Don't pass out, but DH made dinner tonight........we had spagetti carbonara with herb salad.......it tasted twice as good as normal as I didn't lift a finger to prepare any of it apart from snipping a few chives out of the garden!
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Don't pass out, but DH made dinner tonight........we had spagetti carbonara with herb salad.......it tasted twice as good as normal as I didn't lift a finger to prepare any of it apart from snipping a few chives out of the garden!
Blue cheese and leek tart that DP is making served with a spinach and pear salad that I'm making. Now I'm thinking of tossing in some roasted capsicums into the salad as well - whaddya reckon?
That sounds darned good Fiona!
I've just made a chicken, pear and saffron tagine (which has just filled the entire flat with the delectable fragrance of citrus, ras el hanout, cinnamon, saffron, ginger, mmm), but we're not having it tonight. Tonight's is much less exotic - leftover cottage pie and vegies.
ooooooh tagine, Suse! I think that's a very good move waiting until tomorrow to have it. Always better the next day.
oh - keep the capsicums out of the salad, you really need something sharp to complement the pears - some shaved parmesan perhaps.
Blend the capsicum with some pasatta and a little fried garlic and onion to make a sauce...should go really nicely with that tart.
That tagine sounds awesome, might have to give that a go later in the week.
You should try the rabbit dish I made a couple of nights ago, although you could use chicken thighs or pork medallions if you don't fancy the rabbit.
For 2 people:-
Fry about 150g of coarsely chopped pancetta in a fry pan in a little olive oil
When the fat has render out of the pancetta and it's started to crisp up, move it into a casserole dish leaving the fat in the pan.
Brown the legs from the rabbit (4) or 4 chicken thighs (with the skin and bone) in the pan, then add them to the casserole
Fry a chopped onion and a couple of sticks of celery in the pan without browning, then add to the casserole
Add a couple of chopped carrots, bayleaf, thyme and 500ml of cider to the casserole then bring to the boil. Put the lid on and simmer for 75 minutes.
Fish the meat out and put it on a plate in the bottom of the oven to keep warm
Pour the sauce through a sieve back into the frying pan - don't discard the vegies and pancetta, use them for a stock or soup.
Boil the sauce in the frying pan hard until you have about 200ml of liquid left
Add 200ml of double cream and a good tablespoon of dijon or wholegrain mustard and bring to the boil again whilst stirring - you should now have a wonderful creamy apple-cider-mustard sauce to go with the meat.
Season with salt and pepper and then serve mash and wilted spinach/greens.
plain old roast vege bake here to night I hope it does the job and warms us up....
LOL Lucy, isn't it amazing how good something tastes when you don't have to prepare it yourself! That being said, I love cooking, but I think I get more out of the process than the eating (unless it's something sweet ;)).
I'm ashamed to admit that tonight I'm having spaghetti on toast :redface: DH is out, so why not? I have a sick little one, so I'd rather spend time cuddling him on the couch, than cooking up a storm. Besides, sketti on toast is rooly good, VERY occasionally :lol:
Yummo Bear (and vege bake sounds pretty good too Tali - nothing like comfort food in winter)
I'll post the tagine recipe soon, might not be till tomorrow though...
Love your work Bear. I shall do that.
I'm packing my bags and moving in with The Bear! :lol:
I'm off to Nonna & Nonno's for dinner so probably pasta & salad.
Hey Diamond75 - the bear is my DH!!!!!! Hands off!
LOL
But if you're in the area we'll consider inviting you over for dinner!
OMG I had no idea he was a male! (sorry thebear!) wow you are one very very lucky lady thepixie!!!
When I my DH offers to cook he actually means he is offering to phone for pizza! but I love him!
Edited to add.. only two days to go pixie! wow how very very exciting! All the best to you and bear.
damn - I've been outed...surely I can't be the only guy that emjoys doing all the cooking, can I?
Thanks Diamond - and you're not the first on BB to mistake the Bear for a chick - he should put a photo in his signature - that would fix it! LOL
Lol - although I can't think of too many women who would go by the username Bear - it's pretty blokey!!
Happy EDD pixie!!
Ooooo Suse I NEED to get a tagine. There is this amazing breakfast tagine recipe I want to do, and about a million other things.
I don't know whats for dinner tonight. Although I made a delish French Chicken Stew on Sunday and shall chow down on some leftovers at lunchtime ;) I made another Jus last night (we had steak again) and I think I prefer the new recipe better, this time I added mushroom stock and used a nice penfolds cab sav and it was divine!
Fiona I love that tart, yum yum yum!
TheBear that Rabbit sounds divine.
I need some inspiration for tonights meal...
Lol Cai - I don't actually have a real tagine, I just use a heavy casserole, but no one would know what I was talking about if I said we were having saffron and pear Bessemer for dinner. ;)
I'd love to get a proper tagine, but I barely have room in the cupboards for all of my cookware as it is. Oh what I would do for a big kitchen!
What do you have to work with?:
Whatever is at my local store ;) Ok I think I have figured it out *yay*
I'm going to make eggplant pastitsio pie... with a nice salad unless I change my mind again. I just need to get some lamb and some salad I have the rest.
Just remembered that I promised to post that tagine recipe:
Chicken, Saffron & Pear Tagine.
Ingredients:
4 x chicken breast fillets, trimmed and halved
2 large or 3 medium onions, sliced
4 firm pears, peeled, cored and quartered
1 tbls each of crushed/minced ginger and garlic
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp saffron
1 tsp ras el hanout
2 whole cinnamon sticks
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
zest from 1/2 orange, and three slices of orange (from the same orange)
zest from one lemon
1 tbls orange flower water (or orange juice)
1/4 cup honey
50gm butter
1/4 cup olive oil
400-500ml chicken stock
1 whole bunch coriander, washed and tied with string (note: finely chop about 1/2 cup of leaves from the top of the bunch before tying)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
handful of blanched almond flakes or slivers
Method:
1. Soak saffron strands in about 1 tbls boiling water for 5 minutes.
2. Heat butter and saute pears for a few minutes. Sprinkle with cardamom, and add honey and saute over medium/high heat until lightly caramelised. Set aside.
3. Heat 1/2 of the olive oil in pan and brown chicken in batches. Set aside.
4. Heat remaining oil and gently fry onions, garlic and ginger until onions are translucent. Add cinnamon, ras el hanout, saffron & water, and black pepper and gently fry for one more minute.
5. Add chicken, stock and coriander (bunch), and bring to boil. Simmer over low heat, covered, for about 1/2 hour or until chicken is just tender.
6. Add pears and honey mixture, orange slices and zest, and simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes until sauce is reduced slightly and pears are tender. Add orange flower water.
To serve: remove orange slices, coriander and cinnamon sticks. Serve with brown rice (or couscous) and top with mixed finely chopped coriander and parsley, and slivered / flaked almonds.
Serves 4.
For dinner we had.... <insert drum roll>
TOASTED CHEESE SAMBOS!!! :clap:
Although I did do a very impressive brunch today.
oh Suse that sounds splended...if only I could get my lot to eat fruit in things... they won't eat a biscuit if there's a sultana in it :rolleyes:
Tonight I have potato, ham and leek soup in the SC with crusty bread rolls ready in the bread maker with timer on.
Christy that sounds delish! Might have to get the bear to make some bread rolls!
2night we are having red wine and garlic marinated roast beef with roast potato,carrot and pumkin.steamed brocolli and cauli and peas corn and capsicum.......smothered in gravy lol yummy
Hey HB that is an impressive dinner for a Monday night.
We had spicy lentil and tomato soup that turned into a spicy dhal and rice instead (I left it on the stove too long :p).
tonight was a slacker - wedges with leftover meat from burrito's the other night and some melted cheese
not what i wanted, but the meat was there and i didn't want to waste it...
Homemade chicken, lentil and sweetcorn soup.
BBQ Lamb Chops marinaded in rosemary and garlic, gnocchi with spinach and blue cheese sauce (bit of a hint of nutmeg and lemon in there too)
bear where's the bread rolls :P
My mouth is drooling from some of these dinners mentioned! Much better than my boring butter chicken & rice. I don't know what I did wrong, but it was awful!
Christy - they are proving overnight, so they will be ready tomorrow...the dough has little left over bits of prosciutto and gorgonzola mixed into it for a little added piquancy.
Jodi - everyone has off days, I tried to make a nice simple dish for the pixie a couple of weeks ago called toad in the hole...it's dead simple, you put sausages in a pan, pour over a nice light fluffy batter and throw it in the oven. Very nice, unless you forget to add eggs, in which case you've just poured home made flour and water glue over the sausages and used the oven to perma-weld them to your roasting pan...now the dish has been renamed toad in the wall!
Lol,thanks dusty..im a stay at home mummy to 2 kiddies, so it isn't all that hard..though I do have off days also...2nite we are having t bone steaks with I don't know what yet...got heaps of left over vegies so was thinking of the good old bubble n squeak..not very imaganative I know but a fav in our house for sure..
Lol Bear - sounds like something I'd do! My worst has been cake without the sugar.
Tonight's dinner for us is gnocci from the freezer (homemade) with tomato chilli sauce (also homemade and from the freezer). Yumo and so easy! 1 pot.
were having chicken quesadillas!!
Home made Bread (multigrain for me and white for DH), french Onion soup (homemade) and left over quiche
Yum
Chicken pasta bake.
But I did outdo myself this morning to reward DP for reorganising the kitchen so made him corn fritters with smoked salmon, sour cream and mashed avocado for brunch. Bloody delicious even if I do say so myself.
Chicken and Vegetable pies! I make them at least once a week - soooo yummy plus white choc chip and raspberry muffins that didn't turn out too well so I might crack into the chocolate indulgence Connoisseur icecream! :)
I've got a couple of fresh red gurnards that are marinading in a morrocan spice mixture at the moment, they will be pan fried and served on a bed of cous-cous with a fennel, orange and rocket salad.
Sounds delicious but what are gurnards?
Fiona, I'm glad someone asked that question! ;)