29.09.08: Jamie's tasty fish bake with mixed leaf salad

He cooked up Jamie Oliver's version of fish pie which includes fillets of trout, potatoes, lots of fennel and onions plus a cream, parmesan and anchovy sauce, all finished off with a crispy breadcrumb topping. A mixed leaf salad with avo, physalis and radish stuck its head round the corner while the lime wasabi dressing played lookout.

HE SAYS: Didn't take too much prep to conjure up this beauty. As the nights draw in and it gets a little nippy this dish will become in handy to warm ye cockles. I believe I cooked it a little too long because the creamy sauce had reduced significantly, still good though. The crunchy breadcrumb topping was a nice touch and very satisfying to dig in to. I'm not that familiar with trout but it tasted pretty good and is good for ya (although maybe next time I'll try it with salmon). The salad was standard but then the wasabi dressing pepped it up to another plane.

SHE SAYS: I was looking fwd to this, but was wary of the anchovy content. (I like fish sauce, which usually is mostly anchovy essence, but the full-on anchovy fillet thing grosses me out.) Never fear, I entirely forgot about those bits as I sank into the pie's luxurious textures. I thought the sauce was perfect, wouldn't have wished it less thick. The fennel and fennel seeds were perfect flava foils for trout, which I suspect would taste a bit musty without robust herby offsetting. Agree with Him that the breadcrumbs gave the whole thing that down-home comfort food edge.

11.07.08: Out to Pizza Express

Confession: we knew Pizza Express was pretty lame. But we had a coupon! Two-for-one pizza, no less. And it was Friday. So did we heed the cosy call of free comfort food on a crust. Especially attractive was the thought of Her order, the Fiorentina above - spinach with egg-on-top.

Not to be outdone for indulgence, He requested the 'American' - pepperoni, straight up.

And, as reward for our thrift, we shared a Caesar's salad, too. But. But-but-but. What do you think? When the bill arrived, and He proudly brandished our coupon, the waitress smugly informed us that it was 'Monday thru Thursday only'. Oops!

SHE SAYS: One thing I will never understand is how British people have convinced themselves - in great numbers! - that soggy-tissue pizza crust, supersweet 'tomato' sauce, and second-rate toppings like olives that clearly rolled out of a giant, unlabelled can, constitute pizza yumminess. But We love the egg-on-top thing. Spinach pizza met my low expectations, and the pepperoni was passable, too. Crust was gummy except for the edge, and the sauce was a cloying shame, but I was starving, and wiped up the crumbs with my finger. The salad leaves were fresh and crispy enough, but the dressing was pure mayonnaise, and the whole anchovies overpowered everything, with bits everywhere even once I scraped them over to His side. Blech!

HE SAYS: The coupon worked on us I must admit, we have never been a fan of this lame excuse of a pizza joint. It's hard to fuck up pepperoni pizza, but they managed it with ease.
Wet, doughy crust with sweet tomato sauce and pepperoni slices the size of two-pence pieces. Once they've piled on the toppings they put it in the oven for about a nano-second, just enough time for the base to defrost and voila! A sorry mess. I did secretly enjoy all the anchovies in the Caesar salad (how can you not like anchovies?) and also the egg, the highlight of the meal and the only reason we are ever tempted to set foot in the place.