Good evening, a lovely weekend with lovely food. Friday after work was a gorgeous evening and just right for a pint in a beer garden, the first of the summer. we decided to go to The Royalty near Otley Chevin but to our horror it was a pub without beer, A PUB WITHOUT BEER!! not sure what was going on but they didn't have a license so we swiftly left and went to The White Hart at Poole which was very nice and a good place to go if you are ever in these parts.
Saturday, my friend Rosie came to visit so after a nice walk in The Hollies (Dean over did it and his leg has been killing him since!) and a trip to the donkey sanctuary we headed home for supper. Squid and babaganoush was a bit over exciting for blix so we gave him his toddler tea, Rose bathed him and I started on the supper. I love teas like this, loads of seafood and yummy Mediterranean stuff to pick at. I served with sourdough bread and olive and balsamic dipping oil. YUMMY.
For pudding I tried something I've wanted to do for ages good vanilla ice cream topped with a cup of espresso...it's that easy and very, very delicious.
Babaganoush
Take 2 Aubergines, slice in half and bake in the oven for about an hour but keep checking, what you are after is really soft flesh which you can scoop out. Place the flesh into a mixer and add 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika (the wonder stuff), juice of 1 lemon, tablespoon of olive oil, 3 garlic cloves and sea salt and wizz. Season further to taste.
Mackerel
Fillet the mackerel and sprinkle with S&P and a few dried chili flakes and drizzle olive oil over, leave to marinate for about half an hour then fry on a grill pan, only a few minutes each side is necessary.
Lemony Potatoes
Boil new potatoes in their skin, once soft drain and put back into the pan, put the lid on and shake vigorously to bruise and crush the spuds. Add juice of 1 lemon, s&P and chopped parsley and mix well.
Hot Spanish Squid - a recipe by Rosie Lovell
1 red pepper
4 garlic cloves
2 chillies
lots of olive oil
tsp smoked paprika
tsp ground cumin
tsp caraway seeds
3 tubes of squid
tsp golden caster sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 bunch fresh parsley
De seed the pepper and cut into hunks, whizz with the peeled garlic and chillies to make a paste.
Warm olive oil in a pan and fry the paprika, caraway seeds and cumin for a few minutes then add the puree. Cook the mixture for about 1/2 hour until reduced, add a tablespoon of water if required.
Prepare squid and cut into rings - add this to the pan last minute along with the sugar, lemon juice and parsley then cook for a few minutes.
