diary

3 July, 12.20pm

I ladled half of the chicken stock I made yesterday into a new pan through a sieve, around a litre, and froze the rest in a tupperware box. I simmered the stock for 20 minutes to reduce a little. Meanwhile I sliced some tiny fennel bulbs that came in the veg box delivery and added them to the stock and simmered for another 15 minutes, until soft. While the soup simmered I heated the oven and placed two leftover roasted potatoes inside and when the soup was almost ready, added two frozen brioche buns from the supermarket to defrost. I picked the meat from the leftover roasted chicken leg and thigh and tore into small strips that would be easy to eat in one bite. Then, I took the brioche buns from the oven, which were already pre-sliced, and buttered them. I added the warm roast potatoes, crushed a little into the melting butter, then mayonnaise, then salt and pepper, then chicken, then some lettuce that I had already washed and put in the fridge yesterday. I seasoned the soup with salt and pepper and decorated it with fennel fronds, ladled it into bowls and took them to the table. I put the chicken rolls onto small plates and set them alongside the soup, filled a jug with water and gave us each a spoon. I opened the fridge and took out a bottle of Tabasco and put it on the table, in case.

Afterwards we had blueberries, raspberries and very large strawberries that I cut into quarters in small glass pyrex bowls with cream.