What is for brunch or lunch ?

Breaded plaice with sauce vierge.

I’ve run out of home grown green beans for the time so will have frozen peas I think and maybe cauliflower and sauté potatoes.

Gnocchi with pesto, salad, tomatoes, fruit, breads (garden is growing quite well). I'll freeze jars of pesto later today.

Chili 😏

Got it out of the freezer last night thinking it was pasta sauce. But no, it's quite a hot chili. Only I could make chili on one of the hottest days of the year so far 😄 Fortunately we realised before we poured it over pasta.

Tuesday: The 13th of August 2024 ..

Lunch today shall be:

Baked aubergine with tomato sauce in a lasagne style however, no pasta ..

Melanzane di Lecce ( Puglia / Apulia ) is similar to Parmigiano however, it is not from Emilia Romagna.

A tiny salad shall accompany: Fennel with cherry tomatoes and tri colored lettuces ..

Chilled white cannellini beans and roasted cauliflower with dressing, bread, salad, fruit. Our GC prefer with bacon and Parm - a side for GC.

Slow cooker vegetable lasagne, made in the air fryer, I’ve just got to add the cheese and grill it to be ready.

As today was a slow day I made mushroom tortellini to dry for later this week. We'll just have fresh tomatoes, onions, garlic, herbs in a sauce over.

Wednesday the 14th of August 2024 ..

Starter: Fennel leek soup with orange zest crème fraîche and croutons. Had to use up some fennel I had ..

Main: A baked gilt bream .. and a small baked / roasted sweet potato ..

It is 13.15 here and we shall have lunch at 14.00 ..

Thursday - the 15th of August 2024 ..

Today is Saint Paloma´s Day which is a holiday in the Madrid Autonomous Community ..

So, we are headed over to Casa Labra 1860 which is renowned for their fresh breaded and fried Codfish. (Bacalao frito).

It is an institution known for over 100 years and is renowned for their preparation of fried codfish.

Then we shall stroll home .. It is a beautiful and much cooler day than we have had here.

Have a nice wkend.

16th of August 2024 - Friday ..

Today, we decided to go have lunch with our younger twin daughter who was here on business ..

We went out for a lovely Thai lunch which we had not had for quite sometime.

Since the weather has cooled down quite a bit, it was truly lovely to get out ..

One of our all time favourites is Tom Kha Gai, a traditional Thai Soup prepared with coconut milk, lime kaffir, chicken, fresh lime juice, ftesh cilantro herb, lemon herb off top of thinking cap.

Then we took a lovely long stroll over to the shops and browsed our fave retailers windows and the headed over to the book shops.

Have a nice weekend.

A cheese scone and 2 flat whites in John Lewis, with a friend.
My ‘usual’ there for the last 30+ years.

After a fortnight of 2DGD and their mum we are meandering to the lovely restaurant in the village. Whatever we have will be delicious as it will have been cooked by their fabulous staff......not me.

Grilled tuna, new potatoes and salad.

Saturday .. The 17th of July 2024 ..

Lunch today shall be Szechuan at a favourite restaurant located close to the Gran Vía called Restaurante Sichuan. A father and son team from the northwestern Sechuan region of China.

Amazing cuisine.

Our reservation ( a must with all these tourists ) is at 14.30.

Teriyaki chicken and egg fried rice. All sorted ready to cook at the appropriate time.

Lunch was mackerel pate I made yesterday, on top of 2 rye crisp breads.
I’ve embarked on (another) quest determined to shed about 10 lbs.

Rav I made earlier in the week with tomato and garden veg/herb sauce. Bread, fruit, biscuits and coffee.

On Saturday we had bok choi sautéed lightly and for the main we had grilled squid which was melt in one´s mouth tender.

Sunday the 18th of August 2024:

Today we are lunching at home on our terrace .. The main is Fresh Cod Fish battered accompanied by a home made Tartar dip and fried chips ( French fries ) .. Simply though a bit labourious. None the less, fabulous .. Served with a drizzle of lemon and looks amazing.

Dessert shall be served a little later and is a seasonal fresh fruit platter and 3 assorted Galician and Asturian cheeses ..

Of course a nice Rosé Prosecco shall pair perfectly.

Nice Sunday wishes. Off to prepare lunch.

Monday: 18th August 2024 ..

Agnolotti with Sage Butter. These ravioli are topped with Parmesan and were created in Wonton Wrappers and filled with a combo of beef and pork ground (mince) and prepared in batches .. The drizzle of Sage butter provided a Piedmont tradition without Extra virgin olive oil.

Served with A Sparkling Moscato d´Asti and a slight shaving of truffle.

Dessert: Pears prepared in country tradition called Peras Riojanas in a light red wine base and baked until tender.

On holiday until late September. Nice break at home for August and then we shall be preparing for a trip over to Switzerland.

We had Asian type veg stir fry, chopped sauteed nuts on top, rice, fruit.

Butternut squash and tarragon soup, with homemade cheesy scones. Soup made from squash, onions and tarragon from our allotment - v tasty!
Eating out tonight - Wagamamas

20 / 08 / 2024 - Tuesday ..

Today, as I am working remote, and on holiday too, I prepared a Fish Couscous with freshly captured Perch, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, red ripe tomatoes, ground cumin, paprika, salt, carrots, red bell and of course couscous ..

Turned out wonderfully and truly was exceptional ..

For dessert: Crostata della Nonna which is a grandmother´s tart and the ingredients are: all purpose flour, sugar, grated lemon peel, salt butter, egg yolks, blueberry preserves however, cherry or apricot or blackberry or rasberry work well too. Looks like a pie tart with lattice strips ..

Truly lovely .. Husband enjoyed most of it as I do not have a sweet tooth.

I am veered towards salty ..

Nice Tuesday wishes.

Wednesday, the 21st of August 2024 ..

Lunch today was a traditional homemade Hummus for our starter served with lightly toasted Pita ..

The traditional main course was Couscous with chicken.

Highly enjoyable ..

No dessert directly after lunch.

Served with Mint Iced Tea ..

A little later, we shall have fresh Persian Melon and assorted cookies from the Bakery.

Thursday, the 22nd of August 2024 ..

Today is the birthday of a Dear Lady Friend so a group of us took her out for lunch.

We went to a favourite Italian Trattoria and all enjoyed enormously ..

I had the Risotto Milanese which was simply divine.

The desserts included Canolli, Tiramisù Classic and Birthday Cake, a simple Angel cake - strawberry shortcake ..

Nice Thursday wishes.

Friday, the 23rd of August.

Lunch today was a classic Caprese Salad ..

On the terrace of our flat where we just relaxed and made weekend plans as we sipped Iced Spearmint Tea.

36 centig. degrees .. The best option is air conditioning !

Have a nice wkend.