Great Days Start with Brunch

This Sunday, we woke up to the sun gleaming. The only thing to do on a day like that is to have a hearty brunch and head out to catch those rays you missed while at work. I made scrambled eggs with salmon. It's usually a christmas morning tradition in my family but I can never resist to wait a whole year to eat this again.

Perfect with Glistening Dijon Mustard Seeds

 Breakfast of Royalty!

Venturing to the Animal Park near Jonction in my Elephant Scarf from Next

 My work clothes are ever more finding their way into my weekend wardrobe 

 A sweet and very calm doe in her lovely enclosure (which she shared with her Stag boyfriend)

 My hunky man who I passed on my cold to, sorry I made your nose all red.

We ended the day with a trip to the cinema to see the Hunger Games.  I didn't have the highest expectations but once it had started I was gripping my seat till the end, and can't wait for the sequel. 

For those who would like to make a tasty luxurious brunch:

4 eggs

1 heaped teaspoon of Dijon Mustard

3 slices of thinly sliced Smoked Salmon

A nob of butter

Salt & Pepper

Put a nob of butter in a small pot.  While this melts to bubbly niceness, whisk the eggs briskly in a bowl with a fork adding the teaspoon of mustard and making sure the seeds are equally dispersed throughout the mixture.  Pour the eggs into the pan and stir often.  Cook on a medium heat for 3 minutes and add the Salmon.  Keep stirring for one more minute.  Be sure not to overcook the eggs as you want them to be creamy in consistency.  Take off the heat when still moist and prepare your toast or salad, the eggs will carry on cooking.  Serve with a glass of orange juice for maximum satisfaction.

Breaded Weekend Fish

Feeling particularly British this weekend, I decided to make home-made breaded fish.  This is a very simple, partially messy but hugely satisfying dish. 

To achieve crispy yet cloudy soft fish, you will need:

2 Filets of Plaice or any other white fish you wish to devour

1 Egg

30 g or 1/4 Cup of Flour

30 g of Breadcrumbs

Salt & Pepper

Sunflower or Olive Oil

Unpack the fish filets and dry both sides from moisture with paper towels. Prepare a plate with flour (with a sprinkling of salt and pepper to season) and a separate plate for the breadcrumbs.  I made my breadcrumbs by dicing them over and over on a cutting board, but a food processor would speed up the process ten-fold. In a bowl, beat the egg.  To bread the filets, first, coat them in flour, then egg then the bread crumbs and pop them in a hot pan with sunflower oil for about 3 minutes on each side until golden and crispy or longer if you have larger filets.  I served with peas mashed with a handful of chopped mint leaves and some good ol' mash. Voilà

I must admit, we ate this dish cuddled up with blankets while watching telly

Work = Reward

On Saturday we worked in our garden as I promised my dad.  The afternoon was spent strimming, chopping, raking and stuffing all the left-over greenery into bags. We got loads done and the place is beginning to look less overgrown.  

As a reward, ♥ got some red snapper & squid at the fish counter at this big new-ish coop, and we asked his mum back in Louisiana (who is very good at fishing) for the best way to cook it, and it turned out to be delicious!

 I cut my dad some watermelon slices as he'd been working all morning before we even woke up.

 His Basil

 Our little white squid

 Concertina-effect

 Squid swelling up on the Grill-pan

Starter: concertina garlic squid on a bed of salad with garlic&chilli prawns

Red Snapper being prepared

 Finished plates

 Main: marinaded red snapper on a pea-mash with spicy sausage & roasted garlic cubes

 Neighbourhood cat in our garden: ♥ calls him Garfield

 Chocolate chip cookie midnight craving

Concertina Squid Starter

1/2 a squid per person

2 cloves of garlic

3-4 prawns per person

salad leaves

chilli

lemon

salt & pepper

Firstly score one side of the squid by putting a large kitchen knife inside the body and using another to slice in 1/2 cm intervals. Drizzle with olive oil, a crushed garlic clove and salt & pepper. Place in hot grill pan for about 2 minutes on each side. Serve on a bed of salad with a light dressing & a slice of lemon

For the prawns, heat some olive oil in a pan, throw in the prawns, crushed clove of garlic, chilli & seasoning and maybe a shot of Tabasco if you want a kick, and cook for about 3 minutes or until they are entirely pink.

Red Snapper

2  nicely sized Red Snapper fillets 

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

1 Tsp  Dijon Mustard

2 Tsp Creole Seasoning such as Tony's

a finger sized slice of spicy sausage such as Chirizo or Paprika Kabanossi

2-3 potatos

Garlic

Pinch of Sugar

Pea Mash

1-2 potatos

200-300g frozen peas

small slice of cheese of your choice

salt&pepper

1/2 cup milk

(Opt. Handful of fresh mint leaves)

Firstly make a marinade for the fish by mixing the tablespoons of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mustard, creole seasoning together.  Cover the fish in the dark mixture and leave to soak in a bowl while you make the other preparations.

To prepare the peas & roasted oven potato cubes peel & cut 1-2 potatoes into cubes and boil with the peas. The remaining 3-4 peel and parboil. Once reasonably soft, take out and cut into cubes. Put on a baking tray with parchment paper and drizzle with olive oil & 2 crushed garlic cloves. Season with enough salt and mix them all together.  Bake in oven at  356°F/180 °C for 15 minutes or until golden and crispy.

When the peas and potatoes are ready, pop into a food processor with the wedge of cheese, milk, plenty of salt  (some may want to add a few fresh mint leaves here) and blend until a smooth consistency.

For the fish, melt some butter in a pan, and place the fish fillets in flesh down for 2 minutes at a medium temperature. Turn over on the skin-side for the remaining 3 minutes. Take off heat and place each piece on a serving of the pea mash. Use the juices of the fish pan to sauté the sausage cubes - add a small swig of balsamic vinegar and a pinch of sugar to slightly caramelize and voilà, all you have to do is sprinkle these sausage cubes along with the roasted potato cubes around the outside of the fish.  Bon Appetit.