Texas style bone-in ribeye steak

Unprecedented warm weather shocked all of us on the British Isles over the bank holiday weekend. And not least because it was bank holiday weekend. This doesn't happen often, but we were not going to question it, but just quickly deweed our gardens enough to create access to the barbecue and wipe the bird poo off the garden furniture to have lunch al fresco pretending we are not uncomfortably hot, our necks are not burning and we are definitely not wishing we could be indoors in our cool kitchens or dining rooms.

So I also did a quick deweed, went for a visit to Homebase like everybody else in the catchment area judging by the pandemonium in the car park to buy my obligatory petunias, geraniums and patio cleaner. The easy kind that you just dissolve in a can of water, pour over the patio and miraculously it's all clean when it dries out. That's my kind of cleaning. I think someone should definitely come up with a similar thing for indoor cleaning.

Our little garden is the size of a stamp and of course completely overlooked on all sides. We are in London after all. You just have to forget about people watching you, wish Good Morning to the topless not very fit guy next door sitting on the window ledge with a can of beer at 9.30am and not worry about people judging you for overcooking the chicken on the BBQ. Campylobacteriosis is all I have to say about that.
So on bank holiday Monday I (over)cooked some middle-eastern spiced chicken and prawns and halloumi and tomato skewers with only one piece of halloumi sliding through the grill onto the coal. Usually it is a lot more.

I love a nice fresh salad preferably of the Greek kind, so I did this slight twist on the traditional Greek salad which was perfect for the hot day.

I forgot all about the red onion, so that's why you can't see any in the picture.

Greek salad with marinated tomatoes

Dressing:
Dried oregano
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
Salad
1 pack of cherry tomatoes
1/2 red onion
3 small Iranian cucumbers
100 g feta cheese
Handful of pitted olives
Fresh mint

Whisk together the dressing ingredients. Halve the tomatoes, slice the red onion very finely and mix with 2/3 of the dressing. Tip the tomatoes and onion on a platter and leave to marinade for 10 minutes.

Cut the cucumbers into thick slices and cube the feta. Add them on the platter together with the olives. Tear the mint leaves and spread around the platter. Pour the rest of the dressing over the salad.

Husband left me yesterday. Not completely, thank God, although I recently had a nightmare that he was filing for divorce on the grounds of embarrassment. I have a clear and audible voice which he finds acutely embarrassing in public situations, he on the other hand mumbles, which I find annoying. And talking of dreams I had one where my sister was telling me I was starting to look really old.  My jaw particularly was alarming. "It must be really difficult", she empathised.

But no, jaw is still reasonably decent and husband has not left me completely, but just gone to visit his family. Although it is for four weeks. FOUR WEEKS! I'm already beginning to forget what he looks like.

But luckily I am a calm and undramatic adult, so I wasn't crying all the way home on M4 after taking him to Heathrow yesterday. And I didn't smell his T-shirts when I got home, because that would have been just silly and a kind of a chick-lit cliche, which obviously doesn't happen in real life at all.

But as an ever-devoted wife during the last week before his departure I focused on managing the volume of my conversation in public places and cooking him his favourite foods to make sure he will come back to me.




I asked him everyday what he would like for dinner and his requests were lovely and simple like seafood pasta, which I made on his last day here and true to my incapability to manage the amounts I cook I am now left with a massive container that would probably still feed about 60 people.

Another request was boiled potatoes (like my mum makes them) and roast chicken legs, But then his younger kid announced that he would be coming for dinner and to stay with a friend of his, so I changed the boiled potatoes to home-made oven chips, because of lack of evidence of teenagers' love for boiled potatoes. I made 20 buffalo chicken wings, 6 large chicken thighs and 9 drumsticks with lemon, garlic and herbs and 1.5 kg of oven chips, with a big loaf of garlic bread thrown in. And almost all was polished off.

Husband's kid is a good eater, but his friend was just awesome. I love it when people eat a lot. I told the guy he can definitely come again! Maybe it was just different food from what he normally gets, or he's just a big eater, but for a skinny teenager (and I am used to skinny hungry teenagers) he really could put it way. On the way back home after my substantial breakfast spread munching through the container of peanut butter cookies I had packed with them he had told my stepson that "She's a really good cook!"

My steak and chip dinner wasn't a request by husband per se, but it's a lovely man-meal that he is not going to get in the next few weeks.


I have become really good at barbecuing steaks. I don't really like to fry them on the pan anyway anymore because of the amount of smoke and smell in the house. And the sound of the fire alarm. It's not as bad as at my sisters' where every time she is frying steaks the fire alarm goes off and they then also get a call from the security company and have to insert passwords into all kinds of systems to avoid the fire brigade arriving. Maybe it's payback for being so judgmental about other people's  perfectly normal jawlines.

So I won't let seasons deter me from my coal barbie, but will keep going through the winter. With steaks you don't have to stay outdoors for that long, just quickly pop the steaks on and go back to turn them once or twice. Probably not more than a minute of mandatory outdoor time. I am a hardy arctic fox after all.

Sometimes I cook the steaks just as they are, or maybe with just some herbs and of course salt and pepper, but sometimes I love to marinade the steaks. This marinade is absolutely awesome, I have used it on fillet and sirloin steaks and boy are they amazing every time. This time I thought these might have been the best steaks I've ever had. If these won't bring husband back to me, then I don't know what will.

Marinated sirloin steaks

2 sirloin steaks, thick cut and matured
1/3 cup olive oil (or vegetable oil)
2 cloves garlic - minced
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup red wine
2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon black pepper

Mix all the marinade ingredients in a plastic bag. Remove all visible fat from the steaks and add the steaks to the bag rubbing the marinade all over the meat. Refrigerate overnight or for a few hours turning once or twice.

Take out 3-4 hours before cooking to get properly into room temperature.

Get your charcoal grill going or whatever method you are using. You can fry in a pan, but whatever you use, make sure it's hot.

Fry 3-4 minutes each side seasoning lightly with salt once done. Let rest for 5 minutes in a warm place and serve with healthy side dishes like oven baked sweet potato chips, asparagus and salad
.

There have been some murmurings from husband since I have introduced the lower carb and lower saturated fat diet, which has meant more veg, fish, weird pasta made out of things that probably shouldn't be in pasta, less meat and particularly less red meat like his beloved lamb. Summa summarum: girl food. Some meals have induced the question "What is this?", which usually is not a good sign, even if asked with a curious rather than a judgmental tone. And I managed to cause a bout of constipation by hiding chia seeds in meatballs.


And then there was baklavagate. We had some baklava left over from a dinner I prepared for some of his family who were visiting London and came to us for a Middle-Eastern feast. The following evening I heard his anguished shout from the kitchen "Why didn't you hide the baklava, now I've eaten it all!" I rushed to his aid, ripped the baklava plate from his sticky, sugar high shaky fingers. The damage was extensive, but not devastating. He hadn't eaten all of it, but quite a few pieces.

I decided to bin the rest (they were those shop bought super sugary and greasy ones, definitely not designed for a healthy diet). Husband pleaded for another piece before I binned the rest (he actually threatened to take the plate out of the bin and eat all of it if I didn't let him have one more little piece) - I caved in and gave him half a piece. You should see him in his pleading mode, worse than a Labrador puppy with his misty brown eyes.

Husband manfully negotiating over some baklava.

So to ease the pain of the healthy diet I realise a well timed proper man meal with a big slab of meat is in order.

I've never been a great steak chef, but have managed to get them right in the pan a few times. Recently I decided to get brave with the barbecue because we've had some nice weather. My first effort was two large and juicy ribeye steaks. I had been planning to make them for dinner on a Saturday and had asked for some tips from a friend who is a great cook. As advised I had taken them out from the fridge in the afternoon to get properly to room temperature before cooking that evening.

But then I thought with the late brunch maybe we would want to have a light dinner, like fish and veg. So I ran this past husband. "Well, let's have a look at those steaks at least", he said audaciously and I showed him the steaks. He weighed the steaks in his hands and said he felt he could manage one. Gravely he added that he probably should, in all honesty, since he was losing weight at an alarming rate. He invited me to try how very bony his shoulders have become. As a dutiful wife I poked him in the shoulders and agreed that yes I could definitely feel some bone and an injection of protein was the ticket.

Since then I have barbecued steaks many times and they have turned out fantastic without fail. I have always served them with my home made oven chips and some healthy but delicious sides, no double deep-fried chips and buttery sauces for us.


Foolproof BBQ ribeye steaks with grilled tomatoes and chimichurri

Good quality steaks (dry-aged)
Rapeseed oil
Salt
Blackpepper
Herb of your choice (optional)

1. Take the steaks out of the fridge to get to room temperature well in advance, like 3-4 hours, not half an hour before you plan to cook them.
4. Cook 3 minutes on each side for medium (depending on the thickness of course). You can season with salt at this stage, once you have turned the steak once add salt on the cooked side, and once you have cooked the other side, add salt on that side.
5. Rest in a warm place under tinfoil and kitchen towels to keep hot for about 5 minutes before serving.
6. Serve with home-made oven chips, chimichurri, grilled tomatoes and a Greek salad with low fat feta or your choice of sides.

Chimichurri

Small bunch of parsley
2 tbsp chopped fresh or 2 tsp dried oregano
1-2 garlic cloves
2-3 spring onions
½ tsp chilli flakes
3-4 tbsp olive oil
juice of ½ lemon
2 tsp red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper

To make the chimichurri, blitz all ingredients in a food processor. Season to taste.

This dish might just send you straight to heaven. That's what husband sometimes says when I have made him particularly good food: "You're going straight to heaven!" And he usually blows a kiss across the table to emphasize the statement. Or marginally less romantically but equally emphatically slaps my bum as we are clearing the table. It means that I am practically an angel for looking after him so well and will go straight to heaven. After I'm dead in ripe old age hand in hand with him obviously, not now, that would defeat the object of looking after husband. But you know straight without trick questions asked at the pearly gates, purgatory or jury deliberation.

Whether concerned about your eternal whereabouts or just looking for a tasty meal I can recommend this one. My BBQ season started a bit late this year, so I have a lot of catching up to do. I have also been struggling for new ideas, so this grilled aromatic Moroccan lamb leg recipe couldn't have come at a better time. It's something that a work mate had done to a great success and recommended, so I decided to try.


The original Delicious magazine recipe doesn't ask for marinating the leg with the rub, but I thought a few hours in the fridge wouldn't hurt, so I prepped the leg in the morning. I followed the recipe pretty religiously, slightly careful with the fennel seeds, because of my sometimes generous measures and the easily overpowering quality of the spice. I toasted the different seeds and husband was getting really excited bouncing around the kitchen saying it smelled like her aunts cooking in Dubai (which I do realize is not in Morocco). He was also chuffed with the size of the leg at over 2kg for the four of us. I made several incisions to the leg and rubbed the spice paste on and into the leg. I left it in the fridge for about 4 hours.





Husband went out with the kids to buy a suit for the younger one. He's finishing secondary school this year, so needs a suit. Good luck with that, the kid's about 9 foot tall.

I'm pretty used to tall people, we're not exactly petite in my family, but these guys are ridiculous. Both kids are now taller than husband, who is 6"4.
I was always worried that my smallish charcoal barbecue wouldn't work for large pieces of meat, because obviously it's impossible to keep the heat going for that long, but my friend pointed out that you can always finish the cooking in the oven. I would have thought a smart girl like me would have figured that out by herself, but clearly not.

I grilled the leg for about and hour and a half standing in the lovely lamb and coal fume cloud for much of the time with a white wine spritzer and continued to slowcook it in the oven until it was supersoft. Matter of preference, some like theirs more pink, we love ours soft enough to eat with a spoon.

When I was transfering it from the charcoal grill to oven, the leg look pretty fantastic, and probably would have been lovely and pink.

To go with the leg I made moroccan spiced rice with vegetables and chickpeas. The kids pointed out they were fully aware that I was deviously trying to sneak some veg into them, but it was a damn good meal and only a tiny chunk of lamb was left in the end.

Leftovers. Or not.

Here is the recipe from the Delicious website

1 tbsp coriander seeds
½ tbsp cumin seeds
½ tbsp fennel seeds
5 fat garlic cloves, crushed
Thumb-size piece of fresh ginger, finely grated
Finely grated zest of 2 oranges
2 tbsp dried thyme
2 tsp flaked sea salt
1½ tsp ground black pepper
1 medium lamb shoulder (about 1.8-2.2kg), bone-in, any excess fat removed, scored with a sharp knife at 1cm intervals

For this dish, you’ll need enough lit charcoal to keep burning steadily for at least 2 hours.

Toast the seeds in a small, dry frying pan, swirling them often over a medium heat (on the barbecue grill or the hob), until fragrant. Tip into a pestle and mortar or spice grinder and work to a medium-fine powder. Add the garlic, grated ginger and any ginger juice, the orange zest, thyme and seasoning, then work to a paste.

Smear the paste generously over the lamb, making sure any of the rub that falls on the work surface makes its way back onto the lamb.

Grill the lamb on the hot barbecue for 3 minutes on each side until well coloured but not burnt. If flames flare up from the dripping fat, gently move the lamb away from them. Transfer the lamb to a baking tray lined with a double layer of foil. Pour in a glass of water and loosely scrunch another double layer of foil over the top of the lamb. Put the tray on the barbecue grill, then shut the lid, making sure the air vents are two-thirds closed on the top and bottom (to keep the temperature between 180-200°C). Cook the lamb for 2 hours. Check it every half hour – if it appears to be burning or the juices in the tray seem to be boiling away, add more water.

About 15 minutes before the lamb is ready, remove the covering foil and shut the lid again. When cooked, rest the lamb on a platter, covered with foil, for 15 minutes or so. Serve the lamb with the juices poured over.

You know how Facebook tells you what happened on the day a year or more ago. "How long is this football nonsense going to last this time?", my younger self was wondering at the start of the 2010 Worldcup this week. A relevant question once more with the Euro 2016 getting started.

The answer to the question would have been: "With that guy? Forever."

It became quite clear early on in our relationship that football was husband's great love, so I can only blame myself. I remember the 2006 Worldcup where Portugal beat England on penalties at the quarter finals. We watched the game with husband, then boyfriend, in a Battersea sports bar and as the game ended many men were in tears including husband. "It's ok, it's only football", he was consoling himself between heaving sobs and teary hiccups with me patting him awkwardly on the shoulder thinking "Really?". OK, maybe he wasn't heaving or hiccuping, but there were tears.

Every year when the Premier League is done I breathe a quiet sigh of relief forgetting that there is still Champions League, Europa league, FA cup, Worldcup, Euro etc and if nothing else is going on they will considerately put together the odd friendly. And this year we will also get some Olympic football.

Yippee.
But I don't really actually mind too much. Buy me a drink and I'm happy in a pub whatever's on the screen. Unless it's cricket or Mariah Carey.

And at home I usually keep husband company half-following the game half-reading a book, writing the blog, checking my emails, checking out recipes or playing candy crush, or all of the above.

Sometimes husband gets all needy though and wants me to prioritise football over my other sofabound activities. Like yesterday when he was watching the commentary before the much anticipated and riveting Albania-Switzerland game while I was surreptiously leafing through a little book of Buddhist wisdom on the other sofa.

Here is the scene:

(Husband is watching and talking back to the pundits, I am flicking through my book and pretending to follow the program making quite believable sounds that someone following a foodball program might make, I think.)

Husband: That's why they get angry!
Me: Mmm. Yes.
Husband (eyes narrowed): What did I just say?
Me (smug): That's why they get angry!
Husband (not fooled): Who?
Me (slightly less confident): Erm... Switzerland.
Husband: No. Fans.
Me: Yes, fans. That's what I meant.
Husband: What makes them angry?
Me: Albania... No?... Thierry Henry?
Husband: No.

Jeez. Inquisition.

It was something about a pair of brothers, one playing for Albania, one for Switzerland. And fans having a problem with players with dual nationality playing for the other country. Glad to know this now. Much more important than my pursuit of Awakening the Heart according to the teachings of Thich Nhat Hahn.

But actually according to Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk who gives the Dalai Lama a run for his money, although of course monks don't run for money, the first element of True Love (I'm not very far into the book yet, because of football) is called maitri, loving kindness. This means the willingness and most importantly ability to bring joy and happiness to the other person. This requires profound understanding of the other person, because in order to bring someone joy and happiness you must understand their deepest troubles, aspirations and suffering.

In husband's case, football. The source of much of his suffering is the England football team.

Thich Nhat Hanh also reminds that Buddhism teaches that love is above all about being there, being present. So feeling gently admonished by the minute monk, I put away the book and focused on husband asking some further questions about the general state of football in Albania and Switzerland, to which husband gave animated answers and listed each of the main players in the two national teams and in which European clubs they played.

It could be worse. He could be into cricket.

So here's a great little BBQ recipe that goes down well with the football watching menfolk. Serve with the starch of your choice and some veg if your man is agreeable. If not, give him reprieve from  the rabbit food for once, woman.

Barbecued maple, mustard and soy chicken drumsticks

10 chicken drumsticks
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 heaped tbsp dijon mustard
salt and pepper

Mix all the marinade ingredients. Cut a couple of slashes into the drimsticks to allow the marinade to get into the meat. Place the drumsticks in a bowl and pour marinade on top. Mix well massaging the marinade into the chicken. Leave to marinade in the fridge for a couple of hours.

You can cook these in the oven (200C for about 30-40 min), but my favourite way is on a charcoal barbecue. Prepare your barbecue, place the chicken on the grill, slightly away from the hottest heat, so that they cook nicely without burning on the outside. Keep turning every few minutes until they are cooked through.

Joojeh kebabs

Husband's kids came yesterday and tonight we will fly off to Finland, so I decided to do a big barbecue last night to celebrate the start of the holiday! I know husband misses his two boys so much when they are not with us and having them with him for 10 whole days is wonderful for him, so I will make sure that we will have a very special time together.

It was a decent evening, just warm enough to eat outside, which I always love. I thought I'd do a couple of Persian recipes that I know we all like. The obvious first choice was my old favourite, joojeh kebab or joojah kabab or jujeh kabob - just pick any vowel you like. I can't believe I haven't blogged this recipe before. It is maybe my all-time favourite way of cooking chicken. It has a beautiful hint of saffron and orange and is just gorgeous. I always use chicken thigh for this because it's tastier and doesn't dry easily, but breast is of course beautiful too, just be careful not to overcook.

I'm a bit hysterical with chicken and maybe cook it a bit too long, just to make sure it's not raw. That's why thigh is better for me. I am just so freaked out by the campylobacter stories and how common it is in supermarket chicken - organic or not, I pretty much wear an anti-contamination suit whenever handling chicken.

Chicken in the orange and saffron yoghurt marinade

Because trust me - you don't want to get campylobacter. I got it once from a London restaurant - I'm not going to say which one because I can't be 100% sure, but as God is my witness (I'm sure he's got nothing better to do than to witness all kinds of diarrhoea related vows) I will not go there again. I didn't poop my pants or anything too embarrassing, but it was a nasty bug, I tell you.

Didn't miss a day at work though - although in some meetings it was a bit touch and go whether I was going to make it to the end. In my family we don't stay at home easily. My Dad's my ultimate no-sick-leave hero - in his entire over 40 year career as a GP and consultant he missed the grand total of 1.5 days of work when in the 70s he got mumps.


My other dish for my Persian BBQ was kebab koobideh, which I actually haven't done before, I have made all sorts of lamb burgers and kofta, but not traditional koobideh. We have had them when visiting husband's family in Dubai and in restaurants here in London. I didn't manage to be completely traditional though, but had to add a few extra teaspoons of various flavours because what would a couple of millennia of Persian cooks know.

With my Persian meats I of course made some fragrant saffron rice and warm flat bread (ready made from the shop - no time for kneading today with the last minute shopping and laundry etc). These kebabs authentically must be served with saffron rice, flat bread and grilled tomatoes, which I completely forgot this time.


I also made a green salad, cucumber laban and a huge tray of oven chips. Gosh, that was a lot of food for 4 people actually. No wonder I am not as slim as I was this time last year getting ready to be married in my gorgeous lace dress. I bet it wouldn't zip up now.

Just had to go and put it on. And it did still zip up and looked awesome. I had a tiny emotional moment there and then took the dress off quickly before husband or kids found me in the spare bedroom. Hello Miss Havisham.

Kebab Koobideh recipe (serves 4)

500g ground lamb
250g ground beef
1 large yellow onion
3 cloves of garlic
Salt
Pepper
2 eggs
1 tsp saffron
1 tsp sumac
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

The meat should be very finely ground, so if you have a meat grinder run your ground meat through it once or twice. I just used my big chopping knife and chopped until it was all nice and mushy. You can also make this all lamb or all beef. Grate the onion and drain the extra water off in a sieve or press it dry. Soak the saffron in a tbsp of boiling water. Mince the garlic. Mix all ingredients well and refrigerate until you are ready to barbecue.

Many authentic recipes don't include the garlic or the 5 last ingredients - so it's quite a basic recipe, but I like the added flavours. And baking soda is supposed to tenderise the meat.

The best way to do these is with flat big swordlike skewers. Press a fist size ball of the meat mixture around the skewer and flatten to a long rectangle. They are supposed to be quite long and thin and you should use your fingers to press... oh I can't explain this very well, but watch this video. The guy exaggerates a bit I think, but you get the idea. I have no idea what he says, so I hope nothing rude.

I don't have flat metal skewers so just made mine smaller using normal bamboo skewers.

Joojeh kebab - orange and saffron chicken skewers recipe (serves 4)

1 kg boneless chicken thigh (or breast)
1 large yellow onion
Zest of an orange
Juice of half an orange
Juice of a lime
3 garlic cloves
1 tsp saffron
2 tbsp water
1/2 cup of greek yogurt
2 tbsp oil
salt and pepper

Baste (optional)
Melted butter and soaked saffron water.

Grate the onion, add the zest of one orange and juice of half of it. Add juice of 1 lime and press in the garlic cloves. Dissolve the saffron in a couple of tbsp of boiling water and add to the mix. Add the yoghurt and oil. Cut the chicken into easy to skewer 1-2 inch pieces and add to the marinade mixing well.

Refrigerate making sure the meat is covered in a clean plastic bag so you don't end up contaminating anything in your fridge.

When you are ready to grill skewer the pieces of meat. If you're using bamboo skewers make sure you soak them well beforehand. I often put mine in water in the morning already, so they don't burn on the barbecue. Basting the skewers with saffron butter make them particularly juicy and lovely, but I don't always bother. They're pretty damn good anyway,

Here we are again, optimistically planning a week which is never going to go exactly to plan. And that's the way I like it. Uh-huh.

Last week wasn't too bad in terms of plan vs implementation. But then on Sunday I just felt the call of the lamb shanks from the freezer and decided to do those instead of the planned BBQ moose burgers which was perfect as husband had been secretly dreaming of lamb shanks all day. Once he saw what was cooking he gave me a massive hug and a very loud kiss and declared his undying love for me. If ever there was a man to whose heart the way was through the stomach!


This week I am away Tuesday night for work, so it's freezer leftovers for husband. There are still some lovely BBQ lamb burgers for him, so he should be ok for one night.

Otherwise there's nothing particular in the plan. The weather is supposed to get really hot again towards the end of the week, so it'll be BBQ time again. I am a bit stressed out because this is the last week of work before two weeks of annual leave, and there is a lot of work I need to get done before I disappear. Because if I don't the whole company is obviously going to crumble and the British economy will find itself on the brink of disaster in manner of Greek tragedy.

We'll be going to Finland with husband and his boys, which is lovely, but also it's the sixth ice age there right now apparently, so that's stressing me out also, because everyone will get pneumonia, cystitis and brain freeze. So something's gotta give, and it might just be my meal plan, which is a bit crap I admit, but maybe this time the execution is better than the plan.

This weeks dinner plan

Monday            Sunday's leftover lamb shank and rice
Tuesday            Husband eating something from freezer
Wednesday       Smoked moose and mushroom gnocchi or something equally quick
Thursday           Grid-iron BBQ salmon, tenderstem broccoli and puy lentils
Friday                #fishfriday, filled sea bass or sea bream fillets on BBQ
Saturday            I have no clue, I'm tired and need to go to bed! Will figure out later.
Sunday              Persian chicken and lamb barbecue.

Have a good week everybody!

Tomato, mozzarella and basil frittata - Saturday brunch

Smoker bag salmon

Fish skewers

I'm not sure if I'm completely happy with the heatwave. The weather has been nice, but it hasn't been as hot as was promised. I naturally celebrate the fact that hoards of old people were not killed because of soaring temperatures, but I personally could have managed with a bit more heat.

We only had one properly hot day, Wednesday. It was awesome. I did a BBQ and we sat in the garden till long after dark. I have this image as evidence as to what was forecast (=promised).


It has been nice though and looks like lovely summery weather is continuing and it might even get hotter again towards the weekend so YIPPEE!!

I did pretty much everything in the meal plan apart from the Reindeer tart with Finn Crisp base - I will do it at some point, with all the barbecuing I just can't fit it in.

Dinner highlights of the week

- Finnish summer soup was very lovely, fresh, healthy. And full of taste and fragrance of childhood summers.
- Greek moose burgers were a huge success which I must repeat soon. Husband went on about them for several days.
- Another big fish BBQ on #FishFriday. The recently spotted local fishmonger guy, who apparently has been there for 8 years (see if I pay attention to my surroundings), refuses to sell me most of his fish because he says they are not to my taste. I keep pointing at them, what's this? Nonononono, you won't like it. Not sure how he thinks he knows my taste after just two weeks. I don't even know, because I haven't tried the fish - just sell me the fish man! So Grouper and Sea bass it was again, but very lovely.
- Good old Za'atar chicken drumsticks on the barbecue on Saturday, an easy and lovely summer dish.



This week I am away for a few days for work, so there is food made ready for husband. I barbecued him some lamb burgers while doing a smoker bag side of salmon for our dinner tonight. Definitely stick to Alder smoker bags for fish, I did Hickory this time and it's too strong for fish. It was ok, but Alder is better.

The week's dinner plan

Monday        Smoker bag side of salmon, asparagus and broccoli
Tuesday        Husband to eat the leftovers of the smoker bag salmon
Wednesday   Lamb burgers for husband
Thursday      Coming home late, so something very quick - Sesame chicken noodles maybe
Friday           #FishFriday, seafood skewers, grilled vegetables and warm new potato salad
Saturday       Husband and his boys head for Turkish grill, I have a birthday party to attend
Sunday         Repeat of the moose burgers

Have a nice week everybody! Let's get the barbecues started.

Sharing the plan at Mrs M's as always!

The weather forecast for Wednesday was scorchio, so I absolutely wanted to do a barbecue. There are few things I love more that sitting in our little garden eating something tasty from the barbecue and then sip some wine in the darkening evening with bellies full.

Barbecue has been in regular use, but we haven't eaten in the garden once this year which is a shame as Bogomil from Fantastic Gardeners did such a lovely job on the decking and I have tended to my Geraniums and Petunias and other flowers (no idea what they are) and the tiny garden is very pretty just now before it all goes downhill and overgrown. It just hasn't been warm enough. I hate when food gets cold. And I hate when I gets cold.


I was not going to let this opportunity slip, so I gently (or maybe quite straight-forwardly which is my default genetic style and has caused many an amusing or less so encounter with husband), stressed to husband that this was not the night to linger unnecessarily in the gym or anywhere else, but to come home promptly to his one true love to enjoy lovely food in tropical conditions. He is an accomplished lingerer, he can sometimes whatsapp in his car in front of the house for 45 minutes before coming in, because as a man he can't walk and whatsapp at the same time. So I couldn't believe it when he actually came home as I was just lighting up the barbecue.


The original plan was lamb burgers Greek style - I don't know if Greeks do them like that at all, but it's just my excuse to add lots of Greek herbs, olives and feta to pimp up some ground lamb. There was no organic lamb mince at the supermarket this time, so I decided to use the ground moose that I
have in my freezer. I decided to stick with my Greek theme though, that's all we hear about now anyway, so why not. What is so beautiful about Europe is the multitude of countries and cultures and languages, so why not Greek moose. I'm sure it's on the menu somewhere. Or maybe it's just our back garden in Ealing.

I wasn't actually going to blog about this because everyone can make a hamburger, but they turned out so awesome that I can't help myself. Husband was doing cartwheels. No, really he wasn't, and it wouldn't be a pretty sight. But they were insanely tasty - crispy on the outside and moist and soft on the inside. Not sharing the recipe would be selfish and wrong. You can use the same recipe with ground lamb or even turkey. Versatile!

I have never been a fan of burgers made of just meat. To me there is not enough taste and they are just too... er... meaty. So I always add different spices and herbs, and onions are a must. Moose is very lean, so making perfect hamburgers out of moose calls for some additional ingredients with a little bit of fat and moisture. Some people mix in ground beef, but I like the intense taste and texture of moose, but with the addition of chopped feta or olives or sundried (oil preserved) tomatoes the moose burgers are perfect.

I was really tempted by feta, but decided to leave it out this time, because I'm thinking maybe I use it too much. I'm not sure if that is actually possible because feta is good in anything. But I put it in almost everything pretty much all the time.

I made a simple mixed salad with mushroom - basic mushroom are actually nice just as they are in a salad. And I barbecued a few tomatoes, courgette and mushrooms.

I didn't bother with buns - I had some shop bought pitta bread that we warmed up on the barbecue. Original plan was home made pitta and preparing the dough in the morning so it would be ready for rolling and baking when I get home in the evening. Waking up at 5.45 in the morning unexpectedly I wasn't on a kneading mood. Hard to believe, but there you go.

Like I said the burgers were fantastic, slightly singed at the edges, actually much darker than the pictures, went a bit crazy with the light editing there. And we sat in the garden until long after dark with cherries and red wine for dessert.

BBQ Moose burger recipe (this makes 5-6 medium sized burgers)

Oil
350g ground moose or venison
1 yellow onion
1 garlic glove
50 g panko bread crumbs
1 egg
One very large handful of pitted olives (use good quality olives, pit yourself, I had some kalamata and green olives with pimiento)
1 heaped tablespoon of greek spice mix (or use fresh herbs)
1 tsp paprika
Salt
Pepper

Heat oil in a frying pan. Fry onion and garlic on the pan until soft. Blitz roughly or chop the olives. Add olives and onion mix to ground beef, add the bread crumbs, egg, spices and seasoning. Taste for seasoning - if you don't want to taste raw meat, fry a tiny test blob. Moose is ok to taste raw as is beef and lamb.