This weekend

My girlfriend was away so I didn't bother to cook much, or do much of anything really. I just sat around the house in my pants, watched lots of Seinfeld and got pissed.



No, it's not something I sicked up as a result of too much beer, it's risotto with brocolli and parmesan.
Fry some garlic and onions gently in some olive oil, then add the rice, chicken stock bit by bit, then with the last bit of stock, add the brocolli. Season, then grate over some parmesan just before serving. Ooh, I forgot that there was some dried thyme chucked in just before I started to add the stock.




Fishcakes. Made from leftover mashed potato, the tail end of a smoked haddock fillet, some grated parmesan, and dried breadcrumbs.

Poach the haddock with a bay leaf for about 5 minutes in boiling water. Remove the skin and flake the fish into a bowl with the potato. The potato, if left over is presumably seasoned, but if not just add a bit of salt and pepper. Mix in the parmesan and attempt to form 'cakes'. Mine were supposed to be round but didn't really end up like that. Anyway, they were then rolled in some flour, then in some beaten egg, and then into the breadcrumbs (which were also seasoned). Then they got deep fried until brown. They were well nice.

River Cottage

This is another well late post as it happened back in November, but anyway. The company what I used to work at bought me a day at River Cottage, the main point of the day was to butcher a pig and learn about all the different cuts of meat and stuff. NICE.

And it was too. As the pig was dismantled, all the bits were laid out on a tray. Then at the end of the day there was a sort of raffle where people could choose which bit they wanted. As well as some sausages, I got to take home a pork fillet that was cut open, stuffed with paté, and wrapped in bacon and sage, all done by Hugh himself. I didn't get round to taking a snap after it had come out of the oven, but it was very good.

On the day we also had some wicked roast pork for lunch, washed down with Stinger booze.

Sorry

So, back in May I got a new job and moved house so I kind of had more important stuff to do then write about my dinner. I have also recently questioned any worth or point in writing about my dinner. I mean, who cares?

But anyway, I'll carry on as normal for now.

So these are the highlights since May...

Spaghetti with cod and leeks



My first yorkshire puddings



We got a garden with our house so it was nice to eat outside during the summer. Despite not actually buying a proper barbecue we managed to barbecue lots of nice things. Ribs, burgers, sausages, prawns and lots of fish.

This mackerel had a bit of curry paste smeared onto it. I can't remember exactly what I put in the paste, but I remember cinnamon. If that helps.



Some sea bass done very simply with just a few herbs. After a while I did learn that if you don't try and move the fish too quickly you won't end up with loads of skin all over the barbecue.



Some nice mushrooms that we bought at Broadway Market which made a very nice risotto.




A small paté made with one chicken liver, which, despite the picture, was very nice.



So, yeah, not loads of highlights it would seem...