Apologies to Jamie Oliver

On a 19 hour trans-Atlantic flight, I always find that I have a lot of time on my hands.  What did we do before personal entertainment screens though?  This most recent trip home, I couldn’t find a movie that appealed to me so I found myself enamoured with two documentaries.  One was Annie Leibovitz: Life Through A Lens. I confess I learned so much about Annie, her life and her art the first time, that I watched it again the next morning.

I also watched a Jamie Oliver: 30 Minute Meals twice.  Kind of dumb maybe, but when else do I have that kind of free time?  This was a complete and delicious looking dinner that Jamie prepared, in total, in half-an-hour.  I jotted down the basic ingredients after the first watching, and then I wrote down the quantities and the rough sequence the second time. {Then came home to find the whole thing on YouTube – oh well!}

LE MINUTE 30 MENU

Chicken Piri-Piri with Red Peppers

Smashed Sweet Potato with Feta and Coriander

Caramel Tartlets

Susannah came home for the weekend, so prior to her arriving and with little time to spare, I pulled off a really tasty meal.  Jamie Oliver, however, may have shuddered at some of my improvisations, which were, in part, because I was making it for two!

Making the piri-piri sauce in the blender.  I was afraid it might be too hot, but it was fabulous and the chicken was very tasty

My caramel was a little chewy - I could have cooked it longer.  There's that fine line where you can burn it
- next time I'll get it right !

One of our family traditions is giving the "best plate" to the recipient of an honor, or someone who just needs a hug or a welcome.  This was Susannah's first time home since graduating from university in May