23 March - Carluccio's and a picnic tea

It was my last day at the conference and after coming out of my last session around midday, I decided to walk back into the city centre from the conference centre along the river. The sun was shining and it was a lovely walk, but by the time I got back into town, my feet were getting achy and I was distinctly hungry! So rather than trog around looking for somewhere to eat, I headed straight to an easy favourite; Carluccio's. I had a really nice saffron risotto with Italian sausage - sounds an odd combination, but went down really well with a nice glass of wine :)

I couldn't be bothered with another microwave dinner, so just had a bit of a picnic supper; walnut bread, humus, beetroot salad and crisps while I caught up on some bits and pieces of work.

21 January - fillet steak and thai dressing

We were in town at lunchtime today so stopped off in Carluccio's for a bite to eat. I didn't want anything too big, so I choose a starter - aubergine rolls - plus some potatoes on the side. The rolls were thin slices of aubergine stuffed with a mix of breadcrumbs, tomatoes, pine nuts and cheese, served warm with a tomato sauce - really nice and just the right amount.

We picked up a really expensive piece of beef fillet from Ruby & White this morning. I couldn't quite justify cooking the whole piece for dinner, so I chopped off about two-thirds and we had it with spicy, herby Thai dressing (from Jamie Oliver), on a bed of spinach, beans, carrot and red pepper and some roasted cubes of sweet potato. The steak was a bit rarer than even I normally like it and the dressing a little bit spicier, but it was still a really tasty combination and the steak was lush.