Monkfish and Summer Vegetables

I didn't really plan to cook much last night. After a busy day the idea was to relax and catch up on my latest must see programme My Kitchen Rules Australia https://au.tv.yahoo.com/my-kitchen-rules/ a sunny, often outdoor more energetic version of Masterchef.

Then a visit to the shops found a beautiful fillet of monkfish, some local summer vegetables tender broad beans and succulent sugar snap peas and a dish was in the making.

For the fish a Delia recipe which coated disks of the fish in a mix of plenty of black pepper and lemon zest with a little salt and some flour was perfect and only needed 2 minutes cooking on each side. http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/main-ingredient/fish-and-seafood/monkfish/monkfish-with-a-lemon-pepper-crust-and-a-warm-lemon-anchovy-vinaigrette.html

Lightly fried diced bacon was joined by a little chopped garlic and the sugar snaps. I  brought the board beans to the boil and plunged them into cold water to stop them overcooking then popped them out of their sometimes rubbery skins and added them to the bacon and pea mix. A squeeze of lemon juice and some fresh mint completed the dish.

While I was cooking I was thinking about the great combination of beans, peas and bacon and remembered a childhood dish called "blanks and prizes" interested to test my memory a search showed that sure enough http://www.foodsofengland.co.uk/blanksandprizes.htm it was a traditional Shropshire dish although I think I prefer my version.

A quick meal that left plenty of time for 3 episodes of MKR Australia

Summer Saturday Night

Just loving the recent sunshine and there is something particularly continental about those rare sultry evenings in our capital city.

Visiting to watch Passenger www.passengermusic.com/ in the exceptional outdoor venue of Somerset House was the perfect excuse to add on some extra activities.

We started with late afternoon drinks at Rotunda Kings Place. I have written about Rotunda before http://annsfooddiary.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/rotunda-at-kings-place.html but this time we lounged on deck chairs alongside the canal drinking wine and watching the boats passing by.

With a holiday in Spain booked for later in the summer talk of tapas led us to dinner at Camino www.camino.co.uk an authentic Spainish bar and restaurant tucked away in a cool plaza just steps from the dusty heat of the Euston Road.

We chose a selection of appetising dishes including anchovies, cured beef with picos blue cheese (an excellent combination) and gambas which are all pictured

plus pardon peppers, and the intriguing and delicious Presa Iberica "succulent shoulder of rare iberico pig, creamy idiazbal (a smoked basque ewe cheese) and jamon iberico rice"

Great service and a outdoor courtyard table made for a complete Spainish experience.

Later the eagerly anticipated concert surpassed expectations.