Friday night dinner

I think I should re name my blog 'weekend blogger' as it seems to be the only time I get to hop online. Welcome to the world of full time work and parenting I hear some of you say, well your right. I am happy to say I have survived my first three weeks of my new world and I must say I couldn't of done it without the help of my mother-in-law, Pam.

Because my hubby had to pop off to Italy in the first week of me taking over the business I thought I should ask Pam if she could come and 'help out' with the kids. I assured her I'd be home in the afternoons to do school pick up and all she would really need to do was drop them off at school......Oh how wrong was I!

Nic has been away for almost 3 weeks and for the past two weeks I don't think I have been home earlier than 6.30 most evenings. Whatever happened to my perfect, child friendly new full time job I cannot say and if I was to be completely honest with you I'd have to say the Charcoal chicken I bought on my way home one night was a life saver, the pasta stores at home have dwindled down to nothing and anything that took more than 30 minutes to whip up was never seeing the light of day.

This is not to say we haven't been eating some yummy meals. Take last nights dinner- fish and chips. I'd come home early from work, Grammie was on her way back to Victoria and I actually felt like a decent meal. Fish was something I had told Pam 'I'll pick up one night', but as things go it never happened!

I asked the boys what they would like for dinner, mentioned the possibility of some fish and they both thought fish and chips an excellent idea. We all packed into the car before I changed my mind and headed for the fish shop. Flathead fillets were looking delicious so I grabbed a few and headed for home, on the way I dropped into the supermarket and picked up a bag of potato gems (something from my childhood I have fond memories of and know Nic would never eat).

By the time we got home time was ticking on, the boys started picking up all the toys they had left about the house (I might of threatened boiled peas and potatoes if they didn't!) while I started dinner. Because flathead is such a delicate fish with a subtle flavour I wanted to grill it and make a quick lemon butter sauce.

Looking into the fridge I discovered I didn't really have a hell of a lot of salad bits and bobs to go with dinner, this is when I had to get creative with the shape of veggies; carrots get turned into sticks, cucumber chopped into quarters and then sliced and tomatoes chopped small with seeds removed (Alex could be tricked into eating the flesh/skin if I am lucky enough). I also found some pickled asparagus lurking in the side door of the fridge so I decided to pop it in and see how it fairs (considering both boys HATE asparagus when it is lush and green I didn't like my chances).

With the potato gems almost golden brown, my salad macerating in a garlic and balsamic vinaigrette it was time to grill the fish. I lightly covered the fillets in seasoned flour then heated my frying pan with a good dollop of butter and a hint of olive oil to stop the butter from burning before the fish was cooked.

When cooking fish fillets like flathead, perch, orange roughy or ling you really only need a medium high heat to brown the fish without burning it. Once the flesh starts to look white gently flip the fillets over and cover the pan for 2-3 minutes to help the cooking process.

Remove from the heat squeeze in half a lemon, pop the lid back on and leave while you serve up your potatoes and salad. The fillets will be well rested and you should have a lovely citrus flavour coating the fish.

The boys and I really enjoyed this quick and simple meal, Alex spotted every bit of tomato and berated me for even thinking he would eat it, however success was had with the pickled asparagus, Max ate every last bit without the slightest idea so I was happy with 1 out of 2 attempts of introducing the boys to food they HATE!