Lunch for Colin!!!

A well-deserved day off today where the batteries were recharged.  For lunch some bought in fishcakes and chips with some mushy peas, followed by a film in the afternoon- lovely day.

I remembered I had a beef fillet in the freezer so I thought I’d make a take on an Italian tagliata this evening.  I seared the seasoned fillet on the griddle pan until nicely charred, before putting in a hot oven for 45 mins.  I actually wish I had cooked it for a bit less as it was definately cooked through, not quite the charred outside and juicy inside I was hoping for.  Saying that it was very tasty and the leftovers made a very good lunch today.  With the beef we had some home made oven chips, tossed at the last minute with some salt and  some merguez spices.  The veggie side was some broccoli, lightly blanched and then sauteed in a little olive oil, sliced garlic and red chilli.  It all worked together very well, drizzled with the juices from the beef.

It’s not often I make a dessert but this recipe from one of my favourite cooks, Diana Henry, caught my eye- and is a little nod to the in-laws enjoying themselves in Tenerife this January!

Sherry Cheesecake

Base

• 90g crushed digestive biscuits
• 20g roasted, crushed hazelnuts
• 20g unsalted butter

Filling

• 750g mascarpone/ cream cheese
• 115g icing sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 vanilla pod, scraped of seeds
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 50ml sherry (a pedro ximenez was used here and was lovely)
• zest of 1 lemon

Combine the base ingredients and press into a 7″ cake tin.  Chill in the fridge for 30 mins.

Preheat oven to 170.

Put the mascarpone in a food processor and whizz until smooth.  Add the rest of the ingredients, except the lemon, and blend well.  Stir in the lemon zest.

Pour the filling over the base and bake in the oven for 40 mins until just set.  Cool, and leave in the fridge for 2 hours to set before serving.

Serve sprinkled with some more chopped hazelnuts and a glass of the sherry!

Yum!