Little fishes 2 / Petits poissons : le retour

Here goes the Oscar speech: 

I'd like to say thank you to a good friend's dad for giving us these delicious fresh fishies, thanks to the good friend for gutting them as that is a skill I am yet to master, and finally thank you to Cheri for cooking the fish to perfection! 

Eating fish whole is something relatively new to me. I'm a little bit ashamed to say it, but up until this year all fish cooked by my greedy hands had already been gutted, filleted and de-boned. However, I just couldn't say no to these little beauties, especially saying as fish is something that is becoming ridiculously expensive. Cooking the fish whole stops it from drying out and keeps all of the flavours intact. However, it does mean having to battle with the bones which can be a little irritating, especially when one gets lodged in your throat. A bit of care and patience is all it takes. 

I decided to accompany Cheri's papillotes with some curried courgettes. This is a quick and easy side-dish that goes well with white meats or fish. For four people you'll need one large courgette. If you're dining solo or cooking for two, freeze the remaining courgette slices for up to three months. Fry off in a little olive oil until soft, add a couple of spoons of crème fraîche, and then stir in whatever spices you fancy. I chose to put in some medium curry powder, groud cumin, fresh coriander, and a good dose of turmeric to give a nice colour to the veggies. Fry over a medium heat for about 20 minutes, or until the courgettes are soft and melt in the mouth. 

Greedy is back / La gourmande est de retour

A big thank you to my good friend for inviting Cheri and I to dinner last Saturday. After a week's recuperation where I did little else than change my ice packs and mope around in the thirty degree heat (note to self: listen to the dentist when she tells you not to get teeth taken out over summer) I was both excited and apprehensive at the thought of my first real meal in a week as my poor mouth was still a bit tender and there are quite a lot of restrictions as to what you can and can't eat post-operation.

I needn't have been worried as ma copine had thought of everything! For nibbles we had ripe melon from the garden cut into tiny pieces that just melted in the mouth and some crabsticks with a homemade chive and cream dip. I must say at this point that crabsticks are one of my guilty pleasures as I know there is loads of rubbish in them but I just can't help myself, I love them!

Starter was a nice creamy vegetable soup, admittedly not a seasonal choice as it is pretty warm outside but it felt so good just sliding down with no chewing required.

Main course arrived and I was ecstatic to see we were eating some meat as this is one if the things I missed over the week. Lots of things can be mixed and liquidised to be suitable for post dental surgery diets but meat is just not one of them. I did buy some rilletes which filled a bit of the meaty void but nothing could compare to the delicious sausage meat casserole that was set down before me. Anyone who knows me well knows I am a fan of sausage in all its forms and so there couldn't really have been a more welcome ingredient! Combined with courgettes and tomatoes from the garden, slowly stewed until they became almost melting, this is a perfect summer dish. Only regret is that the sausage meat is a bit salty when prepared like this as it breaks down during the long cooking time. As a helpful gourmande I advised mon ami to put a raw potato cut in half in to the casserole dish the next time as this would absorb the extra salt.

Dessert didn't disappoint either. My mate excelled herself and dished up a bowl of egg custard, which I absolutely LOVE, served with homemade vanilla cream. This was always my favourite food as a baby and then even as a teenager I would sometimes allow myself to buy a pot of egg custard with rice baby food..Mmmm heaven! 

Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me to document my return to real eating as the anaeasthetic has made me a bit dozy this week and I forgot it.