MONDAY Morning

Weather’s been very wintry this week, colder than average (the south west got 3 inches of snow on Sunday!) and occasionally wet. We’ve walked when we can and recovered from the stresses of Tuesday and Wednesday.

Had a visit from a colleague on Friday (thank you!).

THURSDAY

We ate:

Channa Korma (this is a ‘cheat’ meal that takes 15 minutes or less: fry an onion and put some rice on to boil. Add a jar of korma sauce to the onion and a can of chickpeas. I usually put some coriander in. Make sure it comes to the boil and the simmer until the rice is done. Easy, and tastes surprisingly good).

FRIDAY

We ate:

Breakfast for dinner (sausage, bacon, black pudding, mushrooms, egg, fried bread).

SATURDAY

Felt as though we had a really busy day! In the evening, we walked to Buonissimo in Harborne, where we had a splendid meal, sat at one of the better tables in the restaurant. Lots of fireworks, though they don’t seem to frighten Kat as much as the doorbell does! (We had the Feliway diffuser on in case, may or may not have helped.)

We ate:

Cozze con Piselli Aglio Olio e Peperoncino, Fresh mussels and peas sautéed with white wine garlic, chilli and olive oil. Finished with parsley (Bob).

Insalata Tricolore, Fresh buffalo mozzarella, tomato and avocado, drizzled with a basil pesto. Served with grilled ciabatta bread.

Stufato di Capriolo, Venison and root vegetable stew. Served with sage and parmesan mash, topped with spinach (Bob).

Pollo Ripieno con Pomodori Secchi e Scamorza, Free range chicken breast stuffed with sun-blushed tomato, scamorza cheese and basil in a spicy tomato and pea sauce. Served wih diced herb potatoes, mustard toast carrots.

Rum Baba al Cioccolato, Traditional napolitan sponge soaked in rum with a delicious chocolate filling (Ali).

SUNDAY

Sunshine and showers, but only about 6C. Pleasant in the afternoon.

I seemed to spend all the day cooking (not that I mind, there are many worse ways to spend the time). Did potage Crècy (carrot soup) for lunch. In the evening we ate:

Steak and Kidney Pudding (really quite traditional, except that they were individual puddings, rather than a shared big one) made more-or-less to Heston Blumenthal’s recipe (actually, made with his techniques, I guess; his is an ox-tail pudding) with creamed savoy cabbage with lardons.
Ali made Orange &Lemon Curd Pudding for dessert – excellent!