Quickie Sticky Lemony Chicken(y)

And again, we must apologise for the lack of bloggage.

I hasten to add - for those of you who may be worried that we're wasting away - that we have not stopped cooking, or wanting to write about our foodie times. It's just that work and The Big And Exciting Project (which will be revealed and explained in more detail and with much squeaking in a future post) have kept us annoyingly busy.

This busyness has meant we've been honing our selection of quick and simple 'throw-it-in-a-pan-and-fling-it-down-your-throat' recipes, which frequently tend to be not very interesting. Every now and again though, we find one that surprises us.

Better (extraordinarily) late than never!

So....

There is really no excuse for the enormous lapse between what I am about to write about happening, and my getting around to actually writing about it. I apologise profusely and shall try not to be quite so tardy in future!

Back in February (see....told you it was flipping ages ago), Matt and I visited a London foodie hotspot - or should that be coolspot? If you 're in the vicinity, I heartily recommend you go and pay these guys a visit, especially as the weather gets increasingly scorchio.

Tentation de Saint Félicien

Matt here,

People who have met me know that I like cheese, a lot. I talk about it near constantly and probably give the impression of being a terrible cheese snob (I am by the way).


Tentation de Saint Félician

Crumpets

 

I had long wondered how to make crumpets (particularly how to get those little holes in) so I was very happy a few months ago when I stumbled over this article from Hugh.

I'm going to be honest here, I copied the recipe to the letter and it worked brilliantly so I won't re-write it out in this post, but suggest instead that you follow his wise words. I have taken a few pictures of the process though, which will hopefully inspire some of you to try this for yourselves.

Sausage and mash with marsala gravy

Matt here,

This is a great weekday meal, it requires a bit of time - maybe an hour or so - but it's definitely worth the effort. Yep, I can say with some confidence that Jen would agree that it's worth the effort. I would caution though, that this is about as sweet as savoury food gets.

Of Mice And Moles

 I was very saddened this week to learn of the death of Brian Jacques. He was the author of some of my favourite books, growing up - The Redwall Series, which chronicled a community of animals in Mossflower Woods and all centred around the hub of Redwall Abbey, inhabited by a brotherhood of berobed mice.

They're lovely books, and if you've never come across them before I highly recommend you check them out. I first read them years ago (when I say them, I mean the first 8 books. Jacques was an incredibly prolific writer and I think there are now 21 of them. I have some catching up to do!)

Raspberry pancakes

Last night Jen and I went out on a date - Dinner at a lovely little family owned french restaurant (Savoir faire) - highly recommended, have the punchy mussels in pernod and garlic butter followed by the melt in the mouth boeuf bourguignon, both served with a perfect french accent. We followed a great (and good value) meal with fancy cocktails at the lobby bar in One Aldwych. A rare treat.

It was a great night out and the perfect way to finish a stressful week.

Hungover photography, not the best I know...

Anyhoo, yesterday I woke up feeling a bit bleary and keen for some breakfast (in my defence, the raspberries in the cocktails were very alcoholic). Alas, no bread, quelle catastrophe! I wasn't in the mood for getting sufficiently dressed to brave the glacial morning on a shopping trip, nor was I capable of waiting three hours or so for home made. Fortunately we had sufficient ingredients for pancakes - pretty much just store cupboard stuff. The recipe is borrowed from Rachel, a fellow foodie of the highest calibre.

Blue Monday

Monday was not a good day. It was a stellar cocktail of pouring rain, less than waterproof shoes, missed driving tests, subsequent tears and rage at the instructor who overslept, tense meetings at work and a general feeling that both Christmas and Spring are about a million miles away.

Yuck.

A Glass Of Something Smoky

My lovely aunt and uncle gave us the first series of MadMen for Christmas and we're now totally hooked. It's beautifully done - very witty and very sexy. It reminds me of a line in a song by croaky-voiced 60s chanteuse, Melanie, who my dad always loved and, as a kid, I always hated ... 'The Madison Avenue pink dream makers'... a brilliant line, and one that has been stuck in my head since we watched the first episode.

It also makes me want to take up smoking, using a spindly thin cigarette holder, and exhaling languidly with a pointedly raised eyebrow, and have a cut glass decanter filled with whisky sitting nonchalantly on the corner of my desk at work (and in fact on the corner of any table I happen to be passing by).

The smoking thing I shall quash. The whisky thing on the other hand ...

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year everyone! It's quite exciting to think that our blog now transcends two calendar years.

On the first day of a New Year, I find (as I suspect most people do) that thoughts turn towards hopes and aspirations for the year ahead. Here are a few of ours, if you'd like to share your own, it would be great to hear your food related ambitions!