Family Food Blog: A new week - a beautiful day!

Hi all,

After the excesses of Saturday night...I am back again!

Will post a few piccies of what we had. Baby squid (griddled with olive oil, chilli flakes and fresh parsley), fresh sardine fillets (with tomato salsa), Marrocan spiced butterflied leg of lamb (with couscous & green asparagus) and of course that dark chocolate mousse with fresh raspberries and that Black Muscat...

Needless to say, we had a lovely night and plenty of recovery time next day when it was p****** down with rain yet again. In fact, we made it a pyjama day, to the absolute delight of the boggins who love that sort of thing. As if we don't ;-).

Easy, very quick supper Sunday night (melon & ham, asparagus tart (see pic) fresh berries & vanilla ice cream) and then that dreaded football game... Say no more, say no more. This household is out of teams to support now. Holland and England both exit.

Yesterday it was 'the boggins and I' again, said the cook. And because it was swimming time I made a nasi goreng for which I cooked the rice in the afternoon so that I only had to wok everything else after swimming. Lovely!

This morning I am making ragu (not for tonight's supper!). Always have to have some ragu (bolognese sauce) in 'da freeza'. Handy for lasagnes of course but also simple kiddies pasta meals (especially when they eat separately - and adults later).

So.....I always make a big pot (with 1kg mince) - three times Darina Allen's recipe. I have been using that for years and haven't come across a better one yet. Hers is a recipe from on old Italian lady called Marcella Hazan. I've got it from Darina's book 'Ballymaloe Cookery Course'. But she's got it from Marcella's 'Classic Italian Cookbook'. Still following...... ;-)?

The tweaks on this recipe I have applied over the years are:
- mixed (beef/pork) mince instead of just beef
- red instead of white wine
- add some garlic

Also, when I get it out of the freezer to use it for say a spag bol, I add chilli flakes to the portion for the adults.

The key thing is to let it simmer for HOURS! I do at least 5 hours but the book says at least 3.5. And eat it next day the earliest for even more flavour - as with so many things..

Right, that'll be it for today. Also making a new load of muesli again. And will start thinking of menu for Saturday lunch when my family comes over to go to a concert by The Chieftains in Brussels in the evening. I am hoping for BBQ weather.......!!

Have a beautiful day everyone. It's gorgeous out here! Will add beautiful picture of Dahlia 'Red Manhattan Island' which came out this week.

Love,
X Bee