Roast Lamb with Root Vege Stack

Yes, 2 nights running that I've cooked. Its a miracle I know, compounded even further by the fact that I've got photos to prove it. Except, to tell the truth, the Beef Wellington was last week, not last night. Ah dear. But, (don't you hate stories that string you along like this?) I did in fact cook last night as well. Last night was the night of the delicious red onion jam. Which unfortunately, became black onion toffee about 30 seconds after this photo:

Sigh. Never mind, the rest of the meal was still both edible and tasty!

And tonight. Well, yes, tonight was thoroughly successful. Despite arriving home and missing the cats so much (they're still with their grandparents) that I really didn't want to do anything other than sit down and drink a delicious wine. But I persevered, and the result is delicious organic roast lamb knuckle, with a red wine reduction, roast purple beans and vine tomatoes and a stack of roast root veges (kumara, potato, pumpkin - 00h, not quite a root vege, never mind).

So what did you have for dinner?

Beef Wellington with Roasted Vegetables

For the first time in a while, I got really inspired about cooking something last week. I had visited my folks and been sent home with a bag of fresh purple beans (I'd never heard of them before then!), capsicum and the courgette chutney I had bottled while I was with them (Mum had already made the chutney, but had to go out so left me to bottle it in their absence).

During the day I found a couple of recipes specifically mentioning Purple Beans, although the tomato and purple bean mix didn't inspire me in the slightest. The roasted purple beans however (and I must find the original inspiration) were certainly of interest!

So starting there, I planned the rest of the meal and settled on making Beef Wellington for the first time ever. I hate to admit that I didn't consult a recipe. The only bit of help I got was to phone Mum on the way home (what would we do without our Mums?!) to check what sort of pastry I needed.

Below is the, if I do say so myself, delicious and gorgeous result! I concede I undercooked the pastry slightly, but it didn't detract from the flavour. And yes, it is VERY blue, but it was a beautiful piece of eye-fillet and so melt-in-your-mouth tender that it wasn't a problem - I don't usually like my steak quite this blue, but seriously, it was delicious! (Larger photos in my flickr photostream)

And yes, I went a little crazy with the roasted veges - 7 in total! Green capsicum & purple beans from Dad's garden, a bulb of garlic, an onion, gourmet potatoes, golden kumara, pumpkin. And a drizzle of aioli on the side. Absolutely delicious!

Brunch with Friends

Firstly - apologies for the lack of photos - although Simon suggests there may be something on my camera of use - will add later if so.

This morning we had friends up from Tauranga, with their 2 young boys. We decided we'd do a spread of bagels with a range of toppings and were really pleased with the end result!

So with the toaster happily relocated outside onto the deck and a deliciously cold bottle of OJ, we enjoyed:

Abe's parmesan, sesame, poppy seed and baby bagels with:

• buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil leaves, freshly sliced truss tomatoes
• mersey valley club cheddar - 'sharp & crumbly' (they weren't kidding!), italiano salami
• cream cheese & smoked salmon

A decidedly delicious brunch. We'll definitely be doing that one again!