishcakes again!

sources
tea-smoked salmon (mackerel) and coconut fishcakes, with(out) hollandaise - Anna Hansen, Delicious, August 2010, p62

slow-cooked lamb with spring onions, cherries and lemon

Finally, three days after Ana and Milo left for the Island we get some experimental food - I think there's a lesson about the evils of drink for us all!

In theory I'm relatively busy today, but as it turns out I pretty much finished the blog updates yesterday, and I'm not playing golf until later so in between washing clothes and cleaning my bike, I make an executive decision to cook a summery lamb stew I saw in a review of an amazing cook book called Purple Citrus & Sweet Perfume. Apparently it's called Yiahni in Turkish and it gets the nod the basis it needs 2 hours to slowly simmer, so I won't have time to try it during the week...

I have to say it smells pretty amazing as it's cooking, and the only ingredients for most of the simmering are lamb, spring onions and lemon juice. With the final addition of dried cherries I suspect it'll be a bit like the Kebab Bi Karaz, only with more gravy (hopefully).

It's really pungent and zesty and I'm well looking forward to it when I come back from playing golf with my neighbour, Des.

However, I don't factor into account Des' "one pint" actually means "lots of pints and 10 games of pool". So rather than getting home early doors to savour this light stew, I get home hammered at about 2300 starving. I don't give the cherries long enough in the stew, and I basically just scarf it down before collapsing in a stupor.

Despite my crazed-hunger I seem to recall it tasted fairly lovely, but I was more interested in quantity than its delicate qualities. Deffo doing it again mind, and I suspect Kayosaurus will love it.


I've got some for lunch tomorrow so I might actually taste it sober, for the first time.

sources
slow-cooked lamb with spring onions, cherries and lemon - Silvena Rowe, Purple Citrus & Sweet Perfume. Reviewed in Delicious, July 2010, p17