I don't cook as much these days as I used to, mainly just on the weekends as it is my lovely hubby that takes care of our weekday meals. But despite not spending a lot of time in the kitchen, I do love watching cooking shows. There is something about sitting down with a nice glass of wine and watching a good cooking show and getting totally inspired to cook. In fact it's probably the thing that most inspires me to cook ..... the cooking show I mean.... ah heck who am I kidding - the wine pretty much inspires me too!
This weekend we were lurking around the city region after one of the boy's Rugby game and since we were in the area we decided it was the perfect excuse to go to the fish markets. When I say "we decided", you have to know I really mean I decided and actually come to think of it we were no where near the fish markets but somehow I managed to convince the hubstar to head in that direction anyway.
My boys so take after me when it comes to adoring their seafood and whilst my obliging hubby and two of my kids and a friend of theirs chowed down on some sashimi, my middle son Sammy and I wolfed into some Lobster.
Oh man am I creating a monster I can't afford to keep or what?
There is just something about the fish markets, the fresh fish, the colours, the produce and the buzz, it all gets me so inspired.
So I decided to cook my special secret recipe for dinner although its not such a secret now is it as I am about to publish it on the world wide web. But trust me on this, just make it and you can totally thank me later.
Tomato, Chilli and Basil Dipping Sauce
This sauce is the perfect accompaniment to go with fresh prawns and crusty bread. Mmmmm I just ate it for dinner and already I am drooling at the thought of more.
Ingredients
3 tablespoons of Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
2 Tablespoons of Good Quality Balsamic Vinegar
2 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice
2 crushed cloves of Garlic
a generous handful of fresh Basil
1 red chilli (medium heat) seeded and thinly sliced
a pinch of sea salt
Simply chop up your chilli and crush your garlic and throw all your ingredients into a pan.
Stir over a medium heat until it begins to lightly caramelise
I use scissor to chop my basil in at this point and stir it through the sauce.
Once the basil has withered turn of the heat.
You can serve this sauce hot or cold - any which way it is just divine.
We served it over fresh prawns and some sliced up crusty sourdough sticks.
Make sure you have plenty of spare bread to mop up all the sauce. You wont want to leave a drop on your plate.
So what did you get up to this weekend?
Did you pull a con job on anyone to take you somewhere you were nowhere near or am I the only deviot around here?