The final day of February – how fast is this year flying by? – and a successful culinary day!   It has been my day off and a relaxing day has been had, pottering around the flat and the kitchen and catching up with reading.

We had several bananas which were past their best so I decided to make some banana bread.  I adapted a recipe from the Peyton and Byrne Baking Cookbook, using roasted hazelnuts instead of the specified pecans.  The cake was light and moist- I used a mixture of milk and yoghurt instead of buttermilk and this worked perfectly.  When Colin got in from work he gobbled up 2 slices in no time at all = big success!!

For dinner….

I marinated some ribeye steaks in olive oil, a little lemon juice, fresh thyme, chilli and garlic for a couple of hours before griddling them until medium-rare.  I served this with 2 new dishes- some spicy roasted potatoes and a spiced carrot salad with mint. Both were delicious and here are the recipes.

Spiced Carrot Salad with Mint

10-12 small carrots, cut in half lengthways

1 small red pepper, diced

1 clove garlic, chopped

1cm piece ginger, chopped

juice of 1 small clementine

juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp ground cumin

handful fresh mint leaves

1 tbsp oilve oil

• put the carrots, red pepper, garlic and ginger into a saucepan, add the juices and spices, cover and simmer for 6-8 mins until the carrots are just cooked.  Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
• chop the mint and stir into the carrots with the olive oil.  Season, transfer to a serving dish and eat!

Roast Potatoes with Chilli and Thyme- Colin’s new favourite!!!

3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks

1 tbsp olive oil

juice 1/2 lemon

handful fresh thyme leaves

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 red chilli, chopped

1 tbsp fresh, chopped parsley

• preheat the oven to 200.
• cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for 5 mins.  Drain and transfer to a bowl.
• put all the other ingredients into a bowl and whisk to combine.  Pour over the potatoes and season.
• pop into a roasting dish and roast for 30 mins until browned and crisp.

A lovely day off filled with yummy food.  All very happy.