It’s been another week in which we have cooked mostly outdoors and, with just one exception, all the dishes have been established favourites.

The only departure from our regular fare was whole prawns chargrilled on the Weber Q. (I am at a loss to explain how this could be a novelty in our repertoire.) The prawns were a good 20cm long from head to tail, plump and juicy. We simply brushed them with basil-infused olive oil just before they were grilled, and served them with a simple salsa of fresh tomato, spring (green) onion and sweet chilli sauce. Five between us covered lunch, with two leftover for Maggie to enjoy the next day.

Recalling a technique from a recipe for seafood pancakes, I saved the shells and heads from the five prawns and simmered them for 15 minutes in the quantity of white wine we would need to steam some mussels for an evening meal of mussels with a cream and saffron sauce. The infusion provided a lovely extra touch to our favourite seafood meal.

The dry and very warm tail of our summer season has continued, but with two positive side-effects: a steady supply of roses for our dining table and Maggie’s work station; and ripe chillies in the kitchen garden. This week, I was able to harvest enough to justify the somewhat tedious effort of drying them in a very low oven, which can take at least three hours. However, I now have at least half of the quantity I need to make our annual supply of berbere spice mix, which we use to flavour chicken wings and pork ribs for roasting in the Weber. Yum!