sartoric

Chicken rolled with prosciutto and sage baked in the oven with white wine. Served with pumpkin purée and roasted herby parmesan zucchini spears.

The handyman made this today, see how you like that you doity rats !

Crab, spinach and cheese omelette with a few cos leaves and toast. It's blue swimmer crab, not out of a can, but not straight out of the crab either.

Fascinating Liuzhou, I might even try the cola chicken wings. Thanks a bunch.

So this sounds like fun, and an educational experience for me at least. First, I googled Manitoulin island, then Oakville Ontario (apparently a suburb of Toronto) to figure out why it took so long to get there. I had trouble finding Toronto, but, yay, eventually found it. Enjoy your summer break, what's the weather like ?

Indian ! Pork and tomato curry, braised potato, cauliflower and spinach, basmati rice, pappadams and mango chutney. The pork. Veggies.

I'm on board, tempt us when you can !

What a great feeling that must give you ! Well done.

Indeed, it's a lovely orchid. It was given to me about eight years ago by a client after he stiffed me on a lunch date. Every winter it spells downstairs in the garden, then comes back to the deck when it's flowering.

I think the gardener might have been right. He upended a plastic container over the three remaining plants last night, they're still there this morning. At least I stopped him putting a rat trap behind the pot, it's a favourite spot for one of the doggies....

Soup using leftover roast chicken, with toasties of course.

There's no prints, paw or claw. The gardener seems to think mice, I dunno. Suspect the final damage will be evident by daylight. I need to set up a camera...

hmm, I guess we have some giant spiders around. I think the stone fish would have a hard time swimming through this air.

Help ! What's killing the snow pea seedlings ? We started with about 20 of these from seed. Two nights ago five disappeared. The gardener sprayed the remaining seedlings with pyrethrum. Last night another 11 went missing. The whole plant is gone, roots and all. Here's photos of the remaining three seedlings, and one that has been uprooted but left. I don't think it's the dogs, there's lattice that deters them. I fear the last three will meet their demise tonight...thoughts ?

Yes, take the pill, it's amazing cookware. My instructions for this terracotta one say soak for 24 hours in water, rub inside with olive oil and put into a cold oven at 170 C for 2 hours. I also use a heat diffuser on the stove top. I have used it in the oven as well (electric) but find it easier to watch on the stovetop.

Yesterday I dusted off the tagine (literally) and made a spicy beef, sweet potato and date stew. I sautéed onions and garlic, added cinnamon, ground cumin, ground ginger and harissa paste. Finished with a spoon of honey and chopped parsley. Served with herby couscous. Ready to simmer for a few hours. The tagine only just fits on the burner. Plated.

Ha ha, I do sometimes feel a tad guilty turning on the 90 cm oven for what is a few slices of bread. Currently banned from buying any new kitchen equipment, will have to work on that.

Thanks @rotuts, yes I cooked the pasta. It's bloody freezing here, so I'd do anything to turn the oven on. What's a CSB ?

Chicken, bacon and mushroom pasta bake, or how to use leftover roast chicken number 83. I sautéed bacon, garlic and mushrooms in butter, made a cheese sauce with buttermilk and tasty cheddar, shredded chicken and a few Brussels sprouts, cooked pasta and bunged the lot into an ovenproof dish for 20 minutes at 200 C. The mix. Pre oven. Post oven. Plated.

Thanks to both for your replies. I'm not sure liquid kimchi would appeal (maybe with a shot of vodka)...

I googled, but got no help to my understanding. What is carbonated kimchi please ?

My favourite dinner - roast chicken. I made a stuffing with fresh olive sourdough breadcrumbs, onion, garlic, bacon, herbs, lemon rind and egg. The gravy from pan juices had sherry, Dijon and stock. The veggies are potato, sweet potato, onions, cherry tomatoes and whole garlic. Side dish of brussel sprouts with bacon in a white wine reduction.

Lucky Liuzhou. I'd be pounding out a Thai som tam with some of those green guys. What about mango chutney, or the middle eastern relish amba ?

Sorry, the other half of the mash goes in with the bacon. I had garlic chives, parsley, thyme and rosemary in the mix. I reckon scallions would be great. I use a 250 ml cup measure, a Tbs is 20 ml, tsp is 5 ml.

The pull apart bread is made with two medium potatoes boiled and mashed. Make a soft dough with 1/4 cup SR and 3/4 cup plain flour, 1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda and salt. Mix in 1/2 cup of buttermilk, and half the potatoes. Pat into a square shape about 1cm thick. In a fry pan saute two chopped bacon rashers with butter, mix in chopped herbs of your choice, 1tbs buttermilk, 1 cup parmesan and spread on the dough. Roll up, cut into 2cm bits and nestle together on a sprayed baking tray. Bake at 200 C for about 25 minutes. The original recipe (which I wrote down about 20 years ago) called for double the above quantities.