Although I've not been blogging about the food I've been cooking for Ian, I have been cooking it (well, most weeks!). Back at the start of September I attempted Moroccan chicken, a recipe found in my good food magazine. This was a successful meal, the chicken was nice and flavoursome, juicy, and sweet. The only thing I think this meal was lacking was a bit of colour.
The week after that was the inedible curry mentioned in my seven days of food post. That was far less successful, but I have learnt never to stir rice because of it (and it wasn't even me that did it, Ian was the naughty rice stirrer).
The following week we were back to success. I made pork steaks with pear and a creamy cider sauce. It was to die for - not the most healthy but a yummy treat for sure! We'll definitely be repeating this recipe, but maybe only for special occasions. I also managed to include some green on the plate this time, so I felt better about it.
For Ian's birthday week, I agreed that I wouldn't do a whole week of meals like I did last year, I'd just do one meal on his birthday, and then one at the weekend. This was good for me because I didn't have to cook as much, and good for Ian because he wouldn't have to eat food I'd cooked! So, for his birthday meal, I went for a simple recipe, lamb with feta, tomatoes and rosemary. Unfortunately, my feta didn't crumble, so I had to slice it, and the steaks weren't very flat, so the topping wouldn't stay put and kept falling off. Despite this, it wasn't too bad, although it wasn't a very glamorous birthday meal.
For Ian's weekend meal, I pulled out a tried and tested recipe that we stole from The Dog and Crook's menu, steak with sweet chilli prawn sauce. I made some bacon and goats cheese rostis to start, which were nice, but the goats cheese flavour got a little lost (as did the corner of the flash on the camera it seems!).
Because the rostis were quite filling, we skipped the chips with the steak, and instead just had all the steaky accompaniments - it was delicious.
And even though they were being cooked in hot butter, the mushrooms remained happy!
6 comments:
Ah, yes! The famous fatal error of stirring rice. We've all done it. But only once.......
Naughty Ian!!
BTW, your pork dish reminded me of one of my hubby's and stepson's favourites - it's in Nigella Express and is pork chops with cider, cream, and mustard sauce. Works just as well with half-fat creme fraiche as with double cream (I'm told - I'm veggie, so don't actually eat it!) and my boys like to eat it with chips rather than Saint Nigella's recommended gnocchi. You might like to give it a try.
Supplementary question about the Moroccan chicken! I've looked at the recipe and it calls for ras-el-hanout. Did you use it and, if so, which brand?
I ask because in the UK I always used to use Bart Ras-el-hanout, which is fabulous. Here in France the only ras-el-hanout I've ever found is like poor man's curry powder - ghastly!
Have just checked, it was the Bart one - and it was lovely. Want me to send you some?
We're not really big mustard fans, would you say it's quite mustardy? Would it work without the mustard?
I haven't actually eaten it, being vegetarian, but from the quantity of mustard in it relative to the cider and the cream, I would say it isn't very mustardy. Added to which, it's the "Dijon Poupon" mustard you use - the very mild one with the seeds in it in the pretty little jars. Give it a try, you never know! I can tell you that my teenage stepson doesn't utter a syllable from the moment the plate is put in front of him until said plate is clean!
Many thanks for kind offer of Bart ras-el-hanout. We're coming back to the UK on a short visit soon and it is high on my shopping list!
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