Weeknights are tough to be an amateur gourmet, there are babies to feed and put to sleep, and life in general to be dealt with. However, its no excuse for not treating yourself right.(or at least that’s what I feel). The secret is to do good shopping, and then you’re prepared.
The other night we needed a quick starter snack, because dinner was taking a while. I had some persimmons and some jamon and thought of the classic parma ham and melon. This is the same kinda thing; the salty with the sweet and real easy to prepare. Chop up the persimmon and top it with some jamon (this one is pata negra, I’m salivating again looking at the picture)
Tuesdays are fresh fish days at our house (there is a market near my work), and we normally have it fairly unadulterated, as the fresh fish flavour is great by itself. The other night we had salmon steaks and I wanted a quick marinade to zing them up. I squeezed the juice of a blood orange and a tablespoon of harissa together to make a red paste and marinated them for half an hour in them. They were great; a little spice, a little citrus and a nice colour
Brendan McNulty 