Hello. Happy New Year to you all. I was having dinner in London last week with 'There once was a girl' and she asked me for a recipe so I thought it was worth posting as I know the last one for Lemon Chicken was well received. Anyway, nothing to lose so here we go:

Skate Wings with Black Butter
Serves 2 (its really difficult to cook for more as the wings are quite big)

Salt and Black Pepper
2 Skate Wings (make sure they are fresh, they have an unpleasant smell if not)
1 tablespoon plain flour
1 tablespoon oil
40g butter
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar (I prefer cider vinegar)
2 tablespoons drained capers
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Season the fish, dust with flour, heat oil and 1/3rd of butter in a really large frying pan on a medium heat. Fry Skate for 5 mins each side, then set aside and keep warm.

Heat remaining butter in the pan until it turns nut brown. Add the vinegar (it will spit) and bring almost to the boil. Stir in the capers and parsley, heat through and pour over fish to serve. Its nice with lemon wedges, new boiled potatoes and a green vegetable (I like asparagus).

Hey Truculent Horse - you will like this. Bye for now.

Hello again. It would be nice to say that I have been away on the velux five oceans yacht race but alas not so. I have had some good sails off Wales though including one night in force 9. Some good food too, even an excellent Thai meal of roast duck in one harbour. Anyway Truculent Horse has asked me for a particular recipe that I cooked in Iceland in the summer so here it is:

Petti di Pollo al Limone.
4 boned chicken breasts
flour for coating
salt and pepper
olive oil
large knob of butter
juice of 2 lemons
chicken stock
chopped parsley
lemon slices to garnish

Cut each chicken breast horizontally into 2 slices. Season the flour with salt and pepper and use to coat the chicken. Heat oil and half the butter in a large frying pan, add the chicken and fry gently for 6 mins on each side until tender. Transfer to a warmed dish and keep hot. Add the lemon juice and stock to the pan juices, bring to boil stirring, and boil for 1 minute. Add the parsley and remaining butter and stir until blended. Pour over chicken, garnish with lemon and serve with basmati and wild rices. Serves 4.
Enjoy. See you soon.

I nearly forgot. I know I said I would try and photograph each course but alas in the end it proved one step too far - it was drop the camera or drop the food - the food won out so no pix. Oh yes and I am going a bit quiet for a little while as I am off sailing for a week (which means Tesco ready meals on board). Bye

The Second Women's Dinner - A Report.

Well friday came along and we concentrated on the cooking - six women - (Diane/Wendy/Mary/Sian/Brenda and Lona) and four courses. Everyone turned up on time and we kicked off with cider-pouring on the patio. In Northern Spain you buy cider from Sideras, its in corked bottles and its very flat so to liven it up you pour it into your glass from as high as possible - it greatly improves it but you are not to look up at the bottle as you pour so it can get messy!

So, into the first course: Moules a la Mariniere. Second course: Salad Nicoise. Third course: Smoked Haddock with a Chive Butter Sauce. Fourth Course: Fruit Millefeuille. It all went down a treat. I was a bit worried that after the first course evrything would be a bit salty but not atall and I think the Haddock, which I served on a bed of steamed spinach, was well recieved. I am not a great one for making puddings and the thought of pastry cream and puff pastry making was a little daunting but worth it in the end - the strawberries, blueberries and raspberries were delicious. I should add that I only know the tastes from the odd nibble because I dont eat with them just cook, serve and close the dining room door. Anyway it was a success and we all went off to the pub afterwards about midnight. If anyone is interested I will write out the full recipes. Talk to you soon.

Kitchen Tip No: 5. Dont finish the chef's wine until you have served the main course.

SUNDAY LUNCH ET AL.

I cooked pot roast of leg of lamb for sunday lunch. It was good Welsh lamb and two more people turned up suddenly, so there were 5 of us. (Hi there chendaberry - the thought of being their hostage is quite attractive but the answer is no - its just that i love cooking). Anyway, carrots, onions, garlic, olive oil and stock into the creuset - stick the seasoned lamb on top, put on the lid and braise in the oven for 2 hours (we were in the pub while this was happening) then I served it with steamed courgettes, new potatoes and sugar peas. It was very nice, then we sat up drinking and couldn't work on Monday - this often happens. It's the big dinner on Friday for the women, I will detail the menu afterwards and I'm going to try and photograph each course for you but that might just prove too much especially after the cider pouring competition which is the first course of five.

Kitchen Tip No. 4: Don't pick up the roasting tray with a damp dishcloth, although the dog will appreciate eating the meat off the floor.

FOOD AND SEX

Is there a link between food and sex? Well you could serve up fur-lined handcuffs on a plate but you'd still be hungry. Erotic menus? I bet everyones got one of their own. How about ripe advocado with extra virgin olive oil and a dash of chili sauce followed by lobster plainly grilled in butter and garlic and then end it with roasted figs and peaches and a lump of mascarpone. Makes me hungry....

Kitchen tip No. 3: Dont rub your eyes when you've just deseeded chili. (use surgical gloves)

THE WOMENS DINNER

As I explained earlier I can't tell you about the menu for nexts weeks affair because the participants don't know. The trouble is if they know usually someone decides they don't like that particular dish. It's best to surprise them. However, I can tell you what they had last time. I cook for six at seven and after midnight we go down the pub to get over it. The first course was a quite rich bouillabaisse seved with crusty bread. Then a little freshner of goats cheese tart with rocket. They liked that. The main course was fresh tuna steak with asparagus and charlotte potatoes and a mint vinigarette. By this time the wine is doing well too, so we had a bit of a break before pudding: figs and banana baked on a filo pastry crust and served with cream. There, thats it. I think this needs photos of the dishes - I will try and do that next time.

Kitchen tip No.2: When straining the sauce through a sieve over the sink make sure there is a bowl under it.

lledr foodstuff

comfort food number 1. there was quite a lot of chicken left over so i made coronation chicken last night. you can just sit in front of the tv or listen to emiliana tarrini and scoff the lot. do you know it? pick all the meat off the carcass and mix it up with hellmans, sultanas and curry powder add some olive oil and serve it with rice and salad - its well down the list but tastes nice.
kitchen tip no 1. dont wear flip flops in the kitchen when using sharp knives. better recipe bound to follow.