bill granger's crispy chicken and cavalo nero

As it's a Monday, do not expect an awful lot of excitement. By the time I get back from work Milo is already zonked out from a heady Monday spent at Nursery and cycling around the park with Isla, so all we've got left to do is watch the new series of Glee, and choose whether we're going to eat fish, or chicken... Oh the giddy heights of urban living!

Actually I *am* mildly excited because I want to road test my new Le Crueset deep frying pan, so Billy G's crispy chicken it is!

Needless to say the pan is a triumph, I love this pan more than life itself! Not only did it crisp the chicken perfectly, it also wilted the cavalo nero, (which I managed to inexplicably buy for 27p from Sonny's, Barnes' most expensive deli, and which was stripped using Dave Taylor's patented method), in a trice.

For your delectation and delight, I've also managed to squeeze two more updates to the recent past:

• Home alone with some cep & potato stew;
• An experimental Bill Granger porcini and pancetta risotto.

Food of the Milos
Breakfast: Humzinger, porridge and a smoothie;
Lunch: Humzinger (again) and rice cakes on the way back from nursery, houmous, carrot sticks, a cheese sandwich and an apple;
Dinner: Vegetable bolognese, which he's now decided he doesn't like. This strangely reminds me of somebody else... Mango and custard for dessert.

sources
crispy chicken and cavalo nero - Bill Granger, Simply Bill, p38

sausage and lentil hotpot

Oh I ache today - curse you rugby!

Today was supposed to be action-packed, a whirlwind of doing stuff and getting things sorted, but it ends up a slightly drizzly damp squib in terms of boxes ticked. On the upside we have a lot of fun, even if mine and Ana's fun consists of buying a new frying pan and a tea caddy with the vouchers my mum gave us for Christmas.

Luckily for both our sanity, Kay and Mike decide to come up for a day Milo-wrangling around Kew Gardens, whilst we battle the Kings Road sales crowd alone. With ferry timetables pressing, and it being a bit grey outside, we have an old favourite stew, sausage and lentil hotpot from the black book. Mike only has lentils and sausages, but everybody else has broccoli.

Sadly I forgot to take a picture, but it looked vaguely like this, only without the arrow. It was very nice though.

Food of the Milos
Brunch: breakfast nibbles, toast, porridge;
Lunch: Egg sandwiches and cake;
Dinner: Sausage & lentil hotpot, broccoli, custard

sources
sausage and lentil hotpot - Le Libre Noir!

jill dupleix's white bean polpettine with turmeric potatoes

It's a Saturday night, and what better way to spend it than sat in the warm, with a glass of vino tinto, a plate of polpettine and turmeric potatoes, and a brilliant Midsomer Murder on the TV... Hang on, haven't we been here before?

Okay, so this is the third Saturday night running we've done and eaten exactly the same thing, but technically we *are* middle-aged now, and there's something very comforting and satisfying about a demi-healthy meal, replete with what are effectively curry chips, and a good murder on the TV.

Actually we do have some variety today. Although we don't deviate from the now-established weekend breakfast of pancakes (note to self: must buy more maple syrup), Kendra and Finn come over for a morning romp to take their minds off their post-NZ jet lag. Later whilst Milo gets his haircut, I get some man-romping action in with a rampaging (my description) performance at Number 8 in the Vets pack. I even scored our last try from approximately minus one metre when our fly-half made the mistake of passing when all he needed to do was fall over to score. Sadly, despite having to jump at four in the line-out, nobody will lift me as I'm deemed too athletic - the shame! After all that, who wouldn't want to eat curry chips?

Food of the Milos
Brunch: toast-banana cakes-apple nibbles, more toast, three pancakes;
Dinner: Defrosted vegetable pasta bolognese, yoghurt, hole in the wall game, total wipeout

sources
white bean polpettine - Jilly D, the Parsley Book
turmeric-spiced potatoes - Bill Granger, Holiday, p191

bill granger's chilli bean burritos

Because we've tried not to drink during the week since the New Year, the past couple of Friday night's have been fairly silly, as we watch stupid telly and get drunk on cornershop wine. However tonight it's all change: We had wine last night, Ana's out tonight and I'm home alone. 

Since seeing Dan Brown (not that one) eating a burrito at work today, I've had a hankering for Billy G's version, with a little bit more chilli in than is strictly necessary, and a side order of tangy radish sprouts. Do you like the arrangement? I made a little station to construction them on the work surface, rather than doing it all on a plate:

Today's retro update: Last Wednesday's chick pea and spinach curry.

Food of the Milos
We'll have to wait for Ana to get back from the boozer to discover what Milo had today. I'm guessing boiled egg by the egg cups in the washing up rack, and he had half my porridge for breakfast, but that's all I know.

sources
chilli bean burritos with sweetcorn salsa - Bill Granger, Every Day, p56

simon hopkinson's tomato curry

Somehow, and I'm not sure how, we seem to have a plethora of options tonight - burritos, curry, two sorts of soup; take your pick. Faced by the choices, Ana makes an executive decision based on the fact she's out tomorrow night and doesn't fancy burritos.

Tomato curry it is then, and one which has to be bulked up by baby plum tomatoes because I used too many big ones in Monday night's roasted tomato soup. It was still nice though, and giving it more time to simmer away really makes the sauce extra creamy.

As an extra bonus for you, not only have I managed to deal with last Monday's keralan fish curry (although one week on, and Ana still hasn't started eating cream horns in her bra at midnight, ala Nigella), but I've also done Tuesday's dinner. An experimental Leon dish which possibly constitutes our smallest meal ever.

Food of the Milos
We're all up slightly late today, so we don't have time to try and cram any breakfast into him before he goes. But as Ana realises, Julia gives him stuff when we drop him off, so he probably doesn't need any(more).
Breakfast: Weetos, toast & Philadelphia;
Lunch: Boiled egg, tomato soup and yoghurt;
Dinner: Left-over gnocchi, which we discover he does not like. He makes up for it by guzzling pineapple though.

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

bill granger's miso fish with spring onions & sesame seeds

Sorry sorry, I'm a bit late tonight as I was watching the mighty Gunners put Nasty Leeds to the sword, much to Ana's disgust.

In fact, whilst I was busy missing the first quarter because I was emptying the dishwasher, putting the food bin out and cooking dinner, she was on Facebook claiming I wasn't the perfect husband. I may be having words, particularly as I later had to massage her poor aching muscles from Monday's Bobblehat Blitz. This will be logged for the next Vets match.

Anyway, dinner. This is one of Ana's picks under our new rules of weekly meals (we both choose half each, although you can overrule), and it's one I've been avoiding for a couple of reasons, neither of which are fish-based:
1. Of all Bill Granger's recipe books, Feed Me Now is my least favourite. Having said that we've had a sudden run of decent recipes from it this year - salmon and orzo, and a mushroom risotto - so I'm willing to give it a go;
2. I'm not a massive fan of miso soup. Unfortunately the only miso paste I could find was a miso soup paste mix.

However, I/we are pleasantly surprised by the outcome.

Ana hits the nail on the head, describing it as "worthy" and it is pretty much a plate of virtuousness: grilled fish, steamed pak choi, plain boiled rice. Not only was it very easy and quick to make, the flavour wasn't nearly as powerful as I was expecting, being quite subtle and delicate.

Incidentally Les Bren, totally coincidentally I noticed on the packet Ocado's haddock is line-caught, so extra virtue points all round! I wonder if I can ask them if they were also hand dived..?

Food of the Milos
Even though it's a Julia/Nursery day, we're trying get Milo to eat some breakfast before he goes, which so far has proved a bit difficult. However today we have a minor success, possibly because he's a bit under the weather and sleepy, and he actually eats some of my porridge before we head out into the icy world of SW14.
Breakfast: porridge (here), Weetos, toast and Philadelphia (there);
Lunch: tomato soup, cheese on toast, a pepperami and custard, hopefully not together;
Dinner: pasta and cheese (also at Julia's)

sources
miso fish with spring onions & sesame seeds - Bill Granger, Feed Me Now, p78

oven-roasted pepper and garlic gnocchi

As promised, first up here's a picture of Ana and Milo's butterfly cakes. I had another one and half tonight when I got home - mmmmm!

Honestly, they can cook every day if there's a lovely platter of cakes on the table when I get home. Buoyed by cake, I take a quick trip down the road to buy some Feta whilst roasting a pot of peppers, garlic and tomatoes in the oven. I have to run mind, because you only let them tick away for 20 minutes before you cook the gnocchi. It's an oldie, but a sturdy favourite for a chilly night.

I have managed to keep yesterday's promise, so if you're interested we had Heston's pea and pancetta spaghetti on Sunday.

Food of the Milos
Breakfast: toast and nibbles, followed by some snacks of humzingers and Marmite rice cakes;
Lunch: leek and potato soup, toast, clementines and inevitably, butterfly cakes at Claire and Isla's;
Dinner: Pasta with cream cheese and peas, followed by fruit salad.

sources
oven-roasted pepper and garlic gnocchi - Delicious, One Month Healthy Eating booklet, February 2007, p16