A VERY ' FRESH' AND SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY.

WEDNESDAY 4^th/ MARCH 2020.

We managed another little lie in this morning as the village was quieter than normal, no deliveries down the street etc, after freshening up we took ‘ Chico’ & Lolo’ out for their first walk of the day around the bottom of the village, ‘ Chico’ is due to be picked up on Friday, ‘Lolo’ is with us until the middle of the month, they both slept all night, as usual, when we returned we had our regular toast & tea before getting the day on the go.

I first prepared all the ingredients for this evening supper, in celebration of ‘ National Pie Week’ – as we are having for our supper this evening my famous “ Chicken & Mushroom ‘ Tarragon’ Pie “ – the diced ‘Chicken Breast’ is dusted in seasoned flour and lightly cooked off, in Vegetable Oil, at the same time I make the sauce, by sweating-off diced, Onion, Shallots & Garlic, with a dash of ‘ Lea & Perrins & Tabasco’ and lots of ‘Tarragon ‘  – then adding the diced Carrots, Turnips, Leeks, Celery, Green Beans, Orange Pepper and Mushrooms as well as a tin of Baby Mushrooms, finally adding the Smoked Bacon Sippets, along with a good glug of White Wine ( thanks Brenda !) – and not forgetting a hand-full of Chopped Parsley, before adding the diced Chicken, at the same time as a rich ‘ Chicken & Vegetable’ stock –  adjusting the seasoning and consistency,  then left to cook-off under the ‘eye’ of the ‘ Second Chef’

See my ' Pie' below; 

It’s then poured into the buttered glass pie dish and left to cool off, ready to have the ‘Shortcrust’ Pastry lid ( decorated) placed on this evening, brushed with ‘Egg-Wash’ -  before going in a med-hot oven to finish cooking. Served with Glazed Baby Carrots & Garden Peas and the classic ‘ Pommes de Terre Rissolees ‘ – Baby New Potatoes, boiled in their skins and then tossed in foaming Parsley Butter until crisp & golden all over!

See the 'Rissolees' Potatoes below; 

We have a glorious morning, down here on the ‘ Costa del Sol’ in sunny Manilva, the sun was out first thing and the sky is bright blue & cloudless, with a light/fresh breeze, so by lunchtime it’s forecast to reach 22 degs+ - overnight 11/12 degs, staying warm & sunny, tomorrow and for the rest of the week and over the weekend it’s going a little cooler as the breeze picks up, hovering in the mid ‘teens’ – 16/17 degs+  - dry & sunny, next week as the next ‘ Atlantic’ front comes in, it’s staying the same, with just the chance of the ‘Wet-Stuff’ at the start of the week, then going a little warmer, watch this space.

The ‘ Council’ have just announced the details of this year’s ‘ Carnaval 2020 ‘ celebrations on/over weekend of the 14/15^th March, it looks like it’s all happening down in Sabinillas this year, at the moment the parade times and where are still to be confirmed, watch this space!

Over in Liverpool on Friday afternoon it’s the departure of the ‘ HMS Prince of Wales ‘ from it’s berth on the Pier Head, after the week’s visit, see below a picture taken yesterday evening from the ‘ Seacombe ‘ Ferry!   

Yesterday lunchtime on our walk with the dogs we ended up, sat outside, in the very hot sunshine, on the sunny side of the street in front of ‘ Bar Castillo’ – for a nice cool drink, our dear friend ‘ Brian’ came along and joined us, as he was due in work later on the late-shift over in Gibraltar, so we caught up with all his news, we had a nice selection of Juan’s excellent ‘ Tapas’ including the ‘Rosada Frito ‘ – shallow-fried   ‘Pink Dogfish’ – (which is actually White)  ‘ Chunks’ of flaky ‘ Cod Like ‘ fish, coated in a light ‘ Tempura Batter’ – a typical ‘ Dish of Malaga’ - served with very crisp ‘ Frits’!

See below;

" Big Brian " 

Yesterday evening after supper we watched the 5^th Round of the ‘FA Cup’ as Liverpool visited Chelsea, sadly their latest loss, 2-0 with another lethargic performance, their third loss in four games! This evening it’s Sheffield Wednesday v Manchester City.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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