Joe and Karen's wonderful Christmas/New Year's hamper present
was amazing! It contained mince pies,christmas pud, cheeses, wine
and a beautful large piece of rib roast beef with roasting
potatoes in goose fat!! When this finished roasting with the potatoes
it tasted juicier than Brad Pitt's dickie once Angelina Jolie had
finished with it.... mmmmm sooo scrummy!! ( the meat )

it was about time I had a go at baking my first loaf. So I did.
There's nothing like the first taste of home baked fresh bread, beats
even the first taste of Sally on a Saturday morning.

Say no more, except the pork crackling did.

not feeling too good as monday goes by.Hot and cold. Hot and cold.
Try to sort it out with a hot soak and warm milk with lithuanian honey frisked in with a large dollop of mcallans scotch. No one will know anyway. Very good tele at 9pm but got no kudos to watch this brill mystery thriller.

Fresh trimmed large marrow and fresh sliced runner beans kindly donated by Nigel F this morning. Ingredients : marrow, runner beans,
onion,garlic. fresh minced beef,bacon garnish, new potatoes,mushrooms,
and baked in foil to perfection - with home made gravy.
It's called THE MOLDOVIAN BRICKLAYERS MARROW BAKE. A tasty little lunch dish, and enough left for a late dinner.

Late Saturday roast today. Flash fried chicken thighs in garlic,
mixed herbs, seasonings, roasted to perfection with squeeze of lemon.
Served with beer battered chips and savory peas, with a large glass
of Mathilde Cote du Rhone. Scrummy.  

Was kindly given a fresh Rainbow Trout to try and cook first time.
Wrapped in foil with fresh rosemary, lemon and butter with sprinkling of loose herbs - steamed in the halogen steamer for 25mins at 200c.
Oh wow! A lovely aroma drifted through the kitchen, then the taste, cooked to perfection - the meat just melted in my mouth.Oh my! Bliss!
With boiled new potatoes and garden peas, an early supper for Friday night,

Mine host, landlord of The Vale (my local)at the 21st Birthay Party Bash of his daughter Shelly, 5 September 2009.Many colourful fancy dresses came and had a great time.Cheers!

lunch before the Saturday night's fancy dress bash at the Vale was
marinated pork chop garnished with a wedge of crispy pork and a
delicious gravy with a cooling glass of white wine.

Windy rainy weather outside, but inside a plate of cod loin, foil
wrapped in butter, lemon juice and herbs, served with boiled and par grilled sliced potatoes and minted petite pois. The tipple for afters
is Stumbras - a wake me up Lithuanian vodka.

Who will ever know how succulent my butterfly roast lamb turned out?
It made lunch and dinner a treat, with steamed button mushrooms and a
gravy to die for twice. Apres Bank Holiday treat with fresh vegs on the side.

Celebrated new ISP Server connection with a quick culinary lunch - roast pork belly with cripsy crackling (a la Jamie Oliver inspiration)
and a light lager shandy. Later, down to pub for a beer break.

Freshy baked in the halogen oven - a plum&pear tarte in shortcrust pastry.I'ii have this for pudding with a scoop of ice cream.
Getting to grips with knocking up the pastry and poaching the fruit.
Aroma smells better than a whiff of Dolce Gabbana perfume.

Tonight's supper was a lamb shank cooked in the slow cooker for 6hrs,
in a liquid cover of lamb stock, red wine, garlic and fresh rosemary.
This was my variation of Nigella Lawson's recipe method. OMG what a taste !!! After taking it out of the slo cooker and whacking it in the halogen oven for 15mns to crisp. O wowie. I tasted heaven on my fork.This was positively THE BEST lamb shank supper ever.O the aroma! o the flavours!
o goodnight.

Today I baked my first ever tart following a michelin star chef's recipe. A Pear and Frangipan Tart. Made my own pastry and almond frangipan mix, poached the pears in sugar,cinnamon,vanilla pod,
lemon and orange zest.Wow, what a delicious aroma wafted through my
kitchen! And it tasted as good as it looked too. Should have got some
ice cream to go with it, or a dollop of creme fraiche. Maybe next time.

My new halogen mini oven has just arrived. I've just switched it on
to see how it works. Now for some roast pork and crackling at last!
Now we're cookin'.... yum yum

After listing two more collectables on ebay, the sun came out so I
whipped out the bar b que and whacked some marinaded meaty spare ribs
while reading the papers and sipping Cote de Ventoux. Worth the trouble because the ribs were extremely tasty.

Cooking this morning's breakfast with new griddle pan and little egg
frying pan ( both kindly donated by Nigel) Lovely.

moonriver

Sunday lunch was prepared today by Marijus of Klaipeda, Lithuania.
Chicken and wild mushroom lovage hotpot with a salsa salad.
Tasted lovely.