Eva opened a large bag of Mexican tortilla chips and a pot of Greek yogurt and then whipped up some guacamole for herself and Viv to snack on.
Eva liked to keep the guacamole chunky.
‘Mmm these are addictive,’ said Viv as she scooped up some guacamole with a tortilla chip.
‘Thanks for coming hon.’
‘Are you kidding me girl, sure where else would I be?’
‘Guacamole’
You will need:
2 Avocados 1 small red onion finely chopped 1 garlic clove Juice of 1 Lime 2 tbsp Greek Yogurt Fresh coriander optional
Method:
Combine the mashed ripe Avocados with finely chopped red onion and mix well. Add in the crushed garlic, lime juice and Greek yogurt and combine. Season to your liking with salt and pepper and add in some chopped coriander if you like it.
‘I know yeah, roll on the summer. Are you hungry?’
‘Starving, I skipped breakfast this morning and my stomach is speaking to me now,’ replied Viv.
Turning back to the menu and regretting her breakfast of cream cheese loaded bagel, Eva decided on the stuffed peppers with a side salad.
Basil pesto optional, but if you like it go for it…..
‘Stuffed Peppers’ (Serves 2)
You will need: 2 large red peppers 75g cherry tomatoes (4) quartered 2 cloves garlic crushed or finely chopped 1 medium carrot peeled 1 small red onion finely chopped 2 handfuls / 35g breadcrumbs (1 slice bread made into breadcrumbs) Handful fresh herbs such as parsley Olive oil 8 mini mozzarella balls (bocconcini or ciliegine) Small chunk / 35g parmesan grated.
Method: Preheat the oven to 190oC. Cut the tops off the peppers to create a cap and then de-seed them. Put pepper bases and tops into the hot oven, drizzle some oil and top and bake for 10 minutes. While they are cooking use the vegetable peeler to make carrot ribbons in a large bowl. Add in the finely chopped red onion, garlic, mozzarella balls and quartered cherry tomatoes. Season with salt & pepper. In a separate bowl mix together the breadcrumbs, chopped parsley and grated parmesan. Remove the semi-cooked peppers from the oven and spill out and discard any juices that may have gathered then fill the bases with the tomato mixture and top generously with the breadcrumbs. Return to the oven with the pepper tops on the side to cook for a further 15 to 20 minutes until the breadcrumbs are golden brown. Serve with pepper caps on top and with a simple baby leaf salad and dressing.
As they ate lunch Eva brought up her plans to return to work.
Glancing at the clock she saw that it was almost nine thirty and thought that they had better get a move on if they were ever going to get away for the week-end. Alan was still clueless and the thought of surprising him excited her as she rustled around the kitchen. Eva whipped up a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs made with real butter and cream, some diced crispy bacon and fresh chopped chives. Chunky brown bread smothered with butter and steaming hot coffee completed the lot.
Image from Bord Bia
‘Creamy Scrambled Eggs with Crispy Bacon & Chives’ (Serves 2)
You will need:
4 eggs, splash cream, knob real butter, 3 rashers of bacon, oil to fry, a few chives.
Method: Lightly beat the eggs and a little cream together in a bowl, using a fork or whisk. Chop the bacon into pieces using a kitchen scissors and fry until crispy in a little oil. While the bacon cooks melt the knob of butter in a saucepan over a medium heat, once melted turn up the heat a little and adding in the eggs keep stirring the eggs as they cook, using a wooden spoon or spatula to stop them from sticking.
Meanwhile fry up the rashers in a little oil until crispy. Once the eggs are cooked serve garnished with the chopped up crispy rashers and snipped chives.
‘Smells wonderful,’ Alan enthused as he entered the kitchen. He poured himself a mug of coffee, sat on one of the high stools at the counter and buried his nose in the sports section of the paper.
‘Did you notice anything Alan?’ Eva inquired.
‘Hmm, sorry what did you say?’ he replied speaking directly to the Munster Rugby captain in the paper.
‘I said did you notice anything?’ she repeated feeling slightly miffed now.
‘No,’ he said this time lifting his head. ‘Should I?Oh yeah, your hair is it? Did you get it done? Yes, it’s lovely.’
Eva smiled brightly as she said ‘Yes Alan, I did get my hair done, but that wasn’t it. Haven’t you noticed how quiet it is?’
‘What do you mean?’ he replied looking over at her more intently now as he raised a brow.
‘The kids, Alan. The kids aren’t here.’
‘Why, where are they?’
‘They’re at your mother’s for the week-end and I’ve booked us into SilverBirch House for a night of wining and dining and whatever else you fancy,’ she giggled with a coquettish smile.
‘Oh…., oh, great,’ he replied ‘fantastic, yeah,’ as he began to tuck in to a plate of the rich creamy scrambled egg speckled with chives and crispy bacon. ‘Yum,’ he said, ‘this is delicious.’
‘Glad you like it,’ Eva replied as she watched him consume a forkful of the sublime concoction. There was a satisfaction to be had from preparing and cooking good food and then watching it being savoured and enjoyed. His reaction to the surprise of a weekend away wasn’t quite as enthusiastic as Eva had anticipated though, but things had been sprung on him and Alan really wasn’t a spontaneous or excitable kind of guy. As he sat there enjoying the food she had prepared she decided not to tell him about the plans she had cancelled for the previous evening. There wasn’t any point now anyway and she didn’t want him to think that she had been disappointed.
Ras el hanout. It sounds exotic and it is. If you’d like to read more about this warming spice blend use the ‘Search by ingredients’ area of this site (in side-bar to right of this post if you are on a pc).
You’ll also find it in Tesco or a spice store and possibly other supermarkets where I haven’t found it yet. You can also make it too, again if you’re interested search in the ingredients box of this blog ->
….but you’re probably just here for the recipe.
Simple Salmon Supper:
Ingredients : Salmon Darnes Drizzle oil Good scattering of Ras el Hanout Method: Into hot oven for approx. 15 minutes
Emergency Sauce:
Ingredients: Mayonnaise Philadelphia Cream Cheese Tomato & Chill Relish Honey Ras el Hanout Method: Use your own excellent judgement to combine the above until you make enough sauce to dollop on your salmon. Check your fridge, other things that you can swap in to make great emergency sauce = yoghurt, creme fraiche, vinegars, lemon juice, sweet chilli sauce, hot sauce, mustard, pesto, capers etc.
When it comes to cooking you really don’t need to be spoon-fed line by line instructions, exact quantities and cooking temperatures. Trust your instinct, swap things in and out and your cooking experience will become simpler and faster. All you need is a rough idea of what ingredients work well together and the gist of the method. Gist, now there’s an underused and underrated word for you.
Trust yourself & cook!
Simple Salmon Supper – Ras el Hanout baked Salmon Darnes served with couscous, tenderstem broccoli & a dollop of emergency sauce
More often than not when it comes to food and especially the main meal of the day I just want to eat something simple but super tasty. After a day of work it is very difficult to turn around and cook something at all and much easier to throw on a pizza or pick up some fast takeaway but you know and need to remind yourself that cooking can be as simple and fast as that too. You do need to have done the shopping at some stage though! An empty fridge will not yield a tempting meal. So do yourself a favour and get a food shop in : lots of veg, your preferred protein and stock up on those things that will bring flavour – garlic, lemon, chillies, spices, honey etc.
Think about the flavours you like and put those things together – I love a combination of bitter & sweet, hence the sugar and vinegar of the pickle served with the sweet chicken strips on leaves is my idea of a simple & tasty meal.
Red Onion Pickle
Slice Red onion, sprinkle with red wine vinegar & sugar Leave to marinade while you cook the chicken strips Tastes even better the next day
Is Instagram not for photos anymore?
So what’s that about then? I generally just pick up on mutterings and snippets of things as they filter through the ether and don’t have time to explore on detail however what I’m hearing is that the Insta moguls are leaning in preference more towards video content than still images. What does that actually mean? When you search for something you’re going to be returned with moving pictures rather than still images perhaps. I don’t see that it will really matter. If it’s only pictures you want to see that is the content you will seek out.
So here is one of my recent Insta dinners & Insta recipes. I think the visual along with limited text should be enough for the time pressed. Be inspired then make it your way.
