A fine day...

At last! And although there are some 'minus' figures in the Tempo Italia forecast for the next week, they have a tendency to disappear as the days in question approach. This morning, the garden was flooded with sunlight, and the various church spires visible through the leafless branches of the plane trees on The Martyrs' Square looked like the backdrop to a springlike Van der Heyden or de Hooch. Bizarre, really, given where we are.

The planting programme began this week, with about a third of the new fruit and nut trees having gone in (peaches, pears, cherry, hazelnuts, walnuts...) plus two small camelia japonica plantations, and a very robust new Magnolia Stellata. I'm not sure what's supposed to be in the next shipment, but I know that in addition to the remaining fruit and nut trees, we have cyprusses, poplars and arbutus trees coming at some point, along with some more plantations of Rhododendron, Hydrangea, and japanese azaleas, as well as enough lavender plants to line the causeway which runs through the centre of the garden. All very satisfying. Indoors, the brazilians proceed apace, and have made great progress with the ceiling beams in the salone. We're off to London this afternoon for a couple of days, but haven't told them that we're going - it's the sort of information that immediately means they focus their attention elsewhere, and their rate of work inevitably dwindles to nothingness. As it is, by the time they notice that we aren't popping up to bug them any more, we'll have reappeared and everything can continue as normal.

The new kitchen seems to be turning into a reality - carcasses are all in place; the slate work-surfaces are being shipped from Wales in the next couple of weeks; ovens, fridge and warming drawer are all ordered and somewhere in the pipeline; floor tiles are due to be delivered next week. All the doors we found in the freezing cold recupero in Imola two weeks ago have now been delivered and are waiting to be installed (we suspect they've all been ripped out of old farm houses in Romania, and shipped down by the truckload - nothing as rustic and agricultural has been seen in Tuscany since at least the seventies, I should think!). Current planning is for us to be able to move into the house in about a month from now.

Tonight's dinner:

Risotto of Funghi Porcini (yes, I know it's against the current regime, but we'll be just off the plane in London, and Sarah's turning up for supper, and there are limits to what is practicable - and given that we already fell off the regime yesterday evening when the Cini-Gamberonis came to dinner & I served Prune & Armagnac tart for dessert, then a small risotto isn't quite such a heinous crime )

Pork Chops with Lemon & Sage. Braised Celery.

Apple Strudel (Sarah's bringing it)

Losing weight....main courses

And here are the main courses which formed part of the January diet (which the Technical Department has suggested continues for several more weeks, in the interests of a further reduced waistline - his, rather than mine). As with the starters, links are given through to the appropriate recipes, where I've already posted them:

Double-roast Lamb Shanks; Roast Beef; Boned Chicken, roast with butter & herbs under the skin; Lemon Sole, with Marsala & Parmesan; Cod with Basil, roast wrapped in Parma Ham; Salmon with Celery & Walnut Cream; Duck Confit; grilled Duck Breast; Hamburger; Chicken Burger; Guinea Fowl with Garlic & Lemon; Fiorentina; Rabbit with Garlic; Rabbit, boned and stuffed with Fennel & Salami; Roast Veal; Spezzatino; Veal & Lemon Stew; Involtini with Leek & Parmesan; Pork Chops braised with Lemon & Sage; Lamb Shoulder, stuffed with Anchovy & Garlic; Chicken paillettes, with Orange & Cardamom; Quail with Cauliflower & Walnut Mash (the link is for potato mash; just replace with cauliflower for a low-carb version); Duck legs in Red Wine; Pork Loin with Emmental; Osso Bucco; Blanquette of Lamb; Moussaka.

Tonight's dinner:

Spinach Soufflé

Salmon fillets, steamed in Radicchio, with balsamic vinegar; Fennel braised in stock.

Almond Bavarois.

Recipe: Onion Tart

Or, more accurately 'Pissaladière Nicoise' in this instance, and not to be confused with the version from Alsace, which omits the anchovies and olives, and is all the poorer for it. This is a dish which can be made using either shortcrust or phyllo pastry - and in the interests of low-carb dietary soundness the version given here uses phyllo. I have to say, though, that I probably actually prefer the version with shortcrust pastry, which acts as a better foil to the inevitable oiliness of the onion filling. The flavour, whichever type of pastry you use, is wonderful!

For two individual tarts.

Ingredients: 2 x 12"x6" sheets of Phyllo pastry; half an oz of Butter; a tablespoon of slivered almonds; 3 large Onions; 2 tablespoons Olive Oil; 1 teaspoon dried Thyme; Salt & Pepper; 5 fl oz White Wine; 2 Anchovy fillets; 2 stoned Black Olives, each sliced longitudinally in four; Goat Cheese (equivalent to a couple of tablespoons in volume).

Method:

1. Melt the Butter, and use it to brush the sheets of Phyllo. Cut each sheet into two squares, and use these to line double thickness two individual tart tins, distributing the slivered almonds on top of the first layer of Phyllo in each tin, and before adding the second layer of Phyllo. Bake for ten minutes in a 180 degree C oven, until crisp and brown. Set aside.

2. Peel and finely dice the Onions. Heat the Oil in a pan which has a good fitting lid. Add the chopped Onion to the Oil, along with the Thyme and light seasoning. Stir everything together, put the lid on the pan and sweat the Onion in the Oil over a low heat for about an hour, stirring regularly. At the end of this time, the Onion should have collapsed completely and just started to colour.

3. Add the wine to the Onion, raise the heat under the pan and cook, stirring constantly, to reduce the liquid almost to nothing. Check and adjust the seasoning.

4. Divide the Onion mixture between the two pastry shells. Slice each Anchovy fillet longitudinally and use the thin slices to make a cross on the surface of each tart. Divide the cheese so that there is a small piece in each quadrant on the top of each tart (these don't have to look beautiful at this stage, as they will melt anyway in the course of cooking), and top each piece of cheese with a quarter of a Black Olive.

5. Put the tarts back into the 180 degree oven, and bake for twenty minutes or so, until the cheese has started to melt and has begun to turn brown at the edges.

Allow to cool for at least five minutes before serving - the filling will be very hot when it first comes out of the oven.

Losing weight.....starters

Ok. Herewith the starter section from my January diet list (with links through to recipes where I've already posted them):

Flamiche; Caprese Salad; Bresaola with rocket and vine cherries; Carpaccio; Scrambled Eggs with Salmon; Oeufs Comtoise; Chicken Liver Salad; Quiche Lorraine (with Phyllo); Tomato Tart (ditto); Onion Tart (ditto): Smoked Salmon Tiède; Shrimp Newberg; Shrimp with Chili & Garlic; Moules Marinières; Beef Salad; Chicken Salad; Asparagus with Hollandaise; Chicken Liver Terrine; Vegetable Terrine; Mussel Tart; Fennel Sformatino; Spinach Soufflé; Tuscan Cauliflower; Cauliflower with Anchovy & Garlic; Haddock Soufflé with Poached Egg; Asparagus with Ham & Gruyère; Scallops with Parsley & Almond; Scallop Mousseline; Asparagus Mousse; Aubergine Tart.

Tonight's Dinner:

Phyllo Onion Tart

Chicken with Porcini & Marsala; braised Celery.

Pears poached in Red Wine & Cinnamon.

The January Diet...

...has been surprisingly straightforward. No potatoes or rice... no pasta, no cakes, no biscuits...sugar replaced with Splenda (which means no ice creams or sorbets) no shortcrust or puff pastry - but phyllo is fine. There had been some idea of giving up alcohol, as well...but the inclement weather put paid to that pretty quickly! Two days into a teetotal existence, we departed for a lightning trip to London half way through the month, where the arctic conditions meant we took one look at each other and resorted immediately to uncorking a bottle of hearty red.

IMHO, the success of sticking to a specific dietary regime depends on not having to endure a hair-shirt existence at the same time (unless that's your thing, of course - but then, if it is, you probably won't need to go on a diet anyway) and if the experience is a struggle, then it's unlikely that you'll stick to it. I have to confess that after a journey to Bologna yesterday through the snow-blanketed Appenines (not to mention several hours in the sub-zero temperatures of a salvage warehouse in the bleak countryside outside Imola) we took refuge in a glass of post-prandial grappa at the end of the day...which may have been dietarily unsound, but was very definitely what the doctor ordered!

The secret to the diet was forward planning. Before starting, and bearing in mind the dietary parameters (no flour, no rice, no bread, no sugar...really, no carbohydrates in general) I listed 30 appropriate starters, ditto main courses, vegetable dishes and desserts - since the major problem with dieting, I find, is thinking you have only restricted options, which means the whole thing becomes boringly repetitive, and so the temptation to stray is all the greater. With everything listed on one spreadsheet, it was easy to put together an entire month of 'approved' menus without having to repeat a single dish during the whole period.

And the result? Already, I've comfortably gone down one generous notch on my belt, without having felt pain at any point along the way!

Tonight's dinner:

Chicken Liver Terrine with Salad.

Pork Chops, braised with Lemon; Carrots, roast with Sage & Garlic.

Vanilla & Cointreau Soufflés.

Recipe: Boned Quail with Juniper

An amalgamation from some of my favourite sources, this recipe is effectively Paul Bocuse (for the bird, boned, stuffed under its skin, and roast) meets Bruno Loubet (for the sauce using quail stock, mixed with soy and verjus) meets Paula Wolfert (for the juniper berries, coriander seed, and sage as flavour elements in the stuffing, and the idea of green grapes, which I've translated into verjus instead, and used in the sauce).

The only tricky bit is boning the quail. The process is exactly the same as for boning chicken, but made slightly more complicated because of the size of the birds; make sure you have a very sharp, small knife, and don't become impatient along the way and start to snap the bones rather than working round them with the point of the knife. Once you've completed the first one, it goes quite quickly.

Excellent for a dinner party, as the entire dish can be done in advance, and the birds are then roast at the last minute and kept warm as you deal with the first course. This dish presents well, with a complete bird per serving, on top - for example - of a crisp and delicious potato galette.

For two.

Ingredients: 2 Quail; 1 large Shallot, finely chopped; 4 Sage leaves, finely chopped; 5 Juniper berries and 6 Coriander seeds, either crushed together with pestle & mortar, or else ground in an electric grinder; 1 oz Butter; Salt & Pepper; 2 tablespoons Soy Sauce; 20 green, seedless Grapes, whizzed in the processor, and then sieved, to give 4 or 5 tablespoons of Verjus.

Method:

1. Following the procedure for boning a chicken, remove the rib cages from the Quail (don't bother about the wing and leg bones - life's too short!). Put the rib cages in a small saucepan, cover with water and simmer for half an hour or so to make some stock.

2. Combine the Butter, crushed spices, chopped Shallot and Sage, and seasoning. Divide this mixture in two, and use it to stuff the Quail under their skins. Leave a little of the mixture to press as a poultice on top of each bird, as this will effectively baste the Quail as it roasts, and should produce a nice crisp skin. Put the birds aside until it's time to roast them.

3. Carry on gently reducing the stock until you have about half a cup of liquid. Set this aside until you're ready to roast the birds.

4. Heat the oven to 180 degrees C, then - about ten minutes before you're ready to sit - put the prepared Quail in the oven. Bring the reserved stock to a simmer, then add to it the Soy Sauce and Verjus; continue to simmer this mixture until it is starting to thicken (if it goes too far, just add a slug of white wine and keep on going). After ten minutes, the Quail should be done. Either serve it immediately, or else leave it to rest for up to twenty minutes in a warm oven.

Serve: one bird per person, with a spoonful of sauce over the top.

Stuck in London...

We were supposed to be here only for a couple of days, just to race through some chores, and take delivery of a lot of roses for the garden in Santa Caterina. And then, of course, British hopelessness in the face of an inch and a half of snow took over, and we arrived at Gatwick yesterday morning to be told that the airport was closed. Difficult to know why, since it hadn't been closed an hour before, and all that had happened in the meantime was a light dusting of drizzle-force snow, which looked more worthy of the attention of a feather duster than a snow plough. Still, ours not to reason why...although I can't help but feel that if the people who run the airports and airlines were self employed and it was their own revenue that was involved, they'd make rather more of an effort!

With great irritation, we trudged back home once more, only to find that an alternative flight wouldn't be possible until the end of the week - or, not without paying the equivalent of the national debt for a couple of tickets, at any rate, and there just wasn't a compelling enough reason to do so.

Several phone calls to Italy later, cancelling some house guests and a dinner party for Thursday, and letting Arianna know she had the four-footeds for another couple of days (all that daytime TV must be doing their italian a power of good!) and we were left twiddling our thumbs. Bags packed, boxes sealed, chores all done-and-dusted...all dressed up and nowhere to go!

Tonight's dinner:

Asparagus Mousse.

Sole with Marsala & Parmesan; Green Beans, dressed with Lemon & Almonds.

Apple & Vanilla Tarts.