I don’t think that there’s anything as nice, in the summer months, as coronation chicken, served with a jacket potato and salad. And it’s so easy to make – cooked chicken, mayonnaise, apricot jam and curry paste.
Some years ago, we experimented with cooking chicken pieces in different flavoured sauces. There was one sauce which we liked so much that it received the accolade of becoming our permanent Sauce of the Month. We don’t use the sauce on a monthly basis – but the whole family knows what it means when we say that we’ve got Sauce of the Month for dinner.
And Sauce of the Month is made up of variable quantities of sieved tomatoes, creme fraiche and tarragon. Go on, try it – it’s delicious!
Because we have never successfully mastered the art of labelling items we put into the freezer, sometimes what comes out of the freezer is a bit of a lucky dip. Of course, things like bread, milk, ice cream, cakes, sausages, pizza and all sorts of other things are instantly recognisable. But there are things in the freezer, like meal portions, which take on a much more elusive identity. I pulled out a container from the freezer for tonight’s meal, which turned out to be chili con carne. And it was great. But when we want to be surprised we have a lucky dip in the freezer – and more often than not we are pleasantly surprised.
What’s in your freezer?
Sunday lunch is a great occasion each week. Margie and I enjoy sharing lunch with Hannah and Chris, and with Debz of course. We don’t normally have time to cook a roast, and we occasionally use the opportunity to experiment.
We had one such experiment this week. For each of us I wrapped a sausage with a rasher of smoked bacon, which I wrapped in a slice of turkey breast, and then I covered each of the parcels of meat with stuffing. Cooked with a little red wine, it was delicious. We served it with roasted vegetables and red cabbage cooked with apple and onion.
It’s Chris’ birthday today, and we’ve had our traditional birthday tea. Ever since I was a young boy (and that’s a long time ago), we’ve had hot dogs for tea whenever someone has a birthday. So we had hot dogs today, roasted onions and some baked beans.
A great birthday tradition, which I hope we’ll never grow out of!
