Sunday 23 December 2012

Outdoor food tastes better


My girlfriend and I are spending Christmas apart this year which seemed like a perfect excuse to hold our own mini Christmas beforehand. We weren't tempted by the traditional affair, much as we're both a fan of turkey, but liked the idea of an Aussie style meal and a chance to fire up Bertha.

I love winter BBQs and not to be dissuaded by the grim weather we strung a tarp from the back of the house making quite a cosy little grotto or more accurately our own shrine to meat, this wasn't a particularly veggie friendly menu. We'd decided on surf and turf and given the special occasion ordered a lobster from Fin and Flounder and a huge t-bone from Meat N16. I was excited. The lobsters available at the market were smaller than they were expecting but that way I felt justified in ordering a couple of scallops too - this was a once a year treat so why not… The lobster we bought was a beauty, a 700g Dorset Blue still live and kicking and complete with roe. We weren't originally planning on a starter, but combining the roe, scallops, creme fraiche, chives and some blinis we rustled up seemed to do the trick. Bertha did a great job on the scallops, steak and lobster and also threw out enough heat so that we could sit outside enjoying the evening and the sound of rain falling on the tarp. It was a merry mini Christmas indeed.


Strikes me now that this blog has a distinct lack of pizza posts currently, something I plan to rectify in the New Year, although for now I'll leave you by wishing you all a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year.