Finally, The Rain

Awoke to the lovely sound of rain.  We have a tile roof here but a metal awning over our bedroom window and the rain hits that and makes a soothing sound.  It was only 6.30ish but I couldn't sleep so I got up to enjoy some quiet time. 

Lamb mince, burghul (cracked wheat), flat leaf parsley, mint, egg, Moroccan seasoning, brown onion.

I outdid myself last night with the lamb kofta and salads.  I made the lamb exactly to the recipe, last time I didn't use onion but onion powder but this time I took the time to finely chop some onion and measured everything and they turned out much better.  I was going to bbq them but when I went out to turn it on discovered that it hadn't been cleaned after the last bbq, yuk.  Imagine if I left the frypans dirty on the stove for a week or so after cooking.  I wasn't about to clean it then and there so I took the skewers out and did them on the griddle pan inside.  There is no added fat and in fact a lot of the lamb fat came out and stayed in the pan and yet they were still juicy.

  I have never been overly good at making up recipes but I made a  great couscous and chickpea salad with some preserved lemon and fresh coriander and a dressing with tahini (sesame paste), fresh garlic, lemon juice and some olive oil, I just adjusted it to taste and consistency as I went and I was really happy with the result.

I managed to harvest quite a bit of the flat leaf parsley, more than I needed so the rest is in a freezer bag in the fridge.  Between the salad, the kofta and the yoghurt sauce I pretty much exhausted the young tender mint leaves so I may not be making mint jelly this year.  I made up a little tabouli with the parsley, mint, cracked wheat, tomato, red onion, lemon juice and EVOO and that too turned out well, some recipes have too much oil but mine was just right.

Emily went to the pool all afternoon with Kim, and when I picked them up they both looked like they'd been crying.  They were opening their eyes underwater but still, I'm thinking the chlorine levels need to be checked.  She was tired when she got home and changed and went to her room and when I called her for dinner she was fast asleep in bed.  Phill was at work so it was just me and the vegie fearing Josh.  This was my dinner.

And this was Joshua's.

And yes that is tomato ketchup on his plate.  He came out later and got another two kofta and I told him one of those was Em's so he put it back.  Next time I'll put brocolli in the meat mix.

Phill got home from work and Emily got up and they both enjoyed their meals WITH salad. 

So it's cool and wet this morning, lovely.  Not sure what's for dinner.  It feels like the right sort of day for a roast.  I have a small rack of lamb in the freezer, might do that for us and try the panko chicken for the kids.