Wimbledon Picnic

B and I were exhausted on Friday night (too much Take! That! excitement for me) and neither of us could be bothered with cooking.  Also, Andy Murray was playing his semi-final match, so we wanted to throw together something quick and easy to have whilst watching him strop all over the court.

Enter, the Wimbledon picnic! 

Cooking time: nil. 

Assembly time:  approximately 5 minutes

We had olives, baguette, fresh salad (out of a bag, of course), pork pies, and two cheeses.  The only thing I "made" was the salad dressing, which was a bit of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, all whanged in a jug and swished with a spoon.   For the laziest dinner in the world, it was delicious.

For dessert we had jelly pots, which B found hilarious and laughed at for about ten minutes. 

I don't know why it's funny to eat jelly pots?  They're yummy! They have bits  of pineapple in them, and you can suck the jelly through your teeth (er, I mean, you can eat the jelly in a socially-appropriate and polite manner).  They remind me of the packed lunches my mum used to make for me.  Anyway, yummy not funny. 

Quick & Easy Fish & Chips

Oh dear.  It seems to be Sunday night and we're having fish and chips again.  I'm disappointed in myself.

And no, it isn't even virtuous fish and chips this time. 

So, here we have a petit filet de poisson, breaded and er...straight from the freezer.  Served alongside des pommes frites (McCain's finest), and an exotic mix of peas and edamame beans.  And ketchup.  And mayonnaise.  And a lemon wedge, to make the whole thing even more upmarket than it already is.

Pudding was a "trifle" (hmmm) made from some crumbled Soreen sultana loaf, plain yogurt, and strawberries.  I was too embarrassed to take a photo of that gastronomic masterpiece.  You'll have to take my word for it that it tasted much better than it sounds.

I promise to do better next week.

Winter/Summer Wraps

So, you open the fridge and you discover that you have the following things lolling forlornly on the bottom shelf:

A couple of small, sad potatoes
Some cheese
A bag of (wilting) spring greens

What to do?  Well, you clearly need to buy some tortilla wraps and some shallots, and you've got a more seasonal version of Winter Wraps.   I wasn't convinced by the idea of potato wraps (even for me, that sounds like a lot of carbs), but they were delicious.  The key was to chop the potatoes small, parboil, and then let them fry softly until they're fluffy and crumbly.  Also make sure that your onion-greens-potato ratio is biased towards the non-carbs and you'll be fine.

We swapped the recommended creme fraiche for some grated cheddar, and also had a bowlful of salad leaves from the garden to add some freshness and crunch.

YUM.

Pudding was some blueberries that we bought from the fruit stall outside Stratford station.  £1 a box, people.  You can't go wrong.  They were so ripe we ate them by themselves like sweets.   Here's an arty picture in which I try to make cheap fruit look more glamorous than it is.

The Tired Weekday Dinner Fix

There are days when you come home from work and you just don't have the time or the inclination to hang about in the kitchen. All you want is a good, straightforward meal that will be ready quicker than a takeaway can be delivered. Here is my fix for that tired weekday dinner.

Fishcakes, Homemade Chips & Green Veg

The only thing that takes any time at all here is the homemade chips. But they are awesome, so you should make them. First put the kettle onto boil, then take two potatoes per person and scrub. Don't worry about peeling them, life's too short. Chop into chip-shaped slices, and put in a pan with your freshly boiled water. Keep them bubbling for about five minutes - that's all you need to make sure they cook through and don't stay raw in the middle.

Drain, and lay the chips onto a decent-sized baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper. Give everything a good shake around, then add your fishcakes onto the tray as well. Whack the whole tray in the oven and cook for as long as your fishcakes say to on their packet. You should try to remember to flip the chips over halfway through the cooking time, but life won't be over if you don't remember.

With your greens, choose the ones that don't need any prep. I topped the beans with a pair of scissors and that was all. You can cook them any way you please - in the microwave, in the oven - but they shouldn't take more than five minutes.

Serve in front of the TV, because that is right and proper on a night like this.

These were our accompaniments.

Mojitos and Mexican(ish) Wraps

Hello, mojito!

B makes an amazing mojito, which features home-grown mint and double shots of rum. I would ask him to share the recipe, but since even I don't know it, I don't like your chances.

As it's Thursday evening, and that makes it technically the weekend, we decided to celebrate with one of our favourite meals. There's a lot of different components in this meal, but none of them take long to put together, so it really is a quick and simple meal masquerading as something more special.

Above you see:

- Tortilla wraps. You only have to whizz them in the microwave and they're done.

- Shredded lettuce. Take out of the bag and shake into a bowl.

- Grated cheese. Any old cheese you have kicking about in the fridge.

- Stir-fried vegetables. We stirfried peppers, kohlrabi (again. I know! It's hard to think what to do with that thing. It seems to always be in our veg box at the minute), spring greens, carrots and onions with some shop-bought spice mix.

- Guacamole. You can buy this, of course, or you could make it this super-simple way which takes ten minutes tops:


Super Simple Guacamole
One big, or two small, very ripe avocadoes
A handful cherry tomatoes, chopped small
Pinch chili flakes/smoked paprika
One lime

Chop the flesh of the avocado(es) into a bowl. Add the tomatoes, then squeeze all the juice of the lime into the bowl as well. Add the chili flakes, or smoked paprika if you prefer. Mix and mash together - you can be as brutal as you like, it will be all the more delicious for it. You can fancy this up by adding chopped coriander, spring onions, garlic...really anything you like, but I've got to admit I like the simple version.

And there you have it! Load everything onto a tray, and your dinner is served.

Tomorrow's Friday! YAY! I'm going out for burgers and beer. See you on the flip side!

Simple Salmon Stir-Fry

Last night I was working late (I know - again! It's a hard life down that tin mine) so this delicious and speedy dinner is courtesy of B. We had some salmon fillets in the freezer, so overnight we let them defrost/marinate in the fridge, smothered with a spoonful of tamarind paste, a blob of honey, and a dash of soy sauce. Then it was just a question of wokking it up with some onions, garlic, carrots, and the rest of the spring greens that were hanging around in the fridge. B soaked the noodles in some boiling water and then added them into the pan at the last minute. It was ready and waiting the second I stepped in the door.
To finish off the meal we had watermelon again, since that sucker is as big as a bowling ball and is going to last us all week. It's really delicious though. Isn't watermelon exactly what you imagine summer to taste like?

Speedy Omelette And Salad

Evening! We're back from the cinema and it's time for a speedy supper so as not to cut into our important Glee-watching activities. Here is the answer: a delicious potato, spring greens and ham omelette, plus a salad it took literally seconds to arrange artfully in a bowl. Noice!

Quick Omelette

Take two potatoes per person and cut into small dice. Parboil for about 5-10 minutes until almost soft. Whilst they're bubbling away, chop up a couple of cloves of garlic and fry until soft. Add a couple of handfuls of chopped-up spring greens to the pan. Drain your potatoes and add them to the pan. Let them sizzle away happily while you whisk up 2 eggs per person, a dash of milk, and some salt and pepper in a bowl. Gloop that into the pan and let it cook for a couple of minutes. Add some strips of ham (we re-visited the Bayonne ham from yesterday, since we had it in the fridge; bacon would be good here too), some grated cheese, andd whack the whole thing under the grill for a couple of minutes until the cheese is melty and you can't wait any longer. Woop!

We finished with some slices of watermelon, because we're fancy that way.