Jo's choice, guess what?

Steak and three veg

It is not hard to tell who has been planning the meals the last couple of days, beef two nights running can only mean one thing, Jo has had something to do with it!

And quite surprisingly I have enjoyed both meals very much, both the preparation and the eating of them.  The spicy beef was originally to be a Chorizo in Cider sauce dish, only thing was the sausage I had was cacciatore and the apple cider, well I just did not have any in the house and I could not be fagged to race up to the shop.  It was around this time I thought I'd take some steak out of the freezer, only to find it was some beef strips I had put aside for a stir fry.  I already had peeled some potato so in the end thought I would just wing it and throw a few thinks in the pan and build from there.  What I ended up with was this amazing spicy beef with cacciatore and olives, the flavours were great and it went well with the creamy mash spuds, may have looked a bit like a train wreck on the plate, but at 7:30 on a Tuesday night I really was not to bothered I just wanted to eat, have a vino and relax, it did the job perfectly, judging by the amount of MMMM's I received in an email today around lunchtime it travelled alright to the next day too!

I don't know if we were later than usual tonight, or if the days have suddenly got shorter, but it was bloody dark driving home tonight, and I was faced with the same old problem when I got home, nothing much in the fridge and I felt like something more than chicken.  So I took a detour through Northbridge and swung into Coles in Beaufort St, this is a relatively new store and is a bit more upmarket than our local Coles in Northlands.  Jo had not been there before so it was a bot of a treat for her, especially given some of the inner city sights you get to see at time of night in Northbridge, it can be so educational!!! Once in the store, and without giving it too much thought I asked Jo what she would like, she as she so often does immediately said steak, even went so far to suggest Fillet Mignon.  I was sort of glad once I ate that she did, as the fillet steak was excellent, very tender and oh so juicy.   To go with it I did potato two ways , baked and mashed, steamed some sugar snap peas (or should I say over steamed!) and some fresh beetroot in a tangy mustard mayonnaise an idea Jo brought back from a recent trip to Melbourne.  One of the things I like most about that particular Coles store, is the freshly baked bread, and the fact you can buy beautiful little olive and feta panini loaves just right for two people, love em!

Spicy beef with  cacciatore and olives