Terrible photos of the food; since I use my phone camera for these it really can be hit or miss depending on lighting. It is a pity since I quite enjoyed most of what I prepared. Roasted Carrot Salad with a Yogurt - Green Sriracha Dressing was an excellent idea and cooking the carrots at 400 made them soft inside and crunchy on the outside, a bit like French fries. The green Sriracha was on the spicy side and next time I will scale it back. I walked into the kitchen with empty plates and found L. bathing his tongue in plain yogurt...
Pan-Roasted Catfish Fillets with Ginger and Leeks, Warm Thai Potato Salad
Catfish was a revelation to me. I always heard that it could be muddy but we all really enjoyed the meatiness of the fish, which I think would be great turned into goujons - watch this space. Last night it was served on a bed of heavily gingered steamed leeks and I dusted the fish with Thai fish curry powder before nestling the fillets in the seated leeks to cook. The Thai potato salad was a good idea and I will post the recipe. Mine needed to sit a bit more for the flavors to marry.
Affogato
For some reason people never make this at home, which is a pity as it is very easy and combines after dinner coffee and drinks with dessert. All you do is top very firm ice cream with a shot of espresso and a splash of booze if you so desire. Last night we went with the basics - vanilla, espresso and rum - but the variations are infinite.