The lilies are opening! Absolutely stunning. The weather’s been superb and so I’ve spent much time in the garden. Pruning, cleaning, weeding- and digging.
And there’s been progress in the scullery. The tiling is done- and I’ve learnt how to grout by watching youtube videos. The first 20 minutes were tricky, but then I got the hang of it. The cabinets are almost all sanded- some are even painted:
And finally a bit of food… summer’s on the doorstep and we can eat outside in the evening. One of my favourite things to have and serve outside is fish cooked whole. It’s attractive, rustic and most of all easy. My go-to recipe for white fish is classically Mediterranean.
All you need (for two people) is:
the white fish of your choice cleaned/gutted
1 medium onion
1 bell pepper
1 tomato
handful of flat leaf parsley
good olive oil
salt + pepper
Lay the fish in a lightly oiled oven dish and cover with the sliced vegetables. Drizzle olive oil over everything. Cook in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees (celsius) for approximately 20 minutes. Sprinkle parsley over the whole thing when serving. This goes well with rice- and when I’m not being lazy I serve it with a persillade, which is basically a dressing of parsley, garlic, olive oil and a bit of lemon juice.
Not Extra Virgin! So says Raymond Blanc.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The colour of those lilies is astonishing. Not even sure what you’d call it.
LikeLiked by 2 people
The colour is amazing. The variety is called purple prince, but the colour is something between mauve and burgundy.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Bottle it, you’ll make a fortune.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oh, that fish …you’ve got me drooling when all I’ve got is chicken in the fridge.
I do, however, have the makings of the persillade. I might make some to go with a simple roast. Oh and your garden is spectacular! I actually got out in mine today and transplanted the artichokes. I hope they survive the move as they really are a very attractive plant.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I just love the look of artichoke plants. I might try finding a spot for some next year, but I’m not sure how well they’d do in this weather. If my memory is correct they prefer mild winters and mild summers. Here we get seriously hot summers and although we didn’t get frost/snow last year it apparently can happen.
I use persillade on a near industrial scale. It goes very well with roasts and also cold meats. And if you make sure there’s enough olive oil in the jar it lasts a good long time. After much experimentation I’ve settled on 8 cloves of garlic for a generous bouquet of parsley. Stuff it all into a jar and cover with olive oil. Only add the lemon juice as you dish it out and it tastes fresher and lasts longer 😉
LikeLike
re the artichokes, we do get mild-ish winters – only ever down to about 2 C – but our summers can get very very hot – up to 41-42 C at times. I find that so long as I keep them reasonably watered, they do remarkably well. Maybe you could find a spot where they are sheltered by a wall and only get morning sun?
I love that recipe for the persillade. I already make my own garlic oil so making one for the parsley would be so easy and so very handy. Many thanks Pinky. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Update! I made the persillade last night and the Offspring and I both loved it. This is definitely going to become a staple in my fridge. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s incredibly versatile. Up north they use it on oysters. If you add breadcrumbs it’s a great crust on a roast. In Provence they add anchovies… Add lemon zest and you’ve got a gremolata 😀
LikeLike
Funny you should say that about the breadcrumbs…that’s tomorrow night’s dinner – very finely trimmed rack of lamb with a persillade crust! Oh and I’m about to post up a very simple biscuit recipe you may like. 🙂
LikeLike