april

YP beetroot soup

Venison steaks, creme de myrtilles, mushrooms, cream; courgette, mashed potato

WR brie and tomato tarts

Bighams lamb parcels, fried aubergine, rice and turmeric

Ate out

Lunch: Soba noodles with cabbage, green beans, chilli, mirin

Dinner: Trout with ras el hanout, butter beans with saucisson, watercress, potatoes

The trout was good, the beans and potatoes were both sweet and creamy which clashed a bit with the sharpness of the watercress; clashed rather than contrasted

Maple and pecan ice cream, date and maple sauce

Breakfast: Aloo Parantha, dhal

Colin had bought some frozen Aloo Paranthas and they are rather good

Lunch: spag

Colin had a proper lunch and I had sandwiches at a junction on the B4068. But I had a nice ride and Colin's ride involved punctures and broken pumps.

Dinner: WR salmon terrine

Veal involtini, stuffed with risotto, mushroom, lemon, coriander; cream sauce, potatoes, RWS salad

Lamb shank, pearl barley, peas with shallot and butter

WR chocolate tarts

RWS with feta, lemon, black pepper

Red pepper, couscous with courgette RasElHanout

Not sure if bunging R-e-H into couscous raw quite works, it's probably a spice mix best cooked into a sauce

Butter beans, porcini and flat mushrooms, bread, salad

Chestnut pave

Ate out

Feta, lettuce and tomato

pasta with red and yellow peppers, saucisson

Spag, lamb with tomato and olive sauce, rocket

Raspberries in Framboise, cream, shortbread

NCG split pea and ham soup

Meatballs, orange pepper sauce, soured cream, courgettes, tagliatelle

Smoked Mackerel, potato with cream, caper, mustard sauce, lettuce

Salad of Asparagus, peas, soyabeans, lemon, Parmesan, lettuce, fried polenta cakes

this was simple and rather pretty. I don't quite know the right quantities for making polenta so that it sets stiff enough to fry

Haricot, green lentils, saucisson, spring greens, chilli; homemade ciabatta

I made the bread dough previous evening. I used 6oz flour and 1/3 tsp Doves yeast. I didn't measure how much water went in but I kept adding more, as much as it would take. I was probably playing with it for about 20 minutes. The dough can take a lot of water, and it goes wonderfully stretchy and glossy and comes clean off your hands. I let it rise overnight then knocked it down in the morning and put it in the fridge. When I got home I decanted it onto a baking sheet and went for a 20-minute run (I have a bit if a cold so that's all I felt up to). I think I let it rise 30 mins. Then in a hot oven for 30-40 mins; I also put some water in a baking tray in the oven. I am recording all this because the resulting bread was Fantastic. Big airy holes like ciabatta and a real chewy and full taste. I did not add any oil (except on the top)

Lunch: Ate out

Dinner: Saddle of rabbit, kidney, risotto of asparagus and wild garlic

.. which of course entails a ride up to Birdlip. 41.2mph descent.

Rhubarb fool with ginger meringue

Breakfast: aloo parantha, dhal, pickle

Lunch: spag with asparagus sauce

ends of asparagus, pureed then sieved; didn't taste of much

Dinner: Seabass, fennel-olive-tomato, fried potatoes

Cherry brandy and cantucci ice cream

Really Interesting Co. Mexican bean soup

Aubergine slices with red pesto, red peppers with spinach and chevre, spinach salad, ciabatta

Pasta with chicken, saucisson, peppers, tomatoes; courgettes

Grilled peaches, cream, shortbread

Ate out

Hummus, pitta, olives

Salad of : fried halloumi with ReH, fennel escabeche, bulgar, orange and grapfruit, lettuce

I dredged the halloumi with reh and fried it, this works well

Rabbit legs, cream sauce, haricots, fried potato

Lemon cheesecake

Lunch: Spag with cream, garlic sauce

Dinner: Salad of quinoa, spring onion, green soybeans, little gem, chilli, feta

this was a bit rubbish. I'd followed the instructions on the quinoa packet, cooked the q and left it to absorb the rest of the water but it ends up very watery.

Lunch: Spag carbonara

Dinner: WR scallop and cauli soup

Guinea fowl stuffed with couscous, red pepper, salted lemon, pinekernels, olives; roast potatoes with r-e-h, courgette

grilled big mushrooms with gorgonzola and balsamic truffle glaze

Fillet steak with olive puree and gratin crust; aubergine, peppers, tomates, rosti

puree was: 8 black olives, 1 big caperberry, 1/2 clove garlic. This was very good. Fried the steak, then put in gratin dish, put puree on top then breadcrumbs then grill it a bit

Fried potatoes and celeriac, red peppers, gorgonzola; watercress

Pear, sliced, fried in butter, then with poire Williams, shortbread, cream

Salad of watercress, gorgonzola, walnuts, pear

..colins leftovers

GF legs, puy lentils, chorizo, green beans, potatoes

.. more leftovers

Cauli, cream, parmesan soup

Salad of eggs, bacon, artichokes, green beans, potatoes, lettuce

Should have put in more bacon. The lettuce was a WR "gourmet" trio, but I'm not that impressed, the are a bit watery and samey