A lazy Sunday

I spent three days last week at Borough Market promoting CherryAid - my work's campaign to promote the British cherry - and it was knackering. Brilliant, fun and thank you to everyone who signed up, bought cherries and came along to the CherryBake, but still - knackering. So when Sunday rolled around, I was too tired to really think about cooking up a storm; rather, watching the storms outside while reading books upon books with a dog on my lap.

So what did I end up with? Breakfast was utterly wonderful and plagiarised from Val Warner's new book. I dared to eat - not a peach - but a nectarine, halved and de-stoned, which I placed on a large white plate and sprinkled with a little dried oregano. I then toasted a tsp of fennel seeds in a pan. While toasting, I spooned some Greek yoghurt next to the nectarine and trickled over some heather honey. I topped it with the fennel seeds. A feast on the lighter side, but with a couple of croissants on the side, warmed through, and a large pot of black Columbian coffee from Union Roasted, all it lacked was the sunshine to eat it in.

Sunday dinner was even lazier. I had defrosted a couple of thin venison steaks but lost the urge and energy to eat a meal of separate components. So I fried them for 1 1/2 minutes per side, then rested them in foil. I deglazed the pan with red wine and added a small amount of a curious Italian fruit jelly (blackberry...?). I split some warmed ciabatta and piled in thinly sliced venison, rocket leaves (from our new diminutive crop) and a couple of cherry tomatoes (straight from the vine). The only other thing I added was a schmear of wild mushroom pate underneath the venison.