Eat it.
Hello! It has been some time. But a quick recipe to hold you over.
Last night, I made what Mr Jane-the-23rd deemed the nicest meal he's had anywhere in a long time. I have to admit, it was pretty good, and it was so SIMPLE. Down with fuss.
Salad with rocket, baby spinach, fresh basil leaves, red pepper and cherry vine tomatoes with shaved parmesean and olive oil. I stopped buying dressings. Now I jsut use olive oil and sea salt, or I make a delicious dressing out of natural yogurt, tahini, lemon juice, garlic (I cheat and use prepared garlic mush) and sea salt. It's cheaper, fresher, and tastier, and most salad dressings use cheap oils and rubbish ingredients and just generally ruin the taste of the salad ingredients.
Then I roasted some banana shallots, whole garlic cloves, yellow pepper, sweet pepper (the long kind, not bell peppers), and courgette. Then I made a tomato sauce (it didn't really go with the dinner, but Mr Jane-the-23rd requested 'something tomatoey', so I just put it on the roasted veg). This was made in the following fashion: sautee garlic and onions, then chuck in a giant tin of cherry tomatoes, a bunch of fresh basil and fresh oregano, some salt, some tomato paste, and let it cook for ages. I'd cook it for at least 30 minutes, but I like to let it simmer for a good while so it reduces and gets all delicious. Sometimes I add a parmesean rind (or some parmesean), or some red wine, but I didn't have either, and they aren't strictly necessary.
The tuna recipe was ridiculously simple. I glanced at it in that Jamie Oliver's Italy cookbook in Fallon and Byrne while I was waiting for the man to wrap the big fat tuna steaks, and then I went home and I cooked it all up and we ate it all up. I used extra garlic, but you don't have to, and I cooked the tuna with some sliced garlic as well. The sauce is: one part lemon juice to three parts olive oil, fresh oregano, fresh mint, garlic, thinly sliced, sea salt, black pepper, and that's it. Mix it all up, then leave it aside. Pan-fry the tuna steaks in a little olive oil, a few minutes each side (he says 'one minute', but I'm paranoid about salmonella, and also, these were really thick steaks), transfer to plates, spoon the sauce over them, devour hungrily, protecting plate from loved one who might 'get funny ideas' about your tuna steak. I didn't use all the sauce (because it's actually enough for three or four) so I saved it and used it as a salad dressing for my lunch.
Figs! I got 4 fresh figs, cut them in half, put them in a buttered baking dish, drizzled them with honey, baked them for 15 minutes at about 180. Then I took them out, glooped some mascarpone on there, some more honey, and then served them with little sticks of Fontina cheese.
It. Was. Good.
Last night, I made what Mr Jane-the-23rd deemed the nicest meal he's had anywhere in a long time. I have to admit, it was pretty good, and it was so SIMPLE. Down with fuss.
Salad with rocket, baby spinach, fresh basil leaves, red pepper and cherry vine tomatoes with shaved parmesean and olive oil. I stopped buying dressings. Now I jsut use olive oil and sea salt, or I make a delicious dressing out of natural yogurt, tahini, lemon juice, garlic (I cheat and use prepared garlic mush) and sea salt. It's cheaper, fresher, and tastier, and most salad dressings use cheap oils and rubbish ingredients and just generally ruin the taste of the salad ingredients.
Then I roasted some banana shallots, whole garlic cloves, yellow pepper, sweet pepper (the long kind, not bell peppers), and courgette. Then I made a tomato sauce (it didn't really go with the dinner, but Mr Jane-the-23rd requested 'something tomatoey', so I just put it on the roasted veg). This was made in the following fashion: sautee garlic and onions, then chuck in a giant tin of cherry tomatoes, a bunch of fresh basil and fresh oregano, some salt, some tomato paste, and let it cook for ages. I'd cook it for at least 30 minutes, but I like to let it simmer for a good while so it reduces and gets all delicious. Sometimes I add a parmesean rind (or some parmesean), or some red wine, but I didn't have either, and they aren't strictly necessary.
The tuna recipe was ridiculously simple. I glanced at it in that Jamie Oliver's Italy cookbook in Fallon and Byrne while I was waiting for the man to wrap the big fat tuna steaks, and then I went home and I cooked it all up and we ate it all up. I used extra garlic, but you don't have to, and I cooked the tuna with some sliced garlic as well. The sauce is: one part lemon juice to three parts olive oil, fresh oregano, fresh mint, garlic, thinly sliced, sea salt, black pepper, and that's it. Mix it all up, then leave it aside. Pan-fry the tuna steaks in a little olive oil, a few minutes each side (he says 'one minute', but I'm paranoid about salmonella, and also, these were really thick steaks), transfer to plates, spoon the sauce over them, devour hungrily, protecting plate from loved one who might 'get funny ideas' about your tuna steak. I didn't use all the sauce (because it's actually enough for three or four) so I saved it and used it as a salad dressing for my lunch.
Figs! I got 4 fresh figs, cut them in half, put them in a buttered baking dish, drizzled them with honey, baked them for 15 minutes at about 180. Then I took them out, glooped some mascarpone on there, some more honey, and then served them with little sticks of Fontina cheese.
It. Was. Good.