Catching up ...

Somehow, life’s been busy these last few days – I have continued to cook and eat, and to do other things too.

We went shooting at the weekend and I’d have done really well, were it not for a few stands that I just couldn’t hit: to be fair, a lot of other people couldn’t either. One stand had two clays that were so fast that I really couldn’t see them properly, never mind swing the gun that fast! (It’s interesting, because one of the stands that most people find difficult [‘Trench’, a slow R-L looper and a very fast high incomer] I do well on, another that’s two slow crossers that others find easy, I can’t hit!). Anyway, it was a lot of fun and we’ve joined the handicapping scheme for next year ...

On to food (the bits I can remember, anyway).

Last Thursday we entertained a friend for dinner (She and Ali go off to an activity later) and we had spaghetti, meatballs and tomato sauce: tasty and fun – I’ll get the splashes of sauce off the walls at some point.

At the weekend we had one of my favourite Autumn/Winter dishes (it’s getting a bit colder now), kidneys Turbigo (named after a town in northern Italy, apparently, in the same manner as Chicken Kiev. Basically, it’s a slow-cooked casserole of lambs kidneys and pork sausage, with onions and green pepper: it was delicious. Fortunately, there was a little left over, so I was able to have that for lunch on Tuesday (it doesn’t freeze well, but keeps in the fridge for a week). I you’re interested in the recipe, let me know and I’ll post it here.

Monday was the old standby of seafood risotto. We eat this a lot, because it’s quick and easy to make; the only issue is trying to make small variations so that it isn’t always the same. This week, I left out the cream and used saffron to season and colour.

Tuesday was steak and chips. I felt the need for something hearty and this fitted the bill well. It was rump steak and (cooked the Heston way) was tender and juicy.

On Wednesday, I went to lunch with an ex-colleague. We dined at Adams in Birmingham. This is quite a new place that does exceptional food (just been awarded a Michelin star). We ate from the ‘light lunch’ menu, such things as pheasant terrine, confit salmon, shin of beef, Pollock with black pudding and textures of chocolate. It was excellent and is highly recommended for that special occasion.

More to follow when I have time ...