I don't think you can ask much more from a spring Friday than pulling out some chairs to sit in the last hour or so of sun with a few beers and the stereo set to very loud. And keeping with the simple pleasures, a nice bit of eye fillet for dinner.
There it is above, well camoflagued by a blob of ratatouille which may or may not believe was carefully formed in a dariole mould.
Steak – 500gm piece of eye fillet tied with my nifty silicon ties to keep its shape and marinated in olive oil, garlic and rosemary pestled together with ground pepper and a splash of balsamic. Seared all round in goose fat in a pan and then finished in a hot oven. Allow to rest and then slice. It wasn't quite right so I finished each piece back in the pan.
Sauce – Pan deglazed with red wine with a very finely chopped eschalot. Reduced by a half and then I added a few tablespoons of cream with a couple of pieces of dried porcini ground down to dust. Reduce to taste and season.
Broad beans – peeled from the large pod and then boiled insalted water for 6 minutes then peeled again down to the inner pod and then cooked in butter before serving.
Ratatouille – not a proper one, I hate capsicum, but same principle. One zucchini cubed and brown a little in some olive oil and removed. Sauteed one chopped red onion and garlic. Zucchini back in with some chopped asparagus pieces as well as four peeled and deseeded chopped tomatoes and a little tomato puree. Some chopped rosemary as well. Cook til it's nicely cooked through without becoming mush and then season to taste.
I enjoyed this a lot. One of the busiest things I've ever made but it all seemed to pull together somehow – think meaty creamy tomatoey acidic earthy with a hint of vinegar. Sorry it's a rather bright picture of it.
I'd also like to recommend frozen turkish delight bars for dessert. Highly amusing and the wrapper obviates the need for a PSP.