november

Lunch. Spag with hazlenut sauce

Dinner : Chorizo and broad beans with ful puree

Rabbit saddle with stuffing of foreleg meat, pine kernels, parmesan, wrapped in Parma ham; Italian lentils, braised little gem, roast potato wedges (Duke of York)

Lunch: Soda bread, haricots with tomato sauce and saucisson

we oven-dried some tomatoes and cooked down the seedy insides into a thick sauce

Dinner:WR duck liver pate and walnut bread toast

Fillet steak, red wine cream and mushroom sauce, watercress, gnocchi

Avocado with tomato, chilli, cilantro

Sauteed celeriac, green beans, Gorgonzola on walnut bread toast

Baked figs in Parma ham with raspberry vinegar

WR cassoulet with pork belly and chorizo, rocket and chard salad, bread

Simon, Amelia, Dinah

Kabocha squash, lentil, ginger soup

This time I had roasted half the squash in chunks.

Venison casserole with dried orange peel and some red date things, courgettes and linguine

Apple and blackcurrant crumble and cream

A soft Brebirousse, and Old Winchester

Fava bean soup with chilli, cilantro, pickled lemon

Confit of rabbit legs, haricots, salad, bread

Ate out

Lunch: spag with tomato, olives, chilli

Dinner: Pheasant pot-roasted with garlic, caramelised braised chicory, rosti potatoes

Iced lemon mousse with pine kernels and black pepper, lemon curd

1 lemon, zest and juice. 1 egg. 2.5 floz cream. Some pine kernels, fried. Dissolved some sugar in half the lemon juice, then reduced it a bit then added half the zest and some crushed black pepper and coriander. Soaked 1 small leaf of gelatine and added this (it then started to set..). Whipped the cream and added this to the juice; whisked the egg white and folded this in, didn't quite mix all that well because the gelatine was setting stuff. Added pinekernels and decanted into the small alu pudding tins. Put in the fridge for 3 hours then in the freezer for 40 mins. Made a lemon curd with the rest of the juice, zest, sugar, egg yolk, butter. To serve, dip the bowls in hot water for a few seconds, then knife them out. Curd on top.

The texture is really good even if I hadn't got the things mixed that well and I suppose I could have used a teensy bit more sugar.

Lunch: socca (chickpea flour pancakes) with onions

Dinner: At Diana and Martin's

WR aubergine, sundried tomatoes, chevre

Cod baked in Parma ham, green split peas, saute squash with cumin, new potatoes

Duck breasts, sour cherry sauce, spinach, saute potatoes

Raspberries with Framboise and amaretti

WR Pate, apricot and apple chutney, toasted walnut bread

Kabocha squash roasted in yoghurt, ginger, spices; spinach, tomatoes, mint; couscous; yoghurt, tomato, chilli sauce

Roasted peppers, eggs with saucisson and chilli, tomato salsa and a few tortilla chips, saute potatoes

"Christmas fruits", cream and yoghurt

yes, from last xmas..

Ate out

Lunch: spag with tomato and olive sauce

Pork tenderloin, parma ham, roast garlic; porcini and mushrooms in cream with truffle oil, cabbage with juniper, gnocchi

Persimmon marinated in Cointreau, pannacotta flavoured with cinnamon and dried orange peel

The persimmon was nice and ripe. Sometimes I have been disappointed with them. This was a large longish sort, not the squat ones. It is worth it for the orange colour : it is a fabulous thing to brighten up a dull autumn day.

Lunch: red kidney beans in a quasi-Mexican sauce, roasted red peppers, flour tortillas

Dinner: Salad of watercress, pear, fried walnuts, gorgonzola dressing

Suma import walnuts from Kyrgyzstan!

Saddle of hare in cream, cabbage leaves stuffed with the giblets, cabbage with walnuts, polenta

WR scallop and cauli soup

Gratin of potatoes, roasted peppers, taleggio, spinach

Tagliatelle with chicken, mushrooms, cream, sherry, truffle oil; peas

Then we went to the film soc and had the misfortune to be sat near the Perfume Ogress; I expect she groaned at having to sit near the Truffle Two

WR lemon tarts

Sausages, leeks in cream and mustard, mashed potatoes

we had beer tonight for a change, I like beer.

Plum cake, cream, vodka

perhaps we need a plum eau-de-vie

Parsnip and lentil soup with Indian spices

Oxtail, spiced red cabbage, barley

more beer, this time stout

Ate out

Lunch : Ate out

Dinner : Lamb sausages, carrots, courgettes, Moroccan spices, couscous

Dried fruit poached with cinnamon and chilli, pistacios, cream and yoghurt

Lunch: spag with Hare sauce; salad of red cabbage, carrot, walnuts, chilli, avocado oil

Dinner: persimmon, walnuts, chicory, balsamic-avocado oil- lemon and orange zest

Tartiflette (potatoes, cream, taleggio, parma ham) ; squash roasted with chilli, tomato, yoghurt, with fresh tomatoes

WR tomato and onion tartes tatin

Venison steak, sugar snaps, mashed potato

Chilli sardines, tomatoes, toast

Roast parsnips with honey and sesame, onion-stout-cream sauce, watercress and citrus dressing

I'm trying to find good veggie winter dishes in a sort of N.European style. This is good, but it has a sweet bias. The salad and sauce counter the sweetness to some extent. We had winter ale with it, which works - wine wouldn't work.

Avocado, prawns, tomato, chilli, pickled lime, cilantro

Bighams persian lamb parcels, courgettes, bulghar

Smoked trout fishcakes, caper, lemon, cream sauce, spinach

Persimmon curd, shortbread

This did not work.

Bacon, lambs kidneys, chickpeas, chorizo, ovendried tomatoes, red pepper sauce, spinach; bread

Figs poached in balsamic and lapsang souchong, fried almonds, cream

this did work

Lunch: spag with bacon and red pepper sauce

Dinner: Ate out

Lunch: Persian leftover special: chickpeas, red cabbage, Persian spices, cream and yoghurt, fried squash; bulghar

Dinner: at Mike and Philippa's