home sweet (or savoury) home

Roasted butternut squash with sweet spices,
lime and green chilli

Finish work. A quick pick up on Drayton Gardens, then belting it down the A3. I'm happy to say I'm back in the bosom of my family for just one night and of course I have a delicious glorious supper to look forward to. Believe it or not, this is just an average Wednesday night. This is how my mother cooks every day of the year!

The roasted butternut squash dish wasn't even meant for me. This was their meal last night, and I insisted on having a snack. This is Mr Yotam Ottolenghi at his finest. From the book 'Plenty' and may I say my favourite book of the year. Although shopping at Ottolenghi's can be an expensive business, making it yourself is not (I recently had to make a £30 a week food budget and I made it entirely out of Ottolenghi recipes). His foods are SO full of colour and so satisfyingly full of flavours, that it is an absolute pleasure to eat.

Another brilliant book is Thane Prince's 'Simply Good Food.' We had chicken liver crostini as a starter followed by Jamie Oliver's organic salmon with asparagus and streaky bacon. The grande finale is Thane's ice-cream, the BEST BEST BEST ice-cream I have ever tasted, and very easy to make. No need for churn churn churning. It tastes soooo good. I've been eating it for 10 years now. Creamily sweet, rich with condensed milk, and thick bits of honeycomb.

http://www.ottolenghi.co.uk/

http://thanecooks.blogspot.com/

http://www.cookwiththane.com/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/yotamottolenghi