Precipitation

AS ALWAYS, CLICK ON ANY IMAGE YOU WISH TO ENLARGE. REPEAT IF REQUIRED

Keeping out of the kitchen this morning was just not an option. The enticing aromas of tonight’s dinner would not permit it. Preparation of Jackie’s delicious chicken jalfrezi was under way. The spicy fragrance and enticing colours of food from the Indian sub-continent would, if necessary, compensate for lack of taste. They don’t even have to think about that, for their flavours are second to none.

Chicken jalfrezi 1

Initially I resisted, until the bubbling sauce got the better of me;

Chicken jalfrezi 2

and the tomato puree added rich colour.

Chicken jalfrezi 3

Jackie normally likes to fry the chopped chicken pieces separately, but they had not been defrosted in time, so

Chicken jalfrezi 4

in they slid,

Chicken jalfrezi 5

and the tempting mixture continued cooking, until,

Chicken jalfrezi 6

with the addition of ample chicken stock, the pan simmered away the early part of the afternoon,

Chicken jalfrezi 7

until the lid was removed to release the condensed liquid and allow the meal to thicken up.

Heavy overnight rain and a thick cloud layer rendered the garden an inverted version of the pan lid. When the precipitation ceased

Fly and raindrops on crab apple blossom

a bedraggled fly still sought shelter among the liquid drops on the crab apple blossom;

Clematis

our first large blue clematis bloom had taken a battering;

Rhododendron

and the first offerings of an early rhododendron,

Rose Shropshire Lad

rose Shropshire Lad,

Peony

and tree peony, were all somewhat soggy.

Early this evening the weather was dry enough for us to sit in the rose garden for pre-dinner drinks. The higher and brighter notes of the small birds combined with the deeper ones of the wood pigeons, against the repeated refrain of The Needles lighthouse fog warning.

Rose Madame Alfred Carriere and raindrops

A weeping Madame Alfred Carriere had popped out during the day,

Misty background

in time to catch the mist rolling in from the sea.

Meat samosas, egg fried rice, and paneer in a curry sauce, were served with the aforementioned stependous jalfrezi.  Sticky toffee pudding and cream was to follow. Jackie drank Hoegaarden, and I started another bottle of the Cotes du Rhone.

54 comments

      1. Yes it does. In fact very much so. Thank you for your thoughtfullness 🙂 I always enjoy your posts after the day’s work is done

  1. I love your food photos and commentary as I eat a quite limited diet–they are my vicarious savorings, each an imagine surfeit of deliciousness!
    And I’ve seen a few rose Shropshire Lad blossoms around here and didn’t know its name. Or, at least I think it it the same, so thanks. The last photo is a bit romantic and how nice it is. (Tow pictures after Jackie putting in the puree did not open to a photo: “no file found”.)

  2. I too have an issue viewing two of the photos Derrick but the rest are lovely – but is that a slug in the middle of the Shropshire Lad rose? It shouldn’t be I know but it is all I can think of when I look and the closeup doesn’t make the issue go away……. I don’t like slugs! 🙂

    1. The ‘slug’ is a husk off one of the newly opened beech tree leaves that have covered the rose garden in the last three days, an amazing transformation of a tree, from winter to summer. I really don’t like slugs either!

  3. I love Indian food (although I stick to the vegetarian options), but I can almost smell the aroma through your photos. The flower photos are sensational, and that last photo is lovely.

  4. Chicken jalfrezi looks divine! Beautiful flowers you have got. Hope the weather is good and you have no fog. I am enjoying a great weather here in Utah, so needed after that long rainy winter.

  5. Oh that chicken dish! And then served with all those other dishes! The crab apple blossom is so beautiful. And I’ve never heard of a tree peony!

  6. Jackie needs to write a cookbook, her dinner recipes are quite the collection. The chicken jalfrezi looks delicious – wonderful cooking essay of photographs Derrick!

  7. I liked the bedraggled fly and all the dampened flowers, Derrick. Something different to look at, this time. I enjoyed Jackie’s savory pot of feast!
    The mist photograph was enchanting, simply lovely, dear friend. 🙂

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