At the moment it seems as though my courgettes are doubling in size when I inspect them every day. So I have lots of courgettes to use up. I'm unable to bring myself to pick them at less than 6" long. In practice, mine are at least 10", sometimes longer. They do stay nice and tender and are not bitter, even at a larger size.

Tonight I cooked chicken thighs on a bed of courgettes. It used up a 10" courgette. Even better it was a delicious way of cooking them.

Chicken thighs with courgettes

quantities for 3-4

6 chicken thighs

1 large courgette, thinly sliced

2 medium onions, chopped

2 big cloves garlic, crushed

2 big tomatoes, sliced

olive oil

juice 1 lemon

oregano, salt, pepper, ground coriander berries, ground cumin, paprika

Mix all vegetables in a wide shallow ovenproof container. Add 2 tsp oregano, lemon juice and enough olive oil to moisten. Roughly level off the veg. On top place the chicken thighs which have been coated with a mixture of 2tsp paprika, 1 tsp coriander, 1/4 tsp cumin, salt and pepper. Put into oven at 180C for about 45 minutes.

This was really delicious. The vegetables still retained some texture. There was enough liquid thrown off to make it nicely moist, and the combination of the flavourings was really tasty. A definite recipe for next years glut of courgettes.

The plum crumble was made with plums given to me by a neighbour. I used wholemeal flour and brown sugar for the topping.,

Many years ago I had a delicious potato salad in the French Alps. I remember cubes of potato, cubes of cheese, possibly bacon and some salad greens. But what really made it outstanding was the flavouring of walnut oil. This is my attempt to create something similar.

Potato and walnut salad

Potatoes cooked in their skins. Skins taken off when cooled slightly, then cubed.

Toasted walnuts

French beans, cooked al dente

Walnut oil

Walnut vinegar

salt and pepper

Mix all together, adding the vinegar and oil to taste.

This worked well taste wise. It looked slightly untidy because I used potatoes I had grown, Kestrel, which aren't a salad variety. Still, they the cubes held together well enough.

Shepherds Pie

This was really nice. I had some leftover mashed potatoes, cooked broccoli, a small bowl of cooked courgettes with coriander and tomato, and another small bowl of tomato sauce with olives and anchovies. I browned a mixture of lamb and beef mince and drained off the fat. Meanwhile I softened chopped onion, garlic and carrots. I reheated the meat, adding a tablespoon of curry powder. Then I tipped in the two tomato sauces and the onions and carrots, added some water, and let it simmer for about 15 minutes. Then spread the meat in an ovenproof dish. In a separate bowl mix the mashed potato, chopped broccoli, and a good handful of grated cheddar. Spread on top of the meat mixture. Put into a hot 180C oven and cook for about 25 minutes.

Courgette risotto

from a recipe by Sophie Grigson

1 onion, chopped

2 nine inch courgettes, one grated, one cut into small pieces

1 cup arborio rice

1 clove garlic, chopped

white wine or dry cider

chicken stock (cube is fine)

grated parmesan

Soften chopped onion in a little olive oil. Tip in the grated courgette and the chopped garlic and cook for a few minutes. Brown the chopped courgette separately in olive oil and reserve. Stir in the rice then add 2-3 tablespoons wine or cider and let evaporate. Add the hot stock, top up at intervals until rice almost cooked. Stir in the cooked chopped courgette and warm through. When rice is ready stir in parmesan to taste.

With this we ate:

Chicken thighs roasted with lemon juice and black pepper

Brown the thighs in butter. Put in a small roasting pan pour over the juice of a lemon and some salt and black pepper. Cook at 180 C for about 35 minutes. The skin was very crisp and brown.

and:

Tomato and spring onion salad

Halved golden cherry tomatoes,mixed with chopped spring onions and a little sugar.

My birthday meal tonight- cooked by me!

However, special but not complicated. The Osso Bucco follows a simple Elizabeth David recipe. Risotto is easy. The special ingredient tonight was fresh peas from the garden. Afters: fresh raspberries, again from the garden, with yogurt. Oh yes, and a bottle of 1998 Chateauneuf du Pape!

Osso Bucco

2 slices shin of veal

4 tablespoons dry cider

1 tin chopped tomatoes

stock, or water and a chicken stock cube

Brown the veal on both sides in vegetable oil. Pour off the excess oil. Add the dry cider and let it bubble until almost dry. Put in the tomatoes, add stock, or water and stock cube, to cover the veal. Let simmer for about 90 minutes with the pan covered. Reduce the liquid, if necessary, when the veal is cooked. Just before serving sprinkle with gremolata. (See labels)

Risotto with fresh peas

Arborio rice- about 300g- makes 4 servings, but I like to have leftovers

1 onion finely chopped

4 tablespoons dry cider

chicken stock(stock cube is fine)

peas

grated parmesan, about 100g, or more to taste

First soften the onion in a little olive oil. Put the rice in the pan. Stir around for a couple of minutes, put the cider in and let evaporate. Add enough hot stock to cover, turn heat down and let the rice absorb the liquid. Add more liquid as it evaporates, and stir rice occasionally. After about 15 minutes, with the rice still tasting slightly chalky, add the uncooked peas. Add more liquid as necessary, and cook for about another 10 minutes. When the rice is cooked turn off the heat and stir in the parmesan.

Successful first course, second course edible but not that enjoyable

Globe artichokes, one each for the first course. Shame they are so expensive in the UK. These were big ones that I steamed in a little water in the microwave for 15 minutes. Eating them is an enjoyable ritual: first pull off individual scales and dip it in a mixture of melted butter and lemon juice; the inner scales don't have much flesh, so they are just discarded; you need asbestos fingers to pull off the hairy choke; then the reward, the slightly cupped disc at the heart eaten with more butter and lemon juice.

The omelette was less successful. I fried some mushrooms, then added some chopped parma ham for another couple of minutes. I then added the beaten eggs. The parma ham made the omelette too salty, and the flavour was too strong.

Starting point tonight: sitting in my chair at 6pm. What are we going to have? I know: mangetout in the garden. But we need more. I found a pork fillet in the freezer, so decided on a stir fry. This is typical of my cooking: making a meal of what we have in the house or garden. I don't very often pre-plan.

The stir fry was pretty standard. Sliced onion, red pepper, and carrot sticks were separately stir fried, as was the thinly sliced fillet of pork. Then, to a little heated oil in the wok, I added crushed garlic and ginger. After 1 minute I splashed in chinese rice wine and soy sauce. I put the pork and vegetables back in the pan, covered it and gently reheated. The mangetout were stir fried separately in a very little oil. Once cooked I flavoured them with some soy sauce and a teaspoon of sesame oil. They remained nicely crunchy, patchy blackness along their green sides. I served the food with plain noodles.

To follow: the first raspberries.