Comfort food

A howling gale swept in from the Atlantic opening yet another fissure in the homestead’s walls. I’ll let you know the damage once I have emptied the room of furniture and lifted the floor. Given the conditions outside there was little we could do but adjourn to the kitchen and cook. I say we, Mrs G. tends to be the one that handles anything involving skinning or plucking and drawing. In this particular case it was rabbit: very much a local dish; and netted for a change (no shot). The little sucker was duly stuffed (parsley, lemon and thyme), sown up and dressed with pancetta, before being roasted and served on a bed of sautéed cabbage, accompanied by a Chilean merlot. Despite the frequent ups and downs we rarely go hungry, or cold: our latest batch of wood (ash) is burning like a Wednesbury furnace – it’s a tropical 24º in the snug.