Roast Chicken
It’s become something of a tradition that when we return from holidays we eat roast chicken…well, this is the second time it’s happened so it’s on the way to being a tradition.
We roasted the chicken with onion, garlic, sage and lemon and served it with sagey roast potatoes, stuffing and some green vegetables. It made a refreshing change to the processed sausages and cold meats we’ve been eating recently. We both decided it was our Desert Island Dinner too.
G
Sweden
We’re back from our trip to Sweden where Stephen’s team won both their cricket matches. For the first part of the trip we stayed in a small town with only two restaurants, both of which served pizza and kebabs. We therefore ate pizza:
One of the opposition ate kebab pizza (perhaps that’s why they lost):
They also served sauerkraut:
For the last part of the trip we stayed in some cabins on an island and mostly barbequed:
Some much needed fruit, artfully arranged by one of Stephen’s team-mates:
On the last night we went out for dinner and ate pytt i pana, a typically Swedish dish of fried potatoes, onion and bacon served with a fried egg and pickled beetroot and gherkins:
This was one of the best things we ate while we were there and we’ll definitely be trying to recreate it at some point soon. It’s a bit like bubble and squeak, and the principles are definitely the same as it’s basically leftover meat fried with potatoes and onions. Online recipes vary widely, some include vegetables such as peppers and mushrooms but traditionally you would have just used whatever happened to be lying around.
G
Sweden
We’re off to Sweden for a week and a half, so there won’t be any posts for a while. We’re not sure what food awaits us in Sweden. I’m off there to play cricket (yes, really) so that is what it’s mostly about; the food will be a side-order, so to speak. We’ll let you know what happened food-wise when we get back though!
Pork Chops and Roasted Vegetables
Tonight we had pork loin steaks with some roasted vegetables. We roasted the vegetables (red pepper, sweet potato, onions and mushrooms) in the oven for a while, then pan-fried the pork loin steaks after dusting them with salt, pepper and paprika. The vegetables were really good, but I overcooked the pork a bit and it was a bit dried out. I should have paid more attention rather than multi-tasking. We also had some runner beans and spring greens to add some green stuff, which is always good.
Lentils and Cauliflower
Kerri had a big lunch today, so didn’t want much dinner. I took this opportunity to make some lentils. I fried onion, garlic and ginger with a chopped fresh chilli and a random selection of spices – coriander seed, cumin and clove (all ground). Then I added some water, some chopped tomatoes, some carrots and some cauliflower. Served with paella rice because that was all we had in the way of rice; must definitely do some rice shopping soon.
Roast Brown Trout with Roasted Vegetables
Tonight we roasted a couple of brown trout. We stuffed with with a herb and shallot mixture. We started by roasting red pepper, onion, tomatoes and onions for a while and then added the trout for the last half hour along with half a glass of white wine. The result was good, with the juice from the fish mixing with the wine into the vegetables. Served with some green vegetables too – spring greens and runner beans.
Asparagus and Pancetta Risotto
We had some left over asparagus that I’d bought on Thursday at the “farmer’s market”* in Hammersmith. It was getting a little past its prime, so we made it into risotto instead of just eating it on its own. We boiled up the stalk ends (and also the stalk ends that we’d kept from last night) to make an asparagussy stock, which worked well.
*I use quotes because there are really only a handful of stalls here that have anything to do with farms; the rest are selling take away food of various sorts. However, the market has apparently “breathed new life into Lyric Square” if you believe the Hammersmith and Fulham press office and this can only be a good thing in an area characterised by ghastly pubs and awful traffic congestion both on the roads and on the pavements.
Further down the above-linked article is a quotation from Hammersmith Town Centre Manager, who said. “You only have to pass through Lyric Square on a Thursday and see the heaving crowds and smell the delicious food products being cooked to know this idea is a hit.” Which gives me an opportunity to rant about a personal bugbear. It really, really irritates me when food is just referred to as a “product”. It gives me the impression that the person saying it doesn’t actually have any appreciation for, or understanding of food and is just issuing a general-purpose, impersonal statement. They might as well be referring to matchboxes or bicycles or hatstands. Grrr.
Friends for Dinner
Last night, we had some friends over for dinner. We started with asparagus and the same dressing we made last week:
Next, we had rosemary and garlic lamb, crushed new potatoes, fresh peas, runner beans and winter greens:
And finally, elderflower jelly with summer fruits and vanilla ice-cream:
The jellies, based on a Mark Hix recipe, turned out very well. Elderflower is very sweet but this was nicely balanced by the sharpness of the fruits. Th fruit is cleverly suspended due to a two-stage setting process.
G
Lemongrass Beef and Chicken with Cashew Nuts
Last night we had a quick-but-tasty dinner of lemongrass beef skewers and chicken with cashew nuts.
We’ve made the skewers a couple of times before and they’re definitely a favourite. They were marinated overnight this time, which gave them a stronger flavour. Next time we make them we’ll make some Thai dipping sauce too.
Followed by a chicken and cashew nut stir fry. Apologies for the messy presentation; we were in a hurry. It looks a lot like last night’s dinner because we ended up using the left-over vegetables from last night rather than following the recipe properly. Served with jasmine rice.
Scallop Stir-Fry
This is a recipe I found on an old Sainsbury’s Magazine calendar, it’s been in my recipe file for ages but we only got round to making it today. The scallops were fried off then removed from the pan, the shallots, garlic and ginger were then fried before the vegetables (tenderstem brocolli, baby corn and spring greens) were added and cooked off.
Then the sauce (rice wine, soy sauce, sesame oil and sesame seeds) was added and a lid placed on the wok to finish cooking. The scallops were then returned to the pan and heated through.
We served it with plain brown rice.
I thought it was really brilliant, nine out of ten in fact, and I can’t wait to eat it again. Both Stephen and I thought it would go well with chicken or beef so maybe next time we’ll try that.
G
