Tonight Lucullus is dining with Lucullus...

I am coming down with flu! Hoorah! One big glass of Merlot and here is a little dinner for any poorly folk out there. Actually, this makes frequent appearances at various meals for me.

SARDINES ON TOAST

Now, I have recently stockpiled on sardines. They were 35p a can (in sunflower oil) in Lidl*. When I am unwell, when things feel a little out of control or when I am heavily pregnant, I tend to do a bit of stockpiling. You know: tinned tomatoes and the like. But these sardines, I must say, are excellent and here is what I did with them.

Take some sturdy bread -- white or brown, as you like. This will also, I have found, work quite well with white pitta bread. Get your grill good and hot and then toast your bread under it, briefly, on both sides. Now, take it out and pile on the sardines. I don't usually even bother to remove the oil because I like it to drip luxuriantly from the toast a little later on. Spread the sardines out evenly across the toast, pressing them down a little and add LOTS of freshly ground black pepper and, if you like, just a little sea salt. Now, blitz your sardines on toast under a hot grill until the edges of your toast have just started to char. Eat straight away, possibly with a tea towel to hand and definitely alone if this is a new relationship. Actually, I tend to eat this alone and I've been married for about 300 years. I tend to eat it like a cormorant devouring the best fish he's ever seen. And by the way: you toast the bread lightly first so that's it's a bit more robust for the topping and won't collapse as you eat it. With your hands.

Ooh, the joys of Lidl. I am particulary fond of the "wellness" range (e,g, the breakfast wellness flakes) and the "recycling toilet paper." I realise that this makes me sound as if I am making fun of Europeans just because I am not one and they speak a bit funny.**

**I'm joking.