Friday (and some Saturday) - Joe Home Alone Burger & Chips

I returned home at 8.30pm after a few drinks with Dave Bro, leaving Jo in town on a work night out. When she is out she always assures me she will be home before 12am but this never happens. Once again I was proved correct when I heard the click clack of heels coming towards the front door at around 1.30am - I am not going to go into too much detail to save Jo's blushes but Jo woke up with a shock at 7am, fully clothed and half way down the bed; we also had a duvet each!

Anyway, back to my dinner - a beef burger from Swillington Farm, cheddar cheese and gherkins with a beetroot salad from the Co-op ( which was a bit gross).

This was actually my lunch from Town Hall Tavern - the pork pies are from Wilson's Butchers

Today we are having a greek dinner so bought these treats from a brilliant deli in Roundhay called Haley and Clifford (click here for info) in preparation. 

This bread is my by Domouchel in Garforth - I need to visit here!! We will be using this to try the olive oil that we had delivered in the week.

Thursday - Pre cinema Eggs & Mushrooms

We have rushed home after work, as Jo have convinced me to watch Harry Potter with her. So, it was two quick dinners;

Joe - scrambled eggs

Jo - poached egg with mushrooms

This morning I was excited to receive a delivery of extra virgin olive oil from Priorat Products which will be on the blog at the weekend - click here for info.

Today's delivery - thanks Tina!

Wednesday - Mexican Beef Tacos Trays

Woah, looks like yesterdays pork pie blog was very popular - there are things developing on the pork pie front and I will be blogging about them soon.

After we both had long days in work, Jo rounded up odds and sods in the fridge to go with the taco shells that we bought in the Co-Op reduced section (£1 bargain!).....

With all the toppings - tomato salsa, feta and yoghurt!

Pudding - Cheats raspberry fool topped with cookies

Tuesday - Baked Potatoes

Jo was going to do the blog this evening, but she was too busy 'trying to find the golden eggs'....I didn't know what she meant before I noticed she has stolen my Iphone and was playing Angry Birds....!

After the porkie pie excitment of earlier, it was a trusty (but tasty) baked potato and baked beans:

Special wedding menu tasting - Pork Pie Heaven

We are getting married in September 2012 and we spend A LOT of time talking about the menu - more than anything else wedding related in fact!! After recent trip to Skipton I became a pork pie convert (evangelist) after trying a pork pie from Stanforth Butchers (click here for the website) - it was awesome as Work Mike will testify! 

This got me thinking whether I could convince Jo that we we should have a round of the best pork pies I could find for the drunkards at our wedding (there will be a lot - its a mix of scousers and scots!) and I think I have managed it! Through the power of twitter I got in touch with Sarah at Brays Cottage in Norfolk whose website is www.perfectpie.co.uk - the clue is in the name. They have won loads of awards and Giles Conran from the Times said they make “the most extraordinary pie I had ever known”. I had to try one!!!

Sarah posted a selection to us which arrived in the post today - oh joy!!!! This is what landed on my desk in work;

A perfectly wrapped parcel - it was like Christmas!!

These beauties were enclosed. 3 perfectly formed porkie pies. One traditional, one onion marmalade and one chorizo!

So we had 3 pork pies for 3 people to try - the extra was Work Mike who was desperate to get involved. So they were split in thirds with Jo's bits carefully wrapped to bring home with me. Here is the evidence:

Overall we were all very impressed and they are at the top of the list of 'special edition' treats for the wedding. We were all in agreement that they were indeed the best pork pies we had ever tried (our favorite was the naked one).

Thanks a lot to the guys at Brays Cottage.

Monday Chilli Prawns

I usually cannot be bothered cooking on a Monday, with it being the first day back at work.  Usually I want beans on toast and chocolate!  But today I was in the mood for chilli so made some chilli prawns.  I think I'm getting pretty good with my Thai-style food now. Unfortunately I'm trying to be a bit healthy so it was served with brown rice and pepper stir fried vegetables.  Joe's a wimp so was crying about his sniffly nose, but I liked it!

Chilli prawns!

Pepper vegetables and brown rice

Sunday Seafood Dischi Volanti

Jo did a quick shop at M&S yesterday and came home with some interesting looking seafood that included calamari, queen scallops and tiger prawns - this is what she made with it (Dischi volanti = pasta)......

Radish salad with a lemon and olive oil dressing

Saturday - Belated Bastille Day celebration

As inspiration/an excuse to make and eat tasty treats, we occasionally use national celebrations and on 14th July it was La Fête Nationale/Bastille Day (click here for information).  Jo is slightly in love with all things French and so was more than happy to use Bastille Day as a platform to make some tasty french treats. 

We started the day with the classic croissant and jam

While Jo planned the cooking, I strolled down to the local farmers market and returned with a bulb of smoked garlic.  I also went foraging for the first time and collected lots of rasberries from bushes that I ran past by chance earlier in the week in the local park. 

Smoked garlic

Foraged raspberries to be made into a Tartlette aux Framboise

Whilst I relaxed with the Open, Jo got busy in the kitchen and produced a 3 course french bistro menu.

La Salade de Chevre Chaud

Steak frites

Tartlette aux Framboise

Finished off with an espresso each