This week’s cookbook was another Jamie Oliver cookbook – Jamie’s Kitchen. This book arranges recipes by cooking technique – boiling, grilling, frying, roasting etc. That’s a bit of a nightmare when you’re planning a week’s worth of meals for a family. My son and I looked through and found some good recipes this week. Sunday lunch was Grilled, Marinated Mozzarella With Crunchy Bread, Smoked Bacon and a Black Olive and Lemon Dressing, followed by a roast of sorts. The starter was pretty good and something we’ll do again, even though I timed out on the black olive and lemon dressing. It was a bit like a bread, bacon and cheese kebab – brilliant. Moreover, it made a cracking little lunch (not on skewers) the day after. The roast was a departure from the norm with Marinated and Pot-Roasted Beef Fillet with a Brilliant Potato and Horseradish Cake. Annoyingly I overcooked the beef, but the potato cakes had promise and were pretty easy to do, provided you had a mandolin.
One of the weeknight suppers was Steamed Sea Bass, Green Beans with a White Wine, Vanilla, Cream and Garlic Sauce. This was very tasty, very simple and something we’ll do again. Next up in the week was Roasted Chicken Stuffed with Fragrant Couscous and Cooked on a Sweet Potato Stovie. My brother was visiting for this one. It was pretty tasty, and we liked how the couscous was cooked in the chicken, a bit like stuffing. The last dish of the week was a Nectarine Meringue Pie. This was quite delicious, next time we make it, we’ll keep less of the juice – as this made the pastry a touch soggy, but we live and learn. Next week it’s a break from Jamie as we head to a German cookbook.