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.

Comments

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