Monday's supper.

Two friends tonight, I gave them Thai Beetroot soup, a recipe that was in the Guardian a few weeks back.it is so easy,and so different from a Borsch.
You first make a broth of Thai ingredients, ginger, garlic, shallots, lemongrass, Lime leaves, chilli,and gangal,(which I don't have) so I used some TomYum Paste,which is for soup anyway.
About 500 mls of water is poured onto the previously gently fried ingredients. This broth is simmered for about half an hour, then sieved, the beetroot chopped ,and whizzed up with the liquid, and a tin of light coconut milk is added,and then finally some fish sauce,and fresh lime juice to taste. Finally some fresh Coriander scattered on the top.
It really is delicious,refreshing and definitely Thai tasting.
Then we had a sort of Cassoulet, made with duck breast, very good pork sausages ,gigantic white beans, red and yellow peppers,red onions and a tin of tomatoes, with a couple of pieces of orange peel for flavour,and some duck stock to loosen the mixture.gently cooked a low oven for an hour and a half,and severe with a purée of Celeriac.
Some good cheeses, Roquefort , an English Goat 's cheese, and some mature Gouda,
I have almost come to the end of my piece of Guava Paste brought back from Cuba by a friend, but so expensive to buy online! Far nicer than Membrillo.
Finally we ate the Apple and Pineapple Amaretto tart ,which I had such a problem making at the weekend.
A bottle of Prosecco,and an Australian Merlot during the meal.

The perils of being one handed

Today I decided to make some apple and Amaretti tarts. Then had a brilliant idea of using pineapple as well.
Everything went according to plan,until I melted the butter to brush onto the fruit in a small ramekin dish in the microwave.
Taking to out,( and far too hot) it slipped from my hand, and melted butter went all over the wall, the recipe, the work top, and the floor plus broken shards of china. WHAT A MESS,
Had to clean it up fast, before it all solidified, or I went onto the floor,or the cat cut her paws on the very sharp bits.
I shan't be doing this again in a hurry.

Obama's dinner,a late celebration.

As it is Lincoln's birthday today,and Obama is about to give his State of the Union Address, so it is a very auspicious day to celebrate.
We had Butternut Squash soup, with Basil Mayonnaise,plus the cloverleaf Cornmeal rolls.
Then baked ham ,with Sweet corn fritters, mixed vegetables ,Mangetout peas, cucumber and leeks,just quickly done in the Wok, with hot parsley sauce and a cranberry and orange relish. Finally Key Lime Pie, not that we had much room for that!
A bottle of Pink Fizz.to start,and then a bottle of Tempranillo from Spain.
I did take a picture of the soup ,with a roll beside it, but somehow it seems to have gone astray .

Sunday rolls

Made a start on my American dinner to celebrate Obama's second term, but postponed until this Tuesday due to heavy snow.
We will have Butternut Squash Soup, with Clover Cornmeal rolls,which I have just made. I have
followed the recipe absolutely as written by Patrica Lousada, and they look good
Certainly they have grit,which is what I suppose cornmeal does.
Then Baked Ham, with Cranberry and Orange relish, Sweetcorn fritters,and Mangetout peas with Cucumber.
Finally a Key Lime Pie.
Champagne to toast his Presidency, and then who knows? I have some Australian red which might do the trick.

The weekend

Well, strictly speaking , to include Friday as well.
Having endured the road being up for three months, I had a visit from Barry,the fish an.he had some beautiful lemon sole fillets,which were huge,so around them(and only two for lunch) I pan fried the sole,and made a vegetable Risotto to go with it. Delicious!
Then we had an icecream ,made with whipped Cream, broken up meringues ,icing sugar,and some Kirsch to taste.this was frozen in a loaf tin, which makes it easier to cut,and was served with fresh pineapple ,mango pus a few blueberries for colour.
On Saturday I had more friends round, and this to end we had a smoked Haddock Chowder,with fish, leeks,potatoes milk and parsley,plus some homemade bread.
Then more of the icecream from the day before, but this time I added some cooked plums,but they had very little flavour,so I added some frozen fruits that were in the freezer. Puréed the fruits ,and then sieved it all to make a strong flavoured sauce.
As hey had ready had a big lunch, we didn't have anything else. Just a bottle of Prsecco.

Saturday cooking.

Four for lunch today, have made a big lasagne,which I hope will be enough for teenage boys ,a dad and me,followed by an apple and Amaretto tart.
Must remember to ask one of them to take out the lasagne,as I have dropped too many on the floor ,thinking I can do it with only one hand,and it turns into a disaster,broken dish,or burned hand,or both.
I have at last boiled up the final Seviiles,which I had put into the freezer,rather than waste them by not finding time to make more marmalade.
Ths time, I have cooked with the Sevilles ,some Sicilian blood oranges,with a lemon ,and the resulting brew is a fabulous pink colour. Has made six pots.i have had such trouble this year as I wanted to make the marmalade less sweet,and of course, it wouldn't set ,twice I have had to reboil,which always results in far less jars than hoped for.
Tomorrow, two friends who share a birthday, for a celebratory lunch.
We will have salmon wrapped in filo pastry ,with a dip,and then I am trying the famous Three Bird Roast from Lidl! All the usual accompaniments ,roast potatoes and roast parsnips and carrots and then some curly kale. Cranberry and orange sauce,as I had some cranberries on the freezer
Finally ,a meringue , cream and Kirsch concoction,with fruit purée .
We will drink Champagne in their honour ,and then a Merlot from Australia.no we didn't drink that, we had a bottle of red Baumes de Venise 2007,and very good it was too!

I am such an idiot.

Today ,as I can't get out due to the snow, I thought I would make some flapjacks.
Plenty of Muesli and porridge oats, and some dried fruits as well.
Everything was going according to plan,and I was just putting the mix into a tray,when Mike,my Physiotherapist arrived.
Since I wanted to UT the flapjacks not the oven,I decided to scatter one pumpkin seeds over the top, but I took out Kalonji seeds,BLACK ONION SEEDS INSTEAD.
Too late,as I couldn't scrape them off,so it will be interesting to see if anyone notices a strange flavour. You can clearly see the seeds.