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The First "Foodie " I ever Met!

My father introduced me to good food, fine wines and opened my eyes to the delights of cooking. 

He was diabetic ( not good about it !)  But at an early age I learnt to adapt recipes. 

30 years ago today with my cousin Mark (a chef)  help,  we made my father an enormous surprise birthday party, sadly it turned out to be his last.

Tomorrow my father would be 86 had he lived, after nearly 30 years I still  make meal  on his birthday ,in his memory, Tomorrow night four  friends and I will sit down  to this meal. 


Cock-a-leekie soup is a Scottish soup dish of leeks and chicken stock. one of his favourite soups


Fresh garden herb stuffed slow  roasted  organic  chicken, the herbs gathered this morning pictured above,  he loved stuffing.
Double Roasted Spiced Cauliflower Fritters his second favourite vegetable 

Colcannon (Irish: cál ceannann, meaning "white-headed cabbage")  ( Irish mashed potatoes with cabbage & green onion ) cabbage was his first 

Coconut Roasted Pumpkin Purée  for colour !

Rich mushroom  sauce   this was my fathers  recipe, he loved mushrooms depending on the thickness you can use this as a basis for soup, as a gravy, to stuff vol au vent, or pancakes . I learnt to make this at nine years old it has evolved over the years .



I know my father would have preferred a double chocolate fudge cake or a trifle   as the end to a perfect or any meal,  but I have an abundance of apples, and as  this is quintessentially  an English or British meal although he loved food from all over the world he was very much a very dapper British gentleman , also  apple crumble was a dish he showed me to make .. so we will finish with

 Organic Spelt & Oat Apple Crumble and Dairy free custard 

 Organic Decaffeinated   Earl grey tea . (from my union jack tea pot !)

Recipes to follow  during the week..

My lack of health and  energy this week has made this a week long project. The basic  stock for the soup was made Sunday and frozen, the mushroom sauce  Monday and also frozen . The apple crumble  along with the the stuffing this morning, 
A friend is coming to help me later as a sous chef.
Right . now in the oven two turkey  wings are slow roasting with herbs onion and water to be sliced into the soup with leeks turnip carrots . and a wee tatty..
The cauliflower is soaking in iced cold salty  water to open the florets.
I hope to honour my fathers memory  with love and food, and the food he loved.


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