Thursday Night in a rush!

Today I had a plan of making baked potatoes, lovingly cooked over an hour or so while I went for a run and did some packing for our weekend on the Wirral...best laid plans eh?  I ended up going for drinks to celebrate some of my friends qualifying, while Joe welcomed new boy James to his office.  We got home at about twenty to nine and baked potatoes were beyond me!

This weekend I had spotted some Jamie Oliver branded fishcakes in the supermarket and was intrigued.  They are Youngs fishcakes with Jamie Oliver branding.  I didn't think companies like Youngs had the same focus on sustainability and so on that Jamie Oliver has been pushing for, but these are pollack fishcakes.  I thought I'd give them a whirl, and to be honest they weren't the best fishcakes (although not the worst either) but at least it's a forward step in using different kinds of fish in mass production.

Wednesday Night - An eclectic mix - Halloumi Salad & Corn on the Cob

I admit the blog this week has been pretty dull so far (apart from Jo's dinners of course!), but we haven't done too much so far.....we are heading to the Wirral (my neck of the woods) to see friends and family, and we are both running the Hoylake 10k on sunday!! - hopefully there will be some better written content then..........today's dinner is below;

Halloumi Salad & Corn on the Cob

Close-up

Tuesday - Meatballs and Blackberries

I am not feeling to inspired with words this evening, so there won't be many! We had meatballs made by Jo with blackberries that we found in Roundhay Park on Sunday afternoon:

Meatballs

Blackberries

Monday - Vegetable Curry

As is becoming the norm, it was a late one for both of us but Jo still managed to knock a great meal together in precisely 26 minutes from start to finish......VEGETABLE CURRY!! (with naan - no pictures)

Sunday - Round 2 in the competition - salmon and chocolate pots

Last Sunday Joe laid down the gauntlet with his roast lamb so this week it was my turn to show him how Sunday dinners should be done!

My choice was baked salmon with a white wine and dill sauce, served on mash with ribbon carrots and courgettes, followed by melting chocolate pots.  It's pretty much my ideal dinner - fish followed by chocolate, and even Joe liked it!  Have put a brief recipe below for the fish (for those who have been complaining about my lack of recipes!!)

Salmon with a white wine & dill sauce, served on mash (organic potatoes from Riverford Farm - still serving us well!)

Courgette and carrot ribbons

Joe's plate

Melting chocolate pots with foraged blackberries

Baked Salmon with dill and ribbon veg (for two)

2 salmon fillets, skin off
half a courgette, in ribbons (use a potato peeler)
half a carrot, in ribbons (peeler again)
half a lemon
flour
butter
glass of white wine
1 tablespoon of fresh dill
cream

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees
2.  Put the carrot and courgette ribbons into an ovenproof dish, season, and squeeze 2/3 of the lemon over it.
3.  Place the salmon fillets on top, season lightly and squeeze the remaining third of the lemon over the top.  Put the dish in the oven (uncovered) for about 12 minutes, until cooked.  (Obvs the timing will depend on the size of the fillets and how cooked you like your salmon - trust your judgment!)
4.  Make a roux in a frying pan by melting the butter and then stirring in the flour.  Don't have the heat too high or you'll burn the butter and flour and everything will taste of burnt flour!
5.  Add the wine a slosh at a time, making sure it is fully incorporated into the flour mix before adding anymore.
6.  When the wine is incorporated, add a splash of water depending on how thick your sauce is - you want it to be double cream thickness.
7.  Bubble the sauce for a few minutes to make sure the wine is cooked off, and then add the chopped dill and stir through.  Switch the heat off, and then after about 30 seconds stir through a slug of cream.

Saturday - Shooting, Pork Pies, Halloumi Salad & 40th Birthdays

Our generous and lovely mum (click to blog here) bought me and my bro (Dave Pilla) bought us a afternoon clay pigeon shooting at Coniston Hotel, which was a first for both of us. It was brilliant, but not something that I would so again as Dave is much better than me, and I hate to be beaten by him. He won 22 - 17.

.

Me with my special eye thing (I have funny vision according to Jim the instructor) and fetching ear plugs

Dave doing his shooting thing

The brothers Rees with out great instructor Jim

Joe's scorecard - 17 - I was cheated

Dave's score card - 22 - he cheated ;o)

On the way home we stopped at Lishman's in Ilkley for a pork pie each - it was very good and possibly the best so far.

For dinner, we had halloumi salad for the first time, and it's something we would definitely have again.

Then, it was out into Chapel Allerton for a good friends 40th birthday celebrations. Wolf's day had started at 9am with the rugby and he and the hardcore didn't meet us until 7.30pm! - it had been quite the session that was still going when we left for home at 11pm.

Joe and Jim

Here is a picture of the man in question - happy birthday Robin!!