Weds, 6th June 2007

I am happy with what I did today but why is it that when I arrived home, I felt FLAT, so, so flat - so what better to lift my spirits than cooking?

I decided to cook the stingray or skate wing which I had in my freezer. I was quite determined to make a 'restauranty' meal in my kitchen so here goes.

Defrost stingray and pat dry. Marinate with light drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (it does make a difference - trust me), salt & black pepper. Put aside.

Top with a loverly loverly mixture of butter, garlic, lemon juice, garlic, shallots, dried parsley, white wine, salt & black pepper. (For a halal version, omit wine). Put this lovely mixture on the stingray and stick it into the oven, on the highest shelf, using the grill function.

The side dishes:

I was taught how to 'turn' potatoes and carrots casually by Pascal, my friend a French chef, many many many years ago. So I tried to duplicate it at home. I managed to turn 9 pieces out of a single large potato.

I microwaved the potatoes in salted water for 4 minutes and arranged them on a plate with the scallops which cooked faster than the stingray.

These are the scallops which I bought during a quick browse around the Mall after work today( I also bought a new wrap linen blouse ). I have bought them before and found them to be really fresh and lovely. I thought they would be a nice accompaniment to my stingray.

Next, a light tomato salad.

Skin and seed tomato. Dice. Add a few grains of salt & pepper, lemon juice and your best olive oil and some parsley for colour. Use it as garnish and as a side salad.