Day 178 - Chilli and tomato fish

Another recipe from Donna Hay from the Instant cook, this one is chill and tomato fish. It was very light - maybe a better summer dish?

you will need;
olive oil
a sliced onion,
some chilli flakes
2 firm white fish fillets (we used Ling)
3 ripe tomatoes cut into wedges
zest of a lemon
chopped parsley

Basically you just fry up the onion and chilli in oil for a few minutes, then add the seasoned fish and cook for a few minutes each side until cooked and then set aside and keep warm.
Increase temp to high and add the tomatoes and lemon zest and cook for a couple of mintues, add the parsley, then dish it up! I think it would have been good with some couscous or maybe some crusty bread.

Day 176 - Steak and spinach

This recipe was adapted from Donna Hay The Instant Cook. It was meant to be Steak with rocket sauce. And you all know how much I love rocket! But when I went shopping the rocket was stringy and bit blah, so I bought baby spinach instead.

Here is what Morry did;

Brush steaks with oil and season with salt and pepper.

Heat a griddle pan until hot and cook the steaks for a few minutes each side or until the kitchen is so smokey you cant see the dining room.

At the same time grill some sliced, oiled potatoes until browned and cooked through.

Add butter, juice of a lemon, and a couple of teaspoons of sugar to hot pan, cook for about a minute, then add garlic and baby spinach until the spinach is wilted.

Layer it up on a plate and tuck in.

The sugar in the sauce is a great addition, it makes what would otherwise be a sharp sauce into a dish that is easy on the palate.

Morry cooks steaks like a professional too!

Day 175 - Dinner at Anna & Kyms

Kym made an appetiser of baguettes topped with all sorts - one was anchovies with a hard cheese, maybe haloumi?, this one was goats cheese with tomato and basil, and my favourite was the proscuitto one. They were great - nice work Kym.

Morry made slow cooked shanks with potato and carrot and all sorts.

Kym made dessert which was magnificent. I am going to make it for the boys one night. Anna sent me a copy of the recipe (below) and obviously peaches are our season, but pears are in! It is a great dessert.

Day 173 - slow cooked beef & Day 174 Tom Kai Gai

Family dinner in the slow cooker tonight. I made a beef stew and buttery boiled potato, Morry made spinach becuase I didnt know how. The boys ate the potato. Hugo wants to be a vegetarian.

Once again, it was so long ago I cant remember what recipe I used... but I did go to the effort of browning the meat - I remember that much!

Morrys Tom Kai Gai is great with a dollop of chilli paste mixed through.

Before we started using a different recipe each night, this was a staple! Serve it with sticky rice.

Day 172 - curry?

Righto, I had to be honest here. I have no idea what this was. I cant remember if it was tasty or if I liked it. It looks like might have been a curry maybe?

I made scones for breakfast! Morry and I ate ours - the boys just picked at theirs. Hmmm, a lot of effort for not much thanks ...

Day 171 - Baked Chicken salad

I do remember this one!

This was a bit of a pantry surprise dinner.

I baked some chicken breast with beautiful little cherry tomatoes and some olives, the Morry put them on some baby spinach and topped it with basil and preserved lemon.

It was a taste sensation really - lots of really intense flavours, but it really needed a big glass of white wine to comliment it. Lucky for me, Morry provided!

Day 170 - Damper & Soup

Internet problems have prevented me from updating my blog, so I now cant actually remember what kind of soup this was.

I remember the damper though! God it was magnificent. Hot out of the oven with a bit of butter and then dipped into the soup. Superb for a cold winters night.

Damper is a bit easy to make too!