Dinner for Three, Four, or Just...Moi

Bonsoir! Hope you all enjoyed the previous few posts on Sunday evening - it was a posting spree that night considering the amount of food I cooked during that beautiful day.

I haven't been eating out as much for these couple of weeks as I have been rather busy (and I actually forgot to take photos at a couple of the places that I did go...) but I will promise to do my best. For tonight's late post, it will be about home cooking.

There is nothing better than strolling a day in the markets, tasting the fresh local produce that is available, as well as eating food from other countries. That is one thing I absolutely love about Central Market in Adelaide. I really could have been in numerous countries today with the amount of food I tasted today ranging from the cheeses (France) to mettwurst (Germany), Sicilian olives (Italy), piroshki (Russia) and so much more (not forgetting to mention the number of local fruits I was trying before buying!). Tonight's ingredients will basically all come from today's expedition to the markets.

Dinner doesn't have to be complicated, whether it be cooking for 3 people, 4 people, 10 people, or only yourself. It is all about proportions and how you plate up the dishes - you can make it as complicated as you want it to be, or as simple as you would like. I had quite a slow night at work, and the last thing  I really wanted to worry about when I got home was dinner, but I decided that healthy eating was definitely the way to go. So for dinner, I decided to cook sausages - if you thought that it wasn't very healthy, well, I am here to prove you wrong!

Sun-dried tomato organic beef sausages with onion chilli jam and salad with roasted capsicums and Sicilian olives

Dinner tonight really could have been split into two or three dishes (absolutely great idea if you have lots of guests to cook for): entree as Sicilian olives, main dish as the sun-dried tomato organic beef sausages with the onion chilli jam, and the side dish as the salad with multiple different varieties of lettuce, roasted capsicum and eggs with a light raspberry vinegar. 

The sausages were made from organic beef and contained sun-dried tomatoes as well - you can really taste the difference from these sausages compared to ordinary sun-dried tomato beef sausages; they are produced from the Barossa Valley regions, but I managed to buy them in Central Market. When I went to the Lucia grocery store in the markets, I also managed to pick up a bottle of raspberry vinegar and onion chilli jam. They are both amazing accompaniments and dressings to ordinary dishes. The vinegar I used tonight in the salads transformed it into a beautiful light dish to go with the sausages - the raspberry was definitely evident. The onion chilli jam is a definite MUST for the pantry do go alongside the other common condiments such as tomato sauce; it just gives it that extra little edge of gourmet and uniqueness to the foods that you are cooking everyday. 

Onion chilli jam

This jam pretty much goes with any of the meaty dishes - I think you can actually also have that very easily by itself on a piece of toast. The sweetness of the onion and the heat from the chills is a wonderful combination (not forgetting to mention the spices exploding on your tastebuds). I have included a photo above as to what the bottle of the onion chilli jam looks like in case you are interested in obtaining a bottle. 

Dinner is of course not complete without dessert, and so the finale to complete the triage is the following:

Fruit'n' yoghurt with warm raw honey

That was just a random name I decided to name the dessert but really it contains (from the bottom upwards) dark grapes, strawberries and navel orange pieces. As I have decided to go healthy tonight, I was against using cream or ice-cream; instead I changed to something even more flavoursome - plain yoghurt mixed with equal proportions to mascarpone and added vanilla paste to provide that rich flavour without being overly sweet. It is however topped off with warm organic raw honey to give it that extra bit of sweetness and warmness to complete the taste sensation of the palate. 

If you are interested in making any of the dishes or have any queries about the products I have mentioned, feel free to send me an e-mail, comment on the post or ask whenever you see me next =) 

Au revoir until next time ...