Cracking on

I have knocked out a lot of Elizabeth David's recipes this weeks, and when I haven't I have found myself cooking much more instinctively with great results.  Tonight for supper we had Williams mackerel fillets.  Tossed in flour fried in olive oil.  I served this with an ED tomato sauce that I had already made which the kids loved.  Frying a chopped onion in butter with salt until softened and yellow, adding to this 6 skinned chopped tomatoes (never any deseeding thanks Elizabeth), a chopped garlic clove, torn celery leaves and some dried basil.  Simmered until soft then passed easily through a mouli.  With this we had pan roasted new potatoes just sauteed in butter with the lid on, on the hob.  I also cooked the last endive recipe with my expensive endives.  Slow cooked in butter in the oven.  

Last night I cooked one of the recipes I was really looking forward to, steak with bone marrow.  I was so determined to cook this I made us have a barbecue in the rain(the recipe sated cooking on charcoal). The bone was simmered gently in water for 20 minutes then the marrow was mixed with shallot and parsley.  The steak sat in olive oil and was well seasoned whilst the barbecue hotted up.  The steak was cooked on one side then flipped and the bone marrow mix was smeared over the top.  We had this with barbecued flat breads and garden chard fried with peppers and a splash of red wine.  I was thoroughly enjoying the steak but not particularly finding the bone marrow flavour until Tom suggested maybe he had just been cooking on coal and all the food tasted funny.  Unfortunately he was probably right, obviously I ate mine anyway.