The potatoes were really fuss-free. I know most potato dishes are pretty simple, but these were thankfully very simple - no peeling, no chopping, just season and away! They spend a stint in the microwave before being shoved in the oven - this dual-cooking technique crops up a lot in Mr Oliver's recipes and I have to say I'm a fan. For one, it saves time when you cook (the obvious benefit of using a 30 Minute Meal recipe), but for two it tends to give a really nice texture to whatever your cooking. Whether you boil and fry, fry and roast, or whatever combination you use, it almost always leaves you with a really flavoursome, really textured food item. Crispy outer skin on the potatoes, soft and mushy inside. Mine could have used a bit more time cooking this week because they were a little large for new potatoes, but they came up okay anyway!
The sprout salad was interesting. I wasn't the biggest fan of it, but I think that is because alfalfa has always sort of reminded me of grass and I just don't want to eat grass. But the salad seems to work, or at least my family didn't complain. The mix of alfalfa, watercress, crackers, avocado and lemon juice seems really strange to me, but somehow it all comes together. Again I think this may be a texture thing...but it works!
The salsa was great, it was really fresh and indeed quite zingy. I would definitely recommend making it in the food processor, because trying to cut all that stuff up by hand is a nightmare. I should know, I did it. I thought to myself "oh no, I won't bother using, washing and re-using the food processor, I'll just do the salsa by hand. Big Mistake. It took ages, was super fidly, was quite messy and I ended up just throwing it all into the food processor anyway to get the right amount of juiciness out of the tomatoes. Save yourself the trouble and trust the appliances!
I was a bit of a cheater this week and managed to get my family to chip in the fish. Saved me one trip to the fish market (there's a lot more to be had over the next month or so, many fish meals to come!) and saved me more than a few dollars, I would bet! The fish itself was really lovely, the fillets had been skinned and boned so all I really had to do was give them a quick chopping up before throwing them into the food processor! The colours were crazy, the tuna was a gorgeous deep red colour, the salmon a bright, healthy orange (or salmon colour...if you think about it....) and the cod was actually pretty boring by comparison. It was white. Anyway! It was surprisingly easy to make the fishcakes, just throw the fish in the processor with a few spices, smoosh in some bread crumbs and then shape into cakes before frying them up! I used a large egg ring to get the shape right and it did the trick just fine!
So that's how the meal worked out this week. We were also treated to some home made panna cotta with fresh passionfruit - Thanks Mum! - for dessert. It was delicious and I left the table completely stuffed and ready to slide into my stretchy pants for a nap. That's just the way Sunday dinner should be!
The next post is only a few days away, thanks to the delay on this week's meal. I'm very much looking forward to bringing you Sticky Pan-Fried Scallops, Sweet Chilli Rice, Dressed Greens and Quick Brownies. Yum!
Til next time - Bon Appetit!
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