Every since watching "Come Dine With Me" last week where one of the contestants made volcanic meatballs (I know it is a sad confession that I watch this but the voiceover man is so rude about all the contestants that it makes me laugh) I have been craving meatballs! So here is our version!
Herb Struffed Chicken with Lemon Sauce
Our new resident has made herself at home. I didn't realise what a full time job having a kitten was - we are both EXHAUSTED! But it is moments like this when, at the end of the day, she falls asleep on us, upside down, snoring loudly, that makes it all worthwhile! Thank you all for the lovely name suggestions - I definitely love cupcake but if I stood outside our backdoor shouting cupcake, our neighbours would think I was testing for the book again and that free samples were on offer! 
We have started to call her PeaPod and although not the most elegant of names, it seems to have stuck and suits her - this gets varied to Little Pea and Sweet Pea when she is being good (not often!!!!) and Pod is part of our village name so it seems to fit! 
Her personality has completely changed and far from the timid little kitten we took home a week ago, she is now leaping round my office, jumping on my keyboard and tipping everything over. It is chaos but we do love her.
Last weekend we had a wonderful trip to Buxton in the Peak District to see the Chinese State Circus - lots of amazing acrobatics
and aerial ribbon performances - just brilli
ant! Buxton is an old spa town with a wonderful opera house (complete with painted ceiling) and enormous conservatory and I could just picture Victorian ladies in crinaline dresses drinking the waters (we tried them and they were delicious!), bathing in the spa and walking in the park. Buxton even had old fashioned post boxes that are still in use. It was so 
lovely to be up in the peak district - I had forgotton how breath taking the scenery is. The wonky church tower is genuine - we saw it in Chesterfield on our way home.
I wanted to introduce you to the newest member of our family - a kitten we adopted from the RSPCA yesterday. She is a dear little thing - although very timid having been abandoned when she was just a few weeks old. It amazes me that people can be so cruel as she is so pretty and has such a sweet nature. She is a complete ragbag of colours - tabby, tortie, ginger cross with white front paws and grey back paws and a stripy tail! We are working on a name - Jemima, Lyra, Matila, Ginger Maisy (this is Josh and Rosie's choice), Pixie, Petal are all in the running. Any suggestions gratefully received! She looks contented already, doesn't she!
Although not edible, I have completely fallen in love with these Italian soaps that I discovered on my trip to London last week - tomato, pumpkin, lettuce and cucumber. They smell good enough to eat and are almost too good to use - although that hasn't stopped us. I am wondering whether they could be persuaded to develop a dessert range with pecan pie and lemon meringue perhaps!
Venison, Chorizo and Truffle Ragu
I have been tagged in a photo me-me by lovely Phillipa of The Genius Academy
On Friday I was invited to the studio where they are taking the pictures for the book. As you can imagine I was sooo excited! Suzanne the designer, Bridget the home economist and her son who was sous cheffing, William the photographer and his assistant - I would never have imagined that so many people would be there and how long it would take to do each shot. I really will never look at cook books in the same way again. 
My favourite part was the long tables of crockery and cloths of all different colours - lots of floral fabrics and dainty tea cups that I wanted to bring home (sadly they are all rented!). 
Bridget has such a dream job - cooking recipes for photos all day long. 
My Christmas stocking this year contained a lot of salt. This may sound slightly strange but they were very welcome gifts. Truffle scented salt from Amy - perfect for adding to scrambled eggs. 
Spiced welsh Halen Mon salt which adds a wonderful flavour rubbed onto roast beef or pork (I used this salt to flavour my tomato foccacia in the final of Masterchef) and 
chilli salt from Tina which is great for spiced roast potatoes or adding extra kick to curries. All packed with flavour so that only a little of each salt is needed. To make chilli salt yourself, place flaked sea salt in a clean jam jar with a level tablespoon of crushed dried red chillies. Seal with a lid, shake well and leave for a week or so for the flavours to infuse.
It is -8C outside today. My poor chickens are very cold and their water is frozen. What did I decide to do in this weather - make icecream!!!!! I know, I am completely mad. It came about because during out holiday in Suffolk we had snickers ice cream and since we returned, Sacha has been asking me to try and recreate it for him or to make peanut sorbet for him (which I think would be yukky). With our lovely German friend Maren staying for the last few days, we decided to give it a try. There was a debate about whether the chocolate chips were a step too far (I liked them but Sacha thought they were too crunchy) so these are optional!
With Christmas festivities behind us, the long winter months until Spring lie ahead. January brings with it hope of the new year to come and bobbing snowdrops. The best cure for winter blues is indulging in scrumptious treats! If you are like me and have some smoked salmon left over after Christmas, this is a perfect way to use it up
Preparation time 20 minutes Cooking time 25 – 30 minutes
Makes 6 tarts
3 large leeks, cleaned and finely sliced
85g/3oz salted butter, plus extra for greasing
100g/3½oz smoked salmon, plus extra for decoration
300ml sour cream
3 egg yolks
1 ½ tbsp finely chopped chives
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper to season
Crème fraiche, to serve
Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 5/190C/375F and grease six 4inch tart tins. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to ½ cm thickness. Cut out six circles of dough and press one circle of pastry into each tin. Trim the edge of the pastry with a sharp knife. Line each pastry case with greaseproof paper, fill with baking beans and bake blind for 12 – 15 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden brown. Cook the leeks in the butter over a gentle heat until they are soft. Season with salt and pepper and then set aside to cool slightly. Whisk together the sour cream, egg yolks, chives, lemon zest and juice. Divide the leeks and smoked salmon between the pastry cases and pour over the lemon and chive cream. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes until the cream has set. Serve warm or cold, topped with a little crème fraiche, a small piece of smoked salmon and chopped chives.
