Food: special dinner - steak and margarita ice cream

I've been busy sifting through my old cookbooks again (one of my favourite past times). I wanted to treat Martin to a really tasty dinner, so I plumped for Jamie's Korean sirloin steak and Nigella's margarita ice cream. I can't recommend Nigella's recipe enough. It's so simple and easy, owing to the fact there are only 5 ingredients. There's no need to make a custard (thank goodness, as I still haven't perfected that technique - I always seem to scramble it slightly or it doesn't thicken up enough).  Instead, you simply whisk the ingredients up together. The recipe is exceptionally unhealthy - the main bulk of it is double cream, but for rare treat occasions, it's perfect. Also owing to the way it's made you a) don't need an ice cream machine b) don't need to keep removing it from the freezer to break up the ice crystals as they simply do not form. I particularly love sharp dessers - lemon tart is one of my very favourite desserts; this ice cream is a cross between a sorbet and an ice cream and is absolutely delicious.

Serves 6

150ml fresh lime juice
150g icing sugar
3x 15ml tbsp cointreau or triple sec
2x 15ml tbsp tequila
500ml double cream

1. Place all the ingredients apart from the double cream into a large bowl. Stir to dissolve.
2. Add the double cream and whisk up until thickened and smooth. You can use any kind of whisk - hand, balloon, stand... Don't over whip - you don't want it to be overly stiff.

ice cream before being frozen

3. Freeze over night in an air tight container. Serve just before you need it, as it melts quickly.

Jamie's Korean Fried Rice with Steak, Mushrooms and Pickles

I really like Jamie's 15 minute meals cookbook. There are some great ideas for quick, tasty weekday meals; all beautifully presented. There are only a few issues I have with it. Firstly, how expensive are his ingredients? I tend to leave some of them out! Secondly, it ALWAYS takes longer than 15 minutes. Thirdly, the way he lays it out, sometimes makes it hard to follow and I've often left a few steps out - that's probably just me being really stupid.

Serves 2 - takes me 25 minutes

250g cooked brown rice
Juice from 1/2 lemon
100g oyster mushroons
sesame oil
soy sauce
sherry vinegar
1 clove of garlic, crushed
250g sirloin steak, fat removed
2 eggs
vegetable oil
2 tbsp sesame seeds
salt and pepper

For the pickle:
1/2 cucumber
2 spring onions
caster sugar

1. Start by bashing out the steak to 1 cm thick between two sheets of greaseproof paper. I use a rolling pin. I like to do this to tenderise the meat further (saying that, sirloin is already very tender) and also to make one steak go further.
2. Get a frying pan really, really hot. Add a tsp of vegetable oil. Season the steak with freshly milled pepper and salt generously. Cook for a minute each side for a medium cooked steak. Obviously alter this depending on personal preference. Leave to rest on a plate, covered with foil for 5 minutes, before slicing at an angle.

3. Fry the oyster mushrooms in a little sesame oil, then add them to a bowl together with 1 tsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp sherry vinegar and the garlic. Add the steak to the bowl and mix through.
4. Fry the rice in a little vegetable oil with the juice of 1/2 lemon for a couple of minutes.
5. To make the pickle, finely slice the cucumber and spring onions. Add to a bowl together with 1 tsp caster sugar, generous pinch of salt, drizzle of soy sauce and sherry vinegar. Scrunch together with your clean hands to help encourage the cucumber to lose its water.

6. Fry the eggs on both sides for a few minutes - sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve on top of the rice.

By the way, has anyone seen the recent episode of Poirot: Elephants can remember? It was so good. I absolutely love Poirot - I definitely prefer it to Marple and Andrew Suchet is so good at playing him. I'm really sad though, I've seen every single episode made so far - including all the old ones - and I think that there are only a couple of new ones left! It'll be a sad day when I see the last one.

What's your favourite meal when you're cooking for an occasion or you just want a special treat?