Cooking With Richard

The new potato masher in action … Works well, thank you N-sama!

Previously …

N-sama bought me this potato masher. The old one is on the left for comparison:

Every potato masher I’ve ever had has ended up bendy. Hope this one lasts longer!

Cold ramen noodles, approximately from this recipe:

I post this photo to show to some lady that M is stalking on the internet …

A few weeks ago I bought by accident the Complete Encyclopedia of Chickens.

Wow, chickens are … amazing!

These are Japanese fighting cocks! called Japanese SHAMO:

But I also bought a book about goats …

Yummy!

N-tsun bought me a Ladybird book of British Birds for my birthday last week. By coincidence I just saw a large display of Ladybird books in the Oxfam in Berkhamsted. Quite expensive!

Some people are serious collectors of this stuff …

J&M came to see us. Here are the “variety curries” I made:

• lamb curry
• sweet potato and chicken curry
• vegetable curry and onion bhajis
• saffron rice
• greek yogurt

I’m 31 …

Roast chicken:

From the chicken carcass I made stock (using the carcass, water, only a little sake, carrots, onions, garlic, and parsley):

I made a potato soup from this chicken stock which was decidedly better than any previous soup I’d made, the difference being down to the stock itself.

With home-made custard. The tart was approximately from this recipe.

It’s been one year since I bought an iPhone, and to celebrate that I bought the Bijin Tokei iPhone application.

It shows you a different lady every minute. As the website says: “In addition, it is likely to be able to meet the same woman every 24hours.” (Really? Is that how it works?!)

Here is an excited looking Miss 18:45:

4 out of 5 for effort but sorry Miss 18:50 is saucier.

They’re also different (sometimes) from the ladies on the website:

Was it £1.79 well spent? You decide …

Click image to enlarge …

Previously …

Click –> I love a box!!!

MOHIKEN!! Baka-neko

Ummmmmm!!!!

This chicken curry has equal amounts of sweet potato in it. I also added one tin of tomatoes and frozen peas. The sweetness of the potato/peas really goes well with the chilli, making this an excellent meal:

N-sama made this lovely kabocha-based korokke. It is very sweet with a lovely orange colour:

… and made into a pie for the next day.

The recipe is this one, not bad, not great. Addition of dijon mustard and vinegar gives it a unique taste.

We picked a ton of hedgerow fruit last weekend, just elderberries and brambles.

The canal towpath was covered in these, which are apparently haws, and edible although either good or bad for your heart depending on what you read:

Photos by N-sama …

This is Bodgers Barley Wine. Barley wine is a strong (8-12%) ale which tastes like a wine: