Paella gets better and better

I have been making paella every week or so since I found that rice back in October. G loves it and he encourages it. When we make our Sunday chicken, I make paella on Monday. This time we had some whitefish to add in as well. I made the mirepoix with my veg combo. I just raid the crisper and take whats good. This time is was carrots, broccoli, shallot and mushrooms. I used the new food processor and blitzed that up in a few seconds. I charred up the chorizo, set it aside and added the veg. I tossed in the white fish. I took the chicken's 'gold' and made it into a broth then used it to make rice. I dropped in the chicken, layed the chorizo back in and tossed in some fruit de mer. This loveliness bubbled away on the stove and really was a comfort for dinner.


Over the holidays I promised A I would bake for her. I over promised a bit. I still owe an angel's food and a carrot cake. I did make a gingerbread or two, really. The recipe starts with stout and takes fresh and ground ginger and molasses. It was fast and easy to make and came out of the oven so lovely and needed no accompaniment.

deep, dark, rich and ready for the oven

The deep flavor of the stout and treacle with the bite of the ginger made it a special treat. Make sure to eat your first piece as soon as it comes out of the oven. I cut some for a test piece and we all ate some warm gingerbread. I made the second gingerbread for our New Year's Day dinner. To kick off the new year were invited to dinner with S and other good friends. I think we had 5 courses. There was a smoked salmon cheese dip with crusty bread, potato leek soup (which kicked off my current obsession with leeks), a gorgeous rib roast and plenty of veg (sometime during this course I had to take a break from eating and couldn't finish that plate), next up was a pavlova with fruit and cream and finally gingerbread and cheese plate. I like thinking about gingerbread as well as eating it. The nostalgia of just saying the word is enough to put me into a reverie of icing and Christmas memories. I remember one year my dear old mum made me and my brother's school classes gingerbread houses. She made two for each class on a board covered in tin foil for the icy wonderland and a fence around. There were gumdrops and swirly hard candy to decorate. I think the roof was shingled by graham crackers... Anyway, it is a treasured memory and it puts the gingerbread into a magical category of food. I relish it today. (Um, Mom, you could send me a photo of the houses!)