Ben Made Steak and Heidi Made Crumble
Last weekend Ben and I were both feeling a bit off, kind of fluey. That's the rule, right? It's Winter, it's chilly, we're both super busy...so then you get sick. I suppose it's better to be forced to slow down and rest in Winter than in Summer, when infectious sunshine and bright blue skies positively forbid you from staying in. In light of this prevailing fluey feeling, we made sure that our weekend was very low-key. We ran a lot of errands, I did some work from home (nestled firmly on the couch with a cup of tea in hand) and we saw family for lunch - it was one of those weekends. It was nice. We also attempted to get me ready for my USA trip in *gasp* less than 2 weeks, starting off with finally booking my accommodation in San Francisco.
It will be no surprise that we spent Saturday night in. But it wasn't a sad event, not at all. We had a date not only with each other, but with our trackies, some comfort food, the couch and Harry Potter. In the chilly Wintertime this can be quite the perfect Saturday night.
Ben Made Steak
Ben was craving Rib Eye Steak with Mashed Potatoes with Chives and Garlic Butter. For real. That's precisely what he told me. So that's precisely what he made, along with grilled Broccolini. When the man has a vision you let him cook. It always turns out amazing...he's good like that.
Ben cooked the Rib Eye beautifully, it was absolutely delicious. He even did that trick with tin foil on the bone, and used cooking string. Oh so pretty.
To make the garlic butter, he used proper French butter - slithers of which we save for special occasions...surely Rib Eye and Harry Potter calls for such a fancy indulgence, tracksuit pants or not? It was heavenly.
Heidi Made Crumble
For dessert I decided to make a crumble - what could be more comforting and Winter appropriate than a warming, sweet, wholesome fruit crumble? Ok well self-saucing pudding would also fall into this category, but I made that a couple of weekends ago. It was definitely time for a crumble.
I have such fond memories of my mum's apple (sometimes with rhubarb) crumble, she would always make it so scrumptiously perfect, without a recipe. Just like that. I've tried this technique myself but have not had such luck, it always lacks the deeply delicious flavour of my mum's crumble. So I decided to turn to one of my favourite cookbooks of late, Super Natural Everyday, for some wanted guidance. I recalled a recipe for a Tutti-Frutti Crumble that looked divine, and went straight for that when my crumble craving took hold.
I made Apple and Strawberry Crumble based on Heidi Swanson's Tutti-Frutti Crumble (recipe link). And I have to say, it's my new favourite crumble recipe.
I used 4 large granny smith apples and a punnet of strawberries instead of Heidi's Tutti-Frutti combination, simply because they were the first fruits I stumbled across at the market. I also used water instead of wine and light dairy spread in place of butter. As an afterthought, next time I will cut down the content of sugar added to the fruit - it was a little too sweet for me.
What I loved about this crumble is how the strawberries, together with the cornflour and sugar, cooked down to become like a sticky, sweet, gooey jam....oooh it was utterly delectable. I had never before used strawberries in a crumble and I have to say I'm a little obsessed with the idea now. I'm already planning on making this Apple and Strawberry Crumble again for a family lunch at my place today. It's delicious, fairly healthy (besides the eager sugar content) and aesthetically gorgeous - the poppy seeds create a beautiful flecked appearance, in stark contrast to the vibrant fruit. Just lovely.
Served with a scoop of my favourite vanilla ice-creams, this crumble made for a completely delicious, comforting dessert.
While snuggled on the couch we watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, in anticipation of seeing Part 2 last night. Ben and I are big fans of the Harry Potter books, although we were late to the party and only read them in 2009 during our overseas trip.
Crumble, a movie and a doona, what could be more comforting?
I might just stay in my trackies a little longer...it's terribly appealing during this weather. And considering last Saturday was one of my most favourite evenings in a while, I think I'm on to something.