march

Lamb, chickpeas, cauliflower with cumin-coriander-tomatoes and cilantro; couscous

Poached pears with fresh lemon curd and orange flower water

Parsnip, apple, stilton soup

Bighams’ Portuguese meatballs, fried aubergine, rice

Lunch: bulghar wheat with halloumi, aubergine, tomato, pine kernels

Dinner: steak with red wine, mustard, cream, mushrooms; spinach; new potatoes

Raspberries, Framboise, amaretti, cream

Lunch: Spag with smoked salmon and Onuga, vodka, dill, mustard, cream

Dinner: Diana and Martin

Martin had won a crate of Cobra beer so we thought we would help him get through it by bringing round an Indian feast. By a happy coincidence it is Holi around about now but we refrained from throwing coloured water at Martin

Aloo parantha and lime pickle

Persian lamb shanks; tandoori squash; urad dhal with tomatoes and cream; channa dhal with spinach, coconut, cilantro, lemon; rice

Lamb shanks were braised with cumin, coriander, allspice, ginger, black pepper (lots); chilli, clove, star anise, cinnamon (less of these); pomegranate molasses and a dried lime. I braised them for ages then reduced the sauce

Carrot and cashew dessert, crystallised ginger

Salad of fried sweet potatoes, green beans, walnuts, gorgonzola, rocket

Raspberries, some rather nice artisan amaretti, Kirsch, cream

Yorkshire Provender Carrot Celeriac cumin and caraway soup

Duck breasts with peach and vodka sauce, caramelised red chicory, new potatoes

Urad dhal; channa dhal with spinach and green beans; rice

Carrot dessert with lexia raisins and pistachios

I can hardly conceal the fact that these were Sunday's leftovers

Roast squash, beetroot, feta, olives

Stuffed peppers: artichokes-chorizo-olives and courgettes-tomatoes-pine kernels; red quinoa

Ate out

Lunch: spag with carrot and walnut sauce

Dinner: saddle of wild rabbit, stuffed with heart and kidneys, breadcrumbs, and confit of foreleg meat, spices; wrapped in bacon; gravy made with hare stock; watercress salad with avocado oil, chilli, balsamic; a puree of the watercress stems with garlic; polenta and parmesan

The foreleg meat was from a rabbit we had ages ago; I made the confit and it has been in the freezer a long time

Poached pear, toasted almond pannacotta

1oz almonds, 5floz cream, 2-3 flox milk, 1 sheet gelatine

Lunch: Spag with waitrose sauce of tomates, chorizo, pine kernels

Dinner: Crostini with salad. Small tomatoes, stewed in oil with basil; stewed red pepper; artichoke hearts with anchovy; aubergine puree

Chocolately goo

4 squares Lindt 80% 2.5 tbs Cointreau, 3floz whipped cream, 8 soft nanni amaretti. Melt the cho, add the Cointreau. Whip the cream, fold in choc, stir in amaretti and pour into glasses. set in fridge

Waitrose white onion and cider soup

Confit de canard, potatoes roasted in duck fat, beetroot with ginger and chilli

Softened ginger and chilli, grate beetroot, stir in and warm through

porcini and mushroom cassoulet, braised little gem lettuce, bread

Waitrose pear and almond cake

Bacon, grated beetroot, creme fraiche-horseradish-chilli, watercress

Rabbit legs, cream and mustard, leeks, baby new potatoes

Cooked the legs with rabbit bones and scraps and tarragon, then the sauce strained and reduced.

Hare in chocolate sauce, tallerines aux myrtilles, watercress

Pear and almond cake, poire williams, cream or yoghurt

Smoked mackerel, aubergine and chilli puree, toast

Cauliflower in batter with tomatoes, olives, capers, anchovies, pinekernels, bread and oil

I parboiled the cauli, then dunked in egg and flour batter, then fried it; then put all the stuff in the oven.

Lunch Ate out

Dinner: spag with bacon and artichokes

Lunch: spag with the waitrose tomato chorizo sauce

Dinner: Lamb chops with tomato-red pepper-cream sauce; peas with butter and shallot; new potatoes

Coffee and walnut cake, with rum

Waitrose roquefort and fig tartlets

Fennel with tomatoes, feta, olives, chilli, Pernod; ciabatta

Prawns and mushrooms in tamarind and tomato sauce, baby corn, rice

mango slices fried in butter, with coconut milk and white rum

Chickpeas with tahini-yoghurt-lemon zest-preserved lemon-black papper-garlic-cumin-coriander; spring greens and onion with feta, chilli, fennel seed, pomegranate molasses; ciabatta

I thought there was too much bitterness in the chickpeas, but Colin found it ok. Perhaps the preserved lemon or the cumin - had to pinpoint it

Pears in spiced port, gorgonzola

Spices were bay, black pepper, coriander, chipotle

Chicken satay with cashew-chilli sauce, salad leaves

Salmon marinated in miso paste, then fried; purple sprouting; sauce of onion-garlic-kidney beans-sesame oil-miso pureed; rice

Ate out

Ate out

Lunch Ate out

Dinner: kidney beans with chorizo-tomatoes-chilli-smoked paprika-cinnamon-cumin-fennel seed-wattleseed-cocoa; rice

Fish soup

Venison steaks, sauce of mushrooms, cream, myrtilles, red wine; spinach with butter and lemon; potatoes

Pork paprikash, carrots, tagliatelle

Pear and almond cake

Simon

Smoked salmon, cream-wasabi-garlic-mirin, seaweed flakes

Chicken and shallots in sherry and tarragon; purple sprouting; curly pasta

le fromage qui ne pongue pas

mango, banana, thai-spiced black rice pudding

Purple sprouting with pine kernels, anchovies, preserved lemon, capers; chilli-garlic-lemon-oil

Peppers stuffed with mushrooms, lentils, smoked cheese; roast potatoes with rosemary

Tagliatelle with hare sauce; watercress

Quince in syrup, cream

Dinner: Smoked salmon, RWS, horseradish cream

Guineau fowl stuffed with couscous, preserved lemon, pinekernels; roast squash with yoghurt and spices