Veal Escalope with Boccatini

Friday, 29th April

Another attempt at veal escalope, which worked much better. Flattened the veal and dusted it with flour, then gently pan fried it in butter with sage, for about 2 minutes each side. Added some lemon juice after turning the escalopes. Sauce for the pasta is very simply gently sauteed onions and garlic, with diced tomato and chopped basil added shortly before serving.
The tomato sauce was very good, but the pasta needed more of a coating, so we poured on extra olive oil at the table. The meat came out pretty well, although still not as tender as I would like. Veal with lemon and sage is a great combination.
A very nice caprese salad as a starter and a good bottle of Prosecco, made for a delicious meal.

Chicken and Shitake on rice

Wednesday, 27th April

This should be Oyakodon (Chicken and Egg Rice - literally "parent and child rice bowl"), but I didn't have any eggs, and I don't really like egg anyway. So I improvised with mushroom, but used the basic recipe from Traditional Japanese Recipe Book, p22. Gently sautee onion, add chicken that had been previously quickly blanched in boiling water, add stock, mirin, and soy. Cook through, add shitake and cook for a couple of minutes, top with sliced spring onion and serve over rice. I wonder if the Japanese use a much paler sort of soy sauce than we get here, because my sauces always turn out much darker than the ones shown in the pictures with the recipes.
Anyway this was very good and the chicken and mushroom combination was excellent.

Lamb braised in White Wine

Friday, 22nd April (evening)

Done in the slow cooker while I was out. Braised the lamb in white wine with bacon, onions, garlic and rosemary. Served with sauteed potatoes.
The lamb came out wonderfully tender, but still with a nice meaty texture and flavour. The slow cooking helped the sweetness of the onions to come through, and cooked them perfectly without reducing them to mush. A hearty Turkey Flats Shiraz washed it down well.

Rhubarb Crumble

Friday, 22nd April (morning)

I put a rhubarb plant in a pot on the balcony last year and this year is seems to be doing very well. A nice little crop already, just enough for an individual crumble. Yummy!

Barbecue chicken and chips

Wednesday, 20th April

Easy food for a lazy, sunny evening. Not actually barbecued but cooked in the oven in a Stubbs Original BBQ sauce, which is always tasty. Accompanied by the right beer in the wrong glass. A delicious 12° Barley Wine called Geisha, from an italian brew-pub called Birrificio Troll. In a Kölsch glass. :)

Poussin in white wine, sage and lemon

Sunday, 17th April

I braised the poussin in a casserole on top of the stove, with white wine, grated lemon peel, shallots and sage (from the balcony!) and served it with sauteed potatoes.
The wine was a little old and, after adding it, I thought the sauce smelled as though it was going to come out rather sour. So I chopped up a few prunes and added those, which worked a treat. The sauce came out just right and nicely balanced between the zesty lemon and the sweet, rich prunes.  The meat of the poussin was delicious, especially the breast. Definitely worth a repeat.
No photo with this one. The photos I took turned out awful and made the meal look surprisingly unappetising, given how good it was.

Stilton and Fig tart - Creamy Morel Crostini

Saturday, 16th April

Party food! Stilton and Fig Tart (Tea at Fortnum and Mason, p51) and Creamy Morel Crostini.
The fig and stilton tart appealed to me from the first moment I saw the recipe. The filling is onions topped with beaten eggs and cream, then sliced figs and crumbled stilton.
It was pretty good but actually, the flavours didn't come out as strongly as I had hoped and I wish now that I had used more stilton.
The tart was also supposed to have a dressing made from walnut and olive oils, wine vinegar and chopped toasted walnuts. But after making it and tasting it, I decided against using it. I was worried that adding another strong flavour was going to mask the tastes of the fruit and cheese, which was a good decision as it turned out.  I did drizzle some walnut oil over at the last minute though.
While buying the figs and cheese I saw morels in the shop and wanted to make something with those as well. Hunting on the internet turned up a few ideas that sounded way too complicated, so I went for a nice simple option.  I chopped shallots and bärlauch and halved the morels, and then softened these together for a few minuted, then added a small tub of cream and reduced it to a thick sauce. Sliced french bread coated with olive oil and a little salt and toasted in the oven served as the base.  Very good although, again, the flavour of the morels didn't come through as strongly as I would have liked.
This was also, by chance, a vegetarian combination!