Review of last week’s recipes: click here to see post
Roast salmon with tarragon and caper pangrattato, served with green beans and scalloped potatoes: I purchased the recommended four fillets of salmon — they were huge! So, we invited hubby's mother and partner over for dinner, and it went down a treat. The pangrattato (essentially a flavour-infused toasted breadcrumb topping — this one involved chilli, garlic, parsley, tarragon and olive oil) was crunchy and delicious. The scalloped potatoes were a great accompaniment. Funnily enough, I have eaten scalloped potatoes a million times but never cooked it. I winged it by layering thinly sliced potato with onion rings, pouring over milk and dotting with butter, before baking in a hot oven (cover with foil initially, then remove to brown the top). It was really yummy!

Fennel and almond soup with green olive smash: wow, what a revelation! Up until several months ago I'd never cooked with fennel before — I was put off by the strong aniseed scent. But it is surprisingly mellow to taste, I think it's the green fronds at the top that pack the aniseed punch (which are not used in this recipe). The soup was delicious, but the green olive smash was sensational. And wonderfully versatile too. I used a spoonful in each bowl of soup, but it could easily be used as a salsa verde style accompaniment to roast chicken or even thick slices of roast beef.

I think I may have had a craving for crunchy breadcrumbs when I wrote this week's menu, because 'pangrattato' was featured on two recipes. Each was done using a different method, but I'm fence-sitting on which was better — they were both good, both suitable for the dishes in which they were used. Tobie Puttock's Delicious Magazine recipe of orecchiette with cauliflower and black pepper pangrattato was simply superb. The velvety goodness of the cauliflower puree was… awesome. The pangrattato added textural crunch, the parmesan bite, and the parsley freshness. Overall, a great dish — and one I'll definitely want to cook again.

Sadly, I have no recipes to share with you this week — but I shall certainly be eating some damn fine food. I am taking a little blogging break, but will be back before you know it. Be good. :0)