If you happen to have a free evening and a spare $40, I recommend you get your butt down to the Melbourne Botanical Gardens and watch the Shakespeare Company perform "Shakespeare Under the Stars - A Comedy of Errors".

This is exactly what we did Saturday night - and what a fantastic night it was. Rugged up under blankets with some yummy picnic food and wonderful company.

To get the taste buds going we started with some home-made Salmon Rillette smeared on fresh ciabatta bread (more on this little jar of heaven to come).

For main, I made Jamie Oliver's Special Chicken Stew (based on the classic French fricasee), from his cookbook Jamie's Kitchen. This was a real winner in my books. The chicken stayed moist and tender, the grapes added a lovely burst of sweetness, and the sauce was delicious when you mopped it up with the remaining ciabatta.

To accompany the chicken I also made from Jamie's Kitchen cookbook his "Proper French Side Salad". Wow! What a dressing. I could have just eaten a huge tub of it all on its own.

And to finish off, some Chocolate Brioche hit the spot (again, more on this to come soon).

I must have been thinking of my dream cottage in the French countryside when I was cooking on Saturday as it wasn't until part way through the dinner that we realised everything was French based - not intentional at all.

What a wonderful way to spend a Saturday night in Melbourne - what are you waiting for - go, go, go!