Wednesday - Chops, Chips & Vegetables

Jo has just given me some ear-ache about me (in her opinion) neglecting the blog.....well not anymore!!!

Last nights dinner made made by my fair hand......LAMB CHOPS, HOME MADE OVEN CHIPS WITH CARROTS AND SWEETCORN!!!!! There will be a more fun blog post tomorrow.....

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.

Friday - Making a Star of Carrots with Chicken Curry & Naan

The arrival of the veg box, has led to a slight change in our eating habits - there is no way that I would have bought cauliflower let alone put it with pasta (see yesterdays dinner here) but I did and it worked! And previously when we would have thought 'boring old carrots', now they take a more premier part of dinner - yesterday is a good example of this; we had spiced carrot fritters that had carrots, shallots, ginger, cumin, chilli, egg and flour which was mixed together, made into patties and shallow fried - yum! Carrots also got added to Jo's curry for the first time.

Spiced carrot fritters

Chicken curry (with added carrot)

For once we had no biscuits for dessert, so Jo made sweet popcorn, which satisfied our craving (by this time we had got through two bottles of wine!)

Popcorn