Once upon a time in the Midlands

I'm currently 'oop North', at Diesel's mum's house, trying desperately to go five minutes without falling over myself to make a fuss of their three beautiful dogs, the most recent addition being a chocolate Labrador who goes by the name of Buster. It's not easy (just look at that face).

It's been a bit difficult to post over the last few days because I've been too busy having an amazing time with my friends and family (and I've spent quite a lot of time hungover too, which tends to inhibit creativity and motivation somewhat). To return to the last post ('Gastronomic anticipation'), I have ticked off a few items from my list. At the BBQ at my parents' house (it ended in some serious Schnapps drinking - good times) on Saturday night, my friend Jon (Paddock Farm) brought some sausages and two full sheets of pork ribs that had been marinated in oil, chilli, sage and salt. They were the first thing that went on the BBQ and I think it's fair to say that they went quicker than everything else. they were truly delicious. The sausages were also fantastic - deeply porky, meaty, no unpleasant gristly bits, well seasoned and they didn't shrink after they'd been on the BBQ. In short, they were everything that I thought that they would be. So good in fact that we went to the garage in the village on our way up here to purchase some more (I wanted to try them having not already drank too much wine, and in order to take some decent photos). In an effort to demonstrate how well the sausages went down, I did ask for a 'lady and the tramp moment', but unfortunately the sausages were a bit hot. Jodie darling, you do make a lovely tramp to Matt's lady:

On Friday night we were treated to an amazing curry, not courtesy of my Dad, but by the 'oldest curry house in Leicester' (According to Adam Sparrow, who is a policeman, and also Wikipedia, which is good enough for me). Due to a late crossing (Thank you Condor Ferries. It's nice to see that your winter maintenance programme was a success), we turned up at the 'Taj Mahal' at about 11.15pm, and were greeted with smiles and pints of Cobra, and very soon afterwards some hot poppadoms with all the accompaniments (the onion and tomato mix, mango chutney and yogurt etc.). We shared some onion bhajis, and then I had a king prawn pathia. It was truly, truly delicious, and I still stand by my belief that you just can't get a good curry outside the Midlands (I know this is contentious). If you do ever swing by Leicester, I implore you to go. One word of warning though, I was sweating out garlic and onions for the next 24 hours, so definitely not one for a hot date. For my money however, the winning dish was Adam's King Prawn Shashlik. The service was so friendly and helpful, they didn't bat an eyelid at our late arrival and never made us feel rushed, and even gave us all a bailey's 'on the house' before we left (I don't really like Baileys, but that's not the point).

Something else of note that I would like to share with you, is my friend Chris Sandal's 'prawn packages', put together at my house by Chris and cooked on the BBQ. He wrapped king prawns in foil with garlic, chilli, cherry tomatoes, red onion and some olive oil. They were a massive hit, especially with my mum. So much so that the next night I made something similar, however in my prawn parcels I put prawns (obviously), a large knob of butter, grated fresh garlic, sea salt, black pepper and some olive oil. They went on the BBQ and we ate them with some crusty bread. They were fantastic, and would have been improved with some chopped parsley and a splash of lemon juice (next time). I have also decided that when we get back I am going to try this with fresh mussels. I am convinced this will be tremendous. So, for the inspiration (and your wonderful company, and the picture of you looking like a thumb of course), Chris Sandal, I thank you.

In other news, we stopped on the M1 and had a Big Mac meal with a side of chicken nuggets. It. Was. Awesome. I have nothing more to say about this.

In an effort to prove that I'm not an absolute scum bag, we're off to Betty's tomorrow for Afternoon tea, and as soon as the Labradors have been for a walk over the fields, we're having Pimms in the late afternoon sunshine.

I love England.