Home cooking extravaganza

  As lovely as it was to have the Scoggises come all the way from Brighton, (or is it Hove?), to make a visit and enjoy a bit of home cooked fayre, I'm more excited about their daughter and her recent occupation of the family kitchen. But I'll save that for after a run down of last night's food. The plan had been for a late lunch, but it ended up as an early dinner, which was fortunate as I was a bit lost after my sleepless night and journey home and needed a bit more time than usual to get my brain compliant.

  Before I had gone to Stroud, I had picked up a bit of pork neck fillet, (which my splendid butcher had put in one of his useful roasting bags), and slow roasted it. I shredded that and mixed it up with a chutney I had made. I basically sweated some onions then added apple, orange juice, star anise, cloves and balsamic vinegar and let it simmer and soften. The result was a pork dish that was fruity, autumnal and perfect for yesterday's weather.

  The pork was accompanied by crispy potato cubes, salad, roasted mushrooms and courgette, kimchi, (of course), and I almost forgot that all of that was preceded by a similarly seasonal butternut squash and miso soup. As Mrs Scoggis doesn't eat meat, I had given her some pan fried prawns in a champagne and garlic sauce on a bed of roasted aubergine with tomato. I suppose I have to also mention the dessert that was some of my recently promoted spoon cookies with lemon custard and blackcurrant compote. Everything got washed down with a couple of cocktails before they raced across London to catch their late train home. Now that tale is out of the way, we can get on to more important matters.

  It appears that both through the blog and my occasional visits, I've exerted a little influence over the youngest Scoggis who let it be known that Thursday is now her day and that from now on not only will she be cooking the evening meal, but she'll be doing it on her own. How cool is that? That's her above looking very relaxed at the helm and below is the supper she knocked up for her, her mum and brother.

  I have to point out that when she heard I wanted to publish some pics of her in action, she felt a bit embarrassed about the inclusion of baked beans in her menu, so let me point out that all of the blame for that lies with her brother who has 'issues' with vegetables and doesn't know how lucky he is to have his 'special needs' catered for.

  Hat's off to Lilly for her amazing cooking. With any luck I'll be able to convince her to write a few lines about her experience to share with you. Watch this space. Keep it up Lil, I'm very proud of you and don't forget to get in touch if you want any tips.

Kirk out

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