Pan-Fried Children with Gravy

These kids are driving me crazy! I've decided to have them for tea. This is what they think of the idea:

Warning: Mild Screaming

The weekend was really lovely. The house we booked was much better than it looked on the webpage and it looked pretty damn good; the photos did not do it justice, for instance, we had no idea that the kitchen would be so lovely, spacious and well equipped or that the huge bedrooms, all ensuite would be tastefully furnished or that there was even a balcony with a great view and the smell of lavender coming from huge pots next to the garden.

We were the first to arrive and the kitchen was my first port of call as I was cooking dinner that night. I prepared roast lamb by stabbing a leg joint with a knife and placing inside thin slices of garlic and sprigs of rosemary. I sprinkled on some salt and pepper and wrapped it in foil. I cooked it at 200 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes and then turned it down to around 160-170 for a further 2.5 hours, maybe longer...I was sipping the wine by then and everything became slightly warm and fuzzy...

I made my bbq sauce but this time, I added in two star anise and some ground fennel seeds just as the onion mixture was ready. I cooked these for a further minute before adding the soy sauce etc. Totally worth adding these if you can find them.

I had previously prepared my lamb koftas; bloody nora, I loved these! Especially with the bbq sauce. I think they'd also make great burgers and the low fat content really appeals.

We served the lamb with plain boiled rice, tsatziki, roasted tomatoes with thyme and Parmesan, with a little help from Ian, a lovely salad prepared by Val, pitta bread, olives and caramelised onions....except I forgot to reheat the caramelised onions and they sat in the fridge, cold and forlorn. We 'rescued' them the following evening by enjoying them with the BBQ. The BBQ was prepared and cooked by my friends whilst I sat back and enjoyed; the wonderful potato salad, pesto marinaded chicken, Aberdeen Angus steak beefburgers, tomato and mozzarella salad to name but a few was a feast to behold and I stuffed myself silly.



We visited nearby Coldingham Bay with it's wonderful beach, ideal for surfers. It was raining but we didn't care. We built a dam and a town to be destroyed. Val seemed to take great pleasure in this...my respect for that gal just grows and grows. Ann stood at the back to catch any 'real' children who may get swept away and I of course, supervised after one solitary dig.

What goes up....


Must come down.