october

Rocket, bacon, tomatoes in balsamic

Risotto with leeks, mushrooms, poached egg

Wild salmon, lime, peas, potato and celeriac rosti

Quince and cream

One of the few fruit from the tree this year. Neither Simon nor Ivan have had much of a decent crop either

Celeriac, bacon, cream, mustard soup with Parmesan

Roast aubergine halves with pomegranate molasses, ginger, garlic, sesame, pumpkin seeds; bulghar with sauteed squash and halloumi

Lunch: Soup of red lentils and carrot, with soda bread

the soda bread recipe was in the newspaper that day. I read it in a bit of a rush. Next time I'll get it right

Dinner: At Ivan and Sarka's

At Ivan and Sarka's

Runner beans stewed in oil and balsamic, garlic; with ham

Risotto of watercress and mountain Gorgonzola

Potato, watercress, cream soup

This was nice but you lose the distinctive pepperyness of watercress when you cook it and it becomes a rather bland green thing

Duck breast, sauce of black olives and Cointreau, sugar snaps, saute potatoes

Meatballs, red pepper, tomato, chilli, tagliatelle; courgettes

Quince and cream

Salad with the remains of the duck, pickled plums

Sweet potato "felafel", salad, halloumi

Ate out

Lunch: Split pea, ham, potato, parsley soup

Dinner: Roast partridge, hazlenut, sage and roast garlic sauce; roast squash with more sage and nuts, blue potatoes

gorgonzola, stinking bishop, caerphilly

Lunch: Ate out

Dinner: WR red onion, tomato, feta tart tatin

Guinea fowl, quince and pistachio stuffing, gravy with quince eau de vie, broad beans, saute potatoes

Aubergine slices and red pesto, red peppers with anchovy, olives, pine kernels, tomato; salad and ciabatta

Baked peaches, cream with creme de peche

Pate and toast

Tagliatelle with sauce of guineau fowl, tomato, cream; salad

Beetroot gnocchi with hazlenut sauce, and gorgonzola

I had roasted 4 beetroot, then pureed them as best I could, then made into a soft dough with some flour. They look very good, very red, but the beetroot does not contribute much flavour, and they are rather chewy, I suppose because of the large flour content. It would be better to include potato next time (or perhaps not bother).

Guineau fowl legs, green lentils, lemon salad

Ate out

Sardines on toast, lemon salad

Squash with yoghurt, paprika, garlic, roasted; spinach, onion, chorizo; bread

I like roasted squash because it becomes more caramelised and less sweet

Lunch: tagliatelle with spinach and gorgonzola

Dinner: Jo, Will, Mark, Navah

Aubergine cubed, fried with pomegranate molasses; fried pistachios; bulghar with yoghurt and mint

As we were showing off our holiday snaps, Central-Asian food would have been appropriate, the only trouble being it's not terribly nice. So this was Iranian-ish

Cassoulet with confit of duck, green salad, bread

Tarte tatin and cream

Isis, single Gloucester, Swaledale goat, Stinking Bishop

Lunch: Salad with bread cubed and dunked in egg, then fried, with saucisson

yes, I'd spent a 2.5 hour ride in the morning trying to come up with a way of using up leftovers. It was ok really

Dinner: Salad, "tartlets" made with the pastry leftovers and various things found in corners of the fridge

Bulghar and aubergine, beetroot, halloumi, hot paprika jelly

Red lentil and saucisson soup, chilli

Tagliatelle with hare sauce, salad

Salad with wasabi dressing

Aubergine fried with sesame, with miso paste; shitake mushrooms with ginger, garlic, chilli, oyster sauce; soba noodles.

Lentil soup, same as tuesday

Linguine with haddock roe, tomato, fennel seed, chilli

Squash, ginger, chilli soup

Half a kabochi squash, 1 oz red lentils, about 1" ginger. This made about 3 portions. Kabochi squash is a dense one like Crown Prince

Linguine with pork and porcini ragu, RWS salad

Lunch: Spag with cream, garlic sauce; salad

Dinner: Ate out

Lunch: risotto of spelt with kale

I had read about this recipe in the latest Hugh F-W television programme, through a review of the programme. Colin found it hard work. I had used non-pearlised spelt, which apparently you have to soak overnight. Colin countered that I don't chew my food properly. I ate what he didn't finish, which is why I am so fat.

Dinner: Courgettes agrodolce with anchovies, pine kernels

Paella with chicken, chorizo etc

marco pierre white soup: chicken, spring onion, bacon

WR filo pies of ham annd leek, spinach, potatoes

Thai curry of sweet potato, aubergine, mushroom, spinach; rice

Pears poached in red wine and spices, posh amaretti

Soup of squash, ginger, quinoa, sweetcorn; pumpkinseed oil

yes, leftovers with other stuff added; nice though

Sausage, haricots, kale and onion, saute potatoes

This time I cooked the kale longer. It was less chewy but took on the overcooked cabbage smell; I've read that you only get this if you cook it covered

Artichoke hearts, ful puree with chilli, garlic, pickled lemon; quinoa with tomato, shallot, cilantro

Squash pannacotta with Indian spices, caramelised

I cooked a 1/8 of a Kabochi squash in milk with saffron, a clove, a cardamom, vanilla sugar, ginger powder. Pureed it with enough milk to make a thick consistency. I suppose it was about 200ml total. Added about 1tbs ground almonds. Used 1 small leaf of gelatine to set it. This wasn't quite enough. I fried some pumpkin seeds with sugar. I suppose this is a cross between "Hallowe'en pumpkin" and Indian Diwali celebration sweeets, whatever it is it is delicious and I think makes up for the kale yesterday.

Ate out