Surf and Turf

On week nights we aren't always able to prepare such elaborate dishes, Hopkinson or no Hopkinson, but there are just so many excellent ingredients, especially seafood but also animals with hooves.   Last week we bought a lovely monkfish half from Applebee's Fish Market, a big bunch of mussels, and made a kind of cataplana with tomatoes, cream, and wine.  We served this with basmati rice, which requires a deft control of the stovetop, so we won't show you the final results.  The fish, though, was beautiful to start with and tasty at the end.

Instead of the cataplana, of course, we used the Le Creuset casserole to make the sauce in which we then steamed the mussels and fish.

And the final presentation, with the rice on the side:

We also returned to the scene of the pork chop, this time with a fat chop from the Ginger Pig, and did a much better job of sauteeing it and then finishing it off in the oven.   We served this with roasted butternut squash and pomegranate seeds, and a green salad.

Last weekend we were out of town, but did not leave before shopping at the Market, of course, for some Iberico ham to bring with us, and a couple of things for our return.  One was a pork pie, with black pudding, from Ginger Pig, which made a nice Sunday supper.

Another was a succulent veal chop, also from the Ginger P, which we prepared like the pork chop, saucing it with a little cream, and serving with fingerling potatoes and spinach cooked in brown butter.

A light Tuesday supper was a frisee salad with bacon (yep, Ginger Pig), croutons made from Poilane bread fried in olive oil, and some poached eggs.  (These very fresh eggs don't poach exactly like they do at home.  We are still working on this one.)

Eating out.  On a Wednesday, we went to a fascinating film, "The Portuguese Nun," and decided to try out Jamie's Italian restaurant in Covent Garden afterwards, around 9 pm.  They don't take reservations, and the place was packed, but we took a number and waited.  It was surprisingly good for a chain with a lot of hype.
Later in the week we went to a concert at Wigmore Hall and decided to eat at a fusion restaurant we'd heard a lot about, Providores, in Marylebone High Street.  Small plates, interesting combinations.  The downstairs Tapa bar (named after a Maori textile) was hopping - somewhat like Avec on a busy night. Upstairs was more sedate, but very pleasant after a great concert by Magdalena Kozena.
This same chef, Peter Gordon, has opened a new place in Covent Garden, just down the street from our favorite Monmouth coffee and up the street from the Coliseum, where we were to see the English National Opera's production of Lucrezia Borgia, music by Donizetti, production by the film director Mike Figgis (with film interludes included).   We had an early supper at Gordon's Kopapa, with a number of tapas-sized and really delicious dishes such as tuna tartar, eggplant tower, fried pimentos. More like Avec on an early night.  The desserts were also pretty terrific. We are going back for Saturday brunch!