Neely

@Smithy Yes it was good. My way of making tabbouleh is to use equal amounts of mint and parsley… don’t think I’ve had it with cilantro but I can imagine it’s good. The dressing was not measured just a good glug of evoo and a splash of apple cider vinegar with a squeeze of lemon juice … plenty of pepper and salt. I used couscous not bulgur which was ‘soaked’ to fluffiness with a hot vegetable stock.

A light meal of crispy spring rolls with tabbouleh made from garden mint, parsley and tomatoes.

Made chicken and leek risotto. Tasty

I made this below meal just for me one night. Husband was away so I thought I’d invent a dish with ingredients I like . Turned out I didn’t like it. Fried pork dumplings with my concoction of onion, shredded cabbage, spinach and fava beans. I made up a sauce with tomato paste and sweet chilli. It was all too gooey and sweet. The fava beans were mushy and even the dumplings which I like simmered in an Asian broth, were not good being fried…. Oh well you know the saying … you win some, you lose some!! Next night I bought a rotisserie chicken and had it with two salads and some homemade sweet potato fries…… Much better

You can tell when my DH has been cooking and the weather is cooler. Totaly traditional beef stew with onions and carrots ( dreaded rounds) ., served with mash and beans. I am starting to dislike beans and when I see that he’s served them again I have an inward groan. Below…. warm weather again so a salad from me. This was created from fridge left overs and from the garden….a little tin of curry flavoured tuna, bean mix, beetroot, avocado, cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce, sorrel and a sprinkle of feta. Also added some of the spicey lime pickles which I thought tasted good. Not a green bean in sight.

Those noodles back up the thread look so silky and delicious. @liuzhou We had ratatouille again and lamb cutlets again. I’m obsessed with feta at the moment and put little sprinkles of it on lots of things. Sourdough breading for mopping up the juices.

Below…..Breakfast of poached egg, ham and pea shoots with feta bits. I’m using olive oil for splashing on when plated like the TV chefs do (hello Jamie Oliver) more often, and although very late to this particular party, I am enjoying it.

Had a splash out restaurant breakfast. Two poached eggs, hollandaise sauce, fresh baby herbs on grilled sourdough with a good sized helping of smoked salmon. Oh and avocado in there somewhere as well.

@Honkman your dinner of creamy saffron orzo with garlic butter shrimps sounds and looks delicious. We had fish, lightly fried in dusting of seasoned flour …rockling an Australian meaty white fish. As a side there was ratatouille combined with penne pasta.

We had what we call lamb cutlets with mash potato and ”greens”. I “Frenched” the cutlets to take the fat off the long bone and each became a tender two mouthfuls.

Went out for lunch and had a soba noodle lunch bowl which was delicious. You can see above in the photo Husband had lunch scrambled eggs with chill and a croissant

Last nights bread crumbed chicken salad bowl

Spaghetti and meatballs with a rich tomato sauce… rich because it has left over wine in it. The sour cream is not traditional but I saw it in the fridge and I thought “why not”

Breakfast of ham omelette with toasted wholemeal bread.

Sunny summer salads for multiple dinners or sometimes late lunch with occasional use of the BBQ

What else but dumpling soup at the start of the year for lunch.

A quiet New Years Eve for husband and I. We had steak frites and salad for New Years Day… two sauces one green peppercorn with cream and the other creamy horseradish. i couldn’t choose which one, so had both.

We had a traditional Christmas lunch with all the usual suspects plus a large rocket, beetroot, goats cheese and walnut salad. There’s also ham, gravy in the jug and cranberry sauce. We are now into Boxing Day 26th and I must say that the left over salad went better with the cold turkey and left over stuffing this next day. The drink is the Italian Chinotto below.

Typical breakfast for us although bacon is involved only about twice a month. This breakfast was cooked by my husband.

Oh dear @Maison RustiqueAttack of the Killer Squirrels Actually these pickled walnuts were bought in a jar imported from the UK. These ones are a typical pickled Gherkin like taste and disappointingly no hint of walnut coming through. Perhaps made at home and therefore fresher you might get a more walnut taste.

Two meals dictated by the weather. First meal below was beef stew, mashed pumpkin, mashed potato and puréed cauliflower 2nd meal below was smoked salmon salad. The sliced brown ‘things’ are pickled walnuts and the white balls are mini bocconcini.

Squid ink linguine with seafood sauce. (again) … so easy to buy a handful of fresh marinara mix of seafood including mussels, salmon, white fish, shrimp, scallops, calamari rings and make a sauce sometimes tomato based and sometimes not with lemon and thyme. The squid ink gives a nice silkiness to the pasta - I’m hooked.

A few meals we’ve been having this week. Below. Bought Tortellini with red sauce Below Pork chop with pasta and red sauce, plus puréed baby spinach. My red sauce is gently fried onion and garlic in olive oil, a can of tomatoes and usually a pinch of dried basil or maybe oregano. I know I could open a jar of passata but I’ve always done it this way. Below Breaded chicken fillet, salad and nuked potato.

Soup again… we love soup. This time with different mushrooms. Enokitake plus shiitake mushrooms, chicken, coriander, chilli, lemon grass, Vietnamese mint… love an Asian broth soup. The Vietnamese mint is growing like mad in the garden but not so the Vietnamese basil nor the sweet basil.

Centrelink oysters Kilpatrick…Hilarious @CantCookStillTry. They look delicious and I’ll be serving them at a small party I’m having on the 23rd. Salt plus.