A number of people have asked after it over the last few days so I should say that the oxtail stew was delicious. It had three hours cooking on Thursday evening and a similar time this evening. In-between I just left it on the floor in the basement. The last few days it has been cold enough not to worry about fridges.

I kept it on a very low heat so barely a bubble broke the surface. It was flavoured with a bay leaf, chopped parsley and carrot. I managed it so there was still some bite to the carrot despite the slow cooking and they added a sweetness to the stew.

As promised we ate it with red cabbage and roast potatoes. For the cabbage I melted a pat of butter in a pan and then added the finely chopped cabbage, admiring again the way that it managed to stain my fingers. I then poured over a half bottle of dry cider, brought it to a slow boil, and then left it to simmer for an hour or so. I drank the rest of the cider.

It was a great compliment to the stew. I was able to push onto each forkful a nugget of meat from the oxtail, the sweet red cabbage and a bite of crisp potato.

Of course there are a couple of vegetarians in the house. They eyed the oxtail with some envy but wouldn’t eat it. So I made a quiche with onions and tomatoes to go with the egg custard. It went down very well.

Listening now to REM and the live album that came with the recent upgrade of Document, waiting for them to sing s. central rain and to be taken back to the night they played the Airport Lounge at Warwick University and I told Pete Buck that I loved him. I’m not sure that he heard.