Well, we are halfway there. I have completed letters A-M in our cooking journey around the globe. Before I share Kenya, Lebanon and Madagascar, perhaps it’s time to reflect on the highs and lows of the adventure thus far.

Favourite recipe – Cuba (despite the Paprika causing a 2am EEROD vomit)
Worst recipe – Ghana. I am not really a fan of North African cuisine
Toughest gig – Japan. There’s a reason it costs shed loads
Easiest cook – Kenya
Crowd pleaser – Cuba
The cooked again – Denmark. Made twice so far
The recook – Haiti. I’d like to cook it again with less thyme

Kenya, Lebanon, Madagascar

Swahili fish curry

When we were in Kenya, our lovely friends introduced us to the wonder that is Swahili fish curry. This is a coastal dish and I found a great recipe from pan-African and copied it pretty much exactly although I used basa fillets instead of red snapper. I’ve not been a fan of basa but they worked so well in this dish. I took left overs to work the next day for lunch and our holiday nanny sent me a message to say how much she enjoyed it. All three kids ate it and so a triumph all round. If you merge the pics below, this is us eating Swahili fish curry in Diani beach.

Warak enab, Lebonese lamb flatbread and garlic yoghurt sauce

Stuffed vine leaves are delicious. I love them and so Lebanon presented an excellent opportunity to stuff some leaves! In Lebanon they are called warak enab. Also, we have a grape vine. This has leaves. This was all good news. Research led me to this recipe from feel good foodie and I lovingly followed it step by step. In case you don’t believe me, I managed to video myself rolling and stuffing the leaves. My video skills are crap. I did film it again but the angle of the second attempt only serve to highlight a new muffin top that is unflattering and does not need sharing.

I had honestly meant to stop there and had taken out some lamb steaks which I was going to just cook and have alongside the warak enab but a free afternoon, a bit of internettery and ambition led me to rethink and also add lamb flatbreads and garlic yoghurt sauce into the mix! I loved making flatbread but didn’t use lamb mince in the recipe as I chopped up the steak small and used that instead. It was absolutely awesome and the girls loved it all. As did COD. I won’t lie, the warak enab lacked flavour and we ate a few each but the rest sadly died a death in a left over container in the fridge over the course of the following week. Perhaps these also need to be added to the list of ‘stuff we go out to eat for’.

For the lamb, I used this recipe from delicious magazine but I used this cook it real recipe for the flatbreads. They were super easy and so tasty! The garlic sauce was very very garlicky. Sheesh, glad I wasn’t out on the pull that evening! Recipe from cook it real. Maybe roast the garlic next time…?

Here’s the day in cooking action…….

Madagascan prawn (not prawn) curry

I love prawns and was really looking forward to making this Madagascan prawn curry recipe from Palatable Pastime. My cooking partner in crime had already made it and given it a thumbs up. I then invited people to join us for dinner. Whilst in Tesco shopping for ingredients I thought I had better check on the prawnability of the guests and sure as bob, there’s an allergy. Quick text home to COD to PUT THE PRAWNS BACK IN THE FREEZER PRONTO, and we switched to chicken. So, I made this with diced chicken breast. It was super yummy. I’d go hotter on the chilli but I had small people in the mix so kept it warm rather than my preferred scorchio. I served it with oven roasted curried broccoli and cauliflower as well as good old green beans.

In other news:

• The Queen died. I was out of the country and felt weirdly far from where I now call home. I grew up in a Royalist house and I love the Royal family. Watching the funeral this week reminded me how utterly fantastic Britain is at pageantry, pomp and ceremony. This country will change forever as King Charlie boy takes up the throne. RIP Liz, you were remarkable
• THE KIDS ARE BACK AT SCHOOL. Thank the good man himself. Wow, that was a long summer!
• EEROD has taken up football which is annoying as I thought we’d managed to avoid any form of standing at the side of a field in the rain but suspect this is now in my future. I have to learn about studs and perhaps how the game actually works. Or perhaps this is a Dad job?
• ACOD smashed the 40 minute barrier in Parkrun and is well and truly on her running way. LOD is back at near 30 mins and EEROD and I come in at the 31/32 min mark. COD is also now part of this Saturday family outing.
• I took part in the Great North South Run over the weekend and it is a fantastic canter across the Island from Cowes (N) to St Catherine’s Lighthouse (S). Loved every minute and feel great being able to run some miles again. Obviously I got overenthusiastic and have now signed up for the Gosport half, Chilly Hilly and Stubbington 10km.
• I have been galavanting all over Northern Europe for work and still loving my new role and the world of food.
• Fly continues to be both the best and worst decision we’ve (I’ve) made. Like most children, he is at his best when fast asleep. He and the cats don’t have a harmonious relationship. This week his poo contained the entire yellow covering from a tennis ball. I thought that was impressive.