Home Sweet Home

We're back from our French holiday, all in one piece. Maybe a bit larger pieces than when we left as all we seemed to do was eat. As usual, our days were planned around what we were going to eat. Mostly it was lunches that would go on for hours. There's something about being on holiday that means you're never full. You can just eat and eat and eat. My usual healthy eating went completely out the window and was replaced by a lot of 'nems' - deep fried spring rolls wrapped in lettuce and mint - and cheese. Very tasty but I've never craved vegetables so badly as I did sitting on the Stansted Express coming home last night. Supper was going to have to be slightly healthy with nothing remotely deep fried in sight. I came up with quite a tasty seared beef and roasted tomato salad concoction. The perfect way to ease us back into non holiday eating.

Ingredients

2 small fillet steaks

salad

asparagus tips

raw baby spinach leaves

french beans

Parmesan

cherry tomatoes

A mustard based vinaigrette

Chop the tomatoes in half and put in the oven at 180 degrees for about half an hour.

Cook the beans and asparagus and then plunge into icy water so they stay bright green. Keep them on ice until you're ready to use them.

Sear your beef fillets on a high heat, then turn the heat down slightly and cook until they're the colour you like.

Let the beef sit for ten minutes and then slice into thin slices.

Sprinkle your salad and spinach leaves onto a big wooden board.

Cut up the beans and asparagus and sprinkle them on top of the salad.

Then add the beef strips, tomatoes and dressing.

Shave some big bits of parmesan on top et voila...

Bon Apetit!

The Last Supper

I read an article this week written by journalist Jo Craven, about how her marriage is built around her and her husband's true love of food. Chaz and I are totally in their same boat. From day one, eight years ago, food was our thing. From our obsession with mini vegetable spring rolls to our twice weekly roast chickens - we used to have one chicken each - we think and talk about what we are going to eat next 95% of the time.

Moving to France opened up a whole new world of culinary excitement. Artisan cheeses, charcuterie we didn't know existed and the freshest fish you can imagine. And obviously lots more.

Chaz and Cub outside the butcher in Grimaud

When our friends were leaving after staying with us, we asked them to sign the visitor's book and at the same time write down what they would have for their 'Last Supper'. We made them make it as detailed as possible so that when they came back we (Chaz) could create their dream meals for them. It became such a 'thing' that we would warn them when they arrived that they would be asked to do it as they left so they had proper thinking time. The topic of conversation at dinner before people left was guaranteed to be about the difficulties they were having trying to choose between certain foods.

To annoy me Chaz always says he would have a 'buffet'. I.E he can't decide what to have so he'll just have everything. I secretly wish that I'd come up with this myself but as I'm so strict with everyone else, obviously had to follow the rules I'd set up. You have to choose;

A canape and a drink/cocktail

A starter

Main Course and a drink

Pudding and a drink with this too

And finally a 'digestif'

Pasta sensation

White truffle brie

Banofee

My Last Supper

A prawn and chive dumpling and raspberry vodka mojito

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A pancetta, pea and mushroom pasta sensation

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Chazy's roast chicken with roast potatoes, baked potatoes, red cabbage, mini sausages, yorkshire puddings, peas, leeks and carrot mash

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A bottle of swanky red Burgundy wine

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Half banoffee pie and half sticky toffee pudding with cream

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Truffle brie

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Tequila