Just cooked my fantastic roast meal

Spatchcock poussin roasted in the oven for an hour, with garlic, lemon pieces and bay leaves underneath it, finally for the final five minutes ,a dusting of fennel pollen over the crispy skin.
My mouth is watering at the thought of eating it, and with it I have just wilted some spinach. That's enough.
Can't wait ........

Chillies!

Here are the chillies that were brought back from Italy. tomorrow I shall make roasted chilli jam, a recipe given to me by someone in South Africa.

Here are three of the nine jars made just now. The chillies were a complete nightmare to peel, even though I had put them under the grill to blacken the skins. They are also fiendishly hot, I had streaming eyes,and had to enlist a friend to help peel them ,as with only one hand I kept on getting chilli flesh all over my hand, not a good idea!
The jam is first blitzed in the processor then white wine vinegar added and finally dark brown sugar and white sugar . This is boiled up until it reaches setting point . However, I do have dinky little jars for them. The three are on a side plate, so you can tell they are very small. Shall I dare give some as Christmas gifts?

Sunday Breakfast

Blueberry pancakes,loads of coffee,croissants with homemade jams plus smoked trout and scrambled eggs. What's not to like?
We had the pancakes with some runny honey rather than Maple syrup, and they were fine.

Last weekend I made some crunchy relish,the recipe says to use Tamarind, but, I didn't have any, so I sent a grandson to look for some in the Supermarket. As he couldn't find any,I used lime juice. This week I discovered Tamarind in the Thai section when I was shopping, so decided to make more ,with the correct ingredients. There are four main ingredients red cabbage, grated carrots ,some finely sliced ginger and red chillies. Plus sea salt,tamarind or lime juice, Nam Pla a Thai fish sauce , rice vinegar and palm sugar
It is quite noticeable how the jar made with the lime juice is much redder and brighter than the one where I have used the tamarind. The juice should be drained off before using but it keeps for ages in the fridge.
Oh I almost forgot, I made some marmalade as there were three Seville oranges in the freezer from early February, cooked with some lemons and a couple of sweet oranges it has made five jars, which should be enough for the family to have before the next batch in 2013.

Other people's recipes.

This week I have been using recipes from other sources rather than mostly out of my head.
I have bought Paul Hollywood's book How to Bake,and made three things from it. I love his blue eyes!
First, Flatbreads ,this same recipe was also featured by Nigel Slater, which I filled with chopped spring onions and mozzarella ,then cooked in a pan rather than in the oven, then a marble cake that surprisingly uses strong bread flour in the mix, and some Raspberry Muffins, which were delicious.
Tonight I have done Hugh FW's vegetable chilli,(recipe in today's Guardian) for my supper and will have the rest tomorrow with a friend.
Finally I tried Lorraine Pascal's zebra cake, but must have read the recipe wrongly as it was far too wet a mix, and therefore didn't rise up as high as it should have done .
However it looked a bit like hers, and even with only one hand that works, using a teaspoon to put the batter in the tin , it still came out in many layers when it was cut into , and I gave this to my granddaughter to take to back with her to University.
Things don't always go as one would wish them to.
Finally I used the last of a pot of basil to make pesto, it was enough to fill a medium pot, so that waits in the fridge to be used very soon,covered with a slick of oil to stop it oxidising and going dark .

A summery pudding'

I made this last week when two friends came for supper.
We ate a lamb tagine with butternut squash, carrots, red onions,and prunes. spices were cinnamon cumin and salt with plenty of black pepper,the liquid from a large tin of tomatoes.
Then I went off for the weekend to Cornwall, taking with me an enormous fish pie . I cooked salmon, smoked haddock, a small monkfish tail and prawns with a sauce made from fish stock and mushrooms, as one of the party of four does not drink alcohol at all.
Then we had a late Summer Pudding, using plums,raspberries and blackberries plus some pears and a few red currants that had been in the freezer.
There was enough to have more another day.

Fruit jelly.wobbly wobbly .

Is this the last of the summer? I have made this using strawberries,yellow raspberries and blueberries . The jelly is rosé wine plus a little lemon juice and sugar
Also we will start with two fish pâtés and then some Beef Stroganoff to follow.
Wish we could be outside, but it will be too cold.

Curry for lunch.

My grandson Douglas stayed last night and this morning we made two curries for lunch. A vegetable one with potatoes, carrots and peas with Cumin and one dried chilli. Also a chicken and tomato one with black pepper corns, a stick of cinnamon some cardamom pods ,cumin and salt cayenne and Garam Masala.
His choices, and they were tasty and not too fierce . With them we made a Cucumber Raita and had some Pappadums and Naan bread .plus of course, a shared can of lager.