take a 'leek'...

Firstly, apologies for the delay.

I'm gearing back up with my studies, so my mind is a whirl with PCOS, metabolism, and other such food/body related topics. I will have more health things to come in the future...

But back to the title...

I don't mean this literally of course, although with the amount of water I down in a day, perhaps I should change the spelling to the more appropriate meaning!

Sauteed leeks, mushrooms with parsley

I mean, take one leek.

The vegetable from the Allium family. His brothers are onion and garlic. Know them?

Leek isn't a vegetable I have often, but I really rather fancied it. I think that there is only one way to eat them, sauteed in butter!

Sizzling in butter and white wine

I also adore sauteed mushrooms with butter, white wine and parsley. So lets throw them all together!

Delicious with fresh sourdough bread...

For 2:

• 1 leek washed and sliced
• 8 chestnut mushrooms, quartered
• knob of butter to sizzle in the pan
• glug of white wine
• chopped parsley
• salt and pepper

Let the butter sizzle in the pan over a medium heat, then add the sliced leeks and mushrooms. Allow them to cook right down (that is where all the flavour is), but be careful not to have on a high heat otherwise they will brown/burn. Before you are ready to serve, add a generous glug of white wine and a handful of chopped parsley. Let the white wine reduce away and SERVE!

Some fillet steak

With all my extra efforts in the gym lately, my body was needing definite repairing. Enter fillet beef. Hello amino acids...build me!

It is ESSENTIAL you cook a steak properly. Prepare/season your beef first with olive oil, salt and pepper. Put into a searing hot pan. Hot hot, and generally leave for about 3 minutes on one side before turning over. Another couple of minutes on the other side, and perhaps with tongs move your steak around to sear the sides and ends for the nice colour, then take OFF the heat. Your meat will continue cooking a little so take off before you like it done. Then LEAVE it. The longer you leave it the better. If you cut now, it will be dry as a bone. Leave for at least 10 minutes, so that your steak can recover from intense heat shock. He has rather tensed up from all that action, so he needs a few moments to relax, calm down, gather himself and more importantly re-absorb his juices. Then Mr Steak will be carving/eating ready and just melt in the mouth.

Serve both with new potatoes, anything you like or nothing. I also used a little of the crab apple jelly I'm obsessed and some mustard.

Delightful

sacred sunday

If Saturday was made for brunch, then Sunday, the day of rest, was made for lunch.

Sunday.

It's a special day isn't it? It is the only day of the week that has a sense of occasion...we have to thank religion for something right?

...the breaking of the bread and drinking of the wine??? *nudge *nudge *wink *wink

So, take your time. Put your feet up. Fill up your chalice. Get some friends over....and EAT.

The worst Sunday 'roast' I ever encountered was a plateful of flabby shiny looking white chicken breast (no seasoning), covered in bisto gravy and, to decorate, soft mushy over cooked carrot slices and blander than bland potatoes. I suggest that the cook repent of his/her sins for that one.

'Dear Lord, I'm so sorry for committing such sin in the kitchen with these plentiful ingredients. Please let me fulfil your duty by practicing better flavouring and seasoning....!'

I hope I never have to experience that again...

...certainly not with this meal.

Sliced beef fillet. Potato, pea, edamame, mint salad. Beetroot, tomato salad.

Really do what you want with the new potato salad. Here we have boiled new pots, sliced radishes, edamame beans, peas, chives, mint, parsley, salt, pepper and a mustard dressing (dijon mustard, extra virgin olive oil (evoo), vinegar, honey). Play around.

With your beef fillet, rub evoo, salt and pepper all over the raw meat. Make sure you then put into a searing hot (dry) pan, to really brown off the sides. Try and follow the instructions on the packet or ask your butcher, but to have it nice and rare you don't need it on for too long. When you take it off the heat...LET IT REST. LET IT REST. LET IT REST, otherwise you'll have dry chewy meat. The rest period after cooking allows for the juices and flavour to reabsorb and distribute. Allow for 10-15 minutes before carving into medium thick slices (this isn't quite carpaccio). Served with some fresh salad leaves, chives, evoo, s & p.

For a bit of extra va va voom, this is always the easiest option to add to your plate. Sliced beetroot, tomato, parsley, s & p, evoo, and a little red wine vinegar to cut across the sweetness of the beetroot.

Have all your prayers been answered??

party party

After gyrating in a Jessie J fashion the night before, it took a serious amount of willpower to wake up the next morning energised and ready to prepare food for a group of friends coming over that evening. I had promised home made burgers. Why did I promise? Promise is a big word and one that you can't get out of, even on a hangover. Nonetheless I did promise, so...wake up at 10am and yes oh yes, start with a trip to the tip! That's what good time girls like to get up to on a Saturday morning...and swiftly moved onto the supermarket, narrowly avoiding a car parking ticket. This is a penny saving partaaaay and is incredibly cheap and easy to prepare. In fact the money mostly goes towards the drinks (but you can get your guests to bring that!). So with this blasting out on the tv...

...the sun blazing and Charlie Sheen's mantra running in my head I only had 'one speed, one gear. GO!'

Home made burgers

The burgers are easy. I used 3 x 500g packs of beef mince, and you literally just use a fork and mash it up with lots of chopped spring onion, chopped coriander, chopped mint, ground cumin, smoked paprika, salt and pepper and more mixed chilli/onion spice. 2 egg yolks to bind it all together and then roll into balls of your desired shape. Nothing else involved. You can use anything you like and put it in there, whatever flavour you want. I left them chilling in the fridge, ready to cook later.

Take them out when you're ready to eat and cook both sides in a frying pan until rare, medium rare or well done.

Roast potato and sweet potato

These would have been more like chips if I had divided into two pans. I rather overcrowded them so they came out a little more roasted style. Chop up potato and sweet potato and lightly coat them in a bit of oil, salt, pepper, smoked paprika and cumin. Let them marinade until roasting. They took about 40 mins in the oven.

more after the jump...

supper with...

...Sarah Fox, London W6.

It's always nice going over to a friend's for supper. Food (like a cup of tea) always tastes better cooked by someone else, assuming that they can cook in the first place!

The drink: red wine
The snack: The Food Doctor roasted beans
The meal: spaghetti bolognese
The side: salad
The afters: ice-cream with (flash back) 'Askey' sauce

The boys: On the sofa. Why? To watch the football of course (apparently a couple of teams called Chelsea/Man U were playing).
The girls: In the kitchen. Well it's our place isn't it?

Spag bol made with (according to Sarah) L.O.V.E plus the usual offenders. Garlic, onion, minced beef, tinned toms, mushrooms, herbs, spices, Heinz tom ketchup etc.. Salad with mixed rocket/watercress leaves, avocado, cherry toms, spring onions. Cheese, grated by moi.

Can I just say on a side note, how amazing the The Food Doctor roasted beans were. I got them from Waitrose, but I'm sure any other large supermarket will sell them. You can also buy them online.

A non food related tip: Caudalie Eau de Beauté

I stayed over and used this amazing facial spray that Sarah had. I am like single white female when it comes to products. All my favourite foundations, moisturizers and lipsticks come from friends' suggestions. The spray is to be used after washing on a clean face like a toner. It has grape, rosemary, orange blossom, rose, myrrh and organic balm mint. It's so refreshing and it smells heavenly. The fragrance helps you drift peacefully into sleep and it also does WONDERS for your skin. Facial gold.