LEOMINSTER CLASSIC MC CLUB

WITH GRAHAM


B and I drove down to Warmley (near Bristol) yesterday evening for a VOYAGER CLUB biker evening at the Midland Spinner pub. Great group, very patient as I droned on for more than an hour. B says that I am improving as a speaker but need to cut the presentation by thirty minutes. Next outing is 8 pm on April 1 for the LEOMINSTER CLASSIC MC CLUB at the Bush Inn, Bush Bank, Canon Pyon. Hopefully B will agree to drive home so that I can indulge in a couple of pints!

MUSSELS IN COCONUT

I celebrated my 76th birthday last week by cooking dinner for Bernadette and for my brother and sister-in-law and an old and dear friend, Sarah Duke/Richardet. Mussels in a coconut soup:
fresh chicken stock
lemon grass
kaffir lime leaves
garlic
red chilies
fresh coriander
Thai fish sauce
shitake mushrooms
coconut milk

Add a shrimp paste that I prepare in bulk and keep bottled in the fridge.
garlic
shallots
red chilies
shrimp paste
tamarind paste
Madeira sugar

Wonderful were my Argentine cousins visiting. Thinking of them, I chose a red Malbec from Mendoza, 2003.

No fat in the meal makes for easy washing up - no, we don't have a dish washer.

LIVE OFF THE LAND (OR POND)

DUCK TAGINE


Our bankers have misbehaved. Our political leaders have been indolent, ignorant or complicit. We ordinary citizens must economize. I have plucked a brace of duck shot by a neighbor and roasted the carcases for soup. I will cook for Bernadette this evening a tagine: wild duck breast seasoned with coriander, cinnamon, cummin and black pepper and served with honeyed apricots on a bed of seasoned couscous and grilled aubergines.
Next week I will lie hidden in the shrubbery at my brother's and shoot rabbit off his lawns. Wild rabbit pie is good. A blanquette of wild rabbit and forest mushrooms seasoned with rosemary is delicious. Come Spring I must get the rod out and sort through the fly box. Building a smoke house would be a sound economy, smoked trout...and we need to buy a truck of old mushroom compost for the vegetable garden.
Meanwhile I am studying maps for a ride next winter.