Perfect summer evening, Julia, Peas and Halibut!

Alan and Joseph are at a regatta for some of the weekend so Julia and I are having a girlie evening.  Started with a movie, plan was to come back to my place for margaritas and dinner.  Had to serve something that we could cook pretty quickly.  I cut this recipe, Peas with Halibut, out of the NY Times back in 2004 and have made it several times since.  The peas part is a great side dish, apparently cooking peas with lettuce and mint goes way back,  I was first served this by my oldest foodie friend, Jock, yonks ago!
Anyway, did small amount of prep before we went out, sliced the scallions and diced the bacon, and cooked it up whilst finishing the last few sips of Julia's most delicious margaritas.
One note, if you want a more healthy dish you can omit the bacon, I have never done that so cannot vouch for it!  I usually use the largest scallions I can find. Only thing I change is that I do not add any oil to the pan before I fry the bacon, it is not necessary, and I do pour out some of the bacon fat, leaving just enough to fry the onions in, honest!

Just the two of us....

Saturday night dinner after a busy day so not a lot of time. As has become a habit, grabbed the latest Gourmet mag to browse while watching Joseph's soccer game. We had decided it was going to be a fish night and found Greek Style Mahimahi, 'active time 15min start to finish 30min', perfect! Could not get Mahimahi but Striped Sea Bass proved a great substitute. It was delicious and I will definitely do it again, little different from most fish dishes I usually do. Suggested accompaniment was an Orzo and fennel dish Did not want to do orzo but it reminded me of a dish Charlotte had suggested a while ago which is oven roasted Fennel, potato and onion. Very simple, you cut all three into about half inch slices, toss with some oil, add a herb if you fancy and have some around and roast for about half an hour in a 425 ish oven. It is a great combination, I like to use thin skinned potatoes that do not need peeling, like yukon golds. I always like to have something green on the plate so I added some baby courgettes for the last 10 minutes. A basic tomato salad was included with the fish recipe and that was it for us - yum!

SATURDAY CHEZ BLAKE

Not thrilled with this one. Again from a recent Bon Appetit, Halibut on Mashed Fava Beans with Mint.
Could not get fava beans so used Edemamme, possibly part of the problem. It was ok, would not rush back to it. Fish possibly a tad overcooked so Alan whipped up an impromptu tartar sauce which he and Joseph enjoyed. Oh, did not fry the fish as per the recipe, used the brown in a frying pan then finish in the oven method. Luckily just the 3 of us, better luck next week!

GUEST CHEF IN THE HOUSE!

Dave cooked dinner for us the next night and it was fabulous, of course! We had a salad of Tomatoes, cos lettuce, radish and avocado with an avocado caesar dressing. Then he grilled stripped bas, red peppers, slices of onion and asparagus. I was in charge of heating the tortillas while he grilled. Served with a chimichurri sauce, yum. Dessert was simple, grilled slices of Pineapple with a locally made vanilla ice cream. Come back soon, Dave!