Coq-a-doodle-doo

Coquille Saint-Jacques was THE way to enjoy scallops as our Meat of the Week. Unfortunately, being pressed for time, a last-minute trip to M&S across the road was called for as they have a fantastic range of fish and seafood. We opted for Coquilles Saint-Jacques (I VERY rarely buy foods already made-up for me) but they looked great:



For those not in the know, this is scallop pieces (in a shell, so pretty) with a cheese and wine sauce, creamy mashed potato and topped with a layer of parmesan. We ate them with boiled potatoes and tenderstem brocolli.

To make up for the lack of cooking in the meaty part of the meal, I made up some herb butter to serve over the boiled potatoes, this was done by just mixing up some crushed garlic, chilli flakes and mixed herbs in a pestle and mortar, and stirring in some butter. I poured the mixture into drained boiled potatoes and let it melt.



Finally, for the brocolli, I served boiled and bright green, topped with chopped and fried shallots.





Ta da!



How bored must you be of our plates; I thought this time I'd treat you to one of Matt's retro ones.. I think the blue Arabian ones I normally use are great, we picked them up at a pottery shop where the guy made them himself, in Nabeul, Tunisia. The plates everywhere were SO expensive and not great quality. We managed to find this place and a few attempts at haggling later, came out with a set of plates, bowls and gifts! We only have a tiny kitchen, which is keeping my need to buy loads of new crockery at bay for now.

Next time, I'm making this from scratch. Of course, I wish I'd have kept the shells...

Carluccio cooked my tea

We had a really lazy Sunday last weekend, we were meant to have a picnic in Holland Park but that didn't really happen as the sun was hiding behind the clouds.
So we decided to pop across the Green to Carluccios for dinner.

We chose the venison tortelloni, which came served in a butter sauce. Unfortunately, I took my photographs on my phone, which is broken and Vodafone have to delete my photos when they repair the thing so you'll just have to use your imagination. You can find something here though.
It was delicious, the pasta was really light and the venison was very rich and meaty; the butter sauce complimented it perfectly. Highly recommended!

Kangarooney

So in true spirit of British summer (where has it gone?!), a barbecue with a Meat of the Week theme was upon us. Kangaroo was the featured meat to embrace Matt's friends' barbecue...



It was SO nice! Really strong, a bit like a venison kind-of flavour, and really nice texture.

Basa

I'd never even heard of Basa til the other day, but it's lush and I'm going to have it again very soon! It reminded me of skate, without the shell, and was more meaty than something like cod or haddock.

To serve, I grilled two basa fillets and served it with a dressing of shallots, oil, basil, lemon juice and chilli flakes. For sides, we had cheesy polenta and steamed mixed vegetables.
Easy peasy :) I bet you're so sick of our Tunisian plates.

Vietnamese fish a la Grainger

Matt brought home some loch trout and I decided to turn to my Bill Grainger 'Every Day' cookbook (you can see here for inspiration).



We adapted the following recipe for your tasting pleasure:

Caramel Salmon: Serves 4:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
800g salmon fillets with skin on, cubed
1 red onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, sliced
3tbsp dark soy sauce
115G soft brown sugar
3 tbsp fish sauce
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp lime juice

To serve:
Steamed rice
Lime wedges



All you need to do is heat the oil in a frying pan over high heat. Add the fish in two batches and cook through for a few minutes until lightly browned, turning after one minute. Remove from the pan and place onto a side plate.
Reduce the heat to medium and add a bit more oil to the pan if you need it. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in soy sauce, sugar and fish sauce. Return the salmon to the pan and cook for one minute, or until the sauce is rich and syrupy. Sprinkle with a lot of black pepper and stir in the lime juice. Serve and enjoy!



We served it with some chopped tomatoes.



Yum, strong flavour, but unusual and certainly delicious!

Eating by stripes

So so sorry for the lack of posting. A few weeks ago, we had zebra (and yes, almost 6 months in we're still up to date with the challenge)...



At the fishmonger we bought it from, we were informed it was quite a dry meat, and recommended we cooked it in a tomato sauce or something similar. So I made a simple tomato sauce from canned tomatoes, puree, an onion, some honey, ketchup, basil and seasoned it well. After boiling the liquid off for a bit, I added it to the pan where I'd been pan-frying zebra strips.



I have realised I need to work on my dish accompaniments, we don't eat potatoes often but we always seem to have them with our Meat of the Week!!



It was a bit of a strange taste sensation. Less flavour than beef, and perhaps a bit tougher in parts of the cut. I'm not sure if we'd have it again, although it could be really nice slow-cooked in a stew I think.

What's up, duck?

I am SO sorry for being so lame, we've had a lot on and erm, I was bought a sewing machine and got addicted!!

We've a bit of backlog so I'll keep it brief - for our duck meal, I roasted duck breasts with sliced oranges on top, served with roast potatoes (drizzled in duck fat as it cooked). I also created a red wine and orange sauce: I soaked orange segments in a mixture of red wine, sugar and orange juice, then reduced it in a pan. Easy peasy!





I need to work on my food presentation and photography, food photography is quite difficult as it is but our kitchen isn't particularly well lit and my camera refuses to behave.

I really want to get more adventurous with the meats but Matt is funny about eating eel!! However, he seems up for rattlesnake!

K x