Neely

I sliced a little fish off husbands dinner of flake and used it to make a very simple kedgeree for breakfast which I enjoyed.

Chicken broth with a few vegetables including mushrooms and pork dumplings.

Visited a friend in a coastal fishing small town where they have a delightful fresh fish shop which backs onto the sea with its own jetty and fishing vessels, so you know the fish is going to be fresh. We had two kinds of fish Flake which is gummy shark and the fish my husband prefers as it is very meaty. I love Orange Roughy ( below ) sometimes known as deep sea perch and I had that. I also bought a dozen oysters and had 6 two nights. They were very good. Sorry about the lighting…now it’s dark at 5.30pm

Long post. Went out to lunch yesterday to an innovative new restaurant recommended to us by a younger person who raved about the food combinations. It was a ‘set menu’ type menu with 3 starters and two mains. The food was shared between 3 of us. Below . Prawn toast brioche, zaatar, preserved lemon Below…Parsnip, shanklish ( a sheep’s milk cheese ) pine nut, barberry, lemon thyme, pickled celery ( I liked this and will try to pickle some celery ) Below…Smoked swordfish, avocado, kohlrabi, sunrise lime Below… Main of Rainbow trout, turnip, snow pea, treacle, anise myrtle Below… Side to Rainbow trout….Lebanese eggplant, goat curd, broccoli, tabouleh Below Main dish ….72 hr beef oyster blade, brussel sprout, tahini, caramelised onion, mushrooms Below side to the beef….Jerusalem artichoke, apple, pecan, long pepper, grapefruit Below View of the restaurant The food was well cooked and some things tasted really good but on the whole I was just overwhelmed by the amount of prominent ingredients. The last dish, the beef was dry and calling out for a red wine jus. There wasn’t one dish that I would go back to the restaurant to have again. Maybe I’m just getting old and picky.

We’ve finished travelling and packing after selling our little country holiday home and I’m feeling tired and washed out. I ordered take out Sweet and Sour pork to be delivered the other night...noticed that they had Mapo Tofu on the menu, so got some of that as well. Big mistake for me as it was so spicey hot I couldn’t eat it ( and I do like my chillis ) Husband had some and finished it off for lunch the next day. That’s the Mapo Tofu on the right looking all innocent.

It was still dark when made these pancakes with blueberries (frozen) for breakfast

It’s just a fried egg on toast but fancied up with thyme, chives and sriracha to celebrate Saturday morning.

Fish two nights two ways. First night crispy skin barramundi, broccolini and snow peas with potato chips and a good old dollop of caviar. Sauce was smoked cod and caviar. While I was cooking last nights dinner I also prepared fish pie which we had tonight made with smoked cod, flake ( shark ) some barramundi and a few prawns. Topped with potatoes and served with broccolini on the side. Again a dollop of caviar because… that’s what we have atm. Before serve

Sunday roast time again, this time roast duck with roast potatoes and an orange and onion salad. The ubiquitous green beans… we seem to eat a lot of green beans. Husband made a sauce/ gravy with some of the juices ( and fat) and he added freshly squeezed orange juice. On Saturday night I made Chicken Korma with sweet potatoes made from scratch with fine almond flour as the thickening along with some wheat flour and butter. No coconut milk, so no Thai influence just Indian. Based on a recipe from Rick Stein’s India book. You make the sauce separate from the frying chicken, onions, garlic and ginger and before adding those ingredients into the sauce, I sieved the sauce with all it’s spices, so it was smooth and creamy. I also made a quick flat bread just from flour, salt and water, rolled out and heated without oil in a caste iron pan...Chapati. For something sweet after dinner, I whizzed up pitted dates, ground almond flour, Dutch chocolate powder all mixed with a little chocolate liquor, rolled into balls and then rolled in coconut. No sugar.

Crumbed lamb cutlets for dinner with jellied mint sauce

I don’t always have a cooked breakfast, sometimes just toast with a spread and sometimes cereal like this below. A fairly ordinary muesli with fresh banana and cold milk.

@Ann_T that meringue roll looks delicious, such a lovely dinner for the birthday.

Early breakfast. Lightly fried previously cooked potatoes ( I mean a teaspoon of olive oil ) liverwurst and an egg. Toasted remains of yesterday’s baguette.

Our traditional Sunday dinner ( when it’s not a curry !! ) A roast, this time roast belly pork with lots of vegetables including pumpkin , rough apple sauce and gravy. Belly pork in its baking dish

A quite confusing to the eye breakfast because of the plate design. Anyway it was toast with labneh and Brussel sprouts with green onions … egg on the side

We had Mussels Mariniere. Local from the Bay very near me. My recipe is so simple. . . Cleaned fresh mussels, finely chopped onion that has been sautéed in butter, add white wine, pepper, salt and fresh thyme plus a splash of water. Boil and shake to steam mussels open. Done, Serve with sprinkle of parsley. How it started How it ended up, with me slurping up every drop of the delicious remaining soup. Goodness @Paul Bacino we posted at the same time and both seafood. Your scallops look delicious

A sad looking chicken wing cringing on the plate!!! Tasty though… done honey soy with beans and egg plant

Breakfast was wilted spinach and eggs

We needed some seafood after having meat loaf on the weekend. Thai prawns with beans, onion and carrots. Sauce was lemon grass, coconut milk, fish sauce, sriracha, soy sauce, stock powder, garlic, cornflower and water.

I made 4 meatloaves on Saturday. One for us with the others for my sons and their families and I forgot to take a photo. This lunch of minestrone soup contains the remains of our loaf along with vegetables, butter beans and orzo…. Plenty of Parmesan on top

Eggs, bacon and tomatoes for breakfast

DH cooked while I minded the older grandsons 2 & 4. He made a dish of chicken with olives and mustard served over pasta. I really enjoyed it and so grateful to him for taking over as I was tired after little ones had gone home.

Husband’s and my basic lunch of Australian beef sausage in a piece of baguette with green tomato pickles. I am always trying different bakeries in the hope of finding the true tasting French baguette. (Made in France) It is the flour, it’s different from French flour over here but I live in hope I may one day find a bakery, of which there are many, that imports French flour to make their baguettes. (Of course ‘why would they’ )It is quite a few years since I’ve been back to France but having spent quite sometime there, the memory of true baguette stays with me. There is a particular chain of bakeries here that I had high hopes for, Laurent Bakery which has very good bread and French cakes but alas still not the flavour, texture I remember. All that said, this particular lunch bread was good, made with a sprinkle of semolina for extra crunch. I would like to be able to make bread like our AnnT but so far I haven’t been able to.

Bacon with avocado, blueberries and blackberries. . . on toast.

Some of the family came over for an informal late lunch for Mothers Day. We had pork chops and vegetables, gravy and mustard of course.