Spinach and Potato Pie (by G)

Spinach and Potato pie was one of my favourite things when I was a lot younger, so I thought I'd take a crack at making one.  I did look up a recipe, it seemed pretty simple so I didn't bother writing it down. Not a huge issue but it meant not exactly knowing what quantities of which I needed.

I boiled up three peeled potatoes - that seemed like a lot of potato, then I steamed some silverbeet (I'm not sure the difference between that and spinach) - it seemed like a lot of silverbeet. To those items I added some spring onions, cheese (I don't remember that from my youth), cayenne pepper (also not authentic), nutmeg (not my favourite spice in the world), salt and black pepper and a couple of eggs to bind. That mix went into a puff pastry lined tin and was baked for half an hour.

Last week I bought what was described as 'smart tool' which is basically a small mandolin slicer. Get used to seeing thin sliced things on the blog from now on (until I loose a finger).

I was pretty content with this dinner - the cheese was a good addition, the cayenne was really good and the nutmeg didn't spoil the flavour.

Pizza (by Biggs)

This photo very clearly tells the story of what went down in our household tonight. I was in charge of dinner today but at 5:06 pm I sent G a text saying "I can't make dinner tonight. Pizza?"

Then G took the reins and ordered and paid for some pizza to be delivered to our house. I've since paid him back so I think I can still technically claim this as me providing dinner. And, I've already done the washing up.

The pizzas were "great". Said it right there on the box. But, honestly, they were pretty good. Better than anything I'd planned to cook. The best bit is that I have a left over pizza and cola breakfast to look forward to in the morning.

Bolognase and Blue Cheese (by G)

Biggs was originally going to be elsewhere for dinner tonight but plans changed. I was originally just going to have spaghetti and bolognaise and parmesan but, as Biggs was going to be home I decided to make a bit more effort.

Not much more effort as it turns out - the bolognaise was already made (beef mince, lots of vegetables) so I got some fancy multi coloured pasta in a variety of shapes and made a blue cheese sauce for topping (just a white sauce with a deadly amount of blue cheese melted into it).  I also sprinkled some dried parsley on top for colour.

I was pretty pleased with it - like baby food for grown-ups.

Crumbed Zucchini Tacos (by Biggs)

I heard recently of a hipster Mexican place down in Melbourne called Fonda so decided to check out the menu and noticed this little number...Crumbed Zucchini Tacos with charred corn, pico de gallo and salsa rajo.

First came the crumbed zucchini - I crumbed some zucchini. I mixed some paprika and cumin in with the crumbing mix and plenty of salt and pepper. There was almost a disaster when I noticed some asshole moths had eaten all our breadcrumbs and replaced them with baby moths but fortunately there were some panko breadcrumbs that the moths weren't quite as keen on.

Next was charred corn - I charred some corn.

Then was the pico de gallo - I pico-ed some de gallo....tomatoes, jalapeno, coriander, red onion, salt, lime and some left over capsicum. Note-worthy is that today I read that the "Centers for Disease Control reported that between 1998 and 2008, 1 out of 25 restaurant-associated foodbourne illnesses in the United States, with identified food sources, had been traced back to" pico de gallo. Lucky we're not in a restaurant in the States.

Lastly was the salsa rojo - I salsa-ed some rojo. I salsa-ed it good. Real good. I'm not giving this recipe away. It's too special to leave anywhere but in my Will.

I was pretty worried about dinner because on the weekend G engaged Nita in a impassioned conversation about his dislike of zucchini and I knew this dinner was coming. Lucky it was deep-fried.

Indian Lamb Chops, Paneer Spinach, Cauliflower Aloo Gobi and Corn Fritters (by G)

I feel a bit bad for Biggs tonight, I think she thought we were going to have bratwursts and sauerkraut for dinner - instead we had an Indian style ensemble. I don't know why I had two racks of lamb delivered last week, probably my error this time, but it happened - so we had to eat it.

I marinated the lamb chops in a ginger, garlic, turmeric, coriander, garam masala, salt and yoghurt mix then bunged them in the oven and finished them off under the griller to ensure the fat was completely rendered. I also had a bunch of other stuff that needed eating - spinach, corn and cauliflower specifically.

The cauliflower was mixed in garlic, ginger, chilli, cumin seeds, turmeric and such like things then topped with paneer and oven baked.

The spinach was pan fried with a combo of ginger, garlic, chilli, coriander, turmeric, garam masala then a little yoghurt was mixed through - also some paneer cheese.

The corn fritter was off the top of my head - pea flour, coriander, an egg, some yoghurt, turmeric, cumin, corn, salt, a little water to thin it down then heat applied. This was my favourite element of dinner - (chick) pea flour is awesome.  The lamb was a bit flavourless - actually it tasted a lot like lamb, which is fine I guess - but I was aiming to have it taste of something else.

I was hoping for a better photo, but I accidently added the garnishing coriander to the fritters, so it turned out a bit shit looking... a sprig of coriander totally would have fixed that.

Sausages, Crisps and Salad (by Biggs)

Yesterday I decided I wanted to try out a real butcher that I'd never been to. The plan was to buy G a variety of sausages and it looked like the best bet was going to be Heinz Meats a German Butcher a couple of suburbs over. I highly recommend it based on the fact they sell big bags of "butcher's lollies".....crackling. 

The sausages I chose were: 

• Thuringer Bratwurst: mild German sausage with caraway, coriander, nutmeg and marjoram
• Red Wine Calabrese: chunky pork with red wine, paprika, fennel seeds and a touch of chili
• Cumberland: English breakfast sausage, pork with bacon, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper and nutmeg
• Merguez: spicy North African beef and lamb, a touch of chili, paprika and cumin

All quite good but I overcooked them as a result of a fear I would undercook them and I thought the red wine in the calabrese was a bit much. I prefer it in liquid form. The cumberland with bacon was unsurprisingly my favourite. 

I served it with salad and crisps. The salad was lettuce, cucumber, tomato, carrot and capsicum. I doused mine with french dressing from a bottle which was a delightful throwback to our youth. 

Beef Bourguignon (by G)

I was watching a box set of the SBS series Food Safari the other day and saw Guillaume Brahimi make Beef Bourguignon. I thought to myself, "I have a kilo of beef, 7 carrots, an onion, 2 sticks of celery, bay leaves, salt, pepper - potatoes, butter and milk for mashed potato. I don't have wine, mushrooms, a leek, shallots or thyme but I can probably pick those things up from the supermarket... I'll do it".

And voila - beef bourguignon.  The sauce was not as thick and rich as I had hoped - I realise I added only 2 mashed carrots at the end to thicken rather than 5 mashed carrots - regardless, it was pretty edible. It is supposed to geed 6 - 8 people so I have a little left over for some other time.