This weekend we have been partly eating out of Sabrina Ghayour’s new book Sirocco which was a half unexpected birthday gift.

Last night we had stir fried tangy prawns. There was only three of us so not too many mouths to keep happy. The recipe called for 6 pickled red chillies. No pickled chillies were available so I compromised with just one large dried red chilli. This may have been a mistake as the one chilli I chose transpired to be capable of disseminating more than enough heat to compensate for it just being the one. Notwithstanding the heat the prawns were eaten with the heat being tempered by the cooling balm of the cucumber slices thrown in at the last minute.

For supper today some of us tucked into the roast chicken that had made a welcome return to The Farmer’s Market.

For those not having chicken I made some butternut rostis.For those who have not previously grated a butternut squash I should let you know that it takes some effort. But it seems to have been worthwhile as they went down very well.

In the meantime I have spent time in the garden expanding the pond and gathering the last of the courgettes.